centre | newtmas au

36

Newt
The boys stood around the fire in a circle, and Newt watched as the shadow of the flames danced across their faces. Some of them were unsure and turned to whisper to one another, and he noticed in particular, that Gally was hanging back.
Thomas and Teresa stood beside him and Alby, staring at each other intently like they were communicating, but only with their eyes. Newt tried not to think too hard about it.

"Okay, okay" Alby began, raising his hands to silence them. A hush fell over the glade, all eyes tracking the four who stood on the platform. "Thomas has something he needs to say and he's asking you to trust him"
One of his hands was brushing against Thomas' and he resisted the urge to hold it when he saw it was shaking slightly. Thomas had barely shared any of what he had discussed with Teresa with Newt, but he was sure it was for good reason. He waited in just as much anticipation as the other boys.

"I put you here" Thomas stated, his voice cracking momentarily. Newt's body went stiff and he moved his hand away, clutching it to his body, away from Thomas. It was not an act meant to hurt him, but he knew it did.
"Teresa and I, we worked with those creators, the people I now know to be WCKD"
The boys shifted uncomfortably, some of them raising their voices. Despite Alby's discomfort, he silenced them with a trembling hand.
"While I was up there, I leaked co-ordinates to an anti-WCKD organisation, who have organised a blackout for the next 30 minutes" he said this, and looked apprehensively at Teresa.
"Which means WCKD cannot see or hear us from the compound, so we can freely talk of..." she paused. "Of escape"

At these words, Alby's head snapped around to meet Newt's eyes and Gally stumbled forward, pushing his way through the few boys in front of him.
"We're getting out of here?" he asked.
All Teresa could do was nod.
"And how to we know we can trust these people?" Jeff asked from the middle of the crowd.
"I worked closely with them for weeks, behind the backs of WCKD, finishing the work that Thomas started. Mary, their leader, had one intention, and it was one that we shared; to get you guys out" she stopped for a moment. "And if you knew what was out there, you'd know we have no choice but to trust them" she finished.

"Why did you do it?" Frypan asked quietly, looking between the two speakers.
"We got there the same way you all did. We were taken from the same school, dragged in the night, claimed to be "needed"" Thomas said. "I knew it was wrong, from the moment they took you into the maze, from the moment I had to watch you forget. So, I did whatever I was capable of to make it right. And it got me landed in here"
A few boys nodded, and Newt felt the tension in his body begin to ease. Teresa began to speak.
"I was blindsided by what WCKD had done for me. They took me in when I was orphaned and lost, and it gave me a purpose. A purpose that I realised far too late was leading me down the wrong path." She breathed in, a pained expression passing briefly over her face. "But Thomas wasn't like me. He fought for you and he ached for you. You were his friends, the people he loved most" (said with a glance to Newt) "I could see the regret in him everyday. By all means feel your anger, in fact, you're entitled to feel it, but not at Thomas. Anyone but Thomas" she pleaded.
Thomas placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, and their eyes connected fiercely for a moment, just like Newt had seen earlier. He averted his eyes.
"I'm sorry isn't going to cut it, but I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me, forgive both of us" he said, sweeping a hand and gesturing towards himself and Teresa. His eyes locked on Newt's then, and despite all the hurt he felt, he was not capable of being angry. He responded with a simple and soft nod. Thomas' features relaxed.

"Mary is coming." Thomas announced, the words washing over the boys, lulling their anger. "We're going to go someplace safe, with no shucking grievers, where we can live without fear and where they won't be watching us"
"Sounds good to me" Winston exclaimed, receiving  nods and murmurs of agreement in response.
"When?" Newt asked.
"She's going to send the box up as a signal in the morning before she arrives" he replied.
Newt nodded, and his eyes shot to the opening in the ground a few metres away from where they were gathered. He had never wanted to hear that bloody clunking more in his life.
"Thank you" Alby said, looking to Teresa. "You did what you could. That's always enough"
Newt watched tears spring to her eyes. He couldn't imagine the guilt she carried with her, which of course, was a guilt that Thomas now shared. He'd share the weight with him, just like he did with everything else. That's what they did for each other.

"But stay quiet about it" Thomas said. "The blackout is almost over, and we can't risk them knowing anything about it"
The boys nodded and began to disperse, walking back to their daily tasks, standing a little straighter, a little spring in their step. A little hope clutching at their hearts.
A strange sadness had settled over Newt, as he watched this scene unfold for one of the last times.
"We're reaching the end of the line" Alby said, coming over and slinging a friendly arm over Newt's shoulder.
"We are" he responded, grateful for the weight of it, grounding him.
"You did good" Alby said, with a bright smile.
"We did good" he corrected.
"Yeah, damn right we did" Alby said finally. "It's about time we got to put our feet up"
Newt laughed at this, feeling the sun on his skin and bouncing on the heels of his feet, feeling the familiar softness of the ground under his shoes.
"I'll miss this place" Alby said.
"Yeah. Me too"

this was very dialogue heavy i'm sorry!!! but obviously it covered very necessary things so i hope u were able to enjoy it still :)
& thank you for 1k votes and 25k reads 😚😚
see u soon