Boxes [The Maze Runner ~ Newt] [BOOK 1]

Protect

CHAPTER THREE

The room felt so enclosed around Marie. All the boys slept soundly while she left her bed and sat in the corner trying to count her breaths. It felt stuffy and she had trouble breathing once again. Marie slammed her hands on the wooden walls, thinking it'll make the room bigger but it only made her realize how small it was. One thing she learned about herself that night was that she was claustrophobic.

Realization struck her like a punch to the face as she huddled up in that corner. Marie still felt like she was going home after tonight, but that wasn't going to happen. Nick said he had been here two years and had no luck at finding a way out through the Maze. Marie would have to deal with this personal hell for God knows how long. She was in a box within a box within a Maze that she'd probably never get out of. That was enough to make tears stream down her face and slowly make her go insane.

Marie couldn't take it anymore. She ran out of the room and downstairs, out of Homestead and to the open space in the middle of the Glade. She looked all around her. There were still tall cement walls keeping her as their prisoner. She had to leave- go through the Maze doors of she had to- but they were closed. Then there was a demonic wail coming from the inside of the Maze, making Marie yelp in fear. What was this place? How could she last a day in here? Who was the sick person to throw her into the Glade.

Newt awoke when he heard Marie running down the staircase. He sighed and got up so he could go after her and make sure she went back to bed. He followed after her as she ran out towards the Box. He hurriedly walked over to her when he heard her sobs and staggered breathing, beginning to feel concerned about the girl's well-being.

"Hey," Newt called out, "what's wrong?"

Marie turned around and glared at Newt with tears blurring her vision as her body shook frantically. He tried getting closer to Marie and attempted to rest his hand on her arm but she slapped his wrist out of fear before he could do so.

The girl turned back around and saw the Box. A million things ran through her mind in that moment. She remembered Nick saying that he didn't know where it came from, but Marie figured that if she went back inside it, it'd take her back to the person who put her in the Box. The short haired girl hopped back into the Box where the supplies that were with her were still there. She closed the metal doors behind her and held onto them so Newt couldn't get to her; so she could leave this place behind.

Newt banged his hands on the metal doors. "C'mon! Tell me what's wrong, Greenie-"

"Don't call me 'Greenie'!" Marie yelled at the top of her lungs. "Don't call me 'Greenbean'! Don't call me 'shank' or 'shuck' or anything! My name's Marie! Call me by my name! My name's Marie!"

The young girl slumped down to the cool, metal floor of the Box, tears cascading down her cheeks, her breathing shallow. She buried her face into the palms of her hands and tried to ignore her racing heart.

"My name's Marie..." she murmured one more time. "That's the only thing they let me keep. Please call me by my name."

Newt felt less tense when she slowly began to calm down. He peered at her through the links of the metal and watched her put her head between her knees and nodded, even when he knew she wasn't looking at him.

"Okay," Newt agreed. "I'm sorry. I'll call you by your name."

"Thank you," Marie choked up.

Newt figured she wouldn't be out of there as soon as he hoped she would, so he crossed his legs and sat on one of the doors, looking down at the weeping girl.

"So," the boy began, "why are you here? In the Box, I mean?"

Marie wiped her eyes and looked up. "I figured the Box could take me down and back to the Creators," she explained.