Alone Together (Newtmas)

Chapter 2: Into The Maze

The Gladers were beginning to lose hope when Thomas saw something coming around the corner of the maze. The doors were closing quickly, and Thomas knew Minho and Alby wouldn't make it back in time. Thomas's face hardened as he shifted onto the balls of his feet, muscles tensing.

Thomas heard Newt suck in a breath beside him, growling out, "Don't you do it Tommy, don't you bloody do it!"

Thomas sprinted forward, feeling the ghost of fingers graze his shirt and belt, and heard Chuck yell his name before all the could hear was the grinding of the walls and his own footsteps. He made it out of the maze, falling to the ground.

Seconds later, a body fell on top of his. Thomas knew instantly that it was Newt, muscular arms beside his head, propping Newt up. Newt stood up, glaring at Minho as he muttered something about how the 4 of them were dead.

Thomas stood up, already missing Newt's warmth. Thomas shook his head, convincing himself it was only because the cold of the maze nipped at his skin. Thomas turned around, glancing at Newt who fixed him with a hard glare. He walked forward suddenly, causing Thomas to back up against the wall of the maze.

"If we weren't all already bloody dead, I'd kill you shuck face for that stunt." Newt was practically growling the words, his hands fisted in Thomas's shirt.

"Well why did you follow me?! You could have stayed safe and happy in the Glade like every other shucking Glader who didn't want to help Alby and Minho!"

Newt seemed to soften at this, shaking his head at Thomas but backing away, running a hand through his hair. Minho finally spoke up, his voice sounding hopeless and dry. "The grievers will be out soon, you shanks better start running." Minho turned to leave but Thomas spoke quickly, pointing to Alby.

"We've gotta hide him! We can't just leave him here." Newt heard them start to bicker about how "at least they would be able to find one body." Which clearly provoked Thomas.

Newt let out a sigh, the ivy and tall walls bringing back unpleasant memories. "We can hide him in the ivy." When no one moved he spoke again, his voice louder. "Well you shanks don't just stand there, come bloody help."

Thomas was the first to move, and after about an hour had passed, they had Alby nearly to the top. The grinding of doors was heard and Minho and Newt froze, Thomas grunting out a "just a little higher guys." This snapped Newt put of his daze, however Minho shifted from foot to foot, watching and the griever came closer. Once it was only a few feet away, Minho bolted, despite Thomas and Newt whisper-yelling at him to come back.

They worked frantically, getting Alby tied off just as the first leg came around the corner. Newt grabbed Thomas and pulled him into an alcove under the ivy. It was a tight fit, and Newt began to regret his decision to not run for it. "At least that would have bought Tommy some time." He thought, praying the griever didn't see them. When the griever's body rolled into view, Thomas let out a small gasp and began squirming in fear. Newt clapped his hand over Thomas's mouth, realizing this didn't help the predicament at all, since he continued to squirm.

Thomas might have enjoyed this if it weren't for the circumstances. Having someone else's body heat was nice, and Thomas had to admit that Newt's body felt pretty good against his. Thomas's train of thought cut off pretty quickly however when the griever came into view. He almost screamed, thankful for Newt's hand coming down over his mouth, only allowing a small gasp to escape. He wiggled backwards to hide himself further, instantly regretting his decision when he heard Newt suck in a breath.

After a few minutes, the griever passed and Thomas and Newt crawled out of their hiding space. They agreed to hide under there again if a griever came by, but that they should stay with Alby. These thoughts vanished however when Minho sprinted towards them, motioning for them to run. Thomas stood frozen in fear at the griever chasing Minho, but Newt grabbed his arm, pulling him along. Thomas tried to keep pace with Newt, but it soon became evident his leg was causing him pain, since his limp was becoming worse and worse. Minho easily caught up with them, and the griever seemed to drop behind. As they rounded a corner, a decent bit ahead of the griever, a section of the wall began closing. Minho pointed towards it and they picked up the pace. Newt stumbled and fell, his face contorted in pain but Thomas and Minho helped him to his feet.

Thomas stopped, turning to face the corner which was a decent bit behind them. Minho and Newt also stopped, but Thomas motioned for them to continue on. Minho ran ahead, but Newt paused, running back to Thomas. As the click click click of the griever got closer, Newt patted Thomas on the shoulder.

Thomas started talking, "Newt I have to—" Newt simply nodded, cutting him off with a nervous smile and a "Don't do anything bloody stupid Tommy." Before setting off in a limply run, stopping beside Minho.

As the griever rounded the corner, Thomas waited for a second. As the griever charged forward, Minho yelled out a "Now, Thomas!"

Thomas sprinted forward, hearing yells of "Run Tommy!" And "Don't stop running!" Cheering him on. Thomas was sure he wasn't going to make it, but a second before the door closed, strong hands were grabbing him and pulling him out. Thomas's momentum caused him to send both he and Newt to the ground, Newt grunting as his body took both the impact of his and Thomas's fall. Thomas sat there breathing heavily until the sound of Minho clearing his throat made Newt let go of his shirt and caused Thomas to jump off of Newt, offering a hand to help him to his feet, which Newt gladly took.

"You bloody did it Tommy." Newt clapped him on the shoulder as Minho nodded at him.

"Nice job greenie, now lets go get Alby. The sun's almost up." Thomas felt relieved to be leaving the maze, he couldn't imagine how the others felt. He suddenly felt a huge wave of guilt when he saw Newt's trying, and failing, to hide the pain he felt, his leg causing him immense pain.

Minho and Thomas carried Alby while Newt led them back to the entrance, where Chuck was standing, bouncing excitedly. His shouts brought everyone, several people yelling for the med-jacks. 

A little bit later, after everyone had settled down and they had just finished the very exciting keepers meeting, where Newt had taken Gally down a few pegs and Minho had lost his temper, Thomas sitting shocked and scared to speak out of turn like Newt instructed him not to. In Thomas's defense, Newt was down right terrifying when he was mad, in Thomas's opinion at least. Newt set a plate down in front of Thomas, jarring him out of his thoughts.

Newt gave Thomas a grin, his busted lip from his fall in the maze showing clearly. "Eat up Tommy, wouldn't want ya to have to spend the night in the slammer without a decent meal."

Thomas nodded at Newt, not realizing how hungry he was until he started eating. After Thomas had cleaned his plate, Newt was starting to eat the second half of his sandwich. Thomas decided to ask a question that had been eating away at him since the maze.

"Hey Newt?" At Newt's nod, he continued, "Why are you so nice to me? Gally made it pretty clear I'm the reason everything went wrong. I just... why aren't you treating me like that?" Newt stopped eating, placing his half eaten sandwich half back on the plate. He arched an eyebrow at Thomas, looking at him intently. He seemed to think about the question before answering.

"Well Tommy, I don't think anything that has happened has been your fault. And something about you..." Newt seemed to consider how to continue, shaking his head and trying again. "You are a good friend Tommy, I haven't known you long but I wouldn't bloody risk my life for someone who I thought "ruined" everything, I can tell you that much." Newt smiled at Thomas, a real, genuine smile, before putting the rest of his sandwich on Thomas's plate. "Now eat, Tommy. You've got a long night aheada ya."

Thomas nodded at him, feeling his cheeks heat up as the taller boy stood up and walked away, smiling over his shoulder at Thomas as he walked out.