Silence

Chapter 17

He landed in front of me as I quickly leaped back, dropping my stick in the process. "George, stop" I tried to talk to him, but he rose to his feet. He only laughed before jumping at me again.

I turned to run, feeling how I slipped out of George's grasp. I ran quicker than I had done in the maze, quicker than I had done in the time I could remember. George was close behind me, the serum must have made him faster somehow.

I exited the forest and screamed as high as I could. "Newt!" Newt turned around from the Homestead and looked at me. "Em?" I could hear his distant voice. "Newt, someone, help!" George exited the forest, quickly gaining on me. "Em!" Newt started to run at me, the others not far behind.

I could see Newt's figure coming closer, it felt like I could almost touch him. Suddenly George got to me and we went down to the ground with quite a crash. George grunted from above me, using his hands to lock the air from my throat. I punched at him, but he wouldn't let go. My side hurt and black spots started to appear in my vision.

Suddenly, George's grasp weakend. His eyes widened in shock as he spat blood and fell to the side. Alby stood over me, his sharp stick deep into George's neck. "It had to be done" He said and I nodded at him.

"Em!" Newt ran the last way to me, stumbling and landing on his knees next to me. "Hi you" I smiled at him. "You- you can talk?" Newt smiled widely at me as the others reached us. They looked at George's body, a small puddle of blood being formed on the grass by his wound.

Nick went over to his dead friend and lifted his torn shirt. On his torso was a big and black mark, black veins crawling over his chest. "He was stung" Nick said, "Stung by those creatures, those Grievers" Nick released George's shirt, making it cover the wound again.

"I guess so" I said and tried to sit up, but screamed in pain as my hands went to my side. Newt's smile disappeared, his face now showing worry. "What's wrong?" He asked. I removed my hands from my side, revealing the handle of a knife.

George must've had a knife on him when he got stung. As we ran, he must have pulled it out. And as we stumbled to the ground, that knife had slid over my stomach and buried itself into my side.

"No, no, no" Newt mumbled and pulled me into his lap. My upper body lay sideways over Newt's lap as he pulled me closer. "You're gonna be fine".

Minho, Alby and Gally kneeled down next to me and Newt. "Take the knife out and apply pressure to the wound, she'll bleed to death otherwise" Clint said in a low voice. "Okay, this is going to hurt love" Newt said and held me close as Minho pulled the knife out.

I screamed in pain, Newt rocking me back and forth. "I know, I know" He whispered as his tears landed on my forehead, dripping down my face. Minho received a shirt from Zart and pressed it hard against my wound. "You're not giving up" He said, looking at me. I could see the tears forming in his eyes as well.

I smiled at him. My boys, what would they do without me here? Newt gently brushed a strand of hair away from my forehead. "You're going to be fine" He said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself and not me. I smiled a small smile at Newt, I already knew I wouldn't make it. Not here, not with this wound.

"Newt, look at me" I said. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Newt" I said his name again. He opened his eyes. "I'm not going to make it" I whispered. "Yes, yes you are" Newt nodded his head. "We'll take you to Clint and Jeff, they will help you. They'll stitch you up and you'll be okay in no time"

I smiled at Newt, we both knew that this was the end. "Jeff, Clint, Zart, Winston, Nick and Fry" I said, the boys looking at me. "I'm sorry I didn't get to know you sooner. I would have loved it" I chuckled and winced as my side stung badly.

"Gally" I looked at him. Tears were forming in his eyes as he tried to wipe them away. "Keep building. This place will be beautiful". Gally grabbed one of my hands, the one not being held by Newt. "I will" He promised. "Always be yourself. You're a great person" Gally nodded and released my hand before rising.

"Alby" I turned my attention to our leader. "Hi Em" He smiled at me and I returned it. "It's been an honor to be your second in command. Give the post to someone worthy" He nodded at me. "Thanks for coming to the Glade when I was alone" He said. "Didn't have much else to do". Alby laughed at my joke and removed a tear that had escaped from his eye.

"Minho" My attention turned to the Glader who was currently applying pressure to my wound. The blue shirt he had gotten from Zart was almost black with blood. "My running buddy" I smiled and reached my hand towards him. He leaned forward and let me ruffle his hair. "Promise me" I whispered. Alby took the shirt from Minho so that he could come closer. "Promise what?" He asked.

"Promise me you'll find a way out" I said, looking him in the eyes. Tears ran down his face. "I promise" He cried. "Promise me you'll run until your last day" I said. Minho nodded, "I promise" He said. I winced as my side stung again. "Promise me you'll take care of Newt. He has to make it out of here". Minho cried softly as I felt tears escape my eyes.

This was the first time I had cried in the Glade. I had never wanted anyone to see if I was sad, fearing that they would only see me as weak. "He has to live" I looked Minho even deeper into his eyes. "I- I promise" He said, rising to stand beside Gally. Gally's face was wet with tears, Minho not looking that different.

"Newt" I said, looking up into his tearfilled brown eyes. "I'm here love" He sobbed and turned his face to me. "Oh Newt" I squeezed his hand hard. "I remember when I first met you" I said. "Don't do this" He cried. I shook my head, I needed to say this.

"I stumbled down on you and you got so surprised when you noticed that I couldn't talk. You spent the evening with me, constantly apologizing even though I told you it was fine. Then when we discovered the window to the maze, you protected me from the Griever we saw".

As I talked through my journey with Newt, tears escaped my eyes and my voice got thick. Newt's free hand quickly landed on my cheek, wiping away the tears.

"Then we became close. You took care of my raspberries and I tried to find a way out of this place. We sat next to each other during dinner and hung our hammocks next to each other's too" Newt smiled at me and I rose my hand to dry his tears. His hand went from my cheek to my hand on his face, he gently stroked the back of it with his thumb.

"You always made me feel better when I was feeling down. You helped me when I got hurt, just like you are now" Newt sobbed as I dryed his tears. Alby sat quiet by my side and kept pressure on the wound, but I could feel that it was useless. My time was almost up and I had so much left to say.

"I know why my raspberries died now" I said. "They were a warning, one bush dead each week until there were none left. Just like the weeks of my life" I smiled at Newt, he was crying even harder now.

"You said that you'd find my voice, and you did" I stroked Newt's cheek, making him look into my eyes as I laughed. "You said you wished to hear my laugh" I said, "And now you can".

Newt looked down at me. "Please don't leave me" He cried. Alby had stopped applying pressure to my wound and leaned back. He knew that I wanted to spend my final moments with Newt.

"You'll be okay, I won't leave you" I smiled through my tears. "I'll always be in your heart". I looked over at the wall with all names, our names. "Write the newbies over there, okay? But don't fix my name" I smiled at Newt, "I like a mystery" I whispered, feeling my strength leave me.

"Em, please don't go" Newt cried and lifted my head closer to his. With all the strength I had left in me, I lifted my head higher and our lips touched.

His lips were warm and just as soft as I had imagined them to be. They tasted like salt, like his tears. I pulled away, our foreheads touching, and smiled at him.

"I love you" I whispered. "I just wish I'd told you sooner". Newt smiled at me as he cried even harder. "I love you too" He said, keeping my hand on his cheek with his, still stroking it with his thumb. "Good that" I smiled at him and felt myself becoming lighter, my hand falling from his face.

It felt like I was floating on air, my body got warm and my wound stopped hurting so bad. The last thing I saw was Newt's face, and then everything turned black.