Free (Maze Runner fanfic Newtmas Newt x Thomas)

Chapter 25

After a couple days stuck in the grey room, Newt woke up one morning to a pain in his shoulder. He recognised the pain, and he begged his body to just have a bruise, a painful bruise; but there it was... a blister.

He knew he had to tell one of the boys, so he tried requesting to see Minho. With a blister, Newt had no chance of being allowed into the city, but he tried not to panic. Just a blister. A normal blister. Everyone got them.. but on their shoulder- everyone got them.

Minho arrived in the afternoon, and Newt had never been happier to see him. "We have a problem." He whispered, pulling him to the corner of the room that he'd discovered to be a blind spot from the one camera in the room.

"What is it? We're all still waiting for you." Minho whispered back.

Newt pulled down his collar, showing the blister. "This."

"But- you had the cure. You're not angry! O-or black eyed!"

"I know, it's really weird. This is one of the later symptoms but I don't feel angry in the slightest, I'm completely in control of myself; my eyes are fine, I haven't got veins anywhere, all things that start happening before the blistering. Okay maybe not the eyes but you get my point. I don't have flakey skin either."

"Well maybe it's a regular blister? We were walking under the hot sun for days, we all have them on our hands and feet. Maybe your clothes got sweaty and rubbed against your shoulder the wrong way? It's entirely possible."

"I guess." Newt covered it back up. "But if more start appearing then that means the cure didn't work properly, so either the people they gave it too will turn out like me or I didn't get big enough of a dosage. Maybe it's because I was so far along, maybe it's because I had a hole in my neck, maybe it's because WICKED planned this all along-"

"Newt, Newt, don't panic, you're starting to panic." Minho clamped his hands on Newt's shoulders but quickly let go when he shouted in pain. "Right, sorry. We'll just bring you another needle, simple, and if it makes you clear again then it simply was a dosage problem and you can come into the city! I'll get Joseph to bring one over to you."

"Thanks.. hopefully it will work. If it doesn't, then I'll be asking you a small favour."

~*~

It was so weird, his left eye had become black by evening and people were looking at him from the doorway, wearing their suits again. Minho was the only one who hadn't worn an outfit around him so far, and judging by the hushed whispers Newt could hear he had a feeling crazy people were going to be the next ones out of suits he'd be meeting.

He still didn't feel angry at all, just 'slightly' panicked at the idea of getting thrown out the city before he was given half a chance to enter it. All the hard work and sacrifice to get here would just be thrown back in his face before he was able to grasp it. Newt did find that a little infuriating, but his anger changed into worry about becoming angry, so he tried not to let anything bother him.

Someone beckoned him over and they clamed something around his wrist, quickly making Newt recoil backward. "If your darkness goes away, then you can come in. This bracelet will tell us how you're doing." They said, voice muffled by their helmet. "I'm afraid it's time for you to go."

"I only just got here!" Newt defended.

"The darkness is clear in you, your left eye is black." They held up a mirror for him to look in, but Newt was already well aware because he could feel it. "You can't hide it anymore from us."

Newt's hand went up to cover his eye. "W-well where am I meant to go? It's just endless fields out there and goners are clawing at your walls! They'll kill me!"