The mute [Maze runner Minho X OC]

Chapter two

Piper woke abruptly, her heart racing from a strange, unsettling dream that lingered even as she blinked awake. She sat up, clutching the blanket around her shoulders, her eyes adjusting to the dim glow cast across the room. A quiet voice reached her from across the space.

"Can't sleep?" Thomas's voice was a soft murmur in the silence. He was watching her, his expression concerned but gentle. She nodded, giving him a small, tired smile. Thomas slipped out of his bunk and climbed up the ladder to her bed, settling beside her as she scooted over to make room.

They sat together in comfortable silence for a moment, each lost in thought. After a while, he glanced at her and chuckled. "Wanna talk about it? Or...sign about it?" he offered, catching her eye.

Piper shook her head, smiling a little, before reaching for the notepad she kept near her pillow. She scribbled a message and held it up for him to see: ''No, I'm alright. Just had a weird dream, that's all.''

He nodded, reading her words. She flipped to a new page, jotting down another question. ''Why are you up?''

Thomas hesitated, looking around the room cautiously before leaning in to explain. "I couldn't sleep either. I saw something tonight... Aris and I went through the vents, and... I don't even know how to explain it, but we saw bodies. Lined up, like..." He trailed off, his voice uneasy.

Piper tilted her head, scribbling, ''Aris?''

"The guy who's been here a week longer than us. We saw him in the cafeteria," he clarified. Her gaze shifted across the room, briefly landing on Minho, who was sleeping peacefully a few bunks away, before she looked back at Thomas, frowning.

"Do you trust these people?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper.

Piper's expression grew thoughtful, and after a moment's pause, she wrote, ''It's all too good to be true. We get out of the Maze, and suddenly these strangers are here, expecting us to follow along without question.''

Thomas read her words, his own unease reflected in his gaze. He placed a comforting hand on her knee, squeezing it gently. "We'll be okay," he murmured. "Try to get some sleep."

She nodded as he climbed back down, glancing over his shoulder to give her a reassuring smile before slipping under his own covers. Piper rolled onto her side, pulling the blanket up to her chin, cocooning herself in the warmth. Her gaze drifted to Minho once more, his face peaceful in sleep. She closed her eyes, her mind churning with questions and uncertainty, eventually letting the quiet rhythm of the room lull her back into an uneasy rest.

The next morning, the group sat tensely in the cafeteria, Teresa noticeably absent from their ranks. Piper sat across from Newt and Thomas, with Minho next to her, his hand clasped tightly around hers. Janson stood at the side, reading off names as each one was called out into the hall.

"Alice. Barry. Walt. Edgar. Samantha."

When Thomas leaned forward, his voice a low murmur of suspicion, everyone turned to listen. "I wanna know what's through that door."

Newt sighed, shaking his head. "We've been over this. You said they were covered up, so you don't know what you saw. It could've been anything under there."

Piper distractedly pushed her fork into her food, chewing in silence as she tried to tune out the discussion. But Thomas wouldn't drop it. He leaned in closer, voice taut with conviction. "I know exactly what I saw. They were bodies." His words lingered in the air, and Piper's gaze drifted across the group, gauging their reactions.