*edited in later: Just a little notice before the chapter starts. This isn't part of the book, but I genuinely need your help. I posted this on my message board as well.
Guys, I really need your help.
One of my very good friends has a really abusive dad. He doesn't let her go out or do anything etc, and her whole family including her mom is afraid of him. Recently, her mom gave birth again, and she has to take care of the baby, wash clothes, cook, etc etc. She's really stressed out, and a while ago she told us she wanted to give up. Luckily we were able to convince her not to, but what can we do to help her?
We've given her support over the past year and a half, but things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. Her dad literally hits her and her mum/siblings, and he also refuses to go for counselling. We want to call the authorities, but that may just break her even more, and she might give up...
Guys please help... I'm shaking rn please and thanks :'(
~
Thomas POV
Another few days passed, and my energy level had gone down drastically. Water was no longer able to satisfy my hunger; I needed food. Any food.
And I got my wish.
Early in the morning, Minho barged into Newt and I's room, waking us up. I was just about to lecture him on privacy (god knows what we could have been doing at that time) when he threw an apple at me. I caught it and stared at it like I had never seen it before.
Food.
Before my mind could register it, Newt reached down and took a bit of the apple from my hand.
Crunch. Crunch.
The overwhelming smell finally caught up to me, and I took a huge bite of the fruit. Delicious sweetness engulfed me and I let out a contented sigh.
"Come on, shuckface. There's more outside," Minho said to us after a second. Eager, I jumped out of bed and ran after him, Newt at my heels.
~Timeskip~
An hour or so after I woke up, I was full and happy. Well- maybe a little more than full. In the previous room with the bodies, or as I'd like to remember it the dining room, had been piles and piles of edible goodness. Even after all us had had more than our portion, there was still a lot left.
And then there was another thing - a man sat at the corner of the room, refusing to speak, surrounded by an invisible but solid as hell wall. I knew this because I stepped right into it.
Ouch.
A while later, the man finally stood up from his reclining position and started speaking. We called him Rat Man, as he vaguely resembled a rat. He told us that we all had the Flare, and as the Phase 2 of WICKED's little experiment, we were to make our way through the Scorch to reach a "safe haven", where we would receive our cure.
Basically, WICKED lied their asses off and is forcing us to play their game or die.
From the past few days' experiences, we all already knew that this wasn't the end, that there was much more to come, but still a feeling of betrayal and hatred hit me. A few Gladers started to shout at Rat Man, but he calmly informed us that we had an hour to pack our things before a "Flat Trans" appeared to take us to the Scorch. Whatever that was.
Minho started to give orders, and soon, whatever food we had left was wrapped up in bundles made using blankets. We got a few plastic bags the food came in and used them to hold water. I doubt it would last us very long, but what choice did we have?
A few minutes after we were done packing, a grey square appeared on the ground in the room. Was this the Flat Trans? It looked pretty solid. But knowing the things WICKED could make, I wouldn't be surprised if we had to step through a grey square.
Minho went first, and the rest of us followed. We entered a dark alley. And by dark, I mean pitch black, because there was literally zero light.
"Everybody hold hands and walk," Minho ordered. We complied.
I held Newt's hand firmly in mine. As we walked up the stairs, balls of metal came swinging down, moulding themselves on people's heads and killing them. We started to run in as straight a line as we could. People around us fell; we helped them up, but we knew it was too late when their hallow screams filled the air.
Soon, whoever who was left of me was gone; dead. I gritted my teeth and ran forward, my right hand tightly in Newt's. His limp was almost gone, but I still took it into account as I ran, pacing myself with Newt.
He fell, and I almost had a heart attack. I couldn't lose him, not now, not ever. Luckily, he only tripped, and I could pull him up within seconds.
We continued running.
Soon, we reached stairs, and began climbing like our lives depended on it. Which it did. After a while, we reached the top of the stairs and a trapdoor was opened. Sunlight poured down on us, momentarily blinding us.
Still, we closed the trapdoor, forever separating those who'd fallen. There was no time to waste.
A while into the long trek, the sun became unbearably hot. The miles of sand wasn't helping either, so after a pit stop we piled all our food into a few blankets, using the remaining to shield ourselves.
Naturally, Newt and I shared one blanket.
"Tommy," he started to say.
"Hmm?"
"He said that we all had the Flare... Do you believe him?"
"I don't know. After all, he's from WICKED who promised us that the Maze was the end."
"You've seen those bloody cranks. I wouldn't be able to stand myself if I was like them."
"We got out of the Maze. We'll get to the end of this. We're survivors, remember?"
The journey got quiet after that.
~TIMESKIP~
It was almost nightfall when I saw her.
The temperature was getting cooler, and I knew that soon we'd be freezing instead of burning.
There she was, standing directly in front of us.
At a hundred meters away, I recognised it was her.
At fifty meters away, my delight changed to anxiety.
At twenty meters, it changed to fear.
Everyone was asking who it was, but I shushed them. I told them it was Teresa, and they started questioning it. But at the back of my mind, I knew she was safe. I trusted her.
So, at ten meters, I stopped them. A few protested, like Newt, but I assured them that I would be fine.
"Teresa?" I called out.
"Tom!"
She led me to a small hut nearby.
"Thomas, things are going to happen, and you're going to feel frightened, horrified... But trust me. They're doing things to me. Trust me. I would never-" tears streamed down her face, and I couldn't bear the sight of that. I pulled her into a hug. Of course I would trust her, she was like a sister t-
Until she kissed me.
It felt strange. Foreign. It was quick, but it was wrong. Newt flashed across my mind, and I pushed her away. No.
Hurt shined in Teresa's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Teresa. I- I really am. I can't do this," I try to explain.
"Just go. Please."
I walked out of the door, wondering if what I did was right.
"Tommy! Are you alright? What happened in there?" Newt immediately rushed to me when I got out, concern evident on his face.
"Nothing much," I answered, then proceeded to tell them what Teresa told me. I conveniently left out the kiss.
As time stretched on, I got more and more restless. I had to tell Newt about the kiss. Somehow. He'll get mad at me, but I'll have to.
Tell me my priorities aren't straight, because for the entire afternoon I was worrying about that more than our goddamn survival. Oh well. It's not like I'm straight either.
At night, I lay awake in my makeshift bed (a blanket on the sand, with another blanket to cover me). Newt slept soundly beside me. He trusted me. I lied to him.
I don't think I can keep this secret very much longer.
And so, in my perfectly sane sleep muddled restless mind, I decided to talk to someone.
Aris, are you awake?
A/N: I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS SO UN-NEWTMAS-Y SORRY but I had to write it :/ Also from now on, it's gonna deviate much more from the original book (well it's very little honestly but considering the fact that the previous 20 chapters were basically the actual book but with newtmas, yeah this is much more different.)
And I KNOW I HAVENT UPDATED IN A LONG TIME ;-; and I'm really sorry for that... :( but I never really pre-write any of my chapters heh because my ideas always change a bit and then I'll have to edit everything which I'm lazy to do lol.
QOTC: What's your birthday/horoscope?
AOTC: 18 Feb, and I'm an Aquarius XD and it 80% describes me like omg
Also another question: are my chapters long compared to other fanfics? Because I honestly have no idea, I try to keep them around 1000 words or more (for absolutely no reason). I know my A/Ns are long as hell though XD
Once again thanks for reading! <3 Please vote if you liked this chapter and comment your feedback! I love you all :)