centre | newtmas au

23

Newt

The boys stood next to each other, hearts racing, uncomfortably bending their necks to look at the sky. It was a lot darker than Newt had thought. 

"Well what now, shuckhead?" Minho said, with a snarl, looking at Newt, then at Gally and then back at Newt. 

"Look, we'll be okay as long as we make it back before the doors close." Newt said, glancing nervously back into the the cavernous maze, which was progressively getting darker, and subsequently, it was making him more afraid. "We've got the tied ivy, it'll be fine" 

Minho shook his head with a sneer that made Newt squirm with guilt. "They'd help if we could actually see them, so unless you've got magical flame producing powers, we've just KILLED ourselves" 

Minho was becoming inconsolable, and Gally could tell, but he wasn't known for his ability to calm people down, so he just raised an expectant eyebrow at Newt. 

"Bloody hell Minho, I'm sorry. I already made that clear, but there's nothing we can do now, so we better bloody leg it and before you know it, we'll be back in the glade, safe and sound." 

Minho sighed and hung his head. Newt put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Besides, we don't know what's out here, could be some bloody bunny rabbits for all we know." 

This got a laugh and so Newt was satisfied. He rolled his shoulders back and looked up at the sky, it wasn't quite pitch black yet - they had time. 

He turned his head around the nearest corner and spotted a knot in the vine on the left wall. He headed confidently towards it, calling the others two to follow behind, and as the maze became enclosed in further darkness, they worked cautiously around the corners, sticking closely to each other, so close in fact, that Newt felt Minho's quick breath on the back of his neck, and it comforted him. He was more scared than he was letting on, but, 'if you ain't scared, you ain't human', Alby had always said. 

Thomas 

"Teresa, I won't do it." he said, frantically. 

Teresa was looking at him, and somehow it was both a condescending look, but also a look of intense guilt and sympathy. "You know you have to, Tom" she said, putting her hand on top of his. He pulled his quickly away, and she flinched, although he knew she understood. 

"But you know exactly why I can't" he whispered, feeling completely hopeless. 

Teresa turned to look around the room. Janson was whispering to Chancellor Paige in the corner, and Thomas could feel Janson's eyes burning into his neck, while simultaneously, feeling Chancellor Paige's soft, pity filled gaze washing over him, without ever meeting her eyes. 

"Thomas, you know this is the only way..." Janson said, in such a way that made Thomas jump up from his chair and inhale a sharp and aggressive breath. 

"The only way to what, Janson? The only way to kill the person I-" he dropped his eyes. "The only person who's ever really known me." Thomas could almost feel Teresa's hurt to that. He'd apologise later. 

"You know, Thomas, that's not what we want to do. You know it's for the greater good." Ms Paige said, taking a step towards him. Thomas took a step back. 

"Letting some god damn GRIEVERS on them is not for the greater good, and shit, forgive me if I've got things twisted, but what about murder is for the greater good? I can't take this anymore. It needs to stop." 

"Thomas, you know when it'll stop. When we get what we need to find a cure." Ms Paige said, with an outstretched hand.

"I'm a kid, sure, but I'm not dumb enough to believe that there's really a way out of this. You've got to accept that in the end-" Thomas' voice and legs shook, his anger and lack of eating lead him to feel light headed. "-In the end, you've stripped me of what made me a kid, what made all of us kids" he said, beckoning to the boys on the screen behind him, "and sent us out to die." 

Thomas hadn't noticed, but he was crying. For himself, and for Teresa, and even for Gally, but most of all, he was crying for Newt. 

"Teresa." he said, connecting with her in his head. 

"There's something I have to do. Please stall them. And I'm sorry, about everything I said, you're the only one left in this place that I trust."

"I know, Tom. I'll do what I can, but try not to do anything dumb."

Thomas walked shakily towards the door, stopping in front of Janson. "I'm going to bed."

Janson opened his mouth to speak. "Yeah, WCKD is good, whatever." Thomas said, not giving him the satisfaction of saying the words himself. 

He watched the door slide mechanically open in front of him, and he stepped out into the perfectly white and sterile hallway. He waited until he was sure they weren't looking at him, and he walked in the opposite direction of his bedroom. He was headed towards Janson's office. He hoped Teresa would give Newt more time. 

Newt 

It had been about 30 minutes since they had started to make their way back. It was pitch black now, and they struggled to see the knots in the vines, but they moved slowly, and carefully, and for the most part, they felt safe. 

Gally did, clearly. He was whistling again, and it bounced freely off the walls and into the open air, echoing clearly above the three of them. Minho and Newt had tried to shut up him, but as it was making them uncomfortable, Gally had no visible intention of stopping. Newt hated him. He felt like maybe he had some innate instinct that made him hate bullies like Gally. Maybe it was something from his life before the maze.

Newt took a few steps forward and turned his head around the corner of the next wall, before he heard a clank, like something hitting the ground. He flicked his head swiftly back towards Minho and Gally, and saw that all their make-shift spears were still firmly in their hands. 

"If that wasn't one of us, what was it?" Newt said, warily. 

They heard it again, and it felt like it was getting closer. 

hi hi!! sorry it's been months (again). i hope we're all doing ok in lockdown, if that's what your country is doing right now, and if not, hope you're ok anyway! 

had the absolutely awful idea to have a maze runner marathon this weekend, on a complete whim, after not having seen tdc since 2019. i very much regret it because i am HEARTBROKEN all over again, and even more so this time because there's no press or cast content to cheer me up... send help. 

but, as i'm as much in love with my gladers as ever, i'll probably upload a few more chapters than usual, because it makes me feel like they're all still together and happy lol </3

anyway hope u enjoy !!!!!!! next few might b a little crazy. thank u for ur patience :)

EDIT: gonna write a next chapter asap because i'm in my newtmas era, so i'll probably post it when i hit 13k! look out for it