centre | newtmas au

21

Newt
"Do you know what today is?" Minho asked, pressing his hand firmly onto Newt's shoulder as they walked alongside each other.
Newt briefly hesitated.
"Is Frypan making stew again?"
Minho laughed, giving Newt's shoulder a friendly and slightly patronising squeeze.
"Not quite. Think bigger."
"Alby is cleaning out the clunk buckets?"
Minho just shook his head aggressively this time, with a smile, swerving so he was walking backwards to face Newt.
"It's Maze day."
Newt stopped abruptly, his words and his breath catching in his throat.
"You're ready to come into the Maze? I swear to GOD, if you're pulling my bloody leg...."
Minho grinned. "Dead serious Newt. Gally said he'll come too."
Newt felt a little taken aback. Gally has barely uttered a word since he arrived about a week ago, and already had some form of authority over Minho.
That said, he was grateful that Minho had finally come around. He had been aching to step foot into the Maze for months. He needed to know what was out there, and today would be one huge leap into the unknown. Newt was thrilled.
"When do we leave?"
"Whenever you want, chief." Minho said with a wink.
"How about 10 minutes?"
Minho sucked in a nervous breath. "Okay. 10 minutes it is."

Newt, Minho and Gally stood facing the large, intimidating stone walls. All Newt could see between them was more towering and uneven stone, clad in moss and ivy. It was dark inside the Maze.
Minho started to bounce on the balls of his feet, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Let's do it then"
"I've got nothing to fear" Gally said with a smirk.
"Don't come crying to me when you run away screaming bloody murder, greenie" Newt said, replying with an equally obnoxious look.
Gally adjusted his grip on his sharpened stick, which they had all somehow fashioned to act as a spear, glaring. Newt felt uncomfortable having a weapon in his hand. It was like a bad omen, as if they were summoning the evils to stand at their doorstep. Newt shuddered. But he was excited.

Thomas
He watched the screens, adjusting the camera angle to show Newts face, to try and understand how he was feeling. He had rejoiced at the comment Newt had made, grateful that present Newt disliked Gally just as much as past Newt had.
Thomas had no fears of the Maze. Of course not, because he had created it, and he was controlling it.
But he could not prepare himself for the terror that overcame every inch of his body when he realised that he had to control the Maze while Newt was within its walls.
He had near enough got down on his knees to beg Teresa to do it for him, but this morning she had been detained in a meeting with Janson. Thomas had wondered if this was truly a coincidence, or a plan on behalf of Janson to torture him. He guessed it was the latter. Janson has never tried to better Thomas' life. Never. And he didn't think now would be the time to start.

Thomas' hands hesitated over the controls, and he sat watching as they trembled slightly. The three boys stood proudly in front of the mass of stone, completely unaware of what lay before them. It was all in Thomas' hands.
He was most grateful that they had the brains to go during the day, because the grievers were out of the equation when the sun was still up, and that made his job almost simple. Still difficult, of course, but simple.

Newt was the first to put a foot forward. Thomas watched as his body was enveloped in the shadows, and the camera view switched to inside the walls. The shadows were kind to Newt.
They accentuated the natural curve of his cheekbones and jaw, and made his eyes seem dark and intimidating. Thomas felt a twinge in his chest, but pushed it away.

Newt
Newt stood in the darkness, waiting.
Minho stepped in to stand beside him, and Gally came in closely after.
They stood in the mouth of the Maze, all simultaneously turning their heads to glance at the warmth, the sun and the comfort of the soft green grass behind them.
Ahead of them now was the opposite of what they knew.
There was stone stretching out in uneven slabs on the floor, with weeds and shrubbery coming up from the cracks. The walls stretched metres and metres above their heads, with ivy crawling and clinging to every inch.
Most dauntingly, however, was the way that the path stretched both right and left.
They had to chose.
They were no longer in the open grassy plain, where, despite being rendered unable to ever leave, they felt safe, happy and secure.
Their fate now rested in the hands of the Maze, and in the path that they chose. They did not know and would never be able to guess what lay beyond.
Newt shuddered, unable to express his thoughts with words.
He was glad they had the brightness of the sun to illuminate their path, as he feared that without it, they would be left in the pitch black.
As curious as he was, he wasn't eager to see what the Maze looked like in the dead of the night.
Minho began to roll backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet again, wiping his sweaty palm on the soft material of his trousers. He looked longingly back at the safety of what was behind them.
"You can go Minho. No one is stopping you." Newt said, trying his best to be calm.
Minho shook his head aggressively. "No, I'm staying" He laughed weakly and looked at them both through the black strands of hair falling into his eyes.
"Besides, you two idiots wouldn't survive without me"
Newt laughed, matching the weakness of his friends voice.
Gally made no attempt to agree, but instead, took a step ahead and turned to stand stoically before them.
"What's it gonna be boys? Right or left?"

hello this isn't very good bc i am extremely tired but i think i owed the people asking an update.
hope you are all staying safe and taking care of yourselves! thank you for reading.
love u :)
EDIT : thank you for 8k 🤍