Before Her

Newt 16

Newt
The maze was the same. Thick, ivy covered walls, weird, familiar smell. The only difference was the path. The maze changes every night, when the sun goes down and the walls close, which reminds me, there's not much time till the doors close. I push my self harder, as always. Running for my life, or in this case, Pete's life.

We round a corner, following the path the maze was taking us. A few turns before the end of the maze, we slow down. There, slumped against an ivy wall, was a body lying in a pool of red liquid. Pete. Bloody grievers. His body was still, his pants were soaked with blood, his eyes were closed and his face was pale. A gash ran across his forehead. His shirt was ripped, showing a wound in his stomach. Blood continued to flow out, pouring into the pool surrounding him. Bruises showed all over his body, pink, red, blue and purple. Slowly I walked up to him. He's not moving, oh my god, please be alive. I reached out and put to fingers against the pale skin at his throat. A slow pulse heated against my fingers.
'He's alive!' I exclaim and let out the breath I had been holding for so long. Ed and Jace both cheered.
We soon realised that we had to get back. The sun was setting, fast.
I grab Pete's waist, careful not to touch the wound, and haul him onto my shoulder. I turn and yell at the others to start running. They started to protest, but when I warned them about the sun and that we had no time, they took off. I ran with them, maybe two metres behind. We rounded a corner to where we almost crashed into three runners that had been running towards as at top speed. They switched gears almost before it was too late, and ran the opposite direction. We were close now, almost there and then I saw them.

A crowd had formed, Alby and Minho obviously in charge, Frypan, no doubt with piles of food close by, and Andrew, stretchers at his feet, first aid kit already in hand. Slowly, runners passed through the walls, into the glade. Gladers cheered and immediately a number of gladers, swarmed over each runner. I was last one through, my shoulder was now sore. I hadn't realised how much it was yelling at me, I couldn't hear it over the cheering. I ran to them, and dropped Pete at the nearest stretcher I could find before collapsing on the one next to it.
I felt like I was floating, the weight literally lifted from my shoulders. A sea of heads appeared above me, shielding the last rays of sunshine.

~~~

My head throbbed. My feet ache. My shoulder's killing me. My throat burned. My eyes were itchy. Honestly my whole body wasn't really happy with me, though that was an underestimate.

I crane my neck to see the blankets thrown half off of the bed. Next to me, a mop of honey hair rested on the edge of the bed, tickling my elbow. I try to sit up, big mistake.

This reaction from my body was like that one time Minho had taken 2 bottles of alcohol instead of 1 and we'd had to drink a bottle each since we had to get rid of the evidence and then the next day I had been too stubborn and had gone out into the maze, I almost didn't make it. When I got back I instantly collapsed as soon as I crossed into the glade. I woke up a day later.

A small groan escapes, and instantly, she begins to stir. Then she sits up, rubbing her eyes. Now that she was upright, I could see her. Her hair was a mess. There were dark circles under her eyes and her normally rosy cheeks, weren't so rosy.
'Is it morning already?' she asks.
'I,' my voice was hoarse, it didn't help that there was a burning feeling in my throat. I cleared my throat and tried again, 'I don't know, I just woke up.'
'Oh,' she says as she stifles a yawn, 'How're you feeling.'
'Not so good. This is definitely the worse I have been in ages.'
She laughs, 'You look... awful.'
'That bad?'
'I've seen worse,' she replies, dismissing the idea with a wave of a hand. 'Shuck!'
'What?' I ask, surprised my her sudden outburst. The colour drained from her face.
'What was his name?' she asks hesitantly.
'Who?' I ask. Who was she talking about? It's certainly not really nice for her to ask me for another guy's name when I had just woken up from a hangover and exhaustion, and then it dawned on me. 'Shuck. How is he? Is he okay? What happened after I blacked out? Oh, umm, his name's Pete.'
'Oh.' I looked at her, waiting for an explanation. She talked like she was in pain, like she knew him.
She sighs, 'He gave me a flower yesterday morning. He ran away before I could talk to him. I didn't even know his name.' Her eyes shown with tears, the she hugged her herself, wrapping her arms around her sides.
'He's dead.'