The New Horizon ~ A Maze Runner Story

- 42 -

Thomas stared out the taxi window as he was driven back to the City Sanctuary. The conference seemed to have lasted all day, discussing the various marketing strategies to get the vaccine prepared for its eventual release. Nightfall had arrived in its earliest form; that medium blue silhouette that wrapped itself around the various skyscrapers. The floors of rooms poking through the night like little glowing squares. It was beautiful.

When the taxi finally arrived at the City Sanctuary, he immediately recognized Minho stepping out from the taxi in front. Minho's enforcement training must have ended right as Thomas's meeting did. "Minho, hey."
Minho turned to his friend, a smile instantly growing on his face. "Shank, where'd you come from?"
Thomas closed the taxi door, watching it drive away to join the rest of the traffic. "I was at--well, I guess you could call it a job."
Minho abruptly stopped at the City Sanctuary entrance, playfully socking Thomas in the arm, though it hurt more than it should have--Minho's enforcement training was already paying off. "No way--where?"

"AFA called me back. I'm sitting on the council now. To help with preparing the vaccines."
"Holy shuck," Minho exclaimed. "Slinthead, why didn't you tell me before?"
"I just found out last night, but you were asleep."
"We should celebrate. Ya know, two friends both starting a job on the same day--that deserves a party."
"Uh, well do you have anything in mind?"

Minho thought for a moment, then perked up with an idea. "At training today some buddies of mine were talking about this club--I forgot the name, but--"
"A club?" Thomas shook his head, recoiled at the thought.
"Yeah, shank, a dance club—drinks and people and fun. C'mon, I know you're lame but don't suck the fun outta of me. I need some excitement, training was rough."
Thomas gave up. His energy was already low, and he knew it'd be practically extinct by the end of the night, but he'd sacrifice his energy for his friend. It was the least he could do.

***

Minho changed out of his uniform and into something more "casual", and they caught another cab. The driver knew just where to go--Constellation Stellar--the most popular young people hangout in town.
When they finally arrived, Thomas exhaled, already socially drained. "Let's only stay thirty minutes."
Minho sucked his teeth like a unsatisfied child. "Thirty minutes? What, are you on curfew or something?"
"Fine," Thomas replied, feeling the bass from the music inside the club already vibrating within his bones. "An hour."
Minho just rolled his eyes. Two bouncers opened the door for them, unleashing the booming dance music for all the block to hear, like pressurized water bursting from out of its container.

Thomas could only describe the music as utterly deafening. Blaring so loud that any beat or rhythm of the songs were drowned out by the overwhelming bass. The place was packed to the brim with people. All of them dancing and laughing and conversing. He was amazed that people could even think clearly with the blaring music; it was a sensory overkill. Strobe lights shone, swiveling and flickering and dancing, changing colors rapidly from one to the next. Green to blue to pink and purple, then yellow and white. A pulsating sign to Thomas's left pointedly clarified where the concession stand was. Right next to that there was a bar, protected by bouncers, having the people in line show them their identification before purchasing alcohol. Sunken lounges were placed in the corners of the building, illuminated in soft, pink lights. A garish amount of confetti slicked the quivering ground beneath Thomas.

Wafts of liquor and sweat tied together in an odd, disgusting sort of perfume that filled the place. Young people, inebriated and in complete loss of control, waddled around the club, gyrating crazily, unaware of their loose body movements.
Minho jabbed Thomas in the ribs, ripping his thoughts away. "Man, if this is what life is really like, we've been seriously missing out!" He yelled, but it sounded like a faint, muffled whisper in that chaotic earthquake of sound. Minho took off walking towards the dance floor. Thomas followed, reluctant and awkward, completely out of his element.

The dance floor stretched nearly from one end of the building to the next. Its gigantic disco ball an orb of colliding colors, glinting all hues of the rainbow as it revolved. All around the expansive floor, herds of humans gyrated. Some of the men danced with women, gripping onto their waists, whirling them around, lips pressing onto lips. Thomas had never seen so much skin; the women were beautiful, seductive. Skintight, mini skirts and shorts, showing their legs off in the flesh, muscles tensing with each twist and turn. Tops low cut and revealing--some more than others. Thomas was hypnotized by them, the way the strobes of light hit their chests at just the right angle, accentuating their natural slopes and curves. He swallowed, captured in a feeling of. . . lust? He could hardly decipher.

Minho grabbed Thomas's arm suddenly, gesturing at the dance floor. "You're coming with me!"
He shook his head, feeling sinful, as if May had been watching him stare at the other girls. It felt like he had been cheating. "I'm not looking for that right now."
"Not looking for chicks?" Minho narrowed his eyes, "What're you dead?"
"Apparently not," he yelled back, but his friend seemed to ignore him, taking off for the center of the dance floor anyway.

Thomas just stood there, watching as his friend forgot about him, forgot about the world in ruins, forgot about his tormented past, throwing it all away as the music blared and girls flocked his way. Thomas watched as Minho's hands slid down a girl's waist. He watched as his friend made out with her, as if he had always known how to pleasure a woman. She was beautiful: long legs, impressive curvature, wild, dark hair. A newfound envy sizzled in Thomas's gut as he watched, growing with heat. Minho was occupied, infatuated with desire, and Thomas was standing there, stagnant and alone. Left to watch his friend experience feelings Thomas could only dream of, and yet, he had no one.

As Thomas stood there, he realized that May was the one he wanted beside him. He wanted to dance with her like nothing else. She was the one that he wanted to caress, to swathe in love, to adore--to let his inner desires free. There was no one else he wanted to kiss--not any other girl on the dance floor, not any other girl anywhere. But May wasn't there. Thomas felt she would never be there, she would never know the way he felt.

And suddenly, Thomas realized there was no longer any reason to stay there and watch his friend pleasure someone else and feel pleasured in return.
So, he left.