I Know Places [Thomas The Maze Runner] (ongoing)

[45: The Rescue Mission]

Once Vince finished giving everyone their immediate orders, Elle prepared to leave. She had been wearing the same ensemble of clothes for months now, a pair of dark green utility jeans, a long-sleeved light grey henley, a worn-in black shearling jacket, and her usual black boots. Elle put on a black leather thigh holster for her handgun before getting ammo and preparing for their rescue mission. While she preferred not to have any weapons on her, it was unrealistic for this mission.

Since she never got the chance to have lunch, Elle grabbed a snack and drank half a bottle of water with the remaining time she had left. She leaned against one of the buildings, looked at the sea, and anxiously tapped her foot on the floor. Ever since WICKED stormed the Right Arm's encampment half a year ago, her anxiety had worsened significantly. Before Teresa's betrayal, Elle had no memories of ever experiencing panic attacks, and this unwelcome change had altered her life significantly. Now, when her heartbeat quickened and her stomach fluttered, Elle was gripped with the fear of anticipating a panic attack.

"You look like you're going to be sick," Newt commented as he strolled by, putting on his brown pilot's jacket.

Elle jumped when she heard his voice. She hadn't noticed him approaching her, too busy stuck in her thoughts. "Newt, you scared me," Elle admitted. She exhaled shakily, putting her hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.

His brows pulled together as he grew concerned. "Is everything all right?" Newt wondered. "You've got this odd look on your face."

"I'm trying not to panic because that leads to a panic attack," Elle explained, shutting her eyes and trying to regulate her breathing. She could feel her fingers grow numb and felt like she was overheating. "Because that makes me feel like my heart is going to fall out of my chest, or I'm going to faint, or I can't breathe, or any number of unpleasant symptoms that make it hard to do, well, just about anything," Elle confessed.

"Right," Newt said, stepping closer and hesitating. "What can I do to help?"

"I haven't really figured that part out yet," she replied, leaning back against the concrete and inhaling and exhaling slowly. "Sometimes Tom distracts me by telling me about his day," Elle suggested, looking up at Newt.

"Perfect, I can do that," he agreed eagerly. "Let's see, first I woke up and Fry was right next to me. I think he cuddled up to me while he was sleeping, but I didn't want to say anything and embarrass him," he recalled. "It was actually quite nice; comforting. The rest of my morning was pretty boring, actually. I didn't have much going on..."

"What did you--" Elle gasped for air. "What did you have for breakfast?"

"I had one of those Ready-to-Eat Meals because I woke up late and the fresh stuff was gone," Newt said, trying not to panic when he realised he wasn't helping. "I was so busy talking to Brenda about the plans that I completely forgot I hadn't eaten anything yet. I was really disappointed because Fry made a vanilla cake with the remaining sugar and flour last night, and I knew they had leftovers. I would've had that for breakfast if Brenda and I hadn't been corralled into admiring Jorge's cars first."

Elle chuckled at that. "I've yet to see the cars," she admitted. "Were they everything Jorge made them out to be?"

"And more," Newt acknowledged. "It's actually pretty incredible what he managed to do. Don't even get me started on how fast they go, I'm not so sure how I feel about Frypan driving given that he's only been doing it for the last few months." He chuckled.

"Well I'm going with Thomas and Vince the daredevils, so I'm sure we'll be blazing through the streets," Elle commented. She could already picture it, and knowing how proud Jorge was of the cars he'd been working on, Elle knew they were probably quick as a whip. "This is helping," she told Newt. "Thank you."