Every Heart a Maze | Newt & Thomas

Chapter 15

   A girl.

   Something so normal and yet so out of place. The Creators might as well have sent them an elephant and Newt would have been less surprised. What the hell were they thinking?

   It's a girl.

   Newt's declaration had caused a roar of voices, as all of them had started talking at once; Newt only caught pieces here and there. And he realized he had made a mistake. He should have sent everyone away once he'd realized something was wrong. The situation should have been handled more discreetly, but the sight of the girl had thrown him off so much that he hadn't thought that far. That certainly wouldn't have happened to Alby. He also for sure would have known what to do now. Newt, on the other hand, was at a loss.

   "A girl?"

   "I got dibs!"

   "What's she look like?"

   "How old is she?"

   Those were just the nicer things that were said. Newt felt sick looking at the lewd faces of his friends; he would have credited some of them with more decency. Tommy was standing in the front row, being one of the few boys to remain silent and it made Newt feel a surge of sympathy for him. And somehow he also felt relief.

   "That's not the bloody half of it," he said when he'd regained some of his composure, trying to drown out the voices of the excited boys crowding around the Box' hole, desperate to catch a glimpse of the girl. "I think she's dead."

   That eventually did the trick and shut everyone up.

   "What's in her hand?" Gally asked, who had previously also held back with offensive comments and just continued staring down at the girl. It was only now that Newt noticed the white rag clutched in the girl's right hand. Bending over the still figure, he freed the wadded piece of paper from her clenched fist. The girl's skin felt warm under his fingertips. Good, he thought, maybe that meant she wasn't dead after all.

   His hands were shaking as he unfolded the sheet. In hasty handwriting but legible letters, five words were scribbled on it. Newt read them once, twice. Then he read them out aloud, hoping they might make sense.

She's the last one EVER

   His eyes darted at those standing above him; about fifty faces mirrored his own confusion. "What the hell does that mean?"

   He had hardly asked that question when the girl shot up into a sitting position. As she sucked in a huge breath, her eyes snapped open and she blinked, looking around at the crowd surrounding her. Some of the boys gasped, stumbling backwards away from the Box. Newt didn't move, his gaze locked on the girl, frozen in fear.

   Burning blue eyes darted back and forth as she took deep breaths. Her pink lips trembled as she mumbled something over and over, indecipherable. Then she spoke one word – her voice hollow and haunted, but clear.

   "Thomas."

   As her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell back to the ground, Newt avoided looking at Thomas. But he for sure knew that everyone else's eyes were on him right now.

   An odd moment of complete silence hung over the Glade. It was as if a supernatural wind had swept through the place and sucked out all sound. Newt would have expected shouts and questions, arguments. Instead of erupting in confusion, the Gladers all stood dumbfounded.

   "Do you still think I'm overreacting?" Gally finally asked, into the unnatural absence of noise. He glared at the Greenie, as if Thomas alone were responsible for the entire mess of the Maze and the Glade and the Grievers. "You know this girl, shank?"

   Before Gally could press Thomas any further, Newt nimbly climbed out of the Box and stood between the two boys. "Tommy, I want you to go to the Homestead and wait for me. Can ya do that?"

   Thomas nodded, turning his back on the scene, probably more than happy about getting away from the prying eyes of the other boys. Newt watched him go, refusing to turn to face Gally, fearing the reproach that would be written all over the Builder's face.

   "Med-jacks!" he exclaimed, knowing that Clint and Jeff had to be very close.

   The two boys immediately pushed their way through the crowd. "So what do we do with her?" Jeff asked, nodding towards the Box.

   "How should I know? Newt said. "You two shanks are the Med-jacks – figure it out."

   Clint was already climbing into the Box, kneeling beside the girl, feeling for her pulse and leaning over to listen to her heartbeat.

   "Who said Clint had first shot at her?" someone yelled from the crowd. Several barks of laughter followed as if the comment were nothing more than a joke. But Newt wasn't in the mood for a laugh at all.

   "I'm next!" Someone else bawled.

   "If anybody touches this girl, you're gonna spend the night sleeping with the Grievers in the Maze." Gally's eyes were narrowed and his mouth was pulled into a tight grin that didn't look like it had anything to do with humour. "Banished, no questions." He paused, turning in a slow circle as if he wanted every person to see his face. "Nobody better touch her! Nobody!"

   It was the first time in a long while that Newt had actually liked hearing something come out of Gally's mouth.

   Clint stood up from his examination. "She seems fine. Breathing okay, normal heartbeat. Though it's a bit slow. Your guess is as good as mine, but I'd say she's in a coma. Jeff, let's take her to the Homestead."

