Into The WICKED Maze | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

35. A fight

Steve looked around with a wild look, his eyes exactly like Stan's and at the sight of them I was transfixed. Because I was lying on the ground and out of his field of vision, but Minho had jumped up at the same time as him, he now fixed on him and with a loud growl that sounded like that of an animal, jumped towards him and pulled him down to the ground where the two of them rolled over. Steve was the one who landed on top and immediately began to strangle Minho, who had no chance.
At that stage they develop incredible strength.
I finally got control of my body back and jumped up, stumbling and almost falling down again. With the gladers screaming loudly, I rushed at Steve and pushed him off Minho, who lay gasping and unable to do anything, clutching his throat where faint marks of Steve's hands were already showing.
The force of my thrust had confused and briefly upset the boy. He fell down, but that didn't give me any advantage, because I was on the ground again, too. It wasn't long before he tried again to crawl towards Minho, who was still lying there panting, but I grabbed him by the foot and pulled him back, which to my astonishment I actually managed quite well.
Still, I knew I had no chance against him, just as I had had no chance against Stan then. All I could do was fight him until my strength failed me. Just like the last time.
But this time I wasn't alone, I remembered. All the gladers were gathered around us. Nick and Alby were there and they would intervene, wouldn't they? I glanced at them before Steve grabbed me and tried to choke me, too. But they just stood there, just like everyone else, staring at us.
I wanted to shout something, to ask them to help me. But I had to use all my strength to push Steve away from me. And I knew I wouldn't be able to do that for much longer.
The gladers screamed incessantly, but no one came to help me. What was wrong with Newt? Why didn't he do anything? Didn't he see that I was about to be killed? This time I didn't have a weapon to fight back with. - At least this way I couldn't do anything like I had done over two years ago.
With the last of my strength, I lashed out with my right fist and punched Steve in the face. I felt his nose break under my hand and felt warm blood splash my face, but I had had to take an arm off his shoulders for this last desperate attempt to fight back and only my left wasn't strong enough to keep him off me. Without me being able to do anything else, he put his hands on my throat and squeezed. Much stronger than I had remembered from Stan and so much so that I immediately began to see stars.
I knew I had lost and also that I had a serious problem if someone didn't help me soon, but I also felt almost immediately how none of that mattered to me as I slowly slipped into a faint, triggered by the lack of oxygen.
The last thing I was aware of before I passed out completely was two boys - and I knew immediately it was Newt and Gally - dropping their staffs and finally freeing me from Steve. Newt pushed him off me and Gally punched him so that he fell backwards and held his face, whimpering.
I could hear the gates starting to close and Gally yelling at him to get out. Someone - it had to be Fry Pan - threw a bag at him, which he, now back in his right mind, took and ran backwards towards the gate, looking down at me with an apologetic and horrified look, as I thought I saw before my eyes closed, before turning and running into the maze of his own free will.
Before the gate had closed completely, my consciousness slipped away completely and the last thing I felt was Newt lifting me up and carrying me away.
I saw Newt and Gally together overpowering a boy who was trying to bite and attack them. But this was not Steve, no, I did not know this boy, did not know his name. And yet I seemed to know who he was.
Before the dream ended - if it had been a dream - a name popped into my head.
George.
When I woke up again, I was lying on a bed in the sani hut. I tried to sit up, but my neck hurt so much that the pain made me fall back again.
I looked around cautiously and recognised Minho lying next to me, either still unconscious or asleep. Through the moonlight shining into the hut through the only window, I could only guess at the handprints on his neck, but they must be dark blue by now and I could imagine that I looked similar.
Suddenly something moved on my other side and I flinched in horror, but then recognised Newt, who was sitting on a chair, asleep. His hand was open beside mine and I had to smile as I imagined him sitting beside my bed holding it.
After some time of watching him sleep, someone opened the door of the hut and I recognised Clint who came in quietly to check on us. When he saw that I was awake, he immediately came to me and bent over me.
"How are you?" he asked quietly.
I wanted to answer, but immediately realised that speaking still hurt like hell and I couldn't get anything out except a croak, so I gave him a thumbs up. Considering the circumstances, I was fine, after all.
"Don't speak, okay? You'll find you don't want to speak at all, but please don't even try. Your larynx has been bruised pretty badly and your vocal cords need a bit of time to recover. If you speak, you'll only make it worse."
I nodded. He didn't need to worry about me trying to talk, that much was clear. My throat hurt far too much for that.
"Try to go back to sleep. That's when you'll get better the quickest. I'm going to check on Minho one more time and then go back to bed too, okay? You've got your personal protector with you."
He nodded in Newt's direction and winked at me, grinning. I nodded and had to smile too, looking at the sleeping boy in the chair. That comforting warmth spread through me again and I took his hand, still lying beside me, in mine.
34 months and 4 days.