In the Scorch (Newt x reader)

Sixteen

~ (y/n)'s P.O.V. ~

"(y/n), love, we're here." I stirred at Newt's voice as he shook me. In my mind, I imagined for a moment that we had just bought a house and I was being woken up when moving into it for the first time, but the heat that hit my eyes as they opened and the dryness of my mouth told me otherwise. Above me Newt was smiling. "We made it. Only a few hours until sundown, then we'll have our cure." I sat up, pushing off of the sandy ground Newt had set me on. I smiled at him.

"Then maybe we can live out relatively normal lives?" Newt pulled me forward, kissing my forehead gently.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, but I would love if we were able to." I grabbed at Newt's face, pulling him back in to kiss me. He smiled against my lips as I deepened the kiss. He was the first to pull away, still smiling at me goofily.

"Help me stand up?" Newt's smile dropped into a confused frown.

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed. "But (y/-"

"You can hold me up, I just wanna walk a little. It's been a while since I have." Newt looked away in thought for a moment. "Please..." I whispered, grabbing at his hand. Newt sighed, nodding with a small smile.

"Alright. It couldn't hurt." Newt helped me up, keeping a hand on my waist and the other held one of my hands in his. I placed my free hand on his shoulder and took a wobbly step forward, watching the sand part as my foot came down. I squeezed his hand tighter as I looked at my bad leg, not quite sure if I was ready to move it. Time ticked by, yet Newt remained patient with me, holding me upright and close to him in case I fell.

"You could always try an-" I didn't let Newt finish his sentence. I lifted my foot, as much as the sore and damaged muscles would let me, but my leg locked and shook, making me stumble as I placed the foot back down. Newt caught me, holding me close to him. "Easy there, love, easy. That was a good attempt." His breath moved through the small wisps of hair on my neck and it tickled my ear. I stayed there leaning against Newt, and he held me gently, but firmly so I would not fall. His chin rested on my shoulder and my head leant against his.

"Newt?" My voice was a whisper. His grip tightened on me.

"Yes, love?" Newt placed a gentle kiss below my ear, making my heart flutter. "Do you promise you won't ever leave me?" Newt stiffened against me.

"What's this about? You know I wouldn't-" I closed my eyes, sighing and thinking to Jorge's conversation with me when we first met. Don't you ever feel like a sort of... a dead weight?

"Just promise me." I felt Newt turn me slowly turn me so I was facing him.

"Love, I would never- could never leave you. I swear to you, I promise you, I'll write it in stone if need be. I will never ever leave you." I opened my eyes, feeling tears fill them as I searched his face. My mind went back to the first day that I had met him in the Maze, how much we had grown to be where we are now.

"Newt..." I put a light hand to the back of his neck, pushing him down to kiss me. Newt eagerly returned the kiss. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like the world had stopped around us and it was just me and him and nothing else. I was the first to pull away this time, smiling at him. "I love you." Newt smiled, dipping down to kiss me again.

"I love you too."

~

I laid curled up against Newt, looking out at the skyline as the sun came closer to setting. Everything seemed quiet, except for the few whoops and calls of everyone else as they played around behind us. A few times Dan and Delilah had come to check on us, then they would walk away, whispering and laughing under their breath.

"Newt! (y/n)!" I looked up, turning quickly at Tommy's voice as he ran to us. "You guys have to come see this. We think it's the end of the trial." I nodded as Newt pulled the both of us up. Tommy led us quickly back to where the others had been. Shouts of confusion rang out as Newt and I came closer. Tommy pointed to a circle of coffin-like boxes that hadn't been there before. "See those? Just a few minutes ago, they came down out of nowhere from the clouds. I swear to you, I know it sounds crazy but it is true." I stared at the boxes, watching as the other Gladers and Group B went closer to inspect them.

"I believe you. The problem is, what is inside of them?" Delilah ran over to us, Dan close behind her. It took me a moment to realize they were holding hands as Delilah pointed back to the boxes.

"Something isn't right with them. We can't lift the lid and..." Delilah trailed off, looking behind us. Dan muttered a curse, turning to yell a warning to everyone else.

"And?" I turned my head and my eyes widened. The sky behind us was filled with dark clouds, all rolling towards us, the same ones we had spotted our first day in the Scorch.

"We need to figure this out, and we have to do it fast." Newt said and I nodded. Newt scooped me up completely, taking charge in going to the group. Tommy, Delilah, and Dan followed behind us. "Anyone got anything?" Minho shook his head.

"No, man." Minho said. "The boxes won't open." To demonstrate, Minho, Jeff, Aidan, and Adam tried to lift the lid of one box, but it stayed down, stuck.

"We have to find a weak spot in them, or at least one weak box. WICKED always has a flaw in their creations" Minho nodded at me, then turned to everyone else, shouting what I had said so everyone else knew what to do, then everyone scattered. I turned back to look at the storm.

"I hope we figure this out in time." Newt nodded, holding me closer to him as the wind picked up, blowing through our hair. Somewhere far off, lightning struck the ground. A chill ran through me as I remembered the effect of the lightning, the lives it took.

"We've got one!" I looked back to see Tommy yelling, high fiving Alby's sister. Everyone began to walk towards the box, curious on what it held, including Newt, but then the other lids began to pop open.

"Bloody hell..." All of the lids were open now, but everyone stayed frozen or was backing away from the boxes. I watched in horror as a huge, bulbous hand reached out of the box closest to us. I gripped tighter at Newt as the rest of the figure rose from the box. The rest of the body was the same as the hand, slimy and round. It was covered in small bulbs that were glowing. It turned, seeming to look around, yet it had no face. Somewhere, one of the girls screamed, fully registering the monster and its appearance, then similar creatures began to pull themselves from the rest of the boxes. 

Original Publish Date: September 16, 2017