From The WICKED Start | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

20. Another goodbye

The last week Newt spent with me passed by very quickly. In the maze George had gone out for the first time and came back after a short time. He hadn't found an exit and also no Griever, although fortunately he hadn't looked for one. Nevertheless, the boys decided unanimously that he should go back into the maze to continue searching. Soon they had found a term for what he was doing - they called him a runner.
It was Wednesday, late afternoon, and I knew what would happen tonight. Newt knew it too, even though we hadn't talked about it today.
We had spent the last few nights much like the one I went to Rachel, only last night had been different. It had started out similarly, because we found it quite difficult to keep our hands off each other since we had realised how wonderful it was to be together in this way.
After Newt had once again let himself fall next to me, completely out of breath, and we had once again looked at each other completely overwhelmed, he had taken me in his arms. He had done this so often in the past, but this time it was different. We both knew that this was the last time we were together like this and also that we had to say goodbye in less than 24 hours. For Newt, the coming goodbye probably meant forever, for me it meant a temporary goodbye, which did not make it any easier for me.
Without realising it, I had started to cry and only became aware of it when I heard Newt sniffle too. He had pressed his face to my hair and seemed to want to absorb my smell. I let go of him a little and could see that his face was wet with tears, just like mine. We looked at each other for a moment and the sight of his brown eyes only made me sadder.
None of us said anything and we just hugged each other even harder. I was sure that he didn't know what to say any more just as I did.
So, tightly embraced and both of us sobbing, we fell asleep and hadn't gotten any further apart when we woke up that morning.
Teresa and Thomas also knew what was waiting for us tonight and I knew, without us talking about it, that Thomas would be there this time too to accompany me for another goodbye. He and Newt had become quite good friends over the last few weeks and I knew that Newt was his only friend, which made it all the more difficult for him. But he would be there, at 2 o'clock, just like he was exactly four weeks ago.
When we went to the dining room, Newt and I had our hands firmly interlocked, nobody said anything. As if in a trance, we reached the dining room and sat down in our seats without taking anything to eat. The other boys looked at us strangely as Thomas and Teresa sat down without a word. Only Minho seemed to know what was going to happen, because he once looked at Newt so penetratingly and nodded at him as if he wanted to say goodbye.
And then it happened. I saw Janson and two men from the SWAT team enter the room and come towards us. Completely paralysed, I stared at them as they reached us and the two men helped Newt up quite roughly, separating our hands. All I could see was the look he gave me, so full of pain, and then Janson's smile, which he gave me as he winked at me.
I sat there with my mouth open and had to hold on to the table to keep from falling off the chair. I felt someone helping me up and when I was obviously unable to walk, he pulled my legs off the floor and carried me out of the room. Tears were streaming down my face when I heard Ben and Zart shouting something that I didn't understand and felt Teresa taking my hand. She ran next to the one who was carrying me. Thomas was there too, because I heard him say softly: "You'll get a chance to say goodbye, I promise," but he wasn't the one carrying me.
That someone was much more muscular than he was, almost like Gally. But it couldn't be him, I understood that, even though I was completely confused.
"Put her on her bed." That was Teresa. Her voice sounded cold when she addressed my porter.
"Hey, Anna, can you hear me?"
Minho.
Now I could recognise him through the tears. I nodded and blinked a few times to see properly.
Teresa seemed to be sitting next to me on the bed. "Take it easy. Everything will be fine. Remember that you'll see him again."
I knew what she meant and I also knew that Thomas and Minho would think that she meant that I could say goodbye.
"That's right, I'll be back for you. And then you can say goodbye to him in peace. Hopefully we won't make such a racket this time." He smiled and then sat down on Newt's bed - or rather on the now free bed again, because Newt's things had all disappeared like Gally's a month ago.
I swallowed, but had calmed down a bit and could see and think clearly.
I could see how Teresa looked at Thomas rebuking because he wanted to break the rules again, but he took his eyes off her with a gesture of his hand.
