Treasure Hunt {Maze Runner}

n i n e t e e n

"It was artificial
and left a sour taste in her mouth."

•••

SEATED ACROSS FROM Reese and Kiko, Juno couldn't help but let her eyes wander over their injuries. Even the bruises she couldn't see were screaming in her face, just like the guilt.

The guilt hit her in the chest the hardest every time she looked over at them. The bruises, their shattered personalities, it placed the blame on her. June almost cried when she reached out to hug Reese and the girl winced away from her touch before returning it. She wasn't wincing in pain she was wincing in fear and the thought alone sent Juno spiralling.

She breathes in a shakily, her fingers drumming against her thigh. "I'm so sorry I left you. I'm so so sorry."

"It's okay. It's okay. We're here now." Kiko smiles sympathetically, but Juno can't bring herself to believe her.

They were broken. WICKED had hurt her friends, and from the beginning she had been right. She had known, and if she had simply followed her gut more of them would be here right now. The words she searches for feel so foreign in her mind. There was no way to speak of this lightly, but every bone in Juno's body wanted to know. She was just desperate for answers.

"What about Luna? Where is she?" The words sit heavy on her tongue like honey, though not as sweet. Nothing about this was sweet; instead it was dark, thick and sticky.

"She's gone, June." The bitter words pierce the air with an underlying anger and the coldness nips at Juno's skin — everything looped back around to her for the blame.

June swallows thickly, her eyes meeting the ground. This was all her fault. It was. She had left them and now she had lost more of them. "How?"

Sadness clouds Kiko's features, and Reese's eyes can't meet Juno's. Neither girls want the words to tumble out of their mouths, and June can't blame them.

As the silence sits over them, Juno almost wants to take back her question. Maybe she didn't want to know how it happened, but it was too late because Kiko was already opening her mouth to mutter the unwanted words. "We were fighting back, and she got hit in the head, hard."

Maybe the answer was supposed to give her closer, or make her feel better, but it didn't. It was artificial and left a sour taste in her mouth. This false hope was rancid and Juno was tired of relying on it.

•••

Nothing about the raging sea below Juno was soothing. It was rough and choppy, but it was beautiful. The black water sparkles in the moonlight and Juno could only ever hope to look as beautiful as the wild water.

Leanne was just as beautiful, and no one could deny that. Though her eyes were glassy and her dark hair flew in every direction, she could still outshine the stars in the sky. At least, she could before WICKED had captured her. But now, looking at her friend, Juno could only see a shell of the woman she once was. Leanne was just as broken and bruised as Reese and Kiko —if not worse— and it hurt Juno to see that.

However, she had to face her demons. So here she was, walking up to sit beside Leanne on the large rocks above the black sea. "I'm sorry I didn't come to see you earlier." Juno sighs, shaking her head. "I guess I was just overemotional." That wasn't a lie; seeing not only her friends, but other kids condemned to a life of horrors had shaken June.

A long silence sits between the two friends, and if Juno couldn't find comfort in the sea, then she could find comfort in this silence. It wasn't often that she could sit in silence and not feel the need to fill it, but here she was.

Perhaps Leanne doesn't share that sentiment as she turns June. "You like him." She states bluntly.

It's like the air is knocked out of Juno's lungs as she searches for the right words. "I— well— what?" She wasn't quite sure what words she should be searching for. Did she want to deny Leanne's statement, or would she simply tell the truth?

Leanne rolls her eyes and Juno feels her heartbeat quicken in anticipation. "Well you have feelings for Newt."

Then, without thought, she nods. Something that she hadn't even admitted to the boy himself before, she was admitting to Leanne. She wasn't used to this in any way possible; it's not like there were any boys in her Maze. Of course, some of the girls found themselves drawn to other girls in the Maze; maybe it's what Juno had seen today between Reese and Kiko — without realizing it. But Juno wasn't one of those girls. She never did crushes, not until Newt. "Yeah... I mean... I'm not really trying to stop them anymore." She sighs. "I could say the same about you, though. You like Thomas."

Leanne smiles softly. "I don't like Thomas, June." Said girl knits her brows together in confusion. Leanne didn't like Thomas? Since when? Because six months ago the girl was infatuated. She hears Leanne release a breathe and waits. "I love him."

Juno's head turns to look at Leanne so quickly she gives herself whiplash. "Are you sure?" Her hand shoots up to rub her neck. Could Leanne truly love Thomas? Maybe, but how could Juno really know? Right now, all she felt was worry for her friend. What if she was jumping into things she didn't understand? And so, June speaks up about her worry. "You're not just desperate for love, or something? Cause Newt told me about how you liked a guy named Gally in your Maze and—"

Leanne interrupts her friend quickly. "Urgh of course Newt would tell you." She groans. "Whatever. It's not like that."

With a nod, June sighs. "Whatever it's like, you should be careful." It wasn't her place to question Leanne's feelings. She could offer insight — though let's be honest, what did Juno really know about love? Not much, but at times like this she knew the feeling could be dangerous. "We've still got a war to fight."

The crunch of someone's footsteps makes both of them quiet down. Their both watch as the figure gets closer, finally close enough for them to realize it's Thomas. Speak of the devil. June stands up (very ungracefully), and smiles to Leanne. "I'm going to go see Reese and Kiko."

•••

It wasn't a lie; she did go to Reese and Kiko. But before she could enter the room where both girls resided, June found herself hesitating outside. She could see into the window from a few feet away, unseen with a view of everything. The two girls were laying in bed together, whispering between eachother and watching this made Juno's heart quiver. She could never be the same comfort she once was to them; how could she? She had left them and nothing could ever fix that. There was never a calm before the storm in Juno's life; it was a constant storm, raging, frightful and unmerciful, and the worst thing about this storm was that she was at the center of it.

Then, like the clouds parted to reveal the shining sun, there were footsteps approaching and Newt stepped forward, gesturing to June that it was time for the meeting. Nothing about the meeting was shiny and golden, but everything about Newt was and that was enough motivation for June to get up and follow him towards the warehouse, hand in hand.