A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt) UNDER EDITING/REWRITE

Chapter 1

Edited: 29-11-14

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Cally

I remember the time when I woke up from a specifically deep sleep after a particularly intense movie night I'd had with my best friend Jenny, my twin brother Ezra and my partner Felix. We had spend that night at Jenny's place and although I'd been there countless times before and knew her house almost better than my own, it took me a moment to realize where I was or how I'd gotten there or if I'd even woken up at all once I opened my eyes on the living room couch, the world around me still dark, someones foot poking into my lower back. The music, characters and world of Middle Earth still fresh on my mind, mixing in with reality.
     This time was much like that. I barely noticed it at first, the drowsiness of sleep still dulling all of my senses, a slight headache pulsing behind my eyes. But then, when I moved to try and grab my blanket that I thought must have fallen off my bed somewhere during the night and felt a sharp stone digging into my side instead I knew something was off. I opened my eyes fully, blinking a few times to make sure I was seeing things right.
     Grass. The fuck... All I saw was a field of tall grass swaying in a soft breeze. I did not remember lying down in a field of grass... And the breeze... it did not smell of the sea, the air did not even hold a salty tang like the air at home always did. Something was off.
     I was about to push myself up from the ground when I heard the sharp snap of a twig breaking behind me, followed by a male voice. "Is she sleeping?"
      Immediately I snapped my eyes shut and forced my body to freeze up, ignoring the call to run from the adrenaline now pumping through my body. The drowsiness entirely gone, but pain still pulsed through my foggy head, making it hard to focus.
      "Yeah, I think so..." Another male voice answered. The voices way too old to be from my little brother Darren but they also definitely did not sound like my twin either.
      "What should we do? Should we wake the Shank?" I tried my hardest to place the voices, where they people from school? Maybe Felix's friends? No... I knew all his friends... More fear prickled my senses, I did not know these people nor where I was. I had to get away.
      "I don't think she's sleeping anymore, Shank." The first voice spoke up again.
     Shit.
      I did not give them a moment to respond nor get closer. I opened my eyes, pushed myself from the ground and ran.
      Or, I tried to. The moment I had started to move I felt how unbelievably heavy my limbs were, like trying to run inside of a nightmare where the air felt like tar and I could barely lift a leg let alone get away.
     I got exactly four steps in before two hands clasped themselves around my upper arms and pulled me back with so much force that I stumbled on my feet, barely able to keep my balance.
     "No! Let me go!" I yelled, trying my best to pull myself loose, but my body felt wrong and my muscles barely seemed to work. The pain in my head becoming worse with the second.
      One of the boys, the one that wasn't holding me, came standing in front of me. His black hair covered most of his forehead but his dark eyes were clearly visible as he examined me for a moment. "Shug me, it really is a girl." The guy mumbled mostly to himself. "Who are you? And how did you get here?" This time he did speak directly to me, staring into my eyes as if he could somehow read my mind for an answer that I obviously would not give him.
      My heart pounded against my chest. I had to get away. Run. The voice in my head urged me on. Run. Flee. Get to safety. Get home.
      "Hey! I am talking to you." The boy barked at me after my lack of response. When the guy moved his hand towards my face, either reaching to grab my face or my hair or whatever his intentions were I opened my mouth and snapped at him with my teeth. He would not touch me. I would not let him.
      The guy pulled back on reflex, my teeth barely missing his skin. The first expression I recognized on his face was surprise and a hint of disbelieve, as if he somehow had not expected the stranger in front of him would try to resist, quickly followed by a flash of anger. More fear buzzed through my body not knowing what this guy's anger would look like or what it would mean for me.
      "To Alby." A bit of relieve washed through me when those two words were all that followed, even if they were spoke through a clenched jaw. That relieve disappeared entirely a split second later when the second guy started to drag me along.
      "What?" I asked with big eyes, trying to twist my neck so I could see my second attacker, which failed miserably. "Alby? Who's that? Where are you taking me? Let me go!" I started resisting, I tried to wiggle my arms free, digging my heels into the earth while still screaming at them to let me go. Nothing worked, they were stronger than me and my demands to be let go fell to dead man's ears.
     "Just slim it, Shank." The black haired guy spoke to me, although I barely understood a word of what he said. "You're only making things worse for yourself."
     Stop resisting? Hell no. An idea popped into my brain, something one of our gym teachers had told us a long time ago and without wasting another second I dropped myself to the ground. Forcing the boy who dragged me to let go of my arms before he also fell to the ground. He had to grab his friend to keep balance. In a heartbeat I was on my feet and running as fast as my still heavy limbs could carry me into the opposite direction from the one they had tried to drag me to.
      "HEY! Come back!" One of them yelled after me, but I ignored him and kept running. The adrenaline pumped through my body, now my blood flowed I could feel the numbness in my body fade away, making it easier to move. I could feel my strength come back to me as muscle memory of years and years of running through streets, alleyways and rooftops in my home city kicked in.
     I glanced back over my shoulder, needing to know if I were being followed and if so, how far away they were. One of them was already in pursued while I could see the other one running into the opposite direction. Another wave of relieve sparked inside of me when I realized the guy running after me did not seem to be gaining any ground.
      I shouldn't have looked back. I don't know how I had missed it at first, probably because of the confusion of it all and the dark around me, but when I turned my head back to see in front of me a wall had popped up seemingly out of nowhere.
     Too late to slow down or turn, all I could do to protect my face from crashing into multiple feet of solid stone was throwing my arms up to shield myself. A burning pain shot through my left arm after I collided and fell back down to the ground. But I did not have time to examine my arm to check for any wounds. Wall or no wall, I was still out in the open and had to get out of here.
