centre | newtmas au

22

Newt
They chose right.

Newt felt a wave of nausea creep over him as they took the first few steps and felt the light of the glade  fizzle out, leaving the safety and the comfort behind them.
Ahead was a long stretch of dark, cavernous maze. The walls loomed over them on either side, and the cracked and overlapping stone panelling on the floor felt uncomfortable and unfamiliar under their feet.
Gally poked a particularly uneven slab with the tip of his foot, with a sigh.
"Seems like a tripping hazard to me."
Newt exhaled quickly through his nose, in an attempt to even just pretend he found Gally funny, and lighten the mood.
It didn't work. All of them were just as terrified as they were before.
"What do we do?" Minho asked, alternating between looking ahead of them and looking over his shoulder. Out of the trio, Minho was most uneasy.
"I say we walk. Take it slow." Gally said, with an obnoxious and nonchalant tone of voice, making Newts skin crawl.
"Baby steps. Good idea." Minho said, stretching his fingers out of their tight fists and exhaling. "What do you think, Newt?"
Newt nodded and with a soft laugh, said "Walking is fine. Until dark at least, then we might need to bloody sprint."
"You're joking, right?" Minho said, a quiver in his voice.
"I bloody hope I am mate. We don't know what's out there, but that's always the fun part, right?"
Minho winced at these words.

"Minho. It'll be fine" Newt said, placing a slightly clammy palm on Minho's shoulder, reassuringly. Minho nodded. "Let's just head back before dusk, to be safe"

Gally and Newt nodded simultaneously in agreement. Gally took a few steps further into the darkness, swinging his spear over his shoulder, whistling. The whistle echoed and bounced off the walls and Newt felt suddenly aware of the pure emptiness and vastness before them, and how they knew nothing at all about what lay at it's centre.

He followed Gally earnestly, Minho following warily, clutching his spear tightly in his fist. The morning sun was beating down on their backs, but the shadows bore the weight of the heat and they felt it very little. In fact, Newt was sure the other boys were as grateful as he was for a break from the sunstroke and sweat. He allowed himself to feel at ease, despite the unnerving nature of their trip.

They walked on slowly, for about 2 hours, stopping occasionally, leaving marks on walls as they passed them, and knotting vines at corners as they turned them, so they wouldn't get lost on their return. That was Minho's idea - of course -. Despite his fear, he had a good, logical head on his shoulders. Newt wished he was like that.

In truth, Newt wished for a lot of things, yet, nothing he wished for he had ever received. It was frustrating - being mediocre.

"Hey, Newt. I'm talking to you." Gally said, poking the flesh of Newt's bare arm lightly with the head of his spear. Newt felt the prick, but didn't give Gally the satisfaction of knowing it hurt. He nodded instead.

"What do you think? Do we turn back or keep going?" Minho said, his eyes locking with Newt's. They seemed to be pleading for him to back down, and go home. Newt paused and felt his heart sink a little. Minho was never afraid like this, never vulnerable.

But there was so much more to see.

"I vote go on ahead." He said confidently, dropping his eyes to the floor. He felt Minho's glare burning into the back of his head. He felt guilty.

"Ahead it is." Gally said, with a smirk in Minho's direction. More guilt.

They moved at a faster pace than before, Minho leading ahead, sometimes shifting from his fast walk into a light jog, going up and knotting the vines and using the stone he had picked up to mark the wall with a tally. Nothing much caught their attention, no signs of life or of movement or of a way out. Newt was growing impatient, frustrated, and angry that he had allowed himself to raise his expectations so highly.

Minho stopped abruptly and spun on his heel to face them. He opened his mouth to speak and Newt cut him off before he had said a word.

"I'm sorry Minho, okay. I thought everything would slot in to place as soon as we got here, and the answers we all wanted would be within reach, but I was bloody stupid and so bloody naïve, I shouldn't have brought us out here. The whole day is nearly gone and we have nothing for Alby. Nothing."

Thomas

Thomas looked down at the screen, adjusting the camera to rest on Newt's face and feeling more guilty than he ever had for what he had done.

Thomas had those answers Newt so desperately wanted. He had those answers because, well, he designed the questions to every minute detail. Newt would not be standing there, upset, infuriated and trapped if it wasn't for Thomas, and despite the effort Teresa put in to convince him he was doing it for the greater good, the regret he felt was irrepressible. He had sent the boy that he loved into that Glade and into that Maze like a lamb for slaughter. Newt - and all of the others boys for that matter - knew nothing of what existed beyond the bubble they inhabited and what dangers and horrors came out to bite when the Maze doors closed and the sun dropped behind the walls.

Thomas jerked his head up as those thoughts crossed his mind, to gaze at the virtual sky that rested like a dome above the expanse of grass and stone that protected Newt, and felt his stomach begin to churn. The clock set up on the monitor was ticking, and taunting him, because he could do nothing. Nothing at all.

Dusk was upon them and the boys were far, far away from home.

ahhh hello !!!! it's been a very (very) long time, and i'm sorry. although, i am very thankful for the comments asking me to update and the encouragement too! i'm not really an active member of the maze runner fandom anymore, but i love these boys (and girls) immensely, and i couldn't leave them behind!

and besides, any writing practice is beneficial in the long run!

i hope you enjoyed this chapter. i have some ideas for how the rest of the story will pan out, some of them (i hope) you won't expect. coming soon :)

love you person reading this, hope ur safe, healthy and happy!
EDIT: thank u so much for 11k <33