Why Don't We date already? | oneshots

running

book series: the maze runner by james dashner

warning: it won't make sense if you just read one book, you have to read all of them for it to make sense

*****

Jack and I sat in the darkness, hiding from the Cranks that had found one of our hideaways.

    "There's always too damn many of them," Jack grumbled, loading up his gun.

    "Speak for yourself," I muttered back, finishing loading my gun. I threw our bags into the pit we had created just in case something like this happened and immediately crawled in, Jack following. He shut the lid over us, the only light coming from two holes we had made for our guns. I lined up mine as Jack lined his. We were uncomfortably close, having grown significantly in the one year we had made this hideout.

    Jack and I had been found by WICKED almost three years ago, but had managed to escape when Jack and I heard about the Trials, having no desire to be separated ever again. We were labeled as Immunes; I would have been put in the girls group and Jack with the guys for the trials. We've been by each other's sides for too long for us to be torn away from each other. Jack was the first friend I ever had in elementary. It's been that way for twelve years.

    I could hear the Cranks coming through the woods. "I smell people."

    "Uh huh," the Crank's companion muttered. "They smell good."

    "You do smell good," Jack whispered into my ear. I elbowed him, causing him to grunt.

    They stumbled into the clearing, a few feet away from our small dugout. They shuffled around, eventually finding our dugout and searching through it.

    "I can smell her," one of them hissed. I recognized that voice.

    "No," I muttered. A sharp pain in my head suddenly made me pass out.

*****

    Jack and I squeezed into a nearby closet.

    "They're still out there," I whispered, pressing my ear against the door.

    "Shh," he hushed, copying my actions.

    "Where are they?" My father's voice has become coarser around the edges. I gripped Jack's waist as he tightened his grip around me.

    "They're here." My mother's voice, not the soft, lilting voice anymore, but rough and scratchy.

    "I'm hungry," an unrecognizable voice said. A shiver ran down my spine when I realized.

    The people outside weren't my parents.

    They were monsters.

*****

    I woke up to fresh air and a cool washcloth pressed against my forehead. The bodies of two Cranks lay in the clearing as Jack got out our belongings from the dugout.

    "What's happening?" I asked, sitting up. Jack threw my bag at me as he stood up, grabbing my hand and hauling me up with him.

    "We need to run to Denver," he said. "It's the safest place right now."

    "Jack..." I said, trying not to let my tears fall.

    "They're not your parents anymore, Zoë," he said, his voice hardening. "We need to go."

    I just nodded, letting him pull me towards our destination.

*****

    We jumped onto a moving train, finding the nearest car that was empty and unlocked. I set my bag down, rummaging inside it to find water as Jack tried to use his battered GPS salvaged from some car to find our bearings.

    "We need to jump off in a couple hours and then it's, like, ten miles from where we'll jump off of," Jack said, his eyes never leaving his device. I guzzled down a water bottle and nodded my head. That won't be too bad.

    I stared at the peeling paint on the sides of the boxcar. I didn't want to replay what happened earlier.

    "I'm sorry, Zoë," Jack mumbled. I knew he felt guilty about killing my parents.

    "It's okay, Jack," I sighed, resting my head against the hot metal. Ever since the solar flares started, most places were either burned to a crisp or extremely hot. "They're not my parents any more. Neither are yours."

    He sighed. We both knew that it was irreversible: our parents were Cranks.

    He walked over to me as the boxcar rattled on the rails. He gripped my hand. "Together forever."

    I smiled softly, gripping his hand. "Together forever."

    His lips crashed onto mine as the boxcar rattled.

*****

    We were running towards Denver when we found a wall blocking our way.

    "What is this?" I muttered as we looked for a way to scale it.

    "It's made of wood," Jack said. "Looks strong. Whoever made this is good."

    "There's an entrance," I said, running to it, Jack following. A guard stood outside. He or she immediately pointed a spear at us.

    "What do you want?"

    "What is this?" I retorted back. The guard started arguing with me and Jack, us trying to get in and figure out what it is and the guard refusing to tell us anything.

    "What's all the ruckus?" A vaguely familiar voice said, appearing at the gate. He stopped and looked at us. "Wait a minute. Jack? Zoë?"

    "Minho?"