   With Gally's help, the two Med-jacks got the girl out of the Box. They lifted her with a quick jerk, almost throwing her in the air - she was obviously a lot lighter than they'd thought - and Newt almost shouted at them to be more careful.

   "Guess we'll have to see what she does," Jeff said to no one in particular. "We can feed her soupy stuff if she doesn't wake up soon."

   "Just watch her closely," Newt said. "Must be something special about her or they wouldn't have sent her here. Put her next to Alby's room, and keep a watch on her day and night. Nothin' better happen without me knowing about it."

   "Yeah," Jeff muttered; then he and Clint shuffled off to the Homestead, the girl's body bouncing as they went.


   Thomas had been waiting for him in the entrance area of the Homestead. His face buried in his hands, as if he wanted to shut the world out. When he noticed Newt entering, he stood. The two Med-jacks carried the girl past him up the stairs. Thomas stared after them - no, her - and something in Newt's stomach tightened. He grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him with him. Thomas didn't fight it, but was thrown off balance by Newt's firm grip, stumbling rather then walking up the stairs.

   They passed the room where Alby, tied to a camp bed, was plagued with the effects of the Changing. The door was open and they saw him gasping, and struggling against the bonds. At least he'd stopped screaming. Thomas slowed, spellbound by the sight of the suffering boy, but Newt relentlessly dragged him on.

   Only when they reached the motionless figure of the girl – who'd by now also been placed on a camp bed – did he let go of Thomas. The boy rubbed his maltreated wrist and Newt almost felt sorry for handling him so roughly. But when he saw the way Thomas was looking down at the girl, any compassion he had previously felt evaporated and was replaced by rawer and more overwhelming emotion.

   "What, you recognize her?" he said crudely, arms crossed in front of his chest. All of a sudden he felt like crying. Was he actually jealous of a comatose girl now?

   "No," said Thomas without taking his eyes off her.

   "Really?" Newt wanted to believe Thomas, but at the same time some irrational anger was about to cloud his mind. "Cause she seemed to recognize you."

   Thomas didn't answer for a long time, and when he did, he tried to deviate from the subject. "What about the note?"

   "We'll worry about the note later."

   "I think you should worry about it now." He could feel Thomas's intent gaze on him, and it somehow filled him with satisfaction that the boy's attention was now back on him and no longer on the girl. Still, it took Newt a moment to bring himself to look up. It took every effort he could muster to look into those amber eyes, which immediately captivated him so much that it now became impossible for him to break away from them again.

   "We've got enough to deal with at the moment." He said, swallowing. Thomas relentlessly kept the eye contact, and as it had happened before, Newt felt like the Greenie was challenging him in a way.

   "He's right, Newt." Jeff said, breaking the spell. "If the Box isn't coming back up, how long do you think we can last?"

   "No one said that." It wasn't as if that thought hadn't already occurred to Newt, but he wouldn't share such worries with the others yet. His current position as leader required him to keep a cool head, he couldn't display his own fears, after all, it was his duty to give the Gladers confidence even when he was lacking any himself. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. We'll just wait until she wakes up and see what she knows. Somebody has gotta have some bloody answers around here."

   "Okay," said Thomas, determination evident on his face. He turned on his heel and was halfway out the door before Newt could have stopped him.

   "Where are you going?"

   "Back into the Maze."

   Stunned, Newt looked at Jeff, as if hoping for confirmation that he had just misheard what Thomas had said. None came, the Med-jack only shrugged.


   Newt stormed out of the room and down the stairs, catching up with Thomas when the boy had almost reached the East Door.

   "Hey. Hey, Thomas," he called out for him. but the Greenie ignored him and kept going without slowing down. Newt jogged around him, but it wasn't until he put a hand on his chest that Thomas finally stopped and looked at him. "What is this with you? A bloody death wish? You just got out of that buggin' Maze and now you want back in?"

   Thomas bit his lower lip, obviously bugged by something. He sighed. "Newt, you're the one who told me that no one has ever seen a Griever and lived to tell about it, right?" Newt just stared at him, guessing what Thomas was getting at. "And now we have one. You're telling me you're not even a little bit curious?"

   "Not really, no," Newt lied, hoping it would slow the Greenie down a bit. It did the opposite though, and Thomas was about to just leave Newt standing. Again Newt was forced to stop the stubborn boy with a hand in front of his chest. No, he certainly did not have a problem with physical contact when the situation called for it. Looking Thomas straight in the face, he once again exposed himself to the danger of those eyes.

   "So, what's the plan? You're gonna go out and dissect that thing all by yourself?"

   "I will if I have to." Newt knew Thomas would. The only way to stop him now would be to lock him up in the Slammer. But Newt wouldn't do that to him. He'd rather support the Greenie, even though the thought of him going back into the Maze made him anything but comfortable. Even though, no one would understand it – not even Newt himself for that matter – but the trust he set in Thomas was unconditional.

