NIGHT BEDS ━︎━︎ THE MAZE RUNNER

EPILOGUE.

SOME TIME LATER

A WIFE INHABITING THE SAFE HAVEN finishes her short stroll from the beach. Her blonde hair was in beach waves for the wind to blow and she walked barefoot across the sand leaving footprints behind, close enough for the water to wash away. She loved waking up early and watch the morning sun rise from the distance of the ocean, how the sky would turn pretty colours of orange and pink and yellow and she would be awake and alive to watch all of that.

The high babyish voice of a five-year-old little boy caught her ear and she opened her arms for her son to run into for a big hug.

"You're up early!" the mother laughs.

"Mommy! Mommy!" The boy beamed. "The surprise, Mommy!"

She smiles, excited. "Daddy finished building your big surprise?"

He was jumping up and down. "No but it almost looks finished! I went to go take a peak but they put a cloth and told me to go! But it looks like a treehouse! What else? I wanna play ships and pirates and play kingdom battles! Ooh! And I want you and Daddy to help make signs and paint it! And I want there to be a flag too so we can mark our territory! Mommy, can you ask Frypan to make us those bacon wraps again? Please please pleaaaaaaaase?!"

"Hey hey, c'mon kiddo. Don't make your mother's head spin into a different universe!" the husband walks across the sand to his family and scoops up the son. "It's too early. How was your morning stroll, madam?" He kisses her.

The wife chuckles. "Relaxing. I think today's gonna be scorching. Even the water won't help."

"We'll install the coolers, then. I'll ask Minho."

The following surprise made the family turn to the end of the seaside where the rocks were at for the waves to crash into. The girl was hunched over the rock for support as she was puking onto the ground. They watched her run towards the corner, clutching her stomach. They could see Brenda catching up to her, rubbing her back and helping her straighten up.

"You good?" they hear Brenda ask.

The puking girl raised her thumbs up while looking down. "I'm okay," the girl said.

Brenda pulled her hair back and ties it.

"Is she sick?" the son asks his parents.

The husband and wife look at each other, stifling a smile. "Probably." And they walk off, holding their son's hand so he could jump and swing from both their grips.

"It was Frypan's stew, wasn't it?" Brenda snorted.

The girl shook her head. They walk back together, feeling like something was definitely wrong.

Later that day she visits the infirmary. She lays on the cot, exhausted and irritated about the routine: every now and then she felt like she was gonna puke her stomach out, she was feeling different—a little too different, thinking she was slowly showing signs of something bigger than the Flare, and she hated that anxiety.

But there finally came an update for her unanswered questions, and she walked out of the shack, eyes fixated on the sand as she tried to keep herself from collapsing.

The rest of the day the wife helped make s'mores for everyone as they all gathered around the covered space near the trees. It was covered with a giant cloth used as a curtain and with a countdown, they were met with a warm reunion with nostalgia.