A-Thousand-Words | The Maze Runner - Newt/Thomas

1 | The Maze

It was dark. So dark in fact, that even though my eyes were open, I could barely see a thing. I had no clue where I was, and although I could feel the sensation of movement, I also had no clue where I was going. My fingers gripped at the cold metal beneath me, which when mixed with the slight clanking sound every once in a while, told me I was in a cage. Okay, so I was in a dark cage and I was going somewhere.

My heart pounded against my chest as my eyes slowly began to adjust to the dark. Looking around me, I saw nothing but the rusted sides of the cage. My breathing quickened as I tried to look for clues as to what might be happening to me, but despite my efforts, my mind was too fogged by fear to create a single reasonable explanation. Glancing up, I stared into a dark corner across from me. Despite my eyes having adjusted slightly, I couldn't quite make out what was in the corner; but for some reason, I felt like there was something or someone watching me.

"H-hello?" I spoke softly; my voice cracking as I used it for the first time in what felt like days.

There was nothing at first. No voice, no movement...but then whatever it was shifted forwards slightly so I could just see their outline. It was a girl. She had dark hair that was covering most of her face, but I didn't need to see all of her to tell that she was just as frightened and confused as I was.

Before I could speak again though, a loud buzzing started to go off, which startled both the girl and I. A light from above caught my attention, and as I peered up at the red glow in the distance, I felt the cage start to move quickly towards it. My fingers gripped tighter at the metal as I laid my head back and closed my eyes, terrified of what was going to happen next.

Just when it felt like we had reached maximum speed, the cage jolted to a stop with one final buzz, and light flooded into the metal prison we had been trapped in.

I opened my eyes slowly at first, testing to make sure I was prepared for whatever I may see; but the only thing notable in my field of view was the girl sitting across from me, whom I could see all of now. The two of us stared at each other in shock for a few seconds before the doors on the top of the cage were yanked open with a loud thud. Looking up, I instantly pressed my back harder into the side of the cage when I saw what was above us.

Boys. All around us, on every side, were boys. Most of them looking about the same age as the girl sitting across from me, but they all had different expressions from hers. They stared down at us with amazement and wonder. I really had no idea what was going on now.

Just then, a smaller-statured boy jumped down into the cage with us. He had blonde hair and something slung across his body; and despite the fact that I should have been wary of him, he gave off a harmless vibe.

"Newt, what do you see?" someone called out as even more bodies gathered around.

The boy in the cage with us, whose name was apparently Newt, stared at us with disbelief before looking back to the others. "It's girls. Two of them."

Chattering immediately commenced between the boys as they moved around in order to get a better look at us. "What's that?" another one of the boys pointed to a small white note in the center of the cage, which I hadn't noticed before.

Reaching down, Newt picked up the paper and read what it said aloud. "'They're the last ones...ever.'" he paused with a confused look on his face. "What the hell does that mean?"

Just then, the girl opposite me let out a gasp as she eyed a particular boy in the crowd. "Thomas." she panted as if she had suddenly gotten the wind knocked out of her. All eyes shifted to the one boy, Thomas.

"Still think I'm overreacting?" the boy who pointed out the note, said.

"Okay." I finally gained the courage to speak. "Where am I, who are you, and what the hell is going on?"