Gladiolus ~ The Maze Runner

1~3: Everything Goes Not-So-Wonderfully Wrong

TW: mentions of $ewer$lide incoming (we all know sadly what it's about)

***

I enjoyed being a Runner and Med-jack. One day, I ran. The other, I assisted around the Glade, stitching and bandaging wounds. On the days I ran, I was with Newt and Minho. I liked to think of us as the A-team, since we were the fastest and strongest. Well, Newt wasn't too strong but Minho and I both made up for it. All was well.

Until it wasn't.

Out in the Maze one day, I was doing a solo run because Minho was nursing a sprained ankle. He wanted to keep running, but I forced him to stay back. It was just Newt and I that day.

Going in that morning, Newt was acting odd. "Are you okay?" I asked, as we watched the doors open. He swallowed hard, and nodded. "Yeah. Just didn't sleep well. I'm good." I nodded.

We waited in silence for a few minutes until the doors fully opened, and the two of us sprang into action, going our separate ways. Since Minho was out, I would have to cover more ground today to compensate. The first half of my morning was going well; peaceful. Around 1:00, judging from the sun's angle, I knew I should head back. It would take a few hours to return. 

At 4:00, I was back at the entrance. There was no sign of Newt, even though his route was shorter than mine today. I waited there. A few minutes passed. Then 10. Then 15. After 45 minutes, I knew something was definitely wrong. I raced off, following the route Newt was supposed to take. I kept running until I heard sobbing. Oh hell.

I rounded the corner to see Newt suspended from the vines on the wall, twisting in them. I did a quick assessment, noticing a knot tight around his ankle. I drew a machete from my pack and began hacking at the vines. Newt squirmed away from me, screaming, "Stop! Stop! Go back to the Glade!"

I ignored him, furiously hacking away until he was freed, and he sank to the ground in pitiful cries. "I'm not leaving you," I huffed, pulling him up, putting one of his arms around my shoulder. For some reason, he kept fighting me, shouting obscenities, how he hated me, how I should run and leave him, how I was a terrible person, and I was being selfish.

"What the hell has gotten into you?!" I exclaim, forcing him back the way I had come. We were running out of daylight. He thrashed so much that he hit his head on the wall. He slumped against me, knocked out. Crouching, I hoisted him over my shoulders like a sack of flour. And I ran.

I managed for a while, but it wasn't long before my lungs were screaming for air and my legs were pleading for a rest. The number of times my brain said to just fall over and give up was extremely annoying. I ignored it all. 

"I won't leave you," I kept muttering. Whether that was a threat to my drained body or a promise to Newt, I wasn't sure.

We made it back to the doors as they were closing. Ben ran out to meet us and helped me carry Newt in. I collapsed on the ground as the doors shut behind us. Holy shit. The Gladers were crowding around us now, trying to help. 

"Back up," I pleaded weakly, "Back up." No one heard me. I tried again but those idiots sometimes only respond to aggression. This was one of those times.

"BACK UP!"

They all backed up. I got to my knees. "Med-jacks and a stretcher. NOW!" Clint and Jeff came racing over, and they pulled Newt onto the stretcher. I struggled to my feet and started for the hut. "Outta the way!" Gally appeared beside me and offered an arm to lean on. I gratefully took it, and we hurried over to the Med-jack hut.

"No one comes in except Alby or Minho. Once they're here, you come too," I said to Gally. He nodded. I disappeared inside. Jeff had already set Newt's ankle and began wrapping it as Clint bandaged the abrasion on Newt's head. I collapsed into a chair beside him. Jeff risked a glance at my exhausted frame.

"What happened?"

I shook my head, waving away the question. "Wait 'til the others get in here." That didn't take long anyway. Minho came rushing in regardless of my orders to take it slow on that ankle, with Alby and Gally on his heels. They all stared at Newt, then at me. I gestured to one of the beds beside me. They all sat. Deep breath Hanna.

"We had split up today, as planned. I finished my section and came back, expecting Newt to be waiting for me as planned. He wasn't there. I waited, then went after him. I heard cries, and rounded the corner t-to..." my voice started to falter. I took another breath. "Newt was hanging from the vines."

The boys looked at me, perplexed. "Hanging how?" Alby asked.

"Well... I don't know how he got there. He was trapped in them, his ankle took the worst of it and was twisted up. He had to have... climbed up and..." I pieced the scene together in horror. 

Oh, Newt. 

"H-he must have jumped," I choked out.

"Well, why?" Gally asked, still confused. "What was he doing up there? You don't think he meant to jump, did he?"

Everyone was silent.

"Did he?" Gally repeated, his tone laced with increasing concern. He glanced at his friend on the table, still out cold. "He wouldn't... tell me he wouldn't."

Alby ran a hand over his face in disbelief. "Did anyone notice off-behavior from him?"

I nodded. "Before we went in. But he said he was just tired; he didn't sleep well. The night before he was perfectly fine, but when I found him today, he..." my thoughts trailed off, recalling what he was screaming at me as I tried to save him.

I released a pitiful noise, bringing a hand to cover my mouth. Minho moved to take my free hand. The tears were flowing freely now. 

"When..." I started, "When I went to save him, he resisted. Fought me. Was screaming his head off. Told me I was a horrible person, I shouldn't have been born, I was a terrible friend, and I was such a selfish person, asked me how I could do this to him?" I took a shaky breath, still crying.

"He kept saying, 'Just leave me for dead. What the hell is wrong with you? Stop trying to help me. Leave me!' he shouted. Over and over. He made such a fuss that he knocked himself out against the wall." 

I covered my eyes in shame and broke down. I didn't regret saving Newt. I regretted not seeing something wrong sooner, not being there. I should've known.

No one else spoke. The Med-jack hut was filled with my pitiful cries. I felt Minho pulling me into a hug. He crouched in front of me and let me sob into his shoulder.

Eventually, I pulled myself out of hysterics and looked at Alby and Gally, who were sitting soberly on the bed, tears in their eyes as well. Stealing a glance at Clint and Jeff, it was the same story. "Call a meeting, please. No Runners go out tomorrow. Tell them Newt is fine, he had an accident. Don't give specifics because if Newt wouldn't tell any of us, I don't know if he would want anyone else to know yet."

Alby nodded and gestured for Gally to come with him. I looked back at Newt, who lay there still and silent. "You should get some rest," Minho said to me. I looked at him and noticed the tear stains on his face too. "I can't leave him alone," I say, feeling very small.

Minho nods. "Let's stay here with him." I gesture over to the bed. "Take the bed, I'll sit with him for a bit."

Minho hesitates, then nods. "Wake me if you need me."

I nod. I scooch the chair close to where Newt lay, and I take his hand. "If you can hear me," I whispered, "Please don't hate me."