Thomas's eyes flickered open. Peering up through the bamboo gate, he saw daylight. It was still quite an early hour, the perfect time to head out and see what strange secrets they may find in Section 7 if they were to find a way out.
He felt Edward's head still resting against his shoulder. He smiled warmly at his little brother sleeping beside him. Just then his ear drums heard gentle snoring. Carefully lifting Edward's head off his shoulder and resting him against a stone wall, he leaned up and saw Newt sleeping right near them.
"Newt?" he asked.
Newt jolted up, shaking his head. He saw Thomas's head poking through the bars to look at him.
"What you doing here?"
"I just popped by to check on you and Edward after Teresa took watch over Alby. Must have fallen asleep," he rubbed his eyes.
"You were checking on us?"
"Just to make sure you weren't uncomfortable. I'm quite surprised Chuck sneaked over some food," he eyed through the bars at the empty bread bag and canister.
"Don't be mad at Chuck," Thomas implored.
"I won't,"
Before their conversation could continue, Edward was shaking a little as he sat up. He yawned.
"Good morning...little brother," Thomas joked.
"I don't you not to call me that," Edward tiredly complained earning a laugh from both Newt and his brother. "What are you doing here Newt?"
"Just checking you guys out,"
"And he slept right at the door," Thomas added in.
"Tommy!" Newt complained. But Edward just chuckled a bit.
Right after that Mihno appeared. "Ah ha! See Newt's the first one to catch you Shanks up. You guys sure you don't wanna sit this one out?"
"Get us out," Edward requested.
The brothers were released from the Pit and pulled out. They walked over to the Runner's hut with Minho to prepare themselves whilst Newt stayed where he was eying them carefully.
Minho went over to a huge box and pulled out some leather vests and fingerless gloves. "Put these on,"
Thomas took the first one and pulled his on. "How do I look?"
Edward looked at him. "Looks a little tight. But you're fit enough,"
"Thank you. I'm just goanna walk a bit outside," he began to waddle away a bit.
"Don't waste too much energy," Minho advised before he disappeared out.
Whilst the Keeper of the Runners was busy organising some food in a pack and packing the device they found the other night, Edward noticed a small wooden box on the table. Walking over to it, he nosily opened the lid and saw a silver heart necklace. He picked it up.
"Hey!" Minho shouted stomping up to hi suddenly. "Don't touch that!" he snatched that.
"Sorry," Edward spat back, a little apologetically.
Minho sighed. "I'm sorry. This just...." he stroked it tenderly.
"Whose is that?" Edward asked.
Minho didn't turn to him. "Your girl Teresa wasn't the first one here,"
"What do you mean?" Edward asked. "Oh and Teresa is not my girl," he interjected.
"We had a girl here once. She was the fastest runner we had. Even faster than me,"
"What happened to her?"
"About a week ago, she and I went on a run around some of the outer sections. We were becoming more determined than ever to find a way out. But then...we got separated by traps and moving Maze walls. I tried everything I could to try and find her. But I was forced to abandon her to get back to the Glade before nightfall fell and the gates closed. It was the biggest mistake I ever made. The next day I went out searching for her...but this necklace was all I found,"
Edward could tell that Minho was trying to contain his sobs. He couldn't imagine how much it hurt him. "You can't blame yourself Minho. There's nothing you could have done. You did everything you could. I'm sorry I snooped in like that,"
Minho just placed the necklace back into the box and closed it, tracing his fingers over the lid and holding back his grief.
"What was her name?" Edward couldn't help but ask.
Minho seem to pause, his face becoming more depressed.
"I'm sorry," Edward quickly apologised. "I shouldn't have asked that,"
"Amelia. Her name was Amelia," Minho said quickly.
Edward could tell by the silent but hurt look on his face that Amelia had meant so much to him. "I'm really sorry," he wanted to stop himself from asking more questions.
"Come on," Minho said. "Let's go and find your brother," He walked out.
Edward sighed as he watched the saddled Keeper walk away.
Thomas waited outside in the woods. for his brother and their new friend. He kept staring at the Maze gate through the trees, thinking, hoping that they could find a clue to get out of here. He dreamed of a life of freedom, for himself, for his brother, for his new friends. Staring at the giant walls of stone seemed to remind of him of the strange dreams which had been haunting his mind for the past few nights. He wished he could understand what they meant.
"See you're ready?"
Newt's voice made Thomas jump. Eying the Second in Command who was smirking and leaning against a tree, he sighed in irritation. "Don't sneak up on me like that,"
"Come on Tommy! It's just a little fun!"
"Okay. It was funny. What are you still doing up?"
"I wasn't going to miss out your first run. I also wanted to wish you guys good luck,"
"Thanks Newt,"
"I see you're my old vest," Newt pointed to Thomas's running vest.
Thomas stared at him. "You're a runner too?"
"I was...a runner,"
"What happened?"
Newt sat down against the tree and pulled up his left trouser leg. Looking at it carefully, Thomas crouched down and saw that there were large sore wounds. They looked like marks which would never fade away.
"I couldn't take it anymore a year ago. Going back and forth in the Maze and never finding a way out. I wanted to end it all Tommy. End all this worthless living with no choice of finding a way out,"
"So you..." Thomas drifted off, unable to say another word.
