Error | The Maze Runner / Newt ² ✓

{1.4}

Disclaimer:

I do not own The Maze Runner, but if I did, I would make The Fever Code come out faster because one of my first disclaimers was about it and that's from like A YEAR AND A HALF AGO.

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When Jorge told us we still had a mile to go until we reached our next destination, I thought I was going to scream in frustration. All of the walking with no sign of life except for us was getting to be exhausting. We also had no source of clean water, which meant my mouth was starting to get so dry I could hardly talk without sounding like a frog. We traveled in silence for the most part, only speaking when we needed to ask a question or complain.

The quiet gave me more time to think than I would've liked. Despite the others walking around me, I felt alone for some reason I couldn't place. Maybe it was because my brother wasn't by my side. I heaved a sigh knowing that I could very well never have him by my side ever again.

I found myself occasionally glancing at Newt, which he never caught me doing. It was undeniable that I felt something strong for him. However, it felt strange to admit it to myself that the strong feeling was love. In my brain, I only knew him for about a month or two, but in reality, I had known him for years. Probably ever since I was young, considering how I had been six or seven when my mom gave Thomas and I to W.I.C.K.E.D.

All I knew was that I experienced an almost burning sensation in my chest whenever I looked at him or thought about him. It was an almost comforting burn- not the kind that made me feel like I was suffocating, but more like one that made me yearn for his touch. I wasn't sure anymore if it was love because I had nothing else to compare it to. The only other person I loved was Thomas, and it was safe to say I definitely didn't feel that way when I looked at him. The burn with Newt was one that made me want to scream at him how I felt. It also made me want to cower away and never admit it in fear he wouldn't feel the same.

The heat was so intense that I actually felt the sunburn irritating my skin, especially my cheeks, nose, and arms. I had rolled up my sleeves in an attempt to cool my body down without having to discard my clothes. Some boys had taken their shirts off for a matter of seconds before Jorge yelled at them to put them back on. I didn't blame him. Fighting off Cranks without the minor protection of clothes seemed like a horrible idea.

Cranks. We hadn't seen any since the building collapsed, and when asked if we would see any of them, Jorge replied that we were all Cranks around here. He was so infuriating that it made me want to kick something at him or throw him into one of the abandoned cars on the street.

Finally, we neared the busier part of town again. It was both reassuring and frightening to be in the sight of other people, if only a few. I felt foreign around them. We were a group of sore thumbs compared to the dusty, grime-covered residents of the town. Some watched us with blank eyes and slack faces. Others pointed at us with dirt-coated fingernails and whispered through cracked lips. It made me shudder to think that the human population was slowly turning into a small number of brain-dead creatures.

We approached another inconspicuous building- that one not a pet store but instead a bank - and entered through a back door that faced away from any suspicious stragglers that could be following. Jorge beckoned us inside the building. It smelled of stale food and rotten bananas, making me crinkle my nose in disgust. Minho gagged dramatically and Newt held his shirt collar over his nose. I couldn't blame either of them.

"Oh, get over yourselves," Jorge snipped with a roll of his eyes at our reactions. "Smell's not half as bad as you think."

"Wonder what he's smelled in his lifetime, then," Frypan mumbled beneath his breath. I had to force myself not to laugh at that remark.