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

44. Nick's funeral

I could see that it wasn't just us runners sitting together, the slicers and Track-Hoes had also come together. The builders were all together building the coffin and Fry Pan, Clint and Jeff joined us after a few minutes.
Only Chuck was missing, for he was still asleep in Gally's hut. At some point he must have woken up too, because he plopped down silently on the floor next to me and stared blankly ahead. I could read on his face that he had seen so much in the brief second before I turned him away that he couldn't get it out of his head either. I wanted to put a hand on his shoulder, wanted to say something, but I couldn't think of anything.
We just sat there while the sun moved across the sky, reached its zenith, left it again and moved towards the walls behind which it would soon disappear, just as Newt loved it.
I looked over at him, he was by now sitting next to Alby, still with drooping shoulders and expressionless. I still wanted to go to him, but something in me stopped me. Far too great was the fear of the sight of Nick that haunted me.
"I'll go and make dinner then..." Fry Pan stood up irresolutely and looked towards the kitchen, lost in thought. He was about to start walking when Chuck jumped up.
"Can I help you, Fry?" he asked, and I thought I saw a gleam in Fry Pan's eyes. He was probably just happy that he didn't have to be alone, even if Chuck wasn't the biggest help in the kitchen.
So the two of them made their way to the kitchen, walking as far away from the pit shaft as possible.
After what felt like another eternity, I looked around at the group I'd been sitting here with for hours and met Minho's gaze.
"I think Gally and his boys are almost done. Maybe we should go to Alby and Newt?"
His voice still sounded busy and brittle, but his expression was almost back to his old self. I nodded, even though my body resisted going there.
We stood up, Clint did the same, and as we crossed the glade it wasn't long before Zart, Winston and Fry Pan, who had apparently left Chuck alone in the kitchen, also joined us. As we walked through the groups of gladers, I could still see horror and sadness in their faces. On some I also saw disappointment, almost resignation. At that moment, I wondered if perhaps Nick had been right about not telling the others that there was no exit out there.
As we walked past the builders, who by now had managed to make a whole coffin of glass just as Alby had wanted, Gally left the final touches to his boys and joined us, stepping up beside me and putting an arm around my shoulders. Only now did I realise I was shaking with fear.
We reached Newt and Alby - and what was left of Nick. This time I was prepared and careful not to look too closely. Instead, I just looked at Newt, whose face I could now see for the first time since the incident - and I was frightened.
I was sure I had never seen him like this in the last three years and I was really the one he was opening up to the most. His eyes were empty and stared dully ahead. Circles had formed under them from crying and they were swollen too. He just sat there and it was as if he didn't notice us at first because he was so preoccupied.
Alby didn't seem to notice us either, even when we were standing right next to them. Newt stirred a little, but he didn't look up either.
It was only when I broke away from Gally and went down on my knees in front of him, not thinking that only a metre or less away from me lay Nick's lifeless body, that he took his eyes off the ground for the first time. The emptiness in his eyes gave way to another emotion that I couldn't exactly title, because when I saw it, I overcame the last few inches between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. He returned the embrace and hugged me tightly. I felt him bury his face against my neck and warm tears soaked my top. Soothingly, I stroked his back and had to fight the tears myself.
And I lost the fight. It wasn't long before I was crying again too. So we sat there, next to Nick's corpse, next to the motionless Alby and surrounded by the other keepers. When I noticed a movement next to me, I opened my eyes and realised that Minho had crouched down between us and Alby and put a hand on the black boy's shoulder. When he didn't react, he pulled him closer without thinking and patted him a little awkwardly on the back.
I detached myself from Newt a little and crawled over to the two of them, also putting an arm around Alby and pulling Newt over with us. After a moment's hesitation, Fry Pan and Clint crouched down with us and Gally joined them, putting his arms around Newt and me. Finally Zart joined us and put his arms around Alby and Newt.
So we sat there holding each other. At that moment I remembered the moment in the meeting hut over three years ago when suddenly all the gladers were around me and we just hugged each other. Never before - and I was sure of this, even though I couldn't remember my life before - had I felt so connected to other people. And now, too, this feeling came up again, this communion and connectedness.
It was only when a clang was heard because the builders were putting the coffin down next to us that I opened my eyes again and looked around cautiously. When I saw that all the gladers were around us, I only realised how many we actually were. The sight of this wall of partly crying, partly completely confused boys around us overwhelmed me once more and I had to control myself not to start crying again.
Alby, who had apparently regained some strength, rose from our cluster of keepers and the rest of us slowly stood up as well.
From that moment on it was as if everything happened in slow motion. Gally opened the coffin lid, which was really all glass, and he, Minho, Clint and Winston carefully lifted Nick inside. The rest of the custodians stood in silence, me between Alby and Newt, who was still holding me tightly.
Gally closed the lid and I only now realised that they had written something on it. I couldn't make it out at first, but then read something like 'As a reminder that this is a prison and we are the prisoners' and wondered which of the builders had come up with that poetic saying. I guessed Gally.
Minho, Winston, Gally, Clint, Fry Pan and Zart now lifted the coffin and carried it towards the woods, while the rest followed like a funeral procession - which is what it was - led by Alby, Newt and me.
We took Nick to the other gladers who had found their final resting place or memory here and the custodians set him down. Silently everyone stood around the coffin until at some point Alby cleared his throat and began to speak.
"What happened today was terrible. And it shows us that those who imprisoned us here, those we call the 'creators', cannot be good. Some of you may have the same dreams I have, where you are told over and over again 'WICKED is good'. Don't believe it. If they were good, they wouldn't have locked us in here, taken away all our memories, created any critters we call Grievers that want to kill us and most importantly, they wouldn't have killed Nick today. Because that's what happened today - they murdered him. And he knew that could happen. Most of you probably thought you knew him and some did." At these words, his gaze lingered on Newt before moving to me. "But if you think Nick was crazy because he'd been locked up here for so long, you're wrong. He may have seemed that way at times, but in reality he was probably the only one who really understood that we were nothing more than prisoners. He just didn't want to take away your courage that we will still make it out of here one day. He didn't want to just stop believing that he would get you out of here one day. He wanted you to keep going, to not stop believing in the good, because he knew then the fight would be lost." Now he looked at me again, then at Minho. I felt the lump in my throat grow bigger again, knowing that his words had been addressed directly to us.
"All I want to say to you is that you must never stop believing that we will get out of here one day. Because if we give up hope, it's lost and we'll probably really never find a way out of here. I don't know where this exit is that Nick believed in, whether it's here or in the maze, but I know that I won't stop believing in it and I don't want you to stop either.
Nick went down that shaft because he had hope, but also because he was suspicious and didn't want to risk sending one of us down there. And now we know that his mistrust was justified. So, never stop hoping, but also don't forget who our enemy is and what they have done to us. Stay vigilant, keep doing what you have always done and do your best."
He nodded, indicating he was done, and a sad but loud applause broke out. We too clapped, had tears in our eyes and a thick lump in our throats because our leader, the one who had always been there since we were here, was dead. Because WICKED or whoever had killed him.
But Alby's words had given us hope again. I knew that tomorrow we would go back out into the maze and look for an exit, even though we knew we had actually been everywhere. We would keep going until Alby told us to stop or until we were all caught by a Griever.
36 months and 7 days.