"I jumped off a wall," Newt hung his head down. "I didn't die. But I damaged this leg pretty badly that I knew I would never run fast ever again. I wanted to finish what I started...but Alby stopped me. He constantly told me that we had to keep trying to find a way out no matter how tiring it was that we never found anything. I really didn't want to try again...but the thought of my sister...and the person who gave me this pendant..." Newt pulled out his pendant with the letters on. "...thinking about them seemed to make me want to keep holding onto hope,"
Thomas could almost feel his eyes wetting up from hearing that horrible story.
"But the truth is I've secretly given up hope for a long time. That was until you...and your brother came along,"
His words raised Thomas's attention.
"You've both given me hope. I don't whether it's because of your bravery or recklessness, but whatever it is...never give that up,"
"Newt...we're going to find a way out. Even if takes another three years. You can't give up on your sister or the person you love,"
"Hey!" The two turned to see Edward and Minho running up to them.
"Hey. Are you ready Tom?" Edward asked.
"Yeah. I'm ready," Thomas stood up.
"Come on shanks," Minho gestured towards the Maze doors.
"Good luck out there," Newt bid good luck.
Thomas sent him an encouraging smile, vowing to keep his promise.
The Maze doors slowly opened and the moment the gap was wide enough, the brothers raced after Minho into the Maze.
For what seemed like hours, they sprinted around corners, getting further and further away from the Glade. Just then the Trio found some massive walls and a large number painted on the side. Seven. They were at Section Seven.
"That's weird," Minho spoke up.
"What's weird?" asked Thomas.
"Seven isn't supposed to be open for another week,"
"What does that mean?" Edward asked the next question, his fear rising up again as he remembered Gally's conversation with them the other night.
Minho didn't have the words. They just kept walking on. Soon they found themselves walking along towering blade like structures.
"What the hell is that place?" Thomas asked.
"We call them blades," Minho answered. "We'll have to be cautious,"
The brothers nodded. They carefully walked along the stone pathway when Thomas spotted something. "Look over there," Pointing right, his brother and their friend followed his line of vision and saw a white vest stained with blood. They crouched down and Minho picked it up.
"It's Ben's isn't it," Thomas observed.
"Yeah," Minho dropped it. "A Griever must have pulled him down here,"
"The Griever definitely came from this area," Edward said. "But where did it go?"
Mihno held a more depressed look standing right where they were. Whilst Thomas remained peering out at the area around them, he looked to Edward. "This is where I found it," he said sadly.
Edward look at him, showing deep sympathy.
Right after he said, a strange clicking echoed around them. It sounded like electronic beeping. Edward turned to Minho's backpack. It was the device they found. He fished it out the bag and looked at it, feeling his partners' presence beside him.
"I guess we follow it," he suggested. They walked further on, noticing the speed of the beeping increasing as it was getting a stronger connection from somewhere.
"It's showing us the way," Thomas said.
"But where to?" Minho asked.
Just then Thomas shouted, "Stop!"
"What?" Edward asked.
"Look,"
The beeping had stopped.
A stone wall was right next to them.
"It's just another dead end," Minho said sadly.
"Come on. Why this..." Edward was interrupted by the sudden transformation of Number Seven from red to green. Then right beside them, a stone wall was raised revealing a new part of the Maze which they had never seen before. They stared at it with wide eyes.
"This must be a key," Thomas said. "That griever was carrying a key. That must be where it comes from,"
"Are you sure about this?" Minho asked.
"No," Thomas said. He turned to his brother.
"We've seen worse," Edward shrugged his shoulder. "We've come this far,"
They walked along the large passageway, eyeing the curved walls around them where they saw metal bridges and letters labelling the word: WICKED. The sight of them made Edward's stomach churn a bit.
They reached the end of the passageway and saw a giant hole at the far end. It was dark inside. Minho rubbed his hands over the surface, feeling something sticky. "Grievers," he said.
Looking closer, Edward saw that it was mucus. The same stuff that had splashed over him and Thomas the night that they killed one of them.
Thomas started around the hole, looking for sort of door which locks it or something. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, right against the wall under the hole was a donut-shaped necklace, almost like Newt's. Bending down, he picked it up.
It was a navy blue and it had the letters N + T engraved on it. Just like Newt's.
"What is that?" Edward asked.
"Don't know," Thomas said.
"This definitely doesn't belong to a Glader," Minho said. "We've never found this way,"
"Then it must belong to one of the people who put us here," Edward said. Eying the bridges very carefully, he began thinking again. "I've the strangest feeling that with everything that's happened, we've always been watched,"
Just then, the Trio heard a loud beeping noise from inside the tunnel. Looking into the darkness, they saw a red line flash over them like a laser.
"What was that?" Thomas asked.
"I don't think that's a good sign," Edward's estimate was confirmed correct by the door closer in front of them.
"Come on guys!" Minho lead them out of the passageway back into the Maze just as the walls to the hidden passageway closed.
Another chapter done. What did you all think? And Thomas finding a necklace that looks like Newt's? Who do you think it belongs to? We'll have to wait and find out.