Once In A Blue Moon

Twenty-Nine

A/n:

These next few parts stray from the book and movie a little, but I promise I have it all planned out 🤠 . Enjoy!!

Hank's statement seemed to echo in the room. 

"You sure it's late enough? Sometimes the watches are-"

"They didn't close," Hank cut off whoever had spoken. "We've already checked the watches. Something's wrong."

You looked to Newt. He grabbed your hand and led you out of the map room. You could feel his hands sweating, but you paid almost no attention to that.

Newt stopped outside of the map room and looked around. You followed his gaze. You saw that the doors were wide open, casting shadows over the already darkened Glade. If you hadn't seen the doors close every night for the past few months, you would have been convinced they weren't able to move at all. But they were -- and they didn't.

"What's going on?" you mumbled to Newt as if he would know the answer. But his wide eyes darting between the four towering entrances proved that he had absolutely no idea. Nobody did. By now, the other Runners had started coming out of the map room to get a look at the enigma. You could read the same emotion across all of their faces: fear.

Newt's grip on your hand tightened. They were warm and covered in sweat. You followed him as he walked toward a congested area of people. Many of the Gladers had collected around the West Door, most likely because it was the closest to the Homestead where they had all been eating dinner.

You joined the crowd with Newt, who -- because he was temporarily in command -- was able to push his way to the front of the group. There was nothing to see in the small section of the Maze. Nothing had changed in the part you could see. Is that a good or bad thing? you found yourself wondering. Is something supposed to happen now?

You looked to Newt, but he was staring directly into the Maze instead of looking at you. You felt his heartbeat quicken as you squeezed his hand harder reassuringly, but it didn't seem to do him much reassuring at all. 

You studied him as he stared into the Maze. His head was covered with beads of sweat that seemed to reflect a nonexistant source of light. They dripped down the sides of his face slowly. His mouth was pressed into a frown that -- had it been present in pretty much any other situation -- you would have considered cute. His hand that wasn't clutching yours like it was the only thing left in the world to hold onto was balled into a fist, knuckles turned white. 

His foot twitched subtley. You knew that it was definitely because of what had happened within those walls. You realized that he wasn't just staring into the darkened Maze -- he was remembering everything about what was inside. You could only imagine the things that were running through his mind. It was then when you realized how truly terrified Newt was.

You had been busying yourself with studying Newt and forgotten that things were happening around you. Thomas's voice echoed in your head, his words seeming distant and unfamiliar. But he was right next to you as he spoke.

"Minho, take the Council and gather all the weapons you can find," he instructed. His voice sounded calm. "Teresa, go make sure everybody is either ready to fight or hide."

Teresa? You spun away from Newt, looking at the Gladers around you. You were shocked to see the girl awake and standing among them. You looked back to Newt. "When did Teresa wake up?"

Newt answered but he didn't take his eyes off of the Maze. "Earlier today."

"You didn't tell me?"

"Is this really the time for this?" He peeled his eyes from the concrete walls and looked at you. You shook your head and sighed. A knot in your stomach tightened, a feeling that you hadn't noticed before.