THANATOPHOBIA - newt [1]

~ SIX

Before either Lela or Newt could say anything else, Thomas' screams could be heard throughout the Glade, coming from the Deadheads. Lela whipped her head around to see him running swiftly, with Ben behind him chasing him down like- like he had been stung.

"I'll kill you!" Ben shouted as he chased after Thomas.

Gally ran over with Alby, tackling Ben to the floor before he could harm any Glader around.

"Hey! Hold him down." Alby told the others. "Calm down, Ben."

"What the hell happened?" Gally questioned Thomas.

The boy put his hands up in confusion, "He just attacked me!"

"Are you okay?" Lela asked him, receiving a nod.

"Calm down, Ben." Alby tried to soothe him.

"No." He growled, thrashing around on the floor.

"All right, lift his shirt." Alby told everyone, all of them waiting for somebody else to do it. "Lift his shirt!

Newt eventually stepped forwards, considering that nobody else was going to check. He used a stick to move Ben's shirt upwards to expose his stomach.

Lela's suspicions had been correct, Ben had black veins spreading around his rib, connected at a small puncture in his skin.

"No! No!" Ben grumbled, trying to get away, but he was held down once more, "No! No! Please. Please."

"He's been stung." Lela told Thomas.

Newt turned to look at her, "In the middle of the day?"

"Help me, please." Ben begged to be saved, rather than the usual treatment for these situations.

Of course it had happened before. Being in the Glade for three years, every possible scenario - good and bad - had happened. Runners had went through the Changing a few times, and so Alby came up with a way to keep the others safe.

It wasn't the nicest way to do it, but it was the only effective method that they had found. First, they tried to cure the sting, but weren't able to. Then, they threw the Stung Glader into the pit, trying to contain them and their anger, but they eventually broke free.

And so Alby's last suggestion seemed to be the only one that worked - much to everybody's guilt.

_____

"Please. Please, just help!" Ben pleaded more, "Med-Jack! Please don't do it!"

Ben already knew what was coming. He knew that he couldn't be treated, and that it was the only way to keep the other Gladers safe from the effects of his sting.

Before Ben could be dragged away, he pointed to Thomas, "He did this! It's his fault we're in here! He's the traitor, not me!"

Much to Alby's curiosity about the claim, he stuck to the rules and ordered the Gladers, "take him."

Minho came forward confidently, showing no sign of fear or guilt for his actions.

"Please, Minho!" Ben begged once more, "Alby! No, please. Please, don't. Please, don't do it."

Minho lead him to the Maze walls, the Gladers forming a circle to block any exits. The only way was into the Maze.

"Poles!" Alby shouted, and certain people pointed their spears at Ben, watching as the walls began to shut.

They inched closer to Ben, watching as he backed up as far as he could, "No, no, no! Please! No, please Please, don't! I can get better! Please, just listen to me! Please, stop, please!"

"Push him in!" Alby shouted, ignoring his calls for pity.

That was Newt's job. He was supposed to step forward and shove the Changed into the Maze. But he stayed put, he didn't move even an inch. He made no effort into pushing Ben into the Maze, and Lela couldn't tell why.

Gally scoffed, barging past before pushing Ben into the Maze, the walls too thin to run back out in time. Even if he tried it, he would be crushed within the walls.

"He belongs to the maze now." Alby told Thomas, "you're safe."

_____

"Do you think he might make it?" Thomas asked Lela as they sat on a log whilst Newt was hacking into a tree stump with his axe.

The two were meant to be helping, but instead were sitting and gossiping about the events of the day and bens banishment.

"Ben?" She asked, "No. No one survives a night in the maze. Especially alone. We just gotta forget about him."

"But why would Alby go into the maze? I mean, he's not a Runner."

"Things are different now. Alby went to retrace Ben's footsteps before sundown." Newt told him, "Are you two gonna help?"

Thomas ignored the question, "So he's gonna go back to where Ben was just stung-"

"Alby knows what he's doing... all right? He knows better than any of us." Lela cut him off.

"It's like you have heard, yeah?" Newt stopped cutting, and stood in front of the pair, "Every month, the Box sends up a new arrival. But someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade, alone."

"I mean, it can't have been easy. But when me and those other boys started coming up, one after the other, alby saw the truth." Lela continued, "And he learned that the most important thing is that we all have each other. Because we're all in this together."

"Exactly." Newt nodded in agreement, "And that's all we need. If we have each other, we have hope."

"And with enough hope, we could have a shot at getting out of here."

Thomas listened to them intently, taking in every inspirational word they spoke. He realised that they were right. Like it or not, he was a Glader now, and there was no turning back. He had to start doing his part to get out the Maze.

Thomas stood up, grabbing his axe and helping Newt, whereas lela stayed out and watched the boys at work.

"There you go, guys!" She grinned at them both.

As much as she would hate to admit out loud, she actually enjoyed watching newt work. She knew how attractive he was, but didn't give into it.

But it wasn't only physically pleasing, it was a wash of hope. Lela could see how passionate newt was about the Glade. Whether it was a drive to get out, or make it home didn't matter. He had the intentions of doing everything he could to help out.