𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 | The Maze Runner

14

"What? Why are you guys so down? Let me guess, Hudson needs patching up again", Josephine joked, but her brightness faltered as she observed the small flinch that came form Minho at Hudson's name. 

"Minho, where is Hudson?", she questioned. 

No reply.

"Where is he?", she asked once more, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"He disappeared, Jo. We think...we think we heard him scream", Minho finally spoke. 

"Oh."

As the group of four entered the humid cabin, Jo's eyes quickly met Alby's shaking body, bare-chested and sweaty. She swallowed down the lump inside her throat, the guilt only racing towards her stomach. She hadn't seen him since his arrival back, she was afraid that perhaps Alby wouldn't be there anymore.

She watched as Alby took in deep breaths, the black ooze dripping down the sides of his exposed torso as his chest fell. The group of boys remained quiet, watching the girl's eyes flash with so many emotions that they were afraid that she would faint into their arms. Gally and Minho made their way towards the shaking boy, their eyes glancing at each other's.

Alby's condition was effecting everyone, even those who didn't want to show it. Jo knew she had to do something, something to make everyone's pain go away. But, what could she do to help?

She eyed the burlap sack that carried the dead Griever's stinger, and darted her sight back to the trembling boy. "What are you thinking, Jo?", asked Minho, his voice quiet, not wanting to startle the girl. The group watched the quiet girl, her eyes moving back and forth from the boy to the burlap sack. "The mechanical piece that we took from the Griever, maybe, somehow it could help. I'll be over there", Jo answered, gesturing towards the isolated room that was located across the cabin.

Jo stepped towards Alby, his eyes closed, trapped inside a nightmare. A sigh escaped her lips, bright memories flashing inside her head. She snapped out of the thoughts that comforted her and turned around, picking up the burlap sack and walking towards the isolated room.

Her hands released the robotic piece of the Griever onto the circular wooden table, a loud thud escaping from the contact. Her hands traced the figure, feeling the cold metal that many feared. She took a cloth that was stored away inside a basket and began cleaning the piece, dirt and gravel being wiped away.

As she turned the piece over, her eyes glided along the tightened line that ran vertically from the stinger to midway, a horizontal line following it, surrounding the piece. It was if it was forming a a "T" shape, the lines keeping the machinery intact.

Jo grabbed her silver blade from the pouch attached to her belt, and wrapped the handle with the cloth, placing her hands on it. With one hand on the blade, her other met the metal, stabilizing it. She swiftly placed the tip of the blade to the line on the metal, lightly hammering it down with a rock until the tip was no longer visible. The blade, now partially inside the line, could now stand alone, stabled by the tightening metal.

Jo took in a deep breath as she placed her hands back to their previous positions. Her grip on the handle tightened as she tried to drag it across the line. Jo let out a small grunt as the blade wouldn't move. Heading to try again, her hands froze midair as a loud groan was heard.

Jo rushed out of the secluded room, her racing body stopped by Newt's hands gripping her shoulders, causing the girl to stumble in place. "It's okay", Newt told her, but her eyes were stuck on the boy laying down, violently shaking. "Go back to what you were doing", Newt told her. "But Alb-", Jo began to let out, her eyes still on the closed eyed boy.  "There's nothing you can do right now. Go back, get the answers you want", Newt said.