The Maze Runner

Chapter Twenty

  "Where the hell is Thomas?" I ask Newt as we exit the tent and walk around the Glade, hand in hand. I can't seem to spot him anywhere. Newt shrugs.

"Considering we can't find Minho either, they're probably out in the maze together. Which means, there'll be another gathering and more fighting from Gally about Thomas going out into the maze," Newt sighs. I bite my lip, debating before opening my mouth.

"Do you think Gally has a point?" I ask, looking up at him.

"What do you mean?" Newt frowns. I shrug.

"Well, I mean, everything has started to change since Thomas got here. I mean, I'm not saying it's all necessarily a bad thing, but we've been following the same routine for so long and it's worked. This rule breaking is dangerous. We both know how dangerous the maze can be. I mean honestly I'm surprised Thomas is still alive after everything he's done. He doesn't think before he acts," I explain, sighing. "I don't know, maybe Gally's messing with my head-"
"I don't think he's messing with your head, you're right. He does have a point. And to be honest, I'm not sure what to do. We could be getting closer to finding a way out by putting ourselves in more danger. I don't know what to allow at this point." He looks around. "I'm kind of terrified. I never thought it would come to this. I mean, me being in charge as everything starts to fall apart. I'm not used to this," He admits to me quietly. I smile and step in front of him, placing a hand under his chin, tilting it up so he meets my eyeline.

"You're doing great, sweetie," I joke, causing him to look back down and laugh softly. I smile again and bite my lip, tilting his chin back up. "Seriously though, you're doing a great job holding this place together. And don't forget, you're not alone. You'll always have me, and Minho can be a hardass when he needs to be. You've got back up. Don't forget that," I remind him. He looks into my eyes deeply and thoughtfully before reaching forward to match our lips together.

"Without you, I probably would've been driven crazy by now," He shakes his head and laughs slightly, pulling his lips away from mine just barely so our foreheads are still pressed together. I exhale through my nose, looking up into his eyes.

"We both know that's not true, you'd last a little bit longer," I joke. He rolls his eyes before sweetly kissing me again. He takes my hand in his as we walk off to the gardens. But it's not long before Winston cuts his hand in the blood house and I'm called back to my medical duties.

"You've really got to be more careful, Winston. I won't be able to sew your fingers back on, you know," I joke to him. He smiles and rolls his eyes as I continue bandaging his hand.

"So, Beth, I've got a question for you," He says. I immediately cock my eyebrows.

"Really? For me?" I ask, surprised. He nods his head yes. "Oh, uh, okay. What is it?" I keep wrapping the gauze around his hand.

"I was just thinking- ah!" He shouts painfully. I cringe and loosen the bandages around the middle of his palm.

"Sorry!" I apologize. I had gotten distracted. He smiles with a hint of a grimace, replying to me.

"It's alright. But anyways, I was just wondering, what do you think about Thomas?" He asks me. I give him a confused look.

"What do you mean exactly?" I ask. He thinks about it for a minute.

"Like, are you on his side? Do you think he has good intentions?" He clarifies. I open my mouth but no words come out.

"I guess I never really thought about him not having good intentions, but now that I think about it, Ben did mention seeing him while he went through the changing," I start to wonder.

"I don't know about him yet, but I think he seems to have good intentions. He just wants to get out of here, and that's what we all want, right?" Winston reasons. I nod my head.

"You're right, even if Ben did see him in some way during the changing, all our memories are gone. How could he possibly have bad intentions without his memory?" I mention. Winston nods.

"Yeah. Thanks for bandaging my hand for the seventeenth time this week," he laughs. I smile and shake my head.

"It's what I'm here for," I remind him. He smiles at me and flexes his newly bandaged hand before he wanders out of the tent.