Aegis | The Maze Runner / Minho ✓

two

Newt frowned, then shrugged. "Well, everyone else's going bloody insane. It's all I've been hearin' about since I woke up."

Having a Newbie come into the Glade was always a bit nerve-wracking. We never knew what the boy would look like or how they'd act, or who would watch over them as they cried. Every month we got a new person sent up via the Box. Same day, same time, same annoying alarm that went off. I spent a lot of time wondering when the next girl would come.

"Should be any minute now," I mused as I twirled my spoon with my finger. The soup, for once, wasn't very appetizing to me.

Minho grumbled something incoherent under his breath, causing me to glance up at him. He merely stared at the bowl and chased a chunk of meat around the broth. He didn't look to be in a good mood at all. In fact, he looked almost sad.

"Cheer up, buttercup," I said with a teasing smile. Minho rolled his eyes, but a small smirk twitched at his lip. He swallowed a spoonful of soup to hide it.

Newt huffed a sigh and tapped his fingers on the table, not touching his food. He only stared down at his soup and full glass of milk. I noticed purple rings under his eyes from lack of sleep, making the skin there look puffy. I was about to ask him if he'd slept enough when the Greenie alarm blared.

It was a sharp sound that echoed through the air and reverberated through my eardrums, stabbing at my brain like a sharp needle. I jumped up instinctively and turned toward the Box. However, I forgot about my useless leg and nearly pitched forward over the bench and onto my face, but Minho somehow managed to jump up and catch me before I could.

"Looks like all that running gave you some decent reflexes, huh?" I questioned, feeling my face heat up when I noticed how close I was to him. His arms had hooked underneath mine and resulted in my face being almost pressed into his chest.

"Decent," Minho agreed as he steadied me back onto my feet and handed me my crutches. With my face still burning with a flush that crept all the way to my neck, I scrambled to hold onto them with the alarm still blaring in my ears. The other picnic tables were deserted by then, with everyone else already running toward the Box.

"C'mon!" Newt yelled over the noise, waving us over eagerly. I moved as quickly as I could. The crutches were becoming easier and easier to use, but it was still difficult to move across grass. Stairs were also the worst.

Minho and Newt walked alongside me as I crutched my way along as quickly as I could, huffing and puffing to keep up. I could feel my chest tighten with a cramp. My breaths were short and quick, but not steady enough to prevent pain.

By the time we had made it to the crowd surrounding the square shape in the ground, sweat was dotting my collar and hairline. I passed my crutches to Minho and took my red jacket off, revealing the light grey henley beneath it. The sleeves and collar were a darker grey that concealed any sweat stains, which I would be eternally grateful for.

I quickly tied the jacket around my waist, still balancing on my good foot. Minho handed me back my beloved crutches once I was finished. Before I could thank him, he began pushing through the crowd and demanded that the Gladers "part the seas" for me. It was one of the sayings that bugged at my brain like I should remember it from somewhere, but the memory had been stolen by the Creators.

"I would've been perfectly fine back here," I mumbled beneath my breath as the boys actually did part so I could get through. I hated their impatient gazes as they waited for me to go through.

Newt clapped me on the back. "Yeah, but Minho's always got to have the best view. And since you have no choice but to follow him, so do you."

I frowned. "I have a choice to leave him. I just...choose not to."