We Didn't Start the Fire - Book 1 (Newt x OC) (Maze Runner)

Chapter 7 - The Firsts

The morning was just as quiet as the night before. Plune and Newt got up early, getting ready for the day in silence. They passed what they needed back and forth before exiting their room and meeting Alby and Minho near the doors of the maze.

"We'll retrace Ben's route and try to find where he was stung," Alby explained the plan as the four stood in the dawning light.

"Having Grievers out during the day could make things difficult," Minho added.

"Hopefully it was just a fluke," Plune told them. "Just a one time thing." They all nodded, turning as the doors started to open. Plune sighed after they finished opening and the corridor was empty. "Be careful, alright?" she said and the two nodded.

"Take care of them while we're gone."

"We always do," Newt told him and he gave them a smile before he and Minho took off.

"Plune," Gally said, making her and Newt look away from the walls, "it's time." She nodded, Newt giving her hand a small squeeze before she followed Gally. Newt joined the rest of the boys as they woke up, going to get breakfast. Plune and Gally went over to the wall with all of their names and he held out a chisel and hammer. She looked at them, up to his face, and then back at the tools before taking them. He held a torch, allowing more light than the small bit of the rising sun as she stuck the chisel, scratching a line through Ben's name.

***

"Alright, but why would Alby go in the maze?" Thomas asked from where he sat on a fallen log as Zart and Newt chopped at a stump. "I mean, he's not- He's not a runner."

"Things are different now," Newt explained as he continued hacking at the wood. "Alby went to retrace Ben's footsteps before sundown. Look, are you gonna help?"

"Okay, so he's gonna go back to where Ben was just stung-" he ignored Newt's last sentence.

"Alby knows what he's doing, alright? He knows better than any of us."

"What does that mean?"

Newt sighed, standing up and rubbing right behind his right ear. "Alright, it's like you've heard, yeah? Every month, the box sends up a new arrival, but someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade alone. And that was Alby." He went back to hitting the stump. "I mean, it can't have been easy. Plune's told me about the first month she was up here. But when those other boys started coming up, one after the other, he saw the truth. And he learned that the most important thing is that we all have each other." He stopped and looked up at Thomas. "'Cause we're all in this together. Alby and Plune built this place from the ground up. Now it's up to all of us to keep it going." Thomas nodded, watching Newt and Zart as they continued working before standing and coming to help hit the base of the tree. "Yeah. There you go, Greenie."

***

Her breaths were erratic as the box she was in continued to go up, lights flashing by her. "Help! Please!" she screamed, her voice becoming hoarse from all of her screaming and crying. "Please!" she continued to yell as tears fell down her face and she cowered in the corner, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her head into her thighs to try to escape the feeling of the walls crushing her. Suddenly, the movement stopped and light streamed in from above her. She slowly looked up, trying to make her body smaller.

"Hello?" a voice called, a face appearing. "Hey," he smiled as he caught sight of her, but it fell when he saw how panicked she was. He gently hopped down into the box, holding out a hand to her. "It's alright."

"I... I can't..." she tried to get out, but she couldn't catch enough breath.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Can I get you out?" She nodded and he gently grabbed her hand, helping her stand before pulling her out of the box. She sat down, catching her breath as she looked around the open, green forest around her. "You doing better?" he asked as he squatted in front of her. She nodded as she felt her breathing return to normal. "The box can be pretty scary. Waking up with a blank mind."

She shook her head, "I just don't like small spaces."

"Do you remember things then?"

"I..." She stopped as she thought about it, trying to remember anything. "I..."

"It's alright. I didn't either when I came up."

"How long did it take for it to come back?"

"My name? I got it back the second morning. Everything else though," he sighed, "it's just gone."

"Everything?"

"Other than basic concepts, yeah. No memories of people or parents, but I know I have them. No memories of places outside of here, but I know they exist."

"Where even is here?"

He smiled. "I call it the Glade. I'm Alby," he held out his hand and she looked at it before shaking it.

"I don't know mine," she admitted with a shy smile.

"That's alright. For now, I'll call you... Greenie."

"Greenie?"

"No offense, but you looked a little green when you came up." She laughed, making him smile. "Come on. I'll show you around." He helped her off the ground and he showed her around.

"Where's everyone else?" she asked after he finished the short tour of everything he had created.

"It's just me. At least until you came up."

"How long have you been up here?"

"One month."

"By yourself?" He nodded. "Well, looks like I'm gonna be your best friend then."

He smiled. "I don't have a problem with that. If others keep coming up, we're all gonna need each other."

"Well, at least you got me now."

He took her hand. "We've got each other."