   Thomas' eyes narrowed, perhaps noticing Newt's change in attitude, sensing that he'd made up his mind.

   "I think it's time we find out what we're really up against," he said, imploringly looking up to Newt.

   "All right," Newt gave the slightest nod. "But you're not going back out there alone. I would come myself, but I think someone else would be more suitable."

   For the second time that day, Newt grabbed Thomas wrist - this time being careful to be a little more gentle with him - and dragged the boy with him.

   "Let's find Minho," he said, responding to the confused look on Thomas' face.


   The Runner's Keeper was exactly where Newt expected him to be. In the kitchen, about to beg Frypan for a snack between meals. Of course Chuck was there too, happily munching on a sandwich.

   "Hey, Newt. Thomas," the chef greeted them with a nod as they entered.

   "Newt! Glad you're here! Our buddy Frypan, shucking self-proclaimed grouch and tormentor of Runners, refuses to hand me a sandwich. Could you like back me up with this?"

   "As always, Minho's a drama queen," Frypan said. "Lunch's less than two hours away, you'll do till then shank."

   "But Chuck gets something too!" replied Minho, pointing accusingly at the younger boy.

   "He's a kid, man. He's still growing. He needs a little extra nutrients from time to time."

   "And I'm a Runner, what about my extra nutrients?"

   "What running did you do today?"

   The Korean boy gruffed and Newt thought it was the perfect moment to step in and make his point.

   "Minho, I have to ask you for something that you're not going to like at all."

   Minho looked at him frankly and folded his arms across his chest, making his muscles bulge. "Then get it over with, I'm listening."

   "Well, it's about the dead Griever, I think we should take a closer look at it. And by we I actually mean-"

   "You thought?" Minho said, raising his eyebrows, glancing back and forth between the two boys in front of him. Newt realized he was still holding Thomas' hand and immediately let go of it. "Am I right to assume that our Greenbean here actually is the one dying to go out there and have a look at that thing he killed? And you came here to ask me to go with him and babysit a little?"

   Newt chose to be honest with Minho. He couldn't fool him anyway. "Nobody can see you, neither when you leave the Glade nor when you come back. Got it?"

   "So it's not really a request, it's a command?"

   "Otherwise he'll go alone, you know he will, and I can't allow that."

   "You could just lock him in the Slammer. Get him locked in the Slammer if you don't want to do it yourself," Minho suggested, but his tone revealed he wasn't all that serious about it.

   "Minho I -," Newt began but was once more interrupted by Minho.

   "I'll do it, but I have my price." He looked meaningfully in Frypan's direction. Newt rolled his eyes.

   "Alright, get the man his bloody sandwich," he said to Frypan, who reluctantly complied.

   "Actually I'd prefer it if it wasn't too bloody," Minho called after him as Frypan disappeared to the back of the hut where they were storing the supplies. The cook flipped him off as he disappeared behind a shelf.

   Newt rolled his eyes again at this sublimely bad pun. Chuck, on the other hand, seemed to share Minho's lousy sense of humor as he laughed, his mouth filled with half-chewed bread. Shortly thereafter, Frypan returned with the sandwich and gave it to Minho, who beamed at it.

   "This conversation never happened," Newt addressed Chuck and Frypan now. "If someone asks where Minho and Tommy are, we have no bloody idea. Got it?"

   "Good that," Frypan said, gesturing to shut his mouth and hurl the imaginary key away. Chuck nodded diligently.

   "Good that," Newt said, motioning for the Runner and the Greenie to leave. "I'll expect you guys back in two hours. If ya make it to lunch, no one will ask questions."

________________
Authors note:
   Just two things:
   Firstly, I know that those heroic lines said by Gally are stolen from Alby. In the books it's actually him admonishing the Gladers not to touch Teresa and threatens them with Banishment if they still do. But as you know I bent the canon a bit and in movie!verse Alby is in the middle of Changing by the time Teresa arrives. However, I just didn't think it suited Newt to make such threats, so I had Gally say it instead..

   I also know that book!Gally is actually meant to be the epitome of a bully. But since I'm in the process of expropriating James Dashner of his characters, I took the liberty of going with Will Poulter's interpretation of Gally rather then the pretty one-dimensional character we meet in the books.

   Mainly because I feel like he's been wronged in the books for the most part. He may be an ass, but he does have a valid point in being suspicious about Thomas.

   Secondly, I want to apologize to all Thominho-shippers for ripping you of a scene between Minho and Thomas. But this fic is about Newtmas and I felt like it would give the story a better flow having Newt running after Thomas and confronting him about going out into the Maze again after he'd just returned.

   Having said that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm really glad you've actually read this far! 🖤