[Off Path] | Oath of Lies ~ Newt²

[0.2] Grief

[Newt/Thomas]

Newt was trying his best now, he was doing everything he thought she would want. He tried to have fun any time they had a bonfire, she always enjoyed them. He sat with the greenie staring at the now closed doors.

"Here, put some hair on your chest." He handed him a jar of whatever Gally's recipe was, watching him spit it out.

"Oh my god, what is that?"

"I don't even know, it's Gally's recipe, a trade secret."

"Yeah well he's still an asshole."

"He saved your life today, trust me, the maze is a dangerous place. He didn't used to be this bad either, ever since, nevermind." He stopped himself before he started on about Isa. Thankfully, the greenie didn't question that further.

"We're trapped here, aren't we?"

"For the moment, but, see those guys, there, by the fire? Those are the runners, that guy in the middle, that's Minho, he's the keeper of the runners. Now every morning when those doors open, they run the maze, mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out."

"How long have they been looking?"

"Three years."

"And they haven't found anything?"

"Easier said than done, listen." He paused for the boy to listen to the sounds of the maze. "Hear that, that's the maze, changing. Changes every night."
"How is that even possible?"

"You can ask the people who put us in here if you ever meet the bastards. Listen the truth is, the runners are the only ones who really know what's out there. They're the strongest and the fastest of us all and it's a good thing too cause if they don't make it back before those doors close, then they're stuck out there for the night, and no one's ever survived a night in the maze." No one's ever survived a night in the maze.

"What happens to them?"

"Well we call them grievers. Only one person had ever seen one and lived to tell about it, it came with a price though." Isa came back to his mind at the thought of her griever attack.

"What was the price? Who was he?"

"She." He corrected. "The only girl to ever come up in that box. She was a runner as well, one of the best. " His mood quickly declined.

"What happened to her, with the griever?" He hesitated before asking the question at all.

"She was out running the maze one day and it just happened. She was attacked, the griever got her right in the face so she had this scar going from her eye to her ear. Pretty badass if you ask me." Newt smiled at the memories.

"How'd she die?" It was quiet before he answered.

"The doors closed. She never came back, no one has ever survived a night in the maze. She was probably everyone's favorite person, she was really easy to like. I'll admit I took it the hardest but I'm not the only one who went a little crazy."

"What do you mean?"

"Minho, they were really close, acted like siblings. He hid out in the deadheads for a week. Frypan, he stopped working in the kitchen, I swear he wouldn't leave that place before her death. He was her comfort and she was his. And Gally, they had a rough start, she's the only one to have ever beaten him in the ring, but their friendship was unbreakable. It changed him, he was tough before but now.."

"He's an asshole?"

"He's an asshole." There was a pause. "Try not to mention her to them, I can barely handle talking about her, it's still fresh." The greenie nodded, knowing there was more to the story than Newt was leading on. "Right well, that's enough questions and sob stories for one night, come on, you're supposed to be the guest of honor."

-/-/-

[Alby/Thomas]

It was the next morning, it was time for Thomas to carve his name into the wall. Alby woke him up and walked him over.

"It's peaceful isn't it. I know it's hard to believe but it wasn't always this way. We had dark days, lost a lot of boys to fear, to panic. We've come far since then, established order, made peace."
"Why are you telling me this?"

"Cause you're not like the others, you're curious, but you're one of us now." Alby held the knife in his hand, placing it in Thomas's. "You need to know what that means." Thomas turned to look at the wall of names, some crossed off.

"What happened to them?"

"Like I said, dark days Thomas." He looked back at the wall noticing a particular name.

"Isadora, was that her name? The girl?" Alby nodded slightly.

"We called her Isa for short, or Is." Thomas ran his fingers over the name, he could've sworn he's heard that name before. He took a breath and brought the knife up to the wall before carving his name in it, running his hand across her name once more before leaving.