Subject of the Flame | Maze Runner [2]

NINETEEN

[ MINHO ]

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Four hours later, Minho's alarm jolted him awake. He hastily pressed the button on the side of his watch, but not before a couple of Gladers groaned awake. Minho joined them in groaning protest, reaching a sore hand to his forehead where a headache crashed against his skull. He was still underneath his sheet and felt as though he was beginning to boil in its mugginess.

He ripped the sheet off of him, sucking in a deep breath but coughing when the sweltering air suffocated him. The sun had barely crossed the horizon and it already beat down on the Gladers with such raw intensity. A few more of the Gladers began stirring and were awkwardly shuffling on the floor or stretching their aching limbs.

Minho caught a glance of Electra sitting off to the side, already awake with her knees up to her chest and carefully peering at Thomas who was rummaging through his pack. Thomas muttered a few words Minho couldn't hear, and Electra managed to smile back at him before replying. Minho had to blink to make sure he'd seen correctly. Electra. Smiling? He tried to read their lips but couldn't form any intelligible sentences.

That's when he realized Electra hadn't slept underneath his sheet with him. Had she bunked with Thomas for the night? Why would she have done that? Minho couldn't understand the gnawing feeling in his throat when he realized the possibility.

Minho tied his sheet to his pack before hoisting the bag over his shoulder. He went over to Thomas and Electra and as he neared he began to pick up on their conversation.

"... it's a fickle thing, honestly. Can't trust it as far as you can throw it," Thomas said, retrieving some dried meat from his pack and taking a bite.

Electra opened her mouth to reply, but when she looked up and saw Minho her lips firmly closed. Minho furrowed his eyebrows at her before glancing back and forth between her and Thomas.

"What's a fickle thing?" Minho asked, patting Thomas on the back right as he went to swallow and almost causing the boy to choke.

Thomas hit his chest a few times, coughing up some of his dried meat, before mustering up a reply. "Ah, just talking about the weather out here. It's already so hot outside. Can't imagine how terrible it's going to be in the middle of the day."

Minho wasn't a genius, but he could tell that whatever they'd been talking about couldn't have been the weather. Regardless, he decided not to pry. "Yeah. It's gonna be a doozy for sure. Hopefully we'll hit the city sometime today so at least we'll find shade in the buildings."

"Yeah, or find Cranks in the buildings," Thomas muttered, looking off at the distant city and shuddering.

"What? You don't wanna make new friends?" Minho joked. Thomas managed a genuine smile, but Electra sat motionless with her gaze on the ground. Her smile from seconds ago was miles away.

The shuffling of the Gladers caused Minho to turn and face them. He locked eyes with multiple boys in the group and each one expectantly waited for him to make some kind of announcement. He was the leader after all.

Minho strode forward, clearing his throat before announcing, "Alright, cool. Most of us are up. Let's wake the rest of the sleepyheads, get something to eat, then get moving. We have a long, hot, and brutal day ahead of us so try to savour these last moments."

The Gladers nodded in response. Newt went around nudging Gladers awake while Minho sat down beside Electra, reaching into his pack for some stale bread. He broke the bun in half before giving the other half to Electra. She grabbed it without a word, slowly biting into it.