To Capture A Heart | The Maze Runner

1.4 Heat

"I'm sorry," He mumbled softy, resting next to me. "I- I'll tell you, one day..." I nodded at that, not wanting to press further.

***

Last night, not many people got good rest. The rain had soaked everyone and the floors were rocky and uncomfortable. But when the sun finally came up I got up, not bothering to wake Newt. I could hear his tossing all through the night, he needed to sleep as much stress off as he could. Hiro was already slugging through the muddy fields, wearing a sports bra and gym shorts. I was puzzled as to why she was wearing so little clothing since it was so cold yesterday. As I stepped into the sun, I realized why. It was incredibly humid and hot from the water vapor suspended in the air. I tugged the shirt of my outer layer off immediately, I'd give it back to Minho later.

I jogged a little to catch up to Hiro, she was shoveling mud into a wheel barrel as best as she could. Hiro was a strong woman, she was muscular and had a sturdy build, but I could tell that she was still fatigued from all of the heavy lifting. I grabbed a shovel to start helping, it was harder than Hiro made it look.

After roughly twenty minutes of struggling to do the work, I was sweating horribly. I copied Hiro and pulled my t-shirt off, I used it to wipe my forehead. I needed a breath, my head was starting to hurt and I was feeling dizzy. I couldn't believe how hot it was, yesterday was frigid and today was sweltering. The Glade had never before experienced such drastic weather changes in such a small space of time. I grabbed the handles of the wheel barrel again and attempted to lift it but my leg gave out and I fell to my butt in the mud. I sighed, I felt like crying, today was just utter rubbish. I leaned onto my back and sprawled out as if I was making a snow angel, I really didn't want to get up and start working again.

"That bad?" I opened my eyes to look up and squint at whoever was talking to me. It was Newt, who was looking just as over heated as I felt.

I closed my eyes again and swallowed, "Mhm. I gave up."

I heard him lie down next to me, "This is nice... better than working-"

"But-"

"But Alby will have our arses if we take too long of a break."

I groaned, not wanting to be reminded of my responsibilities, "Shush, Newt. Alby doesn't exist. Work doesn't exist. Just you, me, and the mud."

He let put a low chuckle, "I wish, Felix. God, how I wish..."

"Someday, I promise you we'll make it out of here and then we'll celebrate."

"By lying in mud?" He asked.

"By lying in mud." I confirmed.

"It's nice to dream... and I hope you're right 'Lix. I enjoy lying in mud with you."

"Me too."

"I have a question," He moved on.

"Shoot. I have alllll day," I laughed, putting my shirt over my eyes.

"Cally. Her and Ben-?"

I smiled, "Yup. They're not together yet but they like each other. At least, she likes him."

"Huh... I could've sworn she was-"

"Gay? Yeah so did I when we first started hanging out. She's Bi, she remembers a girlfriend from before the Glade but yeah..."

"That's cool, I hope her and Ben will be good together."

"Me too, she's like a sister to me."

"What the actual hell-?" A new, brash voice entered our conversation. I opened my eyes again and sat up.

"Hiro?" I asked, rubbing the sun from my eyes.

"What are you two doing? You look like the pigs over in the slaughter house."

Newt laughed, "The mud is nice, Hiro. You should try it sometime."

She scrunched her nose, "I'd rather not, Newt. But you- you two have fun."

I sighed and stood up, it was time to back to work. I wiped my dirty hands on my shirt, that would probably never be free of stains again. "Thanks, Hiro. We'll finish clearing the mud, we're almost done anyway."

She nodded, "Make sure to visit Frypan for water when you're done. And the Keeper's meeting should be done soon, they've been in there for a good hour, I can't imagine them going for much longer."

Newt sat up, "I hate that we don't know what they're talking about..."

I leaned on the wheel barrel, "Zart's usually pretty good about letting us know what happened."

Hiro rolled her eyes, "Zart doesn't know the shuck he's doing. He's just as inexperienced as the rest of us."

I sighed, Hiro didn't speak often but that doesn't mean she didn't have strong opinions about people, "He's trying his best, Hiro..."

She shook her head, "He's a kid, Felix. We all are. But at least some of us have fuckin' leadership skills, like you."

I blinked, "You think I'm a leader?"

She shrugged, "I think you have the potential to be one. You're better at rallying people than he is. Plus you know more about farming than any of us."

Newt nodded next to me, "She's right. The only reason Zart's the Keeper over you is because he arrived in the Glade first."

"Well how come Minho's Keeper of the Runners and not you? You two came up together, yeah?" I asked.

Newt stifled a laugh, definitely thinking back to a year ago, "Minho came up with the name for Runners and claimed he was Keeper from there. The rest of us just let it slide."

Hiro smiled, "Of course that's what happened."

"Sounds like Minho, what Leah sees in him, I've got no clue."

Hiro shifted on her feet, "The shuck if I know. You'd never catch me in a relationship," She made a puking motion with her tongue stuck out.

I laughed again, oh how I admired Hiro, I held my hand out for Newt to grab so I could help him up, "C'mon, we better finish this up before Alby comes to scold us."

***

The later the day got, the hotter it became. Until the sun would go down, the heat waves would be horrible. I was in our corn fields, detasseling corn so they could be eaten. My head was spinning and I was becoming nauseous but I was almost done. I didn't want to take a break now. I tried lifting the bags of corn to take to the Homestead but my stomach had other plans. I bent forward and vomited my lunch up. The acid in my stomach came up and burned my throat. There was a pounding in my skull and then my vision went dark as I hit the floor.

A/N: I apologize for the late chapter but I hope it was enjoyable! This book is so much fun to write so I hope it's as much fun to read. <3