IT STARTED WITH A MAZE - Newt x Reader (F)

- THE FIRST ANOMALY -

"(Y/N), it's not safe!" Minho shouts as the Griever recovers and begins to close in again. "It's coming-"

"We're not leaving him!" I scream back.

Minho's beside us in a second. He hauls Alby's other side over his shoulder, and we start dragging him down the path. Every step is a struggle - Alby's protesting weight between us, and the Griever is right there, crawling like some nightmarish predator, gaining on us. "Faster!" Minho yells.

"I'm trying!" I bite out.

We're dragging him as fast as we can - Minho and I, one arm slung over each of our shoulders, his boots scraping uselessly behind him. His body lolls between us, slick with rain and sweat. The Griever's behind us, shrieking and smashing into the stone. It's enraged and we are the one thing it wants to hunt. It slams its limbs into the wall, propelling itself forward, closing the distance in seconds.

"This way!" Minho cries and for a moment, I think we've lost the Griever down a changing corridor.

Alby groans. His head jerks up suddenly, eyes snapping open. "Alby?" I gasp. "Hey- hey, stay with us." But something's wrong. His gaze isn't just glazed, it's wild. His pupils blown wide, darting, unseeing. His entire body spasms like it's trying to escape itself. Then his fingers clamp around my wrist. "Ah- Alby?" I say, voice trembling.

He yanks his arm free from Minho and lunges at me, knocking me off balance. I crash to the ground, the wind knocked from my lungs. Alby lands on top of me, his weight heavy, his limbs spasming, jerking with a sort of inhuman strength. "Hey! Alby!" Minho shouts.

But this is not Alby anymore.

"Get off-!" I try to shove him back, but his hands go around my throat so fast I don't even register it at first. Then the pressure hits, and for the second time in a twenty-four hour period, I'm choking. His eyes - God, his eyes - are voice of sanity but furious, locked on me like I'm the enemy. "Minho!" I try to cry out, but it comes out a strangled croak.

Alby's nails dig into my skin, his mouth opening in a raw, guttural groan like he's not even in control of the sounds he's making anymore. "I trusted you," he slurs. "You did this- you brought it in, you brought it in here-"

"Alby- stop-" I gag, clawing at his wrists.

Then suddenly there's a crack. Minho's arm swings hard, slamming a rock into the side of Alby's temple.

Alby crumples instantly, collapsing beside me in a heap. I gasp, coughing, dragging in precious air. Minho drops the rock and hauls Alby off me. "(Y/n), you okay? Are you okay?" I nod, shaking, one hand on my throat, the other bracing myself on the cold ground. "I had to do it," he says, almost to himself, eyes wide with shock. "I had to- he was trying to kill you- he didn't know what he was doing- he's Changing-"

I look at Alby - unmoving, still breathing - but limp again. A wave of nausea rises up in me, but I push it down. "We have to move," I rasp.

Minho nods, swallowing hard. His hands are shaking. "Help me lift him." We don't look at each other again.

We just run.

Yet three limping people cannot escape a creature whose purpose is murder.

"We're not gonna outrun it," I pant, trying to keep Alby's legs from dragging too much.

"Just keep moving!" Minho urges.

The Maze stretches endlessly in front of us, and the Griever is still coming. Every scrape of its limbs is a death sentence getting closer. Rain blinds us. Blood stains Minho's arm-his own. He's bleeding. When did that happen? "You're hurt!" I stress.