Runners' Romance (A SkyBop Maze Runner fanfic)

Chapter 17: We Didn't Make It

(Mar. 16 2016)

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Chapter 17: We Didn't Make It

Jin's POV:

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" I punctuate each shout by punching the closed Door, ignoring the dull pain in my hand when my fist slams against the hard stone. "DAMN IT!"  I kick the wall.

I look over my shoulder at Sky with despair-ridden eyes to see him standing and staring blankly at the wall in shock. "W-We... We didn't make it..."

The Greenie makes a noise halfway between a wail and a sob, "N-N-No!!" She bursts into tears, but I can't even muster the will to care.

We're dead.

We're so dead.

Why did it have to be this way?! Why did she have to run into the Maze? Why did we have to go after her? Why did Sky have to be brought into this? It's only a matter of time until Grievers start showing up, and what's the point of even running when we're pretty much dead already—

I don't realize I've been blubbering most of this out loud until the Greenie lets out another anguished wail, "I-I don't want to die!"

"We're not going to die!" Sky replies, but the fear in his voice betrays his words. "Maybe if we find a place to hide—"

"What's the point? You heard him, in here we're as good as dead!"

"You need to calm down—"

"HOW CAN I BE CALM?! WE'RE GOING TO DIE HERE!"

My anger rises at her words, and before I'm aware of what I'm saying I hear myself growl, "Yeah, we're gonna die here because you ran into the Maze and led us here!"

"You're blaming me?"

"If you had just stayed put instead of racing into the Maze like a maniac, we wouldn't be in this mess!" A small part of my brain is telling me to stop, that she didn't know, and that what I'm doing is unfair, but it's being drowned out by fear, despair, and the need to find something, anything, to blame and lash out at.

"I didn't know!"

"You would have if you had just stayed in the Glade—"

"It's not my fault—!"

"It is your fault! If you had just listened—!"

"It's not my fault that you don't know your way through this Maze—!"

"We should've just left you in the Maze to die!"

Our argument dissolves into angry screaming, and I think I vaguely hear Sky's voice shouting, "Guys, stop it!" But I'm too far lost in my temper to be sure. I gesture accusingly at her, and that's when it happens.

The Greenie, lost in her own temper, grabs my still bandaged wrist to push my hand away, and a sharp gasp escapes me as pain sparks up my arm from the site of the injury, and before I register what I'm doing I jerk my arm away and just react.