When The Darkness Comes // Newt

Part fifteen, "A one-time thing"

Minho stares dumbly at the ground as Y/n climbs up to her sleeping quarters. She just asked him if she could go into the Maze the following day. He knows instantly what his response will be. Shuck it, Newt and Alby are gonna be furious, he thinks, but eventually the mischievous side wins over and he goes to tell Ben that he wants to be alone the next day. A story that Ben will obviously think I-don't-buy-that-klunk the whole time while hearing, but he's eager to show off to Y/n the hard work he has to do every day.

Y/n's POV:

You wake up before the sun rises, but are already on the ground in an instant. Apparently Minho is as excited as you are, because he leads you to the doors, giving careful instructions that you both have to follow him out of sight before the rest of the Gladers see you leave, because the sound of the doors opening is like their alarm.

He also gives you a backpack, which you don't bother to look inside.

"Now remember, this is a one-time thing-"

"Yeah, I know, I know," you say, bouncing up and down on your toes to calm yourself down, and only succeeding in hyping yourself more and more.

"You look like a shuck ballerina when you do that," he says, criticizing.

"Just trying to see what you feel like all the time," you reply curtly, smirking. The loud rumble of the grinding doors fills your ears, and as soon as they're only a foot apart, Minho takes off. You don't waste a second, and follow him. So this is what it feels like to be inside the Maze, you think. Honestly, you love it. Mysterious and surprisingly huge, and you never know what's around the next turn. Minho seems to know the place pretty well, but you survey him closely and see that he's following a dirty rope on the ground, to the side of the passage, so old you could have overlooked it. As if he can sense your thoughts, Minho explains.

"One of the first times I went in here, I took that rope along to confirm my suspicion of this one passage leading exactly back to the Glade. I've moved it a couple times, but it's always the same."

Your heart rate picks up faster than it already was. "So you haven't found a way out yet? Is there even one?" you huff.

"That's what my job is. To see if there is one," he responds rather glumly, and you run until midday in silence. By lunch break, your ribs are aching with side stitch and your throat is begging for water. You gulp down nearly all of the bottle you find in your backpack, only stopping when Minho tells you that you're not even halfway through the day. You eat the sandwich that could only have been prepared by Frypan especially for you, since it has the exact same ingredients as the snack you made for yourself the day prior.

When you start to run again, you instantly know that devouring your sandwich that fast was definitely a horrible idea, and you stare at the ground in front of your feet, trying not to think of the cramps in your stomach. You glance forward, expecting to see the heels of Minho's shoes in front of you, but instead, there are none. You stop in your tracks, whipping your head to the side and smacking yourself in the face with your ponytail. Your heart pounds inside your chest; you try to inhale slowly and calmly, but both exhaustion and panic make your breath come in short, loud gasps. He's gone, and you're lost in the Maze.