The glue that dried

The shimmering wall of gray

"We made it." I pant as I collapse onto the green grass underneath the shade of a tree, something I haven't done for a long time. We were in an open field, the safe haven that we've been looking for.
"Yeah." Thomas says, as we watch Brenda go back inside the shack we just ran out of. After about two minutes, the shimmering wall of gray that we traveled through and the shack itself is ablaze. I sit up, looking around us.
The place is a huge meadow, with flowers, streams, and trees. People have already started walking around, taking in the beauty of nature not touched by the flares. I sit up against the tree as I steady my breathing. We've been running for and hour straight and it's finally catching up to me. Even though I was a dasher in the maze, I have to admit, I had gotten lazy once we got out. I was about to stand up and walk around when the leader from group A came over and sat with me.
"Hey Sonya." He said, oh what was his name? Minho? Yeah, Minho.
"Hi," I said, and turned to look at him. The Asian boy was tall, with buff arms and stern eyes.
"So, we made it out of there." He said, awkwardly messing with his shoe laces, as if he wanted to say something, but we weren't on the topic of conversation yet.
"Yeah. About time."
"So, I hear you're Newt's sister." The mention of my brothers name brought tears to my eyes, I blinked them back as I tried to keep my voice from cracking.
"Yup. Are you- a friend of his?"
"Yeah. He's my best friend." He nodded, the stern look from his eyes were gone, replaced with a sadness, an emptyness that seemed to swallow him completely.
"What was he like? In the maze. " I asked. I had refused to get my memories back, I didn't want to remember the horrors of outside.
"Well, in the maze, he was a runner, like me. But, after about a year of running, he was losing hope. Fast. I tried to help, switch up the running patterns, trying to convince him that there was something new, maybe a way out. But, he never bought it. Then, a new guy showed up, Newt fell in love with that dumb shank. They were close, really close. His name was George. But Newt called him Georgie." I laughed at the name, I don't know much about Newt, but I remember he has a thick accent, while I only have a light one.
"But, that shank died. And that drove Newt over the edge. One day, he was out running a different pattern, all alone, and by the time the day was over, the walls were fixing to close, he still wasn't back inside the glade. I begged Alby to go find him, so he did. The next thing I know, Alby was dragging Newt back inside. Except, it wasn't Newt, it- it was a shucked up Newt. He was all battered and bruised up. I thought the shank was dead." He said, and buried his face in his hands. I took a moment to take it all in, I then realized that I was crying a river.
I couldn't believe it, Newt was depressed in there. And all that time I was okay.
"He uhh." Minho said, wiping his face. "He tried to kill himself." Those words hit me like a slap to the face. No, he couldn't have. He would never to anything like that. I couldn't hold it in any longer, I let out a cry and fell onto the grass, turning the dirt to mud with my tears. It couldn't be true, Minho had to be lying. But, why would he be so emotional about it, if it was a lie?
"I'm sorry," he said, putting a hand on my trembling back. "He recovered though. But he still has a limp to this day." Those words encouraged me. He was still alive. He was okay. But then I realized.
My brother is not okay, he is on the other side of that shimmering wall of gray, dying, going insane, and I can't do anything about it.