The Beginning of the End // The Maze Runner // Newt

// Chapter 4 //

The Gladers had struggled to comprehend what had just happened and they just stood frozen in the exact positions they were in as the Doors closed, sealing them into the Glade and the three other boys into the Maze.

This had never happened before and none of them knew how to react.

"Shuck!" Athena gasped as she thought about her friends trapped in the Maze, never coming back, "SHUCK!" She felt anger bubbling inside of her but she had no idea how to let it out. Anger towards herself for causing this in the first place, anger towards the Grievers who would surely rip her friends apart, anger towards the Creators for putting them in there in the first place and angry at Thomas for condemning himself without reason.

She had barely spoken to the boy before but she could tell he was curious and smart yet his will was what was got him killed. He wanted to do whatever he could to make sure his friends survived. Athena was angry at him for it but couldn't blame him in the slightest for she was about to do the same thing and would have had Newt and Gally not stopped her.

"We'll, uh, have a Gathering tomorrow to see where to go from here, get some rest for now, guys." Newt said, finally breaking the silence and taking up his role as a leader. After all, when Alby wasn't around, Newt was and everyone seemed to know and accept that.

"Dinner should be ready by now." Frypan said sadly, walking away slowly with the rest of the boys trailing after him. Newt gave her a sad, worried look and followed the group leaving Chuck with Athena by the Doors.

The young boy opened his arms and Athena gladly wrapped him in a hug. She didn't need to see his face to imagine the sadness etched upon it. She knew how close he had gotten with Thomas over the past couple of days.

"They'll make it." He whispered.

"Don't get your hopes up, Chuckles," she said, stroking his hair, "Do you remember what I told you?"

"No one survives a night in the Maze. It's best to just forget about them." Athena nodded.

"If they do by some miracle survive, then we can celebrate but it's best not to get your hopes up because when it doesn't happen, it'll make it all the more painful." She spoke slowly and wisely, a part of her knowing the pain of getting your hopes up.

"But what do we do if we don't have hope? Isn't hope what is going to get us out of here?"

"There is no hope, Chuck! Don't you see?" Athena pulled out of the hug and held him at shoulder length, "We've been trying to find a way out for years and we still haven't found it! And it's not because we can't – it's because there is no way out. We're stuck here and all we can do is survive." She let go of his shoulders and stalked off back to the Homestead.

Athena had gotten half way across the massive Glade when the regret started to set in. She didn't actually believe what she said. She still had a small flicker of hope trying to ignite somewhere buried deep within her by the constant thoughts of doom. Hope was a strong emotion and it was all that could get them out of there eventually. As long as people still had hope, they still had a chance. Once that was gone, their fate would be sealed and Athena hated herself for talking to the young boy like that. He deserved better.

She headed straight to her room, avoiding the curious glances from the boys she passed. They could tell she wasn't being herself and she didn't want to talk to them about it. When she finally reached her room, she finally broke.

The anger, guilt, fear she had been holding in the past couple of days finally became too much and she exploded. She picked up the small stool by the door and hurled it at the wall. A couple of the wood planks in the wall got dented and Athena knew that had she thrown it with a fraction more force, they would have broken for sure. The stool rebounded onto the floor with a thump and lay abandoned by her bed.

Having quickly gotten rid of her rage in that swift action, she leaned against the wall and sunk to the floor, curling her legs up against her chest and hiding her face in her knees while sobs continued to wrack her body.

Meanwhile, Newt headed down the corridor in the Homestead, heading to his room to turn in for the night when he heard a loud bang and followed where it came from to Athena's room.

"Athena? Are you alright? I heard a bang or something. Is everything okay?" Newt called from outside the door. "Can I come in?" He asked once more but still there was no reply. "Alright, I'm coming in." He finally decided, starting to worry about the radio silence.

He peeked his head around the door and saw the girl sitting on the floor, looking more defeated than he had ever seen her. Not saying anything, he closed the door behind him and went and sat next to her.

He didn't want to scare her but he also wanted her to know that he was there for her but he knew asking questions wouldn't do much unless she wanted him to know what was going on.

After a little while of sitting in silence on the hard floor, Athena readjusted wrapping him in a hug while she sobbed into his shoulder. He held her close, stroking her hair gently and hushing her softly.

"I'm sorry," Athena said, pulling away and wiping her eyes, "I don't know - I mean - I just," She hiccupped.

"It's okay, love, you've been through a lot these past couple of days." Newt reassured her, knowing what it was like to be feeling down, "I know you and Ben were good friends."

"What about you? How are you feeling?" Athena asked, moving back to lean against the wall while she dried her face with her sleeve.

"I'm fine." Newt lied. In truth, he wasn't fine. Who really was when that was their answer?

"I might not have known you for as long as some of the other guys here but four months is long enough for me to be able to tell when you're lying."

"Everything's just falling apart. I just need to adjust to being in charge, I guess. Even when Alby was out in the Maze, he was still there and he always came back and sorted everything out... They were my best mates, and the Greenie showed promise." He sighed.

"Listen, you ever need a help then I'm your girl for the job, okay? Regardless, everyone here supports your good ideas, so don't worry about them. And I know it doesn't count for much because it won't bring them back, but I'm sorry about Minho and Alby, even Thomas. I know how close you were with them." A ghost of a smile became visible on his face for a second but it was enough to lift Athena's spirits.

"Have... have there ever been three people trapped in the Maze at once?" Athena looked up at Newt who met her gaze.

"No."

"Then there's still a chance, right?" Athena thought about Chuck's hope for their survival and the guilt became more evident.

Newt didn't answer.

Athena leaned her head on his shoulder as they sat in the comfortable silence despite the heavy lingering mood. She didn't know why but, in that moment, she felt at peace. As though everything would turn out okay, like her dreams were just harmless figments of her imagination and they were someplace safe and not in a death-trap of a Maze.

As they sat, their hands were almost touching. Newt's hand moved slowly, reaching over to hers where it finally came to a stop. He didn't know why he did it, but he was relieved when she didn't flinch away. His hand was rough with callouses from working in the Gardens but Athena savoured the feeling of her hand in his.

"Nice bracelet, by the way." He mumbled, running his finger over the silver infinity symbol.

"Thanks." Athena blushed slightly, a small smile playing on her lips, and as they sat in the dark and quiet, the familiar feeling she got of butterflies fluttering in her stomach when she was around Newt, which she had successfully pushed away up until that point, finally settled down for the night.