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

- NEAR MISS -

The only sound now is the dull, rhythmic slap of our boots against floor, echoing against concrete walls slick with condensation. Our breath clouds in the damp air. The tunnel seems endless, stretching out before us like a cold throat, swallowing every ounce of light and hope the further we go.

Time becomes strange. Minutes melt into minutes. The dimly lit path has no clocks.

We eventually reach a narrow side shaft, barely lit by a dying fixture overhead. Gally bends down and gestures for us to follow. "Here," he mutters.

It's tight. We have to crawl single file, our backs scraping against rusting pipes. The ceiling dips low, the air stale and close. Gally leads, then suddenly stops where the crawlspace widens into a strange cavity just beyond my view.

He crouches at the edge and removes a rusted grate from the wall.

Then the ground rumbles.

A low, thunderous growl begins to build, growing louder and louder until it's all around us. The metal beneath our palms vibrates. Dust falls from above. Something fast and massive is coming.

A train - but we're underground. The noise reverberates like an earthquake.

"We're gonna have to be quick about it!" Gally shouts over the roar, looking back at us with a wild urgency. "We've only got a short window to do this!"

I edge forward and peer through the opening just in time to see a blur of silver shoot past.

A subway. A high-speed one. The wind it drags behind is powerful, pulling at my clothes. It's fast. Unthinkably fast. My stomach drops watching it pass.

Thomas says something beside me, but I can't make out the - - the noise swallows everything.

Then, just like that, the train is gone. The sound rushes past us and disappears down the tunnel, replaced by a heavy, eerie stillness.

"Alright, let's go!" Gally grunts. He doesn't wait for a reaction - he jumps out into the light. It's farther down than I expected. My stomach lurches, then I land - not exactly gracefully - on flat, grimy concrete. The space is vast. Cold. The tunnel stretches in both directions, lined with fluorescent lights that buzz and flicker like dying fireflies. Trash and grit whirl around our feet in the ghost of the train's wind. Gally replaces the grate above just as Thomas and Newt drop down beside me. "This way," Gally says. "We've gotta run."

He doesn't give us time to ask questions. He bolts.

Thomas sprints after him immediately, boots pounding against the damp ground. I turn to Newt - just briefly - and he gives me a slight nod. "Go," he urges, voice strained.

I know his limp has been worse lately. I know the tremor in his hand from earlier hasn't gone unnoticed - not by me. I don't want to leave him behind, even for a second. But I also know that the longer we wait, the more dangerous it becomes.

So, I run.

I push my legs into motion, arms pumping, footsteps echoing down the empty subway line. The air is sharp and stale. Every breath burns. I run until I overtake Thomas, although I think he has slowed down for Newt. I'm holding onto the fact that we're all just sprinting as fast as we can go.

Behind me, I hear Thomas encouraging Newt - voice raised, filled with desperation and fire. I look back for a split second and see Newt trailing, not far, but slower. Determined. Fighting for every step.

The rails tremble again.

I feel it through my soles before I even hear it. A sickening vibration building in the steel and stone. The lights above begin to flicker harder.