Maze Runner One-Shots

Carry On-Thomas

Thomas sat on the edge of the hill overlooking the ocean, his legs dangling off the edge. His eyes went back and forth from up watching the water to down at the little wooden figure he was turning over in his hands. He ran his thumbs along the coarsely shaved lines, pausing the movements every now and then to look at the markings Chuck had made.

The sight and feel of the little wooden carving tore a hole through Thomas's heart, and he blinked back tears. He hadn't let himself cry since they'd gotten here. He didn't want to. It just took too much energy, and he was far too tired. He looked back up at the ocean and watched the waves crashing on the beach. Kids were running along the water's edge playing. The sight made him smile briefly, and then it made his heart hurt more.

Chuck should be one of those kids. They all should be. All of the Gladers should've been able to run and play and laugh. But no. WICKED took any ounce of a childhood away from them by force. He gripped the wooden figure tightly, taking a shaky breath.

"Thought I might find you here." A familiar voice approached him from behind.

"Hey." He said quietly. He considered putting the wooden figure away in his pocket, but he didn't. The familiar voice walked up and sat down next to him, their shoulder pressing up against his. He was grateful for the human contact.

"I was looking for you. You alright, mate?" Newt asked him. Thomas nodded without taking his eyes off of the water. "You sure?" Newt asked. Another nod. Newt was quiet for a moment before asking another question.

"Just thinking about stuff?" Thomas nodded a third time.

"I think you deserve a bloody break from that, for the next four or so months." Newt joked. Thomas smiled weakly.

"Yeah, we do. Just...Can't turn it off, I guess." He responded. His voice was low and uneven, and Newt looked back at him. He didn't bring attention to it, which Thomas was grateful for.

"Yeah, that's always harder than you want it to be." He said. Thomas nodded.

"Yeah. How're you feeling?" He asked. Newt looked down at his arm. The infected area was still wrapped tightly in white gauze, and was currently covered by Newt's long-sleeve shirt.

"Good, fine. Normal." He said. Thomas nodded.

"Normal's good." He said.

"Yeah, normal is good. In all honestly, it doesn't hurt too badly anymore either. I get little spasms of pain every now and again but, for the most part it's healing well." Newt told him.

"That's good, great." Thomas said.

"Yeah. All thanks to you and Brenda." Newt said. Thomas glanced down. "Hey." Newt nudged him gently. Thomas looked over at him.

"Thank you, Tommy. Everything you went through, everything you did...we're all here because of you. Including me. Thank you." Newt said. Thomas swallowed thickly and blinked a few times as he looked away.

"We all worked hard to get here. All worked our asses off, including you. You fought harder than any of us." He said. Newt shook his head. "Yes you did." Thomas said before he could protest.

"We all worked hard, mate." Newt said. "Hell if anything I'd say you were the one who fought harder than anyone else."

"No, Newt, it was you. You were...you were infected. And you still fought like hell to get everywhere with us, to take them down, to...get everyone out." Thomas said.

"Alright, well let's just both agree that we both fought hard then, yeah?" Newt chuckled. Thomas couldn't help but smile.

"Alright." He caved.