Newt: A Broken Boy ↠ The Maze Runner

13

I stared around at the room that had been my home for the last five years. It was now devoid of any decoration, pretty much only two bare mattresses and a few empty wardrobes and nightstands. I knew that the nights could get really cold out in the Scorch, so had the foresight to pack some extra layers.

I shouldered the navy blue backpack that Minho had handed me. I had noticed that he had stitched over the white lettering which originally read WICKED; we knew that if we came across other people, it might not help for them to know that we were from this organisation.

I swept my eyes around the remaining furniture one last time, then turned in my heel and left the room, the door shutting with a small click.

"Psst!" I turned around to see Minho hanging upside down from the ceiling, grinning. The night before, he had explored the overhead vent system, trying to find an exit. It hadn't taken him long, and he had quickly mapped us a way out of the compound.

Minho pulled himself back up and moved out of the way so I could join him. I climbed up, thankful for the extensive fitness training we had gone through in preparation for the Trials.

The vent was surprisingly roomy, with enough space to allow me to crouch without hitting my head. I could smell roast beef in the direction of the food hall, which made my mouth water. I loved roast, it was one of my favourite foods , after cheese sandwiches.

I glanced over at Minho, and saw him put his finger to his lips, as if to say shh. I obliged, quieting my breathing. Minho's faced strained, as if he was listening out for something. After a couple of seconds, he dropped his bag, and scampered down a junction to the right. A moments hesitation after, I had set down my own pack and was scam rambling behind him.

As we neared the control room, I could hear voices, aggravated voices. Minho and I crept to the barred opening in the ceiling of the room, and looked down at the scene below.

I could see Thomas, and Teresa. There was another woman there as well, who I didn't recognise. She had dark hair cut at the length of a bob, with tinges of grey coming out of the roots. She had icy blue eyes, and at that moment, her expression was angry.

"That's the chancellor!" I could barely hear Minho's small whisper in my ear, hardly more than a breath. I knew who he was talking about, of course. Chancellor Louiza Dawson. Head of WICKED. I'd never met her, but I'd heard that just like Teresa, she was very much looking at the bigger picture, and was intent on finding a cure to the Flare. I'd also heard that she didn't care how many lives were lost along the way.

I breathed as quietly as possible, and listened in to what they were talking about.

"Ready yet, so we cannot send them in!" Thomas was saying, with more than a hint of frustration in his voice.

"If we don't start soon, our race will be wiped out. We need this cure, boy, and we must send in the subjects as soon as possible if we are to find it!" The chancellor's voice had an equal amount  of frustration and anger to Thomas'.

Thomas opened his mouth to say something, probably to retaliate, but was interrupted by a man with close cropped dark hair running in, upturning a chair.

"Subject.. A5 and.. A7.. are out of their.. rooms," he panted, his eyes flitting between Thomas, Teresa and the chancellor.

Thomas frowned. "You mean Newt and Minho?" The man nodded vigorously.

"We've scanned the entire compound, they're nowhere to be found," he said.

Louiza's face darkened, then she rushed out of the room, yelling orders to the men.

"I want full lockdown! Everybody must return to their rooms this minute!"

Minho scampered over to me. "You get Thomas out of the control area. Then go, get the bags, and get out. I'll meet you outside."

I nodded, and in an instant, Minho was gone. I watched as Teresa rushed off somewhere, so it was just Thomas in the room. I carefully removed the grated cover, and lowered myself down.

"Newt?" Thomas sounded incredulous. "What are you doing?"

"I can't tell you now," I said, flashing my eyes around to make sure that nobody was coming in. "Just get out of this area. Go to the food hall, it'll be safe there."

"Newt-"

"Just go!"

Thomas bit his lip. "What about Teresa?"

I'd forgotten about her. I suspected that so had Minho. "Take her as well! Just get out of here!"

After a moments hesitation, Thomas gave in to me and ran off in the same direction that Teresa had gone.

I pulled myself back up, and rushed back to our bags. I put one on each shoulder, wincing slightly at the weight. I vaguely remembered where Minho had told me the exit was, and scrambled off to the right. Left, right, right, straight, left. There. An opening, a few feet of the ground below. I lowered myself down, pulling the bags after me. Now all I had to do was wait.

I waited for about ten minutes, then started to get impatient. Minho was taking a lot longer than I had first thought, doing whatever it was he was doing. I was contemplating about whether or not I should go in, when he jumped out of the side of the building, his hair windswept from crawling as fast as he could through the vent system.

"Done," he gasped, running a sweaty hand through his dark hair. "I got held up, there was a small blockage in the system."

I wanted to ask what it was he had been doing, but I knew him well enough to know that he wasn't going to tell me. I resorted to asking him what it was I should do next.

"Nothing. Just stay still, get some cover," Minho replied, crawling under a few fallen rocks.

"Why?" I inquired, joining him. He opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly there was a loud bang coming from the control building.

"Get down!" Minho yelled, covering his own head. I did so, and could hear explosions behind me, the whole building blown into bits.

The explosions finished just as quickly as they had started. Once the noise had gone, there was an eerie silence. I looked at Minho, the fear probably evident in my eyes.

"That's why."

~

A/N: Done. Just in time, because I'm literally about  to take off. So this has to be really short. Next chapter should be up soon, though I don't think we have any wifi where we're staying, so I might run out of mobile data. Anyways, byeeeeeee!!