Survive Till Dusk (The Maze Runner)

Chapter 18 // The Ones We Lost

*Robin's P.O.V.*

The excitements of the day especially — Thomas and Newt's fight — had worn us all out. Once we had finished our dinner in the main hall, Robin, Scarlett, and I bid the boys goodnight and headed back to our rooms.

We once again found ourselves in the shadowy hallways of the Right Arm stronghold. Although we hadn't seen each other for most of the day, and probably had a lot of catching up to do, none of us really knew what to say.

"So... what have you been up to today?" Scarlett asked, giving me a slight nudge.

I shrugged and simply replied: "Not much, just doing a little bit of research."

"What about you? Surely you didn't spend most of your day in that dingy little room," I enquired in return.

"I, uhm..." Scarlett trailed off glancing at the ground, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

Ooh, this was about to be good? I thought, now wanting to know what that was all about.

"Is this about James?" Alex finally piped up from behind us.

"Who's James?" I asked, now very intrigued.

"James Hamilton... he just showed me around the grounds this morning," Scarlett mumbled, still blushing.

"He seemed very sweet. Not to mention his good looks," Alex winked, elbowing Scarlett teasingly.

My heart sank a little. There they were: both of them happily running around with boys throwing themselves at their feet left and right. And here I was: all alone and left to wallow in my misery. Alex and Scarlett both didn't seem to care — not about getting Minho back and not about me. I hated this feeling of helplessness... that feeling of being stuck in quicksand and not being able to do anything to save myself or Minho.

"Is this about Minho?" Alex asked, looking at me with a concerned frown at my evident absent-mindedness. I pointedly kept staring at the ground, not answering her question.

"Look, we've talked about this already. We'll get Minho back, just give it time," Scarlett muttered, seeming slightly frustrated at my unwillingness to tell them what was wrong. However, what she said just made my blood boil. TIME. Did she really think we had time?

"Time? Do you think we haven't been giving it enough TIME? Sitting here, doing NOTHING?" I snapped, clenching my jaw in frustration.

"Robin, the boys are doing everything they can. And we will do everything to help get him back as well," Alex argued in an attempt to calm me down.

"We can't just go in guns blazing. We'll all be dead before we can even free him," Scarlett piped up, trying to get me to see reason. Although I didn't want to admit it, she had a point. WICKED was much larger and far more well equipped than the Right Arm. If we didn't have a meticulously thought-out plan, they would be able to overpower us in any predictable or direct attack we launched.

"We'll get him back, you just need to have a little faith," Scarlett added quietly, gently placing a comforting hand on my arm. Filled with hurt and frustration, I shrugged it off: "How is faith gonna help me if I've already lost everything!?"

I knew she meant well, but I knew faith alone wouldn't save Minho. I couldn't sit back and wait. I wouldn't stop fighting now.

"Hey! Every single one in this group has lost someone. Newt lost Alby, Thomas lost Chuck. Scar's dad and my mom were killed by the Flare, and we don't even know where the other half of our families are! We want to get our friend back just as much as you do. You're not the only one who knows what it's like to lose someone!" Alex retaliated bitterly, hurt and anger lacing her voice.