Two Turtle Doves

Seven

The Gladers slowly dispersed, not too motivated by the previous statement. Everyone trailed off on their own, some sticking closer to friends than they would have liked to admit. 

You figured you had to force your feet to move eventually, so you reluctantly started walking to the left -- the opposite of where most of the others were going. You had intended to go alone. Maybe it was because you wanted to cover more ground by splitting up or maybe it was because you would have felt like a child being babysat if someone accompanied you. But moments after you started walking away, footsteps followed you. 

You knew they were Newt's. Even though they were supressed by the sand beneath everyone's shoes, you could hear the gentleness in his every movement. You didn't turn around. Thomas had given everyone a flashlight and you were focused on watching whatever it lit up, hoping to find something eye-catching. Newt's flashlight clicked on behind you. It was then when you realized he had no intention of leaving your side. 

You turned your head to look at him, and his eyes met yours the instant you turned your neck. You didn't want to complain about him accompanying you, but you didn't want him to do it either.

"You don't have to come with me," you told him. "I'm not afraid of the dark."

"I know I don't have to come with," he answered. His voice echoed shortly through the quickly darkening area. "But I want to."

You watched him as he looked away from you, scanning your surroundings. If you hadn't been so focused on his subtle frown, you would have looked around too. You hadn't lied: you weren't scared of the dark. But you were scared that something was going to come running out of the shadows and at you. Newt couldn't prevent that whether he was near you or not.

You stopped walking for a moment, to let him reach your side. When he did, he lowered his flashlight and clicked it off. The lack of light it left was frightening. The distance he left between you and him -- nearly none at all -- was frightening, too. What about it was frightening would remain a mystery. Your breaths turned unsteady as you became aware of how much taller he was -- although it was nothing you hadn't realized before. It felt different when there was nobody watching, more cordial and intimate. You had absolutely no idea how long you stood there, ogling his chocolate brown eyes. It could have been seconds or hours and you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. But when a loud percussive sound filled the silent air, you whipped around to try to figure out what it was. 

The beam of light from both flashlights had never seemed so weak. From a completely different direction, sudden movement caught your eye. You spun to see what it was. It was far away and hard to make out completely, but it looked as if it was a light growing closer and closer to you. Every part of you wanted to run away from it, but you stood still. 

When the light illuminated the area around you, you squinted your eyes and ducked down quickly to avoid the piercing whiteness of it. A moment later, you forced yourself to look up and around.

You were in a long hallway-looking area, with a large set of stairs not too far away. Your eyes watered at the corners because of the stinging light, but you blinked the tears away. Newt was looking around and you realized that you had not moved far from the entrance at all. 

You tried to listen for something other than the sound of lights turning on. Almost immediately, you could make out distant calls of the Gladers. It was impossible to understand what they were shouting about. At the sound, you began walking in the direction you had come from, hoping to find some indication of where everybody was. It didn't take long.

Right as you reached the entrance of another hallway, the Gladers rounded the same corner. They were running toward you, throwing you off guard. Why are they running?