A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chapter 73

Cally's pov

Just like the two nights before, I was in a room, filled with the same Gladers as the nights before. I thought- well- I hoped, that it would become easier, trying to sleep, waiting for the Grievers to come, but of course it didn't. It only became worse.
     This night, we were in the big living room on the ground floor. I lay somewhere in the middle, as always with Ezra and Bark beside me. Teresa was in our room as well, just as Thomas. I couldn't see everyone from where I lay, but I knew everyone was closer than they had to be. All the Gladers wanted to feel save, and even though this wouldn't make a real difference, laying close to each other gave an odd feeling of security.
     I somehow I was able to sleep for a few hours, but when the haunting, mechanical sounds from the Grievers came from outside, I was already awake. It didn't take long before every single person in the room woke up, and not long after that, we all were huddled together as far away from the sounds as possible.
     This time, the Grievers were further away from us as the two previous nights, but that didn't stop the my body from shaking. The tension in the room became worse with every second as we could hear more Grievers climbing up against the wood of the building. Subconsciously I grabbed Newt's arm the moment the shadow of one of the monsters became visible through the window closest to us. Newt noticed as well, just like all the other Gladers in the room. Without communicating with each other, it seemed like all of us agreed to start and hold our breaths. Scared that even the slightest sound would attract it's attention.
     Then it happened. The deafening sound of breaking wood and shattering glass. Followed by screams of the Gladers while all of them tried to escape the room as fast as possible, making their way downstairs where we were.
     "It's got Dave!" One of the boys yelled in a high pitched voice that was filled with terror.
     I know it shouldn't have, but the moment I heard that it was some shank named Dave that got captured, and not me or one of my friends, I let out a sigh of relieve. Immediately, the relieve was replaced with guilt, and I knew I wasn't the only one who felt that way.
     Through the commotion of Gladers running from one room to another, the sounds of breaking wood was still clear. Making me think the Griever hadn't left the Homestead the same way it had entered it. I could hear the big creature make it's way down the stairs, probably damaging a lot of them in the process. Not long after, the sound of more splintering and breaking wood filled the building and I knew the Griever was now outside.
     A new wave of relieve washed over me. I let my body relax and let go of Newt's arm, which I had been squeezing the entire time.
     "Thomas, come back!"
     I had been so lost in my own thoughts, that I hadn't noticed Thomas started running, but the moment Newt yelled at him to come back, I saw the brunette running to the door. Without thinking twice, I sprinted after him.
     "Cally! What are you doing?" I heard Ezra yell after me, but I didn't answer. Because I didn't know what I was doing. I only knew that Thomas was going to do something stupid, and I wasn't going to let him. The moment I ran out of the door, or, what used to be the door, I stopped for a moment. All the Grievers were gathered on the courtyard, following the one that held Dave to the West door. At first I didn't see Thomas, but when I saw him running to the Grievers I started running after him.
     I didn't make it far, because a few meters into my sprint, a heavy weight tackled me from the side. As I collided with the hard ground, I heard something break and hoped it wasn't one of my bones. Only for a second though, the lack of pain erased the fear from my mind.
     The moment I opened my eyes, I stared into Minho's face. I don't know how he did it, but he somehow managed to get to me. "What are you doing?"I hissed," I need to stop-"
     My attempt on a protest got interrupted by Minho's hand being pressed against my mouth. "Shut it!" He whisper yelled at me. I still wanted to protest, but Minho had already pulled me back on my feet, squeezing my wrist in his hand so I couldn't get away. "If the Slinthead's gonna get himself killed, fine by me. But you're staying out if it, understood?" He whispered at me without looking away from the scene in front of us.
     At this point, I wasn't going to try and get away, I was too distracted by what was happening. Thomas had made his way in the middle of the group of slimy robots and jumped at the one holding Dave. Pulling at the boy in an useless attempt to get him free. Three Grievers broke their formation to attack Thomas, making it almost impossible for me to make out what was happening. Fear and worry grew inside my body, were they going to kill him? Rip him to peaces right then and there? Or will they take him with them to who knows where?
     My questions got answered quickly, because the Grievers started to leave, leaving Thomas behind on the ground. Immediately, I sprinted to him, just as a group of Gladers that had come outside as well. I slipped to a stop and dropped to my knees beside him, his eyes met mine and I knew he was still alive.
     "What the hell, Thomas!" I yelled at him while trying to pull him up.
     The others hadn't been far behind. Newt was the first one to reach us, without saying anything he took Thomas from me, grabbing the boy under his shoulders while Ezra lifted him by the legs. I wasn't insulted or anything that Newt and Ezra took Thomas, I wouldn't have been able to carry his dead weight anyway.
     As fast as they could, the two carried Thomas inside, laying him down on one of the first couches they reached. 
     "What were you doing!" Now it was Newt who yelled in Thomas's face. "How could you be so bloody stupid!"
     "No... Newt... you don't understand-" Thomas tried to talk, but I interrupted him.
     "Stop talking. You're wasting your energy." As I said that, I pushed passed Newt, examining Thomas's body on wounds. He was stung way to many times, but apart from that, he didn't have any wounds. "He's stung for over a dozen times." I said to no one in particular.
     "Get the Grieve serum!" Newt yelled at Jeff, but Clint had already pushed his way through the Gladers to us with a syringe. He didn't hesitate to inject the liquid into Thomas's arm and I could see his body relax a little, knowing the pain started to fade at that point. My gaze didn't leave Thomas as I saw he was struggling to stay awake.
     "Don't worry..." He whispered, almost impossible to hear. I saw he wanted to say something else and leaned forward to hear it better. "I did it on purpose..." And with that, he passed out.
     "What did he say?" Teresa asked me. I slowly got up, eyebrows crossed in confusion.
     "He, he said he did it on purpose..." My words sounded just as confused as my expression.
     "Is he going to be okay?" Chuck asked, making me look over at him. The little boy looked just as confused, scared and worried as I felt. I hadn't seen a lot of Shanks get stung, yes I was one of them, but none of us had been stung more than one time.
     After a short silence, I breathed in to answer, "I don't know..."

