Bound by Maze - Newt x Reader

Chapter 11 - Keep on Going

Minho and I had been running for what felt like hours until we both decided to take a break, knowing we were both too drained to run any further. I sat down, leaning my back against the cold wall of the Maze which felt nice against my hot body. My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath.

Closing my eyes for just a moment, I let the world around me blur. All I could hear was the ragged sound of our breathing, punctuated by the distant, mechanical whirring of Grievers somewhere in the Maze.

Suddenly, I heard a sound in the distance that wasn't the usual sound of Grievers or even our ragged breathing. My body tensed instinctively, and I tilted my head in the direction of the sound, trying to make sense of it. The noise continued to grow louder, closer, but I couldn't place it. My heart began to race.

I opened my eyes and turned to Minho, who was sitting a few feet away, oblivious to the sound. "There's something coming," I said, my voice low but urgent.

Minho raised an eyebrow at me, his expression skeptical. "It's probably just the adrenaline," he muttered, brushing off my concern as he took a long sip from his water bottle. "It'll wear off. Relax."

But just as he moved to slip the bottle back into his pack, he froze. His head tilted slightly, and his expression shifted to curiosity. "Wait... what is that?" he asked, his gaze locking onto mine.

I shrugged, "I told you," I told him, then I suddenly heard the familiar sound of a Griever nearby. I froze, "What is happening?" I said, my voice almost a whisper, as I continued hearing a bunch of weird sounds around us.

Suddenly, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Thomas darting from around a corner. Minho and I were surprised to see him, and even more surprised by what he said next, "Run!" he shouted, then without any time to react, a Griever came rushing behind Thomas.

Minho and I both jumped up and began running with Thomas as we tried to escape the Griever on our tails. Although we were all still exhausted from running for our lives all night long, we kept running, knowing that if we stopped, we'd never make it out alive.

As we ran, the Griever's mechanical clinking followed close behind, making my heart beat faster with fear. This whole night has been a living nightmare, and to think that I thought doing chores in the Glade was already one.

I was soon running slightly behind the two boys as I slowly fell behind from exhaustion, but not enough to be caught by the Griever. As we continued, I spotted a corner up ahead, that branched off from the main path we had been following, and I could tell that Minho and Thomas were planning to turn there to try and get the Griever off of our tails.

Just as we approached the corner, a Griever suddenly came running from around it, catching all of us off guard. As it closed the distance between us, I spotted its stinger gleaming in the moonlight as it began to angel it towards my direction.

With only seconds left, I quickly skid below the stinger and the Griever to avoid making contact with either fatalities. Once I got out from under the Griever, I shot back to my feet and continued running towards the corner, which I felt relieved to find no Grievers behind.

After a while of running in the new direction, we were all incredibly tired and exhausted. My throat burned from my heavy breathing, my legs were incredibly sore, and I just wanted to flop down in my hammock and sleep. But I had to keep going.

The Grievers were still close behind and continued getting closer, and I knew we only had so much time until they'd catch up with us.

We ran around another turn and just as I had suspected, the Grievers finally caught up with us. The closest one to us pounced on us like a cat, almost stinging Thomas as he scrambled to get out of the way.

Minho and I darted to the side, narrowly evading the waving limbs of the second Griever as it lashed out. Its mechanical whirling sent a familiar shiver down my spine.

Every step we took was a desperate attempt to stay ahead, our breaths became more ragged as our exhaustion became more present.

Right before we turned a corner, I risked a glance over my shoulder to see that Thomas had made it out alright and was making his way towards us. Even though he was freed, the Grievers were hot on our tails.

We kept running, our breaths uneven, each step heavier than the last. Although I wished we could stop running, I knew deep inside that stopping wasn't an option—not here, not now.

As the sound of Grievers continued to echo behind us, images of the Glade crept in, filling the rest of my thoughts. I thought about our friends, the ones that are safe in the Glade.

I remembered the night we had the bonfire. There was laughter, conversations that seemed to have no end, and a night to never forget.

Then my thoughts shifted to George. George, who had died out here in this endless maze. The memory hit me like a thousand thorns. I could still see Newt's face, twisted in every way as he was forced to watch from a distance. I had been there too, trying, but failing to reach them in time. I've never admitted it before, but I blame myself for George's death, for Newt's worst event.

Newt. My chest tightened at the thought of him. He was my best friend, and one of the only remaining friends I have left, since Alby is most likely slowly dying where Thomas and I had hid him.

Suddenly, doubt crept in, and for the first time, the thought I'd been trying to push away filled my consciousness. We actually might not make it out of here alive.

"The Maze is changing!" Minho shouted, pulling me out from my thoughts.

I looked ahead and noticed he was right. The walls right in front of us were beginning to close in towards each other at a slow, but deadly pace.

I began to run faster, although my legs were screaming from being so sore, to get to the other side of the closing walls.

Minho and I luckily made it to the other side with some time to spare, but when we looked back to look at Thomas, he was standing on the other side. I looked at him, bewildered that he was standing there as the Grievers came rushing after him.

"Thomas!" I called, hoping he would run to us, but was sadly only given a glimpse, that told me that he wasn't planning on coming over just yet.

As the walls continued closing in, and the Grievers were almost to him, I suddenly knew what he was doing. He was leading the Grievers to him so that once the walls were almost completely shut, he'd run to us, and the Grievers would follow him between the closing walls. By the time Thomas would hopefully make it to us, the Grievers would be squished in between the walls, killing them almost instantly.

It was a brilliant plan on Thomas's part, but it was incredibly dangerous and risky to try and pull off.

The Grievers had practically reached Thomas so he finally set his plan into motion. He began running towards Minho and I, as we both shouted his name in encouragement, although we both had our worryful doubts about what he was doing.

Thomas ran as fast as he could, but the walls began closing in on him, and the Grievers were too close for comfort. I watched with worry as he was soon forced to squeeze between the walls and trot sideways.

Minho and I kept encouraging, and as soon as Thomas was almost to the end, the walls were almost completely closed and he could barely move. Without another thought, I reached my hands in between the walls and pulled, as best as I could, to get Thomas out from being crushed.

With everything I had left, I was able to get Thomas out, and sat down against the wall in relief. At least I was finally able to save somebody's life in the Maze.