Error | The Maze Runner / Newt ² ✓

{0.3}

Disclaimer:

I do not own The Maze Runner. That's all there is.

-✼-

"That's not the worst of it," Minho said gravely. He was holding onto the tag of Thomas' shirt so tightly I thought he was going to choke him. "Check out this shank's. Subject A2. To be killed by Group B."

Almost everyone turned their heads to me. They held hostility in their eyes, like they weren't sure of me anymore, like they were seeing me in a whole new light. I might as well have confessed to a murder for how clenched their jaws were.

But before any accusations could be fired, a clanging bell began ringing throughout the room. The sound was so sharp and sudden that I had to cover my ears. It reminded me of the alarm back in the Glade- the one we heard when Teresa arrived.

And then it hit me: it was the Greenie alarm. That would explain the astonished expressions on the Gladers' faces as they moved throughout the room, gawking at walls and ceilings to find the source of the horrible sound. It echoed within our confined space. The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

Newt grabbed my arm and shouted in my ear, "It's the bloody Newbie alarm!"

"I know!" I responded just as loudly, my voice almost being swept away by the continuous ringing that stabbed at my eardrums and made me wince.

Newt yelled over to Thomas, "Why's it ringing?"

He only shrugged in response as a signal he didn't know. Then again, why should he? Thomas was just as clueless as the rest of us.

Minho returned from the bathroom with Aris, though I didn't remember the Keeper going in there in the first place. The two of them both rubbed the backs of their necks as they searched the room for answers. Frypan was walking toward the door leading to the hallway, about to touch the spot where the broken handle used to be.

"Wait!" Thomas shouted, though it sounded more like he blurted it out on accident. He raced to the door with Newt trailing behind him.

"Why?" Frypan questioned. His hand was hovering just inches above the knob. Thomas said something in reply that I couldn't hear from where I stood. Frypan shouted back, "Yeah! And maybe we need to get out of here!"

Frypan waited no longer to open the door. He first tried pushing the door open; it didn't budge. He pushed harder, then leaned up against it with his full weight. It still didn't seem to have the slightest intention of moving.

"You broke the shuck door handle!" Frypan screamed and slapped his hand against the surface of the door.

I wished everything would go back to quiet. I was tired of shouting, tired of the alarm, and especially tired of chaos. The confusion and panic I constantly felt were beginning to wear me out. It was exhausting to be on my highest alert all the time, and I prayed that the stupid bell would just stop. Maybe that would solve some of our problems.

And it did. By some miracle, the ringing abruptly ceased and all we were met with was silence. I wasn't used to it having a sound. A ferocious buzzing settled in my ears like an angry hive of bees that wouldn't go away. Every breath I took seemed to sound fuzzy and unclear.

Newt was the first to speak, and his voice sounded static-like as well, as if I was watching a video in poor quality. "Don't tell me we're still gonna get bloody Newbies thrown in our laps."

"All we need to do is find the Box," I said halfheartedly. The words didn't sound right to me- maybe because I was so incredibly exhausted that I wasn't up for sarcasm.