𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 - Maze Runner, Newt

Chapter seventy-five - Exit

'Logan!' I screamed, watching the horror that happened right in front of me. Another scream coming from Logan's mouth echoed through the walls.

'Nora, no!' Newt tried to grab my arm when I started running over to Logan. He was lying on the ground, a small pool of blood already surrounding him. The red liquid came out of his side, the place where a Griever had hit him with its spikes.

Without hesitating for a second I grabbed Logan's shoulders and started dragging him to the others. I almost got hit by a Griever its tail but managed to avoid it. The door to the others started to close since the light already turned green. As fast as possible I dragged Logan over the floor. Just when the door closed, I got into the dark room.

'Aah!' Everyone let out a scream when the floor under us disappeared. While still holding Logan's shoulders, I fell, through a tunnel. I couldn't see anything. All blackness. I came to a sudden stop and hit a cold ground. Groaning, I got up and looked around. Logan needed help.

There was a faint light in the corner of the room. Immediately I crawled over there and of course, took Logan with me.

'Logan?' I lay Logan's face down on my lap so I could look at it. 'Please open your eyes, Logan.' I muttered. I couldn't lose Logan. Not him. Not after I already lost the two Med-jacks and our leader. 'Come on, Logan.' I already felt the tears form in my eyes. 'Please.' I cried. 'Just open your eyes.'

'Nora.' Newt bent down next to me. 'He's not going to open h-.'

'Shut up!' I snapped before Newt could finish. Normally I would've regretted it immediately, but at that point, I only cared about Logan waking up. 'Logan, please.' I quietly said. 'I can't- just...just open them.'

I didn't even care what the others were doing and if we escaped. The most important thing was that Logan woke up. 'No.' I cried when he didn't react. I couldn't even tell if he was breathing. 'No, no, no.'

Out of a sudden, Logan gasped for air and opened his eyes. My face lit up and my mouth almost fell open. 'Oh, my-.' I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him.

'Nora- I can't... breath.' Logan muttered into my shoulder. I let out a laugh between my cries and let go of Logan. 'Well, that was nice.' Logan smiled but I saw the pain in his eyes.

I lifted his shirt a little and gasped when I saw the wound on Logan's side. Blood was still flowing out, but slowed. It sure was a deep wound too. 'Newt! Put out your vest!' I ordered.

'What?' Newt stood right behind me. 'My vest?'

'God, Newt! Just do it, you slinthead!' I yelled. With a sigh, Newt put out his vest and handed it to me. Quickly I ripped apart, making Newt mumble a few things in an angry tone, but I didn't care. Quickly I firmly wrapped the piece of the vest around Logan's stomach and on his side, so the bleeding would hopefully stop.

'Can you get up?' I asked once Logan stopped wincing.

'I can try.' Logan groaned. He pushed himself onto his feet, but could barely walk.

'Here.' I wrapped an arm under his shoulders and we followed the others. Newt was right behind us and didn't seem very satisfied with the situation. Slow and almost stumbling over, we made it through a hallway. Lights flickered and the only thing I saw was a door with the letters exit on it.

'Seriously?' Frypan looked at it.

Carefully Thomas opened the door and we stepped into another hallway. People who looked like doctors lay on the ground, blood coming from their heads. Next to me was a small window. I looked through it and saw two beds. On top of the bed were two people, but I couldn't see them because of the white sheet covering them. I did see the blood on the sheet. I realized it was Alby and Ben and my breathing hitched.

'Come on, love.' Newt gently pushed me and Logan away from the window. We kept walking until we were in a bigger room. Dozens of computers were on tables. Most of the screens are broken. Glass was on the floor and more dead bodies too. One screen was still on me, Newt, and Logan walked over to it. There was a view of the Glade on it and through the glitches, I could see boys walking around.

'So they were watching us.' Newt muttered. 'This whole time.'

'Hello.' I suddenly heard. I and Logan turned around and we limped over to the big screen that just appeared. A woman was pictured on it and she was talking to us. I recognized her. She had been in my memories. The woman was dressed in white with a blonde bun.

' My name is Doctor Ava Paige. I'm Director of Operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department.'

Wicked. I immediately thought.

'If you're watching this, that means you have successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you... But circumstances seem to have prevented it. I'm sure by now, you must all be very confused... angry... frightened.'

She was right. I was angry but also sad.

'I can only assure you, that everything that's happened to you... everything we've done to you... it was all done for a reason.'

Oh great.

'You won't remember... but the Sun has scorched our world.'

On the screen appeared a town. Buildings had fallen apart on the ground and it looked horrible.

'Billions of lives lost to fire... famine... suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable. What came after was worse. We called it the Flare.'

A man appeared on the screen. He lay on a bed and someone was holding his head. The man let out some screams and I could almost see the veins popping out. They were black. Almost his whole face was covered in them. The sight was horrific. I knew it was a Crank. I had seen them in my memories and knew they looked like that.

'A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent... unpredictable... incurable. Or so we thought. In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus.'

Can I survive the virus?

'Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed... inside harsh environments... where their brain activity could be studied.'

All of this was to test us. So we could get a cure for the... Flare?

'All in an effort to understand... what makes them different... what makes you different. You may not realize it... but you're very important.
Unfortunately, your trials have only just begun.'

Just begun? I don't want to be locked up again.

'As you will no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods.'

People in masks appeared behind the woman and started shootings all the doctors with their guns.

'Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us... for me... but not for you. The outside world awaits.'

Suddenly, the woman, Ava, grabbed a gun and held it to her head.

'Remember... Wicked is good.'

And then she pulled the trigger. Quickly I looked away.

'Is it over?' Chuck asked with a shaky voice, once the screen disappeared.

'She said we were important.' Newt realized. 'What are we supposed to do now?'

'I don't know.' Thomas replied. Out of a sudden, a door behind us opened. Faint daylight shined into the room. 'Let's get out of here.' Thomas started walking to the hallway.

'No.'