Disconnection • Newt • Maze Runner

18 - Marks & Revelations

By the time the others awoke, Aspen and Newt were still wide awake, cuddled in each others arms.

After Thomas shoed away a crow rather loudly, and awoke the rest of the Gladers, they both sat up, though kept their hands entwined.

"Are they gone?" Newt questioned as Thomas stood up, glancing all around him.

"Yeah, I think we're safe for now. We should get moving."

They all packed up their things, though Winston was clearly not taking last night's endeavours very well, as it took nearly all his strength to merely stand up. It was painful to watch, likely far more painful to experience though.

They trekked through the large desiccated city, when Thomas stopped them all. "Whoa, hang on. Stop."

"You hear that?"

Aspen glanced above him, "Shit." The sound blared through the sky and they all hid.

Once the aircraft and helicopters were out of sight, they retreated from their hiding spot.

Minho sighed in discontent. "They're never gonna stop looking for us, are they?"

No they are not.

The city was standing on its last bones, hanging on by an extremely thin thread. Buildings had fallen, towers lying flat on the ground. It was as though this very city was merely a corpse of a once vast and thriving nation.

Thomas glanced behind him at the others walking along the wreckage, and into the seemingly endless dunes of sand. Before mountains came into view, far far away. "There's mountains, thats gotta be it. That's where we're going."

"That's a long way off." The British boy was wary of these so called mountain people.

"Then we better get moving."

Winston had other plans. He crumbled to the ground, gasping through jagged breaths.

They had to carry him, and extra weight, but he wasn't the heaviest.

They trekked through the dunes before the wind grew to be too much, and they found shelter amongst another wreckage.

Newt drank from their fleeting water before passing it off to Aspen, who denied it.

Thomas' gaze landed on Newt's neck, particularly on the hickey Aspen had left in a rather obvious spot.

"Newt, what happened to your neck?" Thomas asked cautiously, his eyes flickering back and forth between a blushing Newt and a smirking Aspen.

It clicked in his mind as his lips thinned to a line and he nodded with a quiet laugh. "Nice catch, Aspen."

"Thank you, Thomas." Aspen responded as he stared Newt in the eye, the boy stared back before his gaze floated to his lips.

There were others around them, but he didn't care, why not make it known? He leaned forward and placed a hand in Aspen's hair as their lips entwined in a short yet painfully sweet kiss.

Thomas smiled, it made him happy to see Newt happy. Though the smallest pang of jealousy tugged at his insides.

They stayed in that spot for a bit, Aspen admiring the mountains beyond as he leaned against the concrete wall of the wreckage, alone while the others stayed inside. Newt walked up to him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

He laughed lightly, shaking his head and licking his lips. His hands grew restless at his sides. "I don't know, honestly. I mean all of this is just... A lot."