Before Thomas {A Maze Runner Fanfiction}

S2-Ep14: The Beginning of The End

Things got worse. Before the week was over, the ugly purple veins had crept up all the way to Elizabeth's neck. She could constantly feel them burning their way through her body but she could do nothing to stop it. What frustrated her most, however, were the mood swings. She couldn't explain why, but there were moments she was hit with a sudden madness. Someone would say something, or someone would accidentally brush up against her, or she heard a sound she didn't like, and suddenly her mind was consumed with an anger that was getting frequently harder to control.

She didn't mean to lash out at her friends—at least, she didn't want to mean to. But the more the virus spread, the harder it was for her to see a reason to not get angry. For some reason, Tyn was even worse. The purple veins had gone up to his neck, and down to his opposite arm. Most of the time he was quiet, and walked around like a shell of his former self, and then suddenly, like Elizabeth, he would go into a violent rage. Where Elizabeth was able to control herself, he found himself slipping. He was currently serving time in the Slammer for attacking some of the younger Gladers. Afterwards he had cried and apologized profusely, but Nick and Alby both agreed he had to be contained.

Elizabeth stared at the brilliant color that was slowly taking over her life. She touched the delicate skin at the inside of her wrist, and a jolt of pain traveled up the length of the disease. She wondered if this was what her mother was talking about, when she wrote that letter. It was certainly what Elizabeth had meant in her journal, writing about who was immune and who was not. That was another reason she was afraid. Newt was not immune. Had she already infected him? He kept insisting that she hadn't, but when she wasn't feeling angry, she was feeling guilty.

She couldn't run to stave the madness, because her rib was either broken or fractured. She couldn't cook because her hands were infected. She couldn't shower, because the feeling of fresh water against her skin was so repulsive. She didn't want to be alone, but at the same time she couldn't stand being in the presence with anyone for too long in the fear she would eventually hurt them. She sent Newt away every night, but was secretly comforted by his stubborn insistence on sleeping outside her hut.

The clock was ticking, and she knew it. She wanted so badly for it to stop, but the odds had been against her from the very beginning.

On one of their last nights together around the campfire, Alby suggested they swap stories and ask would you rather questions like they used to. Most of them imagined they were somewhere else. Gally pretended he was camping somewhere, under a sky full of stars and the knowledge that he had been the one to hike out here. P.F. saw himself running in the Maze with Dalton beside him, teasing him about his hair or something normal. Chris made believe it was a night on the town, and the Gladers were girls instead of guys. In the Slammer, Tyn thought about a family. He didn't remember what his family looked like, so he gave them their names and personalities. Newt saw himself with his friends, and with Elizabeth, but he wasn't quite drawn into the illusion as much as the others.

"You know what?" Frypan said suddenly.

"What?" Zart asked.

"I just realized I never finished my drink."

"Just grab another one?" Snow said, confused.

"Nah, I meant the drink, drink!" Frypan stood up and walked away to the back of the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later dragging a large jug across the ground. "Anybody want some?"

"I'll pass, thank you," Waldo said. He was the only one. Even the youngest of them dipped their cup into the strong-smelling liquid. Gally was reminded of the night Elizabeth got drunk. He looked at her, and then at the drink and thought: 'the hell with it,' and grabbed his own drink. There was the sound of cups clinking together as some of the guys proposed mock toasts, and then a bunch of gagging sounds. Gally downed his in one huge gulp and instantly regretted it. He hated the taste of the stuff. The only good thing about it was the lazy burn in his throat.