     I jumped up and started running again, this time alongside the wall. It was difficult to see ahead in the dark. But the moment there was a gap in the wall, I would take it. I just needed to find one. One part where the wall would open and show another way, even just a split in the stone as far as it was big enough for me and not the two big, bulky guys to squeeze through.
      Too soon I reached the end of the wall, a corner. The wall just went on in another direction. Fear made place for panic, realizing the situation I was in. Trapped between two walls in an unknown locations with a strange guy after me, gaining ground the longer I took to make a decision. Frantically I looked around, neck snapping from side to side, straining my eyes to make out anything in the dark that would give me any kind of shelter.
     A forest. Not too far from where I was. I did not hesitate a second longer before abandoning my first tactic and made for the forest as fast as my legs could carry me. The first layer of trees seemed mostly dead, so I kept running between the long and spindly shadows the trees' thin and leafless branches cast around me until I found a tree that seemed firm enough to hold me with enough leaves to hide me from directly being spotted.
     The tree was big and even though I knew I wouldn't be too visible after the first few meters, I kept climbing for as far as I thought the branches could hold me. Eventually, I sat down on one of the branches closest to the center of the tree. My heart pounded painfully against my chest, the adrenaline mixed with panic had gotten me this far, but I wasn't sure how long my body could have kept going before I passed out.
     Okay Cally, calm down, I told myself, placing one hand against my chest and trying to take deep and steady breaths. Calm down... I need to orientate, where am I? How did I get here and how do I get out?
     Voices from way down startled me, ripping me from my thoughts and making me jump so badly that I almost fell out of the tree. Grabbing a stronger hold on the three's trunk I held my breath, trying to make as little sound as possible while straining my neck to try and see anything from where the voices came from. Fortunately, through the leaves and branches I actually managed to see glimpses of two boys walking beneath my tree.
      "Are you sure?" One asked the other.
      "Yes, I'm sure." It was one of the guys that had found me, the one with the black hair. "It was a bugging girl, she lay sleeping on the ground in one of the fields, we woke her to take her to Alby and the slinthead ran off!" Slinthead? I'd never heard the word before but hearing the way the guy said it gave me the impression it was meant as an insult.
     "Okay. We'll find her. She can't get away now anyway. She must be here somewhere. Go get Alby and Newt. I'll continue to look for her." The guy with the black hair ran away, but the other one stayed standing still underneath my hiding place. His head moved slowly from side to side, looking around, scanning unmistakable for a sign of me.
      Don't look up. Don't look up. Don't look up. I chanted inside my head, my headache building up as I refused to breath. The moment he ran away, I took some deep breaths, feeling the pounding in my head becoming a little less intense with every breath.
     Okay. Let's think. I thought to myself, trying my best to focus my still foggy mind and get everything in order. They're looking for me, whomever they are. There are walls around me, but I'm outside so there has to be a way out. The dark is a problem. I can't see a lot and it's possible those guys know this place better than me. So, I need to wait until the sun comes up before making another attempt. I wouldn't have the darkness to give me cover, but at least I can see where I am heading- Wait.
     I looked down at myself, I was still wearing the clothes I had probably been wearing when I fell asleep or got drugged and kidnapped or whatever had happened... The important part, however, being that my outfit including my favorite bag that was attached to the belt around my waist and to my leg with some straps. I opened it and looked inside.
     Everything was there. My water, keys, mp3 player, my pocket knife- which I took out and clicked it to my belt. the weight of it and knowing it was now only one movement away from my grasp if I needed it putting me slightly more at ease. And, last but not least, my phone! I picked it up and unlocked the screen, swiping to the call button and immediately pressed the numbers 911. My stomach tightened with every low beep coming from my phone and as I looked at my screen a little closer and saw the No Reception icon hope of being rescued completely left my body. 
     What the fuck do I do now? My heartbeat picked up again, my breathing becoming shallow and quick. I hadn't even noticed I had started to shake until I tried to stick my phone back inside my bag and almost dropped it down the tree. No, no, no. This can't be happening. What is happening? How... when..." My chest tightened, breathing becoming harder, my vision blurred with tears. 
     Leaves rustled behind me and I snapped my head faster than I thought I could to the noise. There was a flash of red light between the leaves of the tree right beside me. I don't know what I expected, maybe a bird, or a squirrel, but definitely not a- a.... lizard? No... a centipede? My curiosity piqued staring at the unknown creature in front of me. It's long body and multiple thin legs seemed to gleam in the little moonlight that reached through the branches, just like its singular red eye that took up almost the entirety of its head, two big feelers sprouted from right above it. It was hard to make out anything else in the dark and I did not want to risk being discovered by using my phone's flashlight.
     The creature seemed to stare at me, taking me in as much as I it, probably wondering what this big, clumsy animal was doing inside of its territory. Until eventually, it turned and skidded away down the tree and disappeared from my few.  
          I sat in that tree for hours, trying to figure out what the actual fuck I was supposed to do. Eventually I did settle on waiting for the first rays of the sun to give me a better few of my surroundings. Maybe I could recognize something. Anything. A road or a building or a street name. Or at least find a town or city with people. A police station would be ideal, I might not be able to call for help but I am sure someone at home would realize I was gone and contact the police. Mom would definitely noticed I hadn't shown up for dinner after work last night, or my brothers or my sister Lilly. And if not them Felix or Jenny would notice I did not show up for school without texting them. I always let them know. They will notice. People will notice. I will be fine, I'll just have to survive for as long as they need to find me. 
     I mean, how hard can that be?

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