Into The WICKED Maze | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

23. Sunset

Newt must have been waiting for us, because I saw him knocking the dirt off his pants. Apparently he had been sitting nearby.
We stopped for a moment to catch our breath, then Minho said goodbye and said that we would see each other at dinner and that he would start to record what we had explored today, while I went to Newt's place and we sat down together near the forest where we waited for the sunset.
"Soon it would be time. You will be overwhelmed," he said and I was really excited.
If he was so excited, it had to be really beautiful and I had already enjoyed the sunrise this morning.
And then it was time. The last rays of the sun bathed the glade in a beautiful orange before it disappeared completely behind the walls.
"Wow," I breathed after the spectacle was over.
"Nice, isn't it?" Newt asked.
"Indescribable," I replied and smiled. "Thanks for showing me."
I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes for a moment. He leaned his head against mine and seemed to enjoy the moment as much as I did.
Only when the gate closed and it made that disgusting noise again did we straighten up again and went late for dinner, which was actually good because it gave Fry Pan time to eat with us.
Once again I realised what a nice guy he was and regretted that I had so little to do with him at first. I decided to change that.
"So, have you seen another one of those things today?" he asked.
I shook my head. "We didn't see one the last time either, Pan. We only heard it. There was one out there today too, but it was further away than the day before yesterday. We walked a bit in the other direction and then it was gone again."
"Crazy. Sometimes I really wish I knew what these things look like, but I'd probably be dead if I saw one."
"It was either that or stung," Newt threw in, and we didn't talk because everybody was thinking of Stan.
After a few minutes I broke the silence. "That was very tasty again, Pan, thanks. I should go and look for Minho now."
I took my plate to the counter and put it down. Then I said goodbye to them with a wave of my hand and set off in search of Minho.
It didn't take long until I found him, because he was sitting where Gally had started building the hut for us in the forest today. A piece of paper and a pen in his hand, he was just about to record where we had been.
I sat down beside him without a word and looked at what he had recorded so far. He hadn't started the large area with the wings yet, so I set about recording it as best as I could.
So we sat there in silence and did our work, while the only source of light was an oil lamp that stood between us. When I finished, I studied again how much we had already explored and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Minho asked and looked up from his drawing.
"Oh, I just think it will take forever to explore the whole maze. This thing is probably even bigger than we can imagine."
"I think you're right. But what choice do we have but to keep going? I mean, we don't know who sent us here, much less why. So I think the only option we have is to move on and find a way out."
He was right.
"That's right. We probably even got one of the coolest jobs. Except for the Geievers out there." Despite the danger, I had to smile.
"You know what I think? Stan kept talking about something called Wicked the night he died. I had no idea what it meant, he just kept saying 'Wicked is not good'. Now I think maybe he remembered who put us in here. Did you see what it said on the big metal wings today? On top, like, one in ten or something?"
Minho shook his head and looked at me with interest.
"W.C.K.D."
It took him a while to understand, but then his eyes got bigger and bigger.
"You mean all this was built by people who call themselves WICKED?" he asked.
"I don't know, but I think we should keep our eyes open to see if we can find those letters again somewhere. And we should keep this to ourselves until we are sure."
He nodded and we went back to our notes until we decided that we would not be able to do more today.
"We've done it for today, don't you think?" Minho stretched and looked at me questioningly.
"Yes, you're right. We'll have to get up early again tomorrow, right?"
So we went to our hammocks, wished each other a good night and went to sleep. I couldn't fall asleep right away, so I listened as the other gladers went to bed one by one, while I secretly waited to see Newt again. But then I remembered that he had his own hut since today and was guaranteed to sleep there. I turned to my right side, so I could see Minho, who was already snoring softly, and closed my eyes myself before I slipped into sleep.