Different | The Maze Runner / Newt ¹ ✓

{4.0}

It was awkwardly silent for the two minutes he was gone. An occasional cough or sniffle was the only sound in the cool room for about thirty seconds.

"This was buggin' stupid," Ginger stated with a fierce tone. "All of it. What do those - those words even mean? Nothing!" He slumped back dramatically and landed against the wall, arms crossed and a scowl on his thin lips. "We're all shucked anyways."

The black-haired boy beside him nudged his friend's skinny arm. "Vince, shut the hell up."

'Vince' rolled his eyes. "Go to hell."

His friend gave an annoyed and exasperated look, like, "I tried" before jumping up when the door was reopened. Thomas entered the room apprehensively, almost as if he could sense the negative comments that had been directed at him. Brown eyes quickly scanned the messy room before Newt pushed him to move a little faster.

Teresa, who was now reading a single sheet of paper, glanced up when she heard the door open, then immediately cast her eyes back downward. Garret stood up straight and stretched his muscled arms over his head while yawning. The black-haired boy wore a relieved expression. Vince gave a whoop.

"'Bout time," he jabbed rudely, narrowed eyes shifting from my brother to Newt. "Y'all are such klunkheads around here. Bye."

He stormed off with no other comments. His friend went to follow, then turned before he got to the door and sent us a half smile, revealing perfectly white teeth. "Hope you guys can find what you're lookin' for."

Newt nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, Harvey."

Harvey disappeared up the stairs.

Garret started to head off too, a neutral expression on his face. "Look, guys. Ever need any more help, get me, not Vince. He's insufferable." And he left.

"Come check this out," Teresa said to Thomas, who was standing completely still with a deeply concentrated look on his face. His head snapped up and he almost ran to her. "You too, Dylan."

"I'll get down on my knees and kiss your bloody feet if you can figure it out," Newt swore jokingly.

"I think I'll pass," Thomas said.

I shrugged as he and I went to read over Teresa's shoulder, carefully studying the paper. She actually had to lower it due to my lack of height. Thomas snickered. I punched him.

"No doubt this is right," she said with her eyebrows raised in question. "Just don't have a clue what it means."

My eyes quickly darted across the paper, absorbing all the information written on it in slanted lead. There were numbered circles running down the left side of it, starting at one and ending at six. Next to each was a word.

FLOAT

CATCHBLEEDDEATHSTIFFPUSH

I was momentarily stunned out of speech by the shudder that ran down my spine. The two words in the middle made an uneasy feeling swell inside of me. "Bleed? Death? Sounds like we're all going to float, be caught, bleed, die so we're stiff, and be pushed off the Cliff."

Thomas blinked at me with no expression. He said in a voice full of sarcasm, "Wow, Dylan. You did it. Let's follow those orders right now and see what happens."

I rolled my eyes at his inability to take a joke, shifting my weight to my right foot. "Look, I'm just trying to make light of the situation."

Thomas' disappointed gaze shifted to Teresa. "But that's all? Are you sure they're in the right order?"