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

Chapter 10 - Honor

Newt walked into the med hut first, Plune, Minho, and Thomas behind him. Plune winced as she laid eyes on Alby who was coughing and panting as he shivered in one of the beds he was strapped to.

"Jeff, what's going on?" Newt asked as he looked over at the girl who laid in one of the other beds. "What's the matter with her? Why won't she wake up?"

"Hey, man, I got my job the same way you did."

"Okay," Plune sighed. "You and I can stay up and go through the books tonight and try to figure out what's going on." Jeff nodded as Thomas looked at the girl.

"Well, do you recognize her?" Newt asked.

"No," he shook his head.

"Really? 'Cause she seemed to recognize you."

"Newt," Plune whispered at his harsh tone.

"What about the note?" Thomas asked.

"We'll worry about the note later."

"I think you should worry about it now."

Newt only looked at him. "We've got enough to deal with at the moment."

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

"No one said that," Newt tried to smile.

"The note didn't say anything about the box not coming back up. It only said that she was the last one. Maybe that means she's the last person coming up," Plune tried.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Newt agreed. "We'll just... We'll just wait until she wakes up and see what she knows," he looked at Plune and she nodded. "Somebody's gotta have some answers around here."

"We'll take this one step at a time," Plune told them and they were quiet.

"Okay," Thomas finally let out.

"And where are you going?" Newt asked before he could walk out of the hut.

"Back into the maze." Minho, Plune, and Newt all looked at each other, Plune giving Minho a look before he raced out after Thomas.

"How's Alby?" Plune asked Clint and Jeff and they only shook their heads. She took a breath and nodded, walking out and finding Minho and Thomas talking a few feet away from the hut.

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

"I will if I have to. Have the other runners left yet?"

"There are no more runners. They all resigned this morning," Plune said as she joined the conversation, motioning with her head to where a couple of them stood with Gally.

Minho sighed. "After Alby got stung, they're not in any hurry to get back out there."

"You can't blame them. Two people stung in two days in the daylight. Something's going on."

"You just got out of the maze," Minho looked at Thomas. "Why are you in a hurry to go back in?"

"I... I think it's time we find out what we're really up against." Minho and Plune only looked at each other. "Plune, come on. We have the biggest clue you guys have had in years just sitting out there. We can't pass that up."

She thought about it before sighing. "Fine. But you're not doing it alone." She looked at Minho and he nodded. "Get who you need and go. Make it discreet though. I'll deal with everything here."

"Meet me in the woods in half an hour," Minho told Thomas before walking away, Thomas giving Plune a nod before she followed Minho.

"I'll get a team and we'll go out. Just people that we trust."

"Go in the entrance in the deadheads so no one sees you. I don't want to make this a big deal."

"Alright," he nodded before peeling off to talk to Frypan. Plune sighed, running a hand over her face before going to deal with the rest of the problems that were quickly piling up.

***

"Chuck, what are you doing? We've been looking for you," Plune said as she walked into the Deadheads to find him sitting by himself.

"I'm sorry. I just needed a minute."

"I get that. Mind if I sit with you?" He only nodded and she sat next to him, crossing her legs and staring out at the woods.

"Could you tell me a story?"

She smiled at the younger boy and nodded. "Any requests?"

"The one about the girl. Ruby."

She chuckled, "Alright. Once upon a time, there was a princess named Ruby. But she didn't know she was a princess and thought that her parents had abandoned her."

"Why would they do that?"

"They didn't. The kingdom she was born in was in the midst of a war. Her parents knew that they were losing and were going to die. So they gave their baby up to fairies who could take her to a safe place. The fairies raised Ruby, taught her everything she knew, but wouldn't tell her about her parents or her true title. One day while playing in the woods, Ruby stumbled upon a sign for the kingdom that had been destroyed when she was a baby. She was confused and decided to ask the fairies about it."

"What did they say?"

"Chuck," she laughed, "I've told you this story a million times. You know it as well as I do."

"Sorry," he blushed a little.

"It's alright. Do you wanna finish telling it?"

"Can I?" She nodded, smiling at his large grin. "When she went home to the fairies and asked, they got mad at her. Sent her to her room and refused to let her out."

"Why did they do that?" she asked, taking on his role.

"Because they wanted to protect her," he explained as if she didn't know. "They didn't want her to be hurt. But once they realized that they were hurting her by keeping the truth from her, they told her everything. About her parents, her title, and her older brother. The brother who had taken care of her since she was born. When the castle had been stormed, he was the one who took her to the fairies. He gave up his life to protect the person he loved most. His little sister."

"That's right. What happened next?" He didn't say anything. "Chuck?"

"I know you told me that she hugged them, told them she loved them, and stayed with them until she was old enough to rebuild her kingdom, but I don't think that's right."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think Ruby would've wanted to honor her brother. Not wait until she was older to do anything. I think she would've left then and started helping the kingdom. She wouldn't have accepted that her brother was gone. She would've tried her best to find him, to tell him how grateful she was and that she remembered him."

"How would she remember?"

"You can't completely forget someone you love. Just because you don't remember everything about them doesn't mean you can't remember their love for you and your love for them." She didn't have time to respond before Gally jogged into the woods and found them.

"Plune."

"What's up?"

"Your troops that you sent out." She sighed as she realized he had caught on. "Yeah," he scoffed. "They're back."