Memories (Newt X Reader)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

229.07.03 / 6:19 p.m.

Despite your friend's warnings you continued to see your father, once a week like clockwork. You found as the day got closer it was all you'd be able to think about, your stomach tying itself in knots in the hours during your shift before you'd head towards the elevator and ride up to the meeting room. Paige stopped coming to observe weeks ago, but you had no doubt she'd set up more cameras and beetle blades than you could count to keep tabs on you. You could almost guarantee it. But somehow, it didn't deter you in the least. Every time you opened the door to see your father gazing back at you, or looking thoughtfully out the window (they were allowed on the higher floors) an overwhelming joy would wash over you and you'd forget all about Paige.

It had been about a month since you'd started meeting with your father, and also a whole month without talking to Newt. That hour a week was really the only time you were able to forget about him and the time that was slipping away before he would be dumped into the maze (your last meeting with the techs suggested another three to four months tops before they started inserting people). Sometimes it was just easier to not think about it at all.

You'd just come from a meeting with your father, a guard walking at your elbow, guiding you towards the elevators. You resisted the urge to shove him off as he leaned over to press the down button.

The rest of the walk to your barracks were quiet, nothing but the sound of your footsteps echoing down the empty halls. Those fifteen-minute escorts gave you a lot of time to think, and unsurprisingly it was Newt who was fully occupying your mind.

You couldn't stop replaying the expression of pure defeat and heartbreak that had been on his face that last night. How you felt dirty like a thousand bugs were crawling all over your skin. The thought that Paige had been spying on every moment you'd thought of as your own had been a huge blow. Nothing seemed worth it anymore. They didn't see it as love, just a few more brain patterns in the ever-growing blueprint that was the Killzone.

The guard let you go at the end of the hallway and turned back without watching you go. You kept walking, not even pausing to acknowledge his disappearance, and quite suddenly felt your feet freeze in place. You'd stopped at the end of the hall, where the boy's and girl's barracks split into two different directions, and without much thought, you turned and started down towards the boys.

Your mind was blank, completely, and it was almost like your legs had minds of their own, but you let them carry you all the way down to the sealed metal door, which hissed opened easily and swung inwards. Inside was almost completely deserted, save for a few kids scattered here and there, laying in their bunks or sitting at the metal tables playing cards.

"Is Newt here?" you asked the closest boy sharply. Looking startled, he sat up and shook his head.

"I-I think he's gone to the gym-"

Without waiting for him to finish you dashed out again, blood roaring in your ears, picking up your pace until you were sprinting towards the gym, taking turn after turn, narrowly missing a group of kids who sprang apart as you spun around the corner.

Everything in your peripheral vision was blurred, your heart was pounding. You felt like you were spinning out of control, whirling around a few more corners before the heavy gym door stood before you. There wasn't a second's hesitation before you yanked it open and stumbled inside, slowing a moment to regain your breath and look around for Newt.

He was in the far corner on the treadmill, but he'd stepped down as you'd burst inside, his eyes wide and confused, an earbud hanging loosely from his neck.