Minho was still standing next to my bed and I could see that he was visibly uncomfortable in Teresa's presence. She seemed to feel the same, because she squeezed my hand once more and then stood up.
"I'll see you in the morning. I wish you... good luck tonight." She looked at Thomas and went to the door. "Come on, let's go back to dinner."
Thomas nodded and got up. "See you tonight, Anna."
"See you later, Tommy."
They left my room and Minho sat down beside me where Teresa had just sat.
"Newt told me just a few days ago to watch out for you if he was taken into the maze. I didn't know he'd be next." He swallowed. "And then I had to lie to him too, because I won't be able to make sure you're safe if we carry out your plan to get the kids out of here. I assume you're going to implement it."
I nodded.
"All right, I'm still in."
"Thanks, Minho. If we actually manage to reach the Right Arm, I'm sure they'll take you, too. Rachel will go with them, too. You could then start a better life and I want you to think about it carefully. You should do it, even if you leave your friends behind. You deserve to be happy, Minho."
Now he nodded. "And you? You're not coming with us, am I right? You want to go after him, right?"
I looked at him in surprise. Was I that easy to see through?
As if he had read my mind, he added: "I knew that since I saw them coming for Newt. First Gally and then him. I can imagine that you want nothing more than to enter this maze. Even if it's still wacky and tired of life, of course."
Despite these harsh last words he looked at me not reproachful at all, but rather understanding.
I couldn't answer anything and so I just nodded.
That was the end of this conversation and he made sure once more that everything was all right with me and then left the room.
So now I was alone, staring at the ceiling and crying silently. Far too many thoughts went through my mind for me to sleep. So I just kept staring at the ceiling, went to take a shower sometime around 11 pm and then went back to bed.
Time went by like chewing gum and I had the feeling that it would never be 2 o'clock and I would be lying here forever.
But at some point there was a knock on my door and I immediately sat straight as a die in bed. I quickly got up and opened the door.
Thomas.
I couldn't help it and literally fell into his arms, which caused another wave of tears, because now I had someone to hug me again.
"Come on, let's go to him. He's probably waiting for you."
With that he put an arm around my shoulders and together we walked the same way we walked to Gally four weeks ago.
We stopped in front of the same door as before, only this time there were only two of us and nobody would jump at Thomas this time.
Again Thomas looked at me searchingly and again I said "Open up, Tommy", like in a lifelike Deja Vu.
There was a click and the door opened slowly. Thomas peered in and then told me to follow him. I slipped into the room right after him and almost didn't hear the door fall into the lock behind us.
There he stood in front of me, with red eyes and completely without that aura he had always had. I wrapped my arms around him and immediately felt his warmth, which surrounded me as if I had arrived home.
"Anna," he whispered and kissed me gently on my hair.
Now that I heard his voice fragmentarily say my name, tears streamed down my cheeks again.
"Newt," I sobbed and clawed my hands into his T-shirt.
So we held on for minutes and cried. At some point he detached himself from me a little and took my face in his hands so that I had to look at him, even though I had the feeling that the sight of him would tear me apart.
He wiped a few tears from my cheeks and then kissed me. I closed my eyes and once again forgot everything around me as his lips touched mine.
We had kissed each other so many times in the last weeks and especially in the past week and yet this time it was very different. We both knew that it would be our last kiss.
For Newt it was probably the last one forever, for me it was the last one in this life. Because I would never give up hope that I would make it to him and kiss him again, even if it would be our first kiss again. It just had to happen like that.
And it was only because of this thought that I stayed on my feet and was able to leave the room again with Thomas after further minutes that I would have preferred never to have let pass.
"Bye, buddy, see you around."
"Bye, Tommy."
The two nodded at each other and I could now see a tear glistening on Thomas' face.
Newt kissed me at the door one last time, wiped away my tears once more and then pushed me into the corridor with a pain-distorted face.
Before the door closed between us, I said one last time: "I love you."
And he replied, as always, "And I love you."
These words burned into my heart and head and I was sure I would never forget them.