The New Horizon ~ A Maze Runner Story

- 28 -

"Thomas!" A voice yelled in the distance, and instinctively Thomas knew it was Doctor Owens even though he couldn't see the clear details of her face, just a black silhouette jogging towards him. "What's . . . what happened?"
Thomas heaved, filled with a mixture of triumph and fear. His knuckles burned, one of them even felt popped out of place. Captain Orders stood there, blinking his eyes as they involuntarily filled with tears from having been punched in the sinuses.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Captain Orders yelled. "There's always gotta be one stupid kid to mess everything up, huh? Just go on."

Thomas was about to reply, say something under his breath, when Owens had caught up to them. She flipped on a flashlight, shining it in Captain Order's face first. "What just happened?"
When the man just rolled his eyes, Thomas filled in, accusingly pointing down at the girl who still laid there, limp and sprawled. "He--he shot her."
"Well, how did she even get in? You were supposed to keep everyone out, Smith. You and your men."
"We were--this girl--she . . . I don't know how--"
"You failed, you mean." Owens shook her head, silently reprimanding the guard with every facial expression she could muster. "Well . . . We can't send her back."

"Yes, we can--we have to."
Owens held a hand to her chest and raised her eyebrows. "It's not my fault dozens of men failed to keep one girl from breaking through their barricade. Now, is it?"
Thomas wanted so badly to mock Captain Orders, say something that would surely burn him for the rest of his career, but at the sight of the girl beside him, a wave of sadness swept over him. Doctor Owens was down on the ground beside her, kneeling as she felt at her arm.
"Is she . . ." Thomas was hesitant to ask, "Is she going to make it?"
"I shot her with a tranquilizer, kid. We don't use real guns here." Captain Orders barked, his tone full of spite. Thomas sunk to his knees so quickly he couldn't decipher if it was from relief or embarrassment. But no matter what, that guard deserved his punch.

"She's fine. The sleep induction doesn't last for more than twenty minutes. It works immediately and wears off fairly immediate as well." Owens replied. She shone the flashlight on the girl's face, and something in Thomas found it impossible to deny her beauty. Her chest rose and fell faintly. She looked at peace, completely unaware that she had just been shot. Thomas was almost so deep in concentration that he hardly heard Doctor Owens excuse the guards.
"I'll call the medics for a gurney." She said, then spoke into her radio.
Thomas pulled back in surprise. "You mean you're allowing her to stay?"
Owens brushed a hand along the girl's arm, looking down at her with a subtle smile. "I'm definitely not forcing her back outside."

***

Thomas stood in the hospital, a few feet behind the curtained room where the girl had been admitted. Doctor Owens was inside with a couple nurses, getting the girl situated. Thomas just wanted to see her, make sure she was okay after that tranquilizer, even though Owens assured him she would be.
He watched as both nurses existed the curtained room, followed by Doctor Owens.
"You will never believe it," Owens said as she lightly grabbed Thomas's arm. "May has agreed to test the vaccine. So we're doing it now--we're testing her tonight. And tomorrow we will see its effects--if it works or not . . . Thomas, isn't this wonderful?"

Thomas nodded, he felt his own expression alight with incredulity. There were so many things he wanted to say. "W-wait, you said her name was May?"
"May, yes." Owens nodded. "And she wants to speak with you."
"S-she does?"
"Yes. I'm going to retrieve the vaccine, meanwhile, you go speak with her." Owens said, then took off on an easy stroll to the far end of the hospital room. Thomas, surprised and mildly excited, took off for May's bedside.

Her eyes were the first thing Thomas noticed. Greenish hazel brown eyes. That was the best way he could describe them. They were sharp and delicate, strong yet meek. But they never broke away from his.
Thomas felt the urge to wring his hands . . . It was just those eyes. "Hi, uh, I'm--"
"Thomas." The girl--May--replied. A smile formed immediately after. It was a kind, endearing smile; something that didn't belong in such a bland hospital. "I'm May. Doctor Owens, she told me who you are."
Her voice was sweet, too. Slightly rough, probably from the screaming, Thomas thought. But there was a sincere undertone that laced the raspiness. Something smooth and soft.

And, taking him by surprise, she pushed herself from off of the bed, swinging her legs out from the sheets. Part of her gown was pulled up to reveal her thigh, and Thomas forced himself to keep from acknowledging it. Quickly, she stood up from her bed, and with one deliberate lunge forward, she wrapped her arms around Thomas's shoulders, chest against chest. Thomas, surprised at her strength and vigor, found himself happy to wrap his arms around her, smelling the pleasantly natural aroma of her skin and hair.

"Thank you, Thomas. Thank you for defending me back there . . . Without you, I think that grouchy guard would've definitely kicked me out." May spoke into his neck, sending a series of small, shooting tingles across his skin.
"Of course." They pulled away, but the warmth of their embrace lingered. "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good, great now, actually. Well, because of you."
Thomas ducked his head, tried to deviate from the, what was it? Bashfulness? Nervousness . . .
"You know, that was really brave of you--what you did back there to survive. I mean, you completely finessed those guards. That takes skill." He said.

Those brown-green eyes stared at him, almost as if they were reading every little aspect of him.
"You'd be pretty brave, too, if you saw the horror beyond that wall . . .," May replied. Her eyes dropped from Thomas's gaze and a saddening glint of sorrow filled them. "If I stayed there one more day--well, I would have lost it. I couldn't watch myself slowly become them, diseased and all. It's just chaos, complete chaos."
Thomas felt the indirect communication of what she was trying to say--Cranks and crazies, the filth and devastation of the Flare. His brain began revisiting the memories, internally sickening him. Newt. He had to shut off his thoughts. Fortunately, May's presence brought him back to reality. She was frowning. "I'm sorry if I brought back bad memories."

Thomas snapped out of his stupor. "No. No, it's not your fault. Don't worry, I'm fine."
Before the room became silent, May nodded. A smile creeping onto her pretty face. "If your cure works then there will be less chaos. And eventually none."
He smiled, matching hers, and crossed his fingers. "I hope so. Seriously hope so."
May raised her eyebrows and lifted the sleeve of her hospital gown, showing the area of her tanned tricep where she would soon be vaccinated. "Me too. For my sake, of course, but more importantly for the world's."

Thomas couldn't help but stare--at her lips, her nose, her hair. She was undoubtedly beautiful, he couldn't deny that. And a sense of pride filled him at the thought of her being the first volunteer trying his blood vaccination. "Are you excited--for the vaccine?" It was the most stupid question he could ask, but he watched as May's eyes lit up with jubilance.
"Excited, energetic, you name it. Not one bit nervous." She bit her lip, a subtle gesture that Thomas noticed and couldn't pull his eyes away from.

"It's great to see you two acquainted." Doctor Owens said suddenly as she stepped into the room, nearly startling Thomas. He turned to nod at her, his head spinning with the desire to know May more, though he knew his time was cut short.
A couple nurses followed behind Owens and wheeled in a tray with a syringe and a tiny bottle of translucent, slightly red liquid. The test vaccine. His vaccine. A pumping burst of anxiety rushed through him, mixed with excitement. If his cure really did work, May was right; the world would be diminished of its craziness. It was a shucking sweet thought.

Thomas looked back to the bed, where May was already seated, speaking softly with one of the nurses. As he walked out of the confined room, he took one last peak, and this time she met his eyes. And part of him knew he'd make it a mission to witness that smile again.