Marooned | Maze Runner | Minho

73. 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇.

As the dust settled the only thing Viya could hear was the ringing in her ears. She looked around the rubbled room, pieces of roof and trash was now scattered around. She went to stand up but stopped when she noticed the hand that was wrapped around her waist.

Minho had wrapped himself around her in all the chaos of the bombing, his eyes were still tightly shut. Viya gently tapped his hand, Minho carefully opened his eyes, when he realized he was clinging to Viya he quickly removed his hand and apologized.

Viya stood up carefully, she walked gently as if her footsteps could trigger another blast. The entire office was in ruins, every window had been blown out, the thin walls of the office cubicles were no longer standing. A thick layer of dust covered every surface and in some areas parts of the walls had been removed.

Minho eventually joined Viya, the pair explored in silence.

"Why." Minho whispered, "Why would they do that?"

Viya hesitated, "They like the power." She answered coldly. "We should get out of here in case they drop another one."

"Yeah." Minho agreed.

Viya walked towards the stairwell still in a daze. She felt as though she was dreaming, it was the same feeling she had after the first bombing.
She came to an abrupt stop at the stairwell.

"What is–" Minho's voice stopped as he saw what she was staring at.

A heap of rock and ruble covered the stairs, the pile almost reached the ceiling.

"I'll go check the other stairwell." Minho said as he ran off.

Viya took a deep breath. She was fine. It was all going to be fine. There was nothing to worry about. She took another deep breath.

She heard Minho curse from across the building. A few minutes later he returned.

"Other sides blocked up too." He said.

"Is there an emergency exit or something?" She asked, there had to be another way.

Minho shook his head.

Viya could feel her breaths getting shorter. They were stuck. How could they have gotten stuck? First the tunnels now this?

There had to be a way, there had to be.

Viya stepped towards the rubble and began to frantically try and dig herself out. Metal bars and sharp rocks cut her hands but all she could think about was escaping.

She had broken Minho out of WCKD, and now she was never going to get him home.

She felt Minho try to pull her away as frustrated tears streamed down her face.

"No!" She screamed and Minho finally pulled her away. "I can do it!" She cried.

"No, you can't." Minho said sternly.

"I have to!" She choked out through sobs. "I have to get you back, I told the others I would. I promised them!" She cried

Minho rested both of his hands on Viya's shoulders as he tilted her chin up to look at him. "We'll find a way. Don't worry. Just breathe."
Viya took a big sniff as she wiped her tears. She hated crying, yet in one day she had already cried twice around Minho.

Crying made her feel weak and helpless, she wasn't a toddler, yet at times she felt like one. A wave of embarrassment washed over her as she slowly stood up.
She looked down at her mangled hands, she only felt a twinge of pain yet she knew from experience that in a few minutes they would hurt like hell.

She had always been one to make stupid decisions, she had thought she had been getting better at managing her emotions but apparently not.

"How about we go check the floor for cranks, K? Then we can figure out what we'll do next." Minho said.

Viya nodded sheepishly.

"You take that direction." Minho directed.

Viya agreed without any protest, she needed some alone time.

—--------

Lawrence shakily poured the tea as Gally entered the office silently.

Lawrence had requested to see Gally, Gally had a pretty good idea about what—or who, it was about.

"Take a seat." Lawrence said as he handed the mug to Gally.

The boy sat across from the man on the old worn couch, anxiously waiting for Lawrence to speak.

"I've been thinking about what you said about Viya." Lawrence said, "I think we do need her for this mission. You're right, that girl's as loyal as a dog, and that's the type of loyalty we need, especially now."

Gally fidgeted anxiously with his hands, "That's good to hear."

"There's a problem though. Nobody seems to know where she went." Lawrence said menacingly.

"Oh, that's not good." Gally said with a sorry attempt at hiding his fear.

Lawrence sighed, "Cut the crap Gally, I know you know where she is."
The boy gulped, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lawrence raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"Really."
"Then why were you the last person who was seen talking to her?" Lawrence questioned.

"Coincidence?"
"I don't want to have to ask again, where is Viya?" He said sternly.

Gally sighed, knowing he had no way out of this one. "She went to go get Minho."

Lawrence stayed silent, Gally wasn't sure if he was angry or disappointed.

"She was upset that you wouldn't let her help so she decided to go by herself." Gally rambled, "I tried to convince her not to I swear! But you know her...she doesn't really listen."
"When was this?" Lawrence asked coldly.

"Two days ago."
"Shouldn't she be back by now?"

"She should've been." Gally admitted, "She said if she wasn't back in two days to assume she got caught."
"Fuck." Lawrence muttered, "Now I got two teens to rescue."
"We don't know that she got captured." Gally tried to reason.

"But what else could've happened? She'd never run off like that, she'd definitely come back."
Gally stayed quiet, regret stained his hear. Why didn't he try harder to keep her back?
Lawrence pinched his temple as he muttered things under his breath.

"I'm sorry." Gally said, "I should've came to you sooner."
"I'm not mad at you, I'm not mad at all." Lawrence said.

"...I know I disappointed you." Gally said after a long pause.

"It's not that either." Lawrence corrected.

"Then what is it?" Gally asked curiously.

"I'm worried." Lawrence admitted, "I never thought that Viya would be the type to run away. I was being hard on her because I thought she could handle it. And now I see she couldn't." Lawrence rambled, "I don't think you kids realize how much I care for you, I ain't some monster who's trying to take down WCKD, I also want you guys to be safe."
"That's why you didn't let me and Viya go back into the city." Gally connected.

Lawrence sighed again, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be throwing my problems onto you, you can go Gally." He didn't meet Gally's gaze as he spoke.

The boy nodded as he gently set his cup down on the table and headed for the door. He looked back at Lawrence who still sat on the couch, head in hands. He regretted not telling him sooner, maybe if he would've Viya would still be safe.