Amnesia: A Maze Runner Fanfiction

c h a p t e r . e i g h t e e n

*Newt's POV*

Anna was out cold again, head slumped forward and breathing shallow as we sat in the helicopter. They were taking us to safety, weren't they? They'd save her, else the shank sat across from me wouldn't have picked her up and carried her with the rest of us.

He was fidgeting, trying to pull something from a pocket on his cargo pants. I watched, interested, as he retrieved a tiny item and sat forward. He lifted Anna's chin and squeezed to open her mouth. He dropped a small white pill into her mouth and tilted her head back to allow her to swallow it. She didn't stir, but I sat up, concerned.

"What are you doing?" I asked defensively, trying to intervene. He pushed me lightly back into my seat.

"It's just a simple painkiller. We're trying to help you," the rescuer explained. I studied his face; he was young, likely only a couple of years older than me. Short cropped brown hair and a small amount of stubble on a face that was impossible to read. I was sceptical, and only his word gave me a reason not to be - they had killed the Creators and taken us away from the Maze, but we had no idea where we were headed now. Hell, we didn't even know what this world was that we were now in.

Thinking of the Maze, I glanced out of the glass beside me. In the far distance behind us, I thought I could make out the Maze. I didn't really consider that the Glade's sky was the same sky as the rest of the world's. We were never sure if it was a hologram. If it was the real sky, I found that somehow more cruel - the outside was in view, but so far out of reach.

I could just about see the aerial of the twisting corridors that we'd lived in for so long. Seeing it so tiny from the air was in parts comforting, and in parts terrifying. This buggin' Maze was all I'd ever known. I had no memories of anything else - we were simply starting over in a brand new world.

"She might have internal bleeding," the rescuer said. My attention turned immediately back to Anna, still unconscious. "We'll try to fix her, but she's in a bad way."

"I know," I muttered, my expression matching her own - eyebrows furrowed, troubled, even in sleep.

"What is this place?" Minho piped up after a moment. I saw he was staring out of the window on the other side, Teresa peering over his shoulder. Her hand was still firmly in Thomas', who was still sat, expressionless and unmoving. My mind flashed to Chuck, to Gally, and how it was almost Anna. I shivered.

Turning my gaze back to the window, I watched as we rushed past the life below us. The terrain was sandy and sparse, like we were in some sort of desert. Run-down, beaten buildings filled the area, and people looking like beetle blades on the ground far below.

Eventually, the helicopter started to sink and slow down. The rescuer across from me gave the briefest of smiles - the most emotion I'd seen from him. "We're here."

Helicopters were landing all around us as we hit the floor, and the rescuer reached across to open the door. He motioned for me to climb out, but I hesitated, glancing back to a still-unconscious Anna.

"You've done enough," he said not unkindly. "I'm gonna take her to a medic. Just worry about you now."

He climbed out after me, reaching back to scoop Anna up again. Minho, Thomas and Teresa joined me, Minho laying a comforting hand on my shoulder.

We were stood in front of a very large, but unimpressive, secluded building. It appeared old and beaten just like the others we'd passed, old stone covered in vines and cracks. I shuddered as I was reminded of the Maze walls. Minho gave my shoulder a squeeze, clearly feeling the same.

The rest of the Gladers from the other helicopters gathered around us as the rescuers led us inside. Once the crowd surged forward, I lost sight of ours, the one carrying Anna. I looked around frantically all the way into the building, until I spotted her, still unconscious and being carried, as a couple of rescuers turned down a different corridor with her. I glanced behind me until she was out of sight, and I'd no choice but to keep following the others.

"They's gonna save her," Teresa said from next to me. "She's gonna live." Minho nodded, clearly just as shaken as me. I found myself nodding along with him. She'd be fine. She was safe now. We all were.

We kept moving as a group, following down winding corridors that reminded me a little too much of the Maze. I glanced at Minho, who returned my look with a grimace. Finally, we stopped in front of a large door, that looked something of a prison cell. A rescuer unlocked and opened the door, holding it and ushering us inside.

One of the rescuers near to us reached out to grab Teresa's hand. Her other was still holding Thomas', and he tightened his grip when the rescuer tried to pull her away.

"We have a different room for her," he tried to explain. Thomas wasn't about to let go.

"Can't she stay?" he asked, not aggressively. Just sounding tired. "I don't want her to be alone."

The rescuer glanced to his colleague, and the two seemed to share a weird silent conversation, before he nodded and dropped Teresa's hand. Teresa stepped back closer to Thomas. "Alright," he said, relenting.

We traipsed into the large room; once passing the threshold I could see it was filled with bunk beds. It was a huge chamber, spacious enough but with walls and floor that made it seem more like a bunker than a bedroom. I supposed it may well be both.

The rescuers left promising food and a break. We'd figure things out tomorrow, they'd said. They'd explain everything, and we could perhaps work out where we're supposed to fit into this new world. And how we could take WICKED down.

The Gladers spread themselves out in the room, talking quietly amongst each other. Everyone seemed terrified, and while we allowed ourselves to be somewhat relieved, perhaps we were worried it was all too good to be true. That's definitely how I felt as I sat, thinking on the bottom bunk I'd claimed, below Minho.

There were enough beds for everyone in the room, excluding Teresa and Anna, I realised. I wondered if they'd bring a new bunk bed in since they let Teresa stay, or if they'd take Anna somewhere else overnight. I wondered what they were doing with her right now.

Maybe it was worse than they thought. Maybe she did have internal bleeding, like the rescuer had said. What if she was too far gone? Once she passed out in the helicopter, she hadn't woken up again. Gally had first stabbed her in the Slammer, before they'd even left the Glade. That felt like years ago. How did she hang on that long?

Maybe Anna was already dead.