Free (Maze Runner fanfic Newtmas Newt x Thomas)

Chapter 14

It was silent, the only sound being the boys' breathing and a single thump as the Mourner tried to get in. "We didn't leave anyone out there, right?" Somebody asked.

"Just three." Thomas answered, "and there's no getting them back."

There was a moment of silence, but it was quickly brought to a halt when they realised they could well be stuck. Somebody fumbled around and a torch flicked on, lighting up the floor and everyone was cast in shadows. "Better." Minho said. "We should get moving, find where this place leads."

Minho took the torch and walked at the front, so everyone behind was in the dark. Thomas desperately wanted to find Newt, but in the darkness he couldn't tell which blonde head was, even his limp blended in with everyone else. Even with a torch, the tunnel looked like it stretched on forever. Maybe Gally was right, maybe they were all going to die, or share a fate worse than death.

There was only one way to find out, and that was to keep walking.

~*~

They didn't know how much time had passed, but Minho suddenly stopped and a couple people bumped into him and he dropped the torch, disappearing down something and they were plunged into darkness once again. "Way to go, you shank, made me drop the torch." Someone muttered an apology. "There's some sort of drop, but I think it's a slide or something."

"A slide? Where does it go?"

"I don't know, it curves round. The only way to find out is to follow it." Minho started climbing in and pushed himself down.

The sound of him sliding around faded away, and they waited in silence for a call, a shout, anything. "It's safe!" It sounded fairly distant, but it meant Minho was okay.

The boys were all filled with a form of giddiness now. This was it, they were finally getting out the maze! What better way to go out than on a slide, too? The boys started going down, a few of them letting out some happy cheers. Thomas waited until he thought everyone was down and he stepped forward to go in himself when something grabbed his arm and he yelled in surprise. "Tommy it's me! Calm down."

"Newt.. Don't do that." Newt laughed. "How'd you know I was at the back?"

"I was walking beside you the entire time, I saw you close the door so I just.. assumed correctly. Now come on," he fumbled around until he was holding Thomas' hand. "We do this together."

Thomas squeezed his hand and he let Newt sit down first, protectively holding onto him from behind. "Ready?" Thomas nodded and pushed, falling down surprise.

Newt let out the first cheer, and then laughter. They felt safe for once. Free! They were returning to the real world! Maybe their families were waiting, maybe they'd get their memories back, maybe everything would turn out okay after this. The chances were low, but... maybe.

A bright light at the bottom illuminated the tunnel, and it was simply a blue plastic slide, nothing more. Both boys squinted became blinding and erupted in front of them as they were tossed out onto a rubber landing patch.

There was sounds of applause and cheering around them, but it was too loud for the other gladers to be doing it themselves. Thomas put a hand above his eyes and stood up, seeing the others stood in a circle formation and looking out into the distance in awe.

Thomas helped Newt to stand, their hands still clasped together. They were in some sort of arena, the ground completely made of rubber, and in the top of the area were hundreds if not thousands of seats filled with people wearing pristine white lab coats and some of them had goggles.