When We're Older- The Maze Runner (Newt)

daylight

it's only right that this be the longest chapter.

NEWT

*One year later*

   Wind chimes.

   The high pitched dinging was something that sounded so far away, muffled as though my ears were water logged. It was as though someone was banging on a wine glass on top of my head, but I was laying underneath a blanket. The chimes kept ringing, an alarm yelling at me to wake up. The sound became clearer as I rose to consciousness.

   Waves.

   Clashing of waves mixed with the chimes, creating a peaceful sound that only frightened me. Keeping my eyes pinched shut, I began to breathe harder through my nose, unsure of where I was and where the sound was coming from. It was hitting every side of my head, surrounding my body and making me feel claustrophobic despite not seeing anything. The sounds were clear as I continued to try and calm myself down, fear of the unknown starting to tear at my mind.

   Voices.

   I could hear the soft murmurs from strangers outside, but I couldn't process the words they were saying. It sounded farther away than the wind chimes and the waves, but they were there. Laughter echoed into the area I was in, mixed with the clanking of tools—it sounded like they were hitting it against wood. What could someone possibly be doing by hitting a tool against wood?

   Music.

   Music was playing softly in the background, an old song that I didn't recognize. The voices were hardly able to be heard through the hum of the waves, and the chimes, but I could tell it was there, adding to the calmness of this situation. The guitar strummed a nice tune, while the voices sang words I wasn't really paying attention to.

   My mind began to wake as I stayed, listening to the peaceful sounds of the wind chimes and the music, letting the curiosity roam as to who could be talking and where they were. I didn't have the strength to open my eyes just yet, the fear of what I might see keeping me from doing so. Was I at WICKED? Was this just one of their simulations that I was about to fall for? If I kept my eyes shut, then they would know that I was still unconscious, and they wouldn't try to hurt me.

   "Nah, I'll give that to Mae, she probably needs it more than I do..."

   Mae.

   At the name, I slowly opened my eyelids, blinking rapidly to try and adjust to the light. It was dim, casting an orange glow through the room I was in. This meant it wasn't morning; if it was, the light would be brighter, and it would be hot instead of cool. My eyes finally adapted to the shine, and I was able to see a ceiling.

   It wasn't a ceiling like I was used to, concrete like in the camp, or wooden like the ones we had in the Maze. Was it bamboo? I always wondered what bamboo looked like, the only thing we had to work with in the Maze was wood from the trees we cut down, or the materials that were brought up in the Box. But I was staring at a bamboo ceiling, and the sounds from outside continued.

   Where's Mae? Is she hurt? Is she okay? Three questions swam around my confused mind as I kept blinking, laying flat while staring at the ceiling. I breathed through my nose, for my lips were sealed shut from not being open for so long. I had no idea how many days I was out for, but it couldn't have been that long, right? My eyes darted around the room, trying to perceive what I could without having to move.