After Thomas had passed out, he got moved to the Med-Room. The Changing had begun, and it was already driving me and the others crazy. Due to the Griever attacks none of us really had had a good night's rest, but now that had become even more impossible. Thomas's screams were clearly audible through the entire Glade. And of course, I had to be working in the same room as the boy was lying.
     After hours of helping out the Gladers who had been somehow wounded during the night, I finally was allowed to leave the dreadful building. I was tired, of course everyone was tired, but that didn't stop me from dropping myself to the ground the moment I reached the edge of the Deadheads where Ezra and Chuck were holding a little break from their jobs as a Builder and Slopper.
     "How's it going, Sister?" Ezra asked with a little amusement as he saw me laying flat on the ground, face first. I didn't answer with words, instead I just groaned, earning a small chuckle from my brother. "Yeah, yeah, I know." Was all he said while he patted my head.
     The three of us, well, four if you count Bark, were sitting in silence. Until I heard two pair of feet coming closer. I didn't think anything of it, until I got kicked in the side, making me yelp and shoot up.
     "What, the hell?"I bit at my assaulter, which just happened to be Minho, "You are an idiot." He just said as he sat down in the grass beside me. I crossed my legs while rolling my eyes, "I wasn't the one who let them self get stung over a dozen times."
     "No, but you did run after the shank like a bloody headless chicken." Newt added. He had also sat down in the grass. I looked at him, but I couldn't tell if he was joking or really concerned. But I decided to defend my actions anyway.
     "Thomas has the habit of getting himself into trouble, I was just trying to save him from his next one."
     Ezra sighed, he apparently agreed with the two, "you know what I think, Sister?" He started. "I think you and Captain Suicidal both have a hero complex."
     I scoffed, raising an eyebrow at my brother. "I don't have a hero complex. I just wanted to help my friend."
     "Don't listen to them, Cally."Chuck spoke up. "I think it was very brave of you to try and help Thomas."
     I looked over at Chuck, who had Bark's head laying on his lap, and smiled at him. "Thank you, Chuckster. Glad to know at least one of my friends supports me."
     "We all support you, Cals." Newt said with a little annoyance sounding through. "We just don't want you to get hurt."
     "And I didn't want Thomas to get hurt," I mumbled as I rested my chin in my hand, while my elbow got supported by my leg.
     "But he did get hurt," Minho started. "On purpose. And I think we all know why he did it." All of us seemed to understand what Minho meant, except for Chuck, who looked around the small circle of people, hoping to read the answer from our faces. But when he couldn't, he spoke up.
     "Why did he do it?" The other guys seemed annoyed by Chuck's question, rolling their eyes or groaning in response.
     "What?" Chuck asked, his innocence and cluelessness sounding through that one word. When no one else answered, I took a deep breath.
     "Memories. When you go through the Changing you remember things. Thomas is probably trying to get his memories back, hoping he will get answers that way."
     Now he understood, Chuck made an 'O' sound. "Do you think it'll work?"
     Me and the other's exchanged a few looks and I knew we all thought the same. Fortunately, I didn't have to answer, because Newt did. "We don't know, Chuck. But I think I speak for all of us when I say I bloody hope it will."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

A/N: Heyhey!

Yeah, I'm late, I know. But we had some problems with our wifi so writing was a little hard.

Aaaaaaanyway
I still hope you enjoyed this chapter! 
Let me know what you think!

~Purple Dragon (04/06/2019)

Edited:08/11/2020