the fan runner ⇒ the maze runner fanfic

twelve - confine

[ Don't forget who you're loyal to. ]

^'°

They had made her a Slopper, the lowest of the jobs. Alby hadn't even looked her in the eye when he had announced it to the Gladers. The whereabouts of her friends were unknown, and when she begged Alby for any information, he turned away silently.

She was starting to get worried.

The only thing that was keeping Allie from going insane was Newt. He was her anchor, catching her whenever she fell, lifting her spirits when she was down. Whenever they were together, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her.  For the first time since she arrived in the Glade, she felt special. Loved.  She was ready to throw herself into the relationship wholeheartedly, but the thought of her missing friends still nagged at her in the back of her mind.

Newt tried to make her forget, but his soft-spoken words only made her remember. They made her think of Evan, and she recalled seeing him at the Bloodhouse, but she hadn't seen him since. When she had looked past Evan's flaws, she had seen someone caring. Handsome, even. But that boy was gone, and Newt had been basking in his place. Allie tried to tell herself it was alright. If she got lost in his words, tangled in his poetry, maybe she could go one night without thinking about Evan.

Alby and Matthew reigned while Newt healed. The Gladers rejoiced at his inevitable recovery, while Allie was expecting it. And WICKED hadn't listened to her prayers to make him better, much less gotten her out of the Maze. She couldn't even fathom the response she would get when she arrived home, after being gone so long.

"Hey." Newt whispered, the sound of his raspy voice cutting through the quiet. He placed his hand on Allie's shoulder, and her breathing quickened.  He would never stop having that effect on her.

"Shut up.  I'm working." she said playfully, but she turned around to face him. When she saw his bruised face, one word came to her mind, and she couldn't get rid of it.

Traitor.

"Let's go somewhere.  I'm bloody bored these days." he suggested.

"I told you, I'm working.  I don't really want Alby to go crazy on me again." Allie said jokingly, but it was firm.  Newt's eyes widened.

"Really?  You want to play it that way?" he grinned, placing his lips on her cheek and planting a soft, airy kiss on her skin.  Red color spread across her cheek.

"You're blushing."

"I know that."

"Do you wanna go somewhere now?"

She thought for a moment, then tentatively put down the cloth she was using to clean the rough, grainy metal of the Box.

"Fine."

Without any spoken detail, Newt started walking, limping, somewhere. He pulled on her wrist, leading her to a place she faintly recognized at first.  Then the smell of copper hit her.

"Welcome the Map Room." He motioned towards the room, dimly lit by a single hanging lightbulb. Dusty shelves lined the walls, and a pile of scrawled-on papers were stacked in the far corner.

"Just so you know, don't let Alby burn this place down." she laughed, and Newt looked confused.  "For future reference. Um... why are we here?"

He smiled smugly. "Why not?"

"Fair enough." She looked around at the shelves lined with Runners' vests, sneakers, and other old-looking gear.

"I just wanted to say," Newt started, staring longingly at her. "That night when I came to your room was one of the best nights of my life. Bloody depressing, isn't it?  But you just make me feel better. Not only my leg, but my whole life. I was just thinking about that today."

His voice sounded so broken, so afraid, but Allie could tell it was sincere. He was giving her his heart, and she had to treat it right.

"That's so sweet of you, Newt." she nodded.

Then she spoke. "When I came here, I thought you as just a character.  My favorite character, actually.  But as I got to know you..." she faltered, at a loss for words. "I realized you're so much more than that."

His arms were wrapped around her as they held onto each other.  She felt secure, his strong arms giving her balance and meaning. It slowly transitioned into a kiss, with every bit of emotion from their shared words being incorporated into their show of affection.

Allie couldn't remember what he had mumbled into her ear at that point, or why she was so focused on him in that moment.  All she knew is that she could hear muffled screams coming from somewhere to the left of her.

Blood-curdling screams.

"Oh my god, Newt.  Do you hear that?" she said, panicked, letting go of him immediately.

"What?  What do you hear?" he grasped her wrist, almost cutting off her circulation.  Her heart beat fast, this time not because of love. Because of fear.

She ventured left, tiptoeing, although she didn't know why she had bothered.  A bolted door stood tall in front of her, cutting off her path.

"What's in here?" she wondered aloud. The screams were louder from her current position.

"You probably shouldn't..." Newt began, but before he could finish, she had located a hammer on one of the shelves and slammed it through the wood of the door, sending tiny pieces of wood flying all around them.

"Too late." she smirked and continued working away at the gaping hole, making it large enough for them to fit through.  She pushed her hair back with her sweaty palm and twirled the hammer in the other hand.

"I know I slay you." Allie flipped her hair back over her shoulder.

But what she saw next made her regret her previous excitement.

A pale, worn-out looking Kris leaned over a body, her mouth bound shut with a white cloth.  Her hands were tied together with the same material, and when Allie looked closer, she could see the body was in fact Siobhan, her face marred by scars. Em was leaning against a back wall, her mouth and hands secured as well, but she looked far more sullen instead of the concerned look that plastered Kris's face.

Allie fell to the ground and weeped, ruined.  Newt leaned over her, but she didn't look at him. She couldn't look at him.