"I've been shucked and gone to heaven."
James Dashner, The Maze Runner #1
trigger warning: talks about food, passing out
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Rounding a narrow passageway corner you saw the opening. You were right, it was different!
It finally opened again! you thought.
You smiled so hard your cheeks hurt knowing you'd be able to get back to the Glade again. Momentarily you forgot about the blood all over your clothes, the dust and dirt. Your hair being a wreck and your clothes being torn in various places.
Then two figures popped through. Minho... and Thomas..?
You were so happy you ran towards them at a full sprint. Exhausting all the energy you had left in your body. They saw you and stopped abruptly. Minho's eyes widened. Thomas smiled so hard it looked like it hurt. Just like you had earlier. And that's when you collapsed.
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You woke up as Thomas piggy backed you into the Glade. All the gladers turned to see why the runners were back so soon. Then they saw the figure on Thomas's back.
You swore you'd never seen Newt run as fast as he did to you right then and there. You gave him a tired smile which lit up his world. He looked ashen and his eyes were sunken in a bit. You tried to get off of Thomas' back. He kind of gave in after you nudged him a bit with your elbow. You gave a hug to Newt and then you saw Gally and Chuck and hugged them as well, a few tears slipping down your cheeks.
You were very unbalanced and exhausted, so Thomas picked you up again. Newt followed as you were motioning something. You pointed at his stomach, and then to his eyes, and tried to ask if he was okay as he walked alongside Thomas who was carrying you to the med-jack hut.
"I'm okay, love. We're more worried about you right now," Newt responded with a small smile. "The Glade's been a wreck without you and Alby."
When you were watching him from Thomas' back you felt light headed all of a sudden, and blacked out.
Newt caught your shoulders immediately, fast reflexes I guess. "Clint, Jeff, someone help her!" he yelled. The two people that were called stepped forward to help Thomas carry you over to the hut.
While they were waiting for you to wake up, Newt was freaking out.
Thomas came in and Newt looked up at him. "It's all your fault." he sneered. "You left her! You left her out there to die!"
Thomas was a bit dumbfounded but then realized, "You like her don't you?" he asked. Newt looked away and then looked at you, laying there motionless.
"Of course I like her, she's nice." Newt said.
"No, I mean, like, you love her?" Thomas explained.
"Is there a problem with that?" Newt asked in a monotonous voice. He had finally come to terms with his feelings, whether he liked them or not.
"There's every problem with it!" Thomas yelled.
"Like what?"
"Because-"
Thomas stopped himself. Newt crossed his arms waiting for Thomas to go on.
"Because..." Thomas started again. Newt raised his eyebrows, angry but curious.
"I love her too..." Thomas blushed. It was a lot more embarrassing admitting it out loud.
"Well I guess you two will have to call a truce then, see who she decides she likes better, huh?" Minho barged in, glaring at the two boys to settle down. Especially since one was the acting leader at the moment.
Thomas and Newt muttered a quiet "mhm". But Newt was not letting Thomas near you until he had to. Thomas wasn't a keeper, he wasn't in charge. Newt could keep him away right until you were completely better.
They all turned back to your peaceful face. Laying there, how could you do this to them?
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The med-jacks assessed you while you were asleep. You were severely dehydrated, and malnourished.
Severely dehydrated came with the fact that you had to drink puddles off the maze floor and after those dried up you had nothing left. After the second night those were gone anyways. Now usually the average person can't survive 3 days without water, but Wicked had made you anything but average. You were calculative and learned how to ration fast.
You worked with your small little water bottle after all the puddles had dried up, another pocket necessity in the Glade. Even filled it up with puddle water. After the 6th night you were out of water completely.
There was no food so you looked almost emaciated not having eaten in 8 days and running from Grievers all the time. The horrors you saw...
Everyone was worried after the relief that you were back starting sparking realization. The med-jacks could only do so much. Everyone held their breath waiting for you to wake up. Just like the night they had found you on the grass.
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In the morning, a meeting was held. Even though you were still asleep, the Keepers decided it might be for the better.
"She broke the rules, Newt! And frankly, so did Thomas!" Gally argued.
"She was out there for a week! And she's not dead yet? I say we make her a Runner." Minho stated.
"Calm down, calm down ya shanks." Newt stepped in. "Gally, what do you propose as punishment?"
"3 nights in the pit, no food, no water."
One of the Med-jacks cut in, "Y/N wouldn't be able to survive that, we need to give her food and water."
"Okay, no, 1 night for both of them, with food and water for Y/N." Newt affirmed clearly.
"And?" Minho prodded.
"And afterwards she'll be a Runner." Newt sighed. He didn't like the idea of you going back out there. He was going to have to beg Thomas to keep you safe.
"What?!" Gally shouted exasperatedly.
"All the other Runners quit Gally. This is final." Newt said, then walked off.
"Dismissed." Gally grumpily said. The rest of the gladers got up and left to continue their work.
Then, the buzzer. It rang throughout the Glade. A siren in the middle of a grassy field.
Everyone ran to the box, trying to see. Two gladers lifted the panels, and in the bottom of the metal cage, was an unconscious girl.
Newt jumped down.
"Is she dead?" Minho asked.
"I think she's breathing, but she's got something in her hand. It says, 'she's the last one, ever' whatever the bloody hell that means." Newt said.
Her eyes suddenly shot open, and she whisper-yelled, "Thomas!" before falling back asleep.
Gally was trying to prove his point, that Thomas had caused a lot of things, and so did you but he wouldn't blame it on the one person he considered family.
They heaved her out of the box and got her into the med-jack hut. Setting the girl down in the bed next to Alby but far enough away that she wouldn't be hit when he thrashed around.
You were across the room from them, still asleep.
Thomas, Minho, Newt, and the med-jacks stood around the small hut. Watching both you and the girl, comparing to see how alike you were to each other.
A few more days had passed and the girl had woken up. Thomas and her had talked. Gally was suspicious of them both. Like he didn't trust the fact that the two of them were together specifically. Thomas felt singled out by Gally, but whenever he brought it up he was turned away from.
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Eventually, you woke up from a horrific nightmare about the Grievers. In your nightmare though, you didn't survive, the Griever had killed you but it had also killed Chuck in front of you. You woke up screaming.
The shrill ear-piercing scream echoed through the Glade and people came running to the med-jack hut. No one knew what you sounded like since you had never spoken something. In actuality you had never even been able to before then.
The nightmare replayed in your mind and you curled up on your side and cried. People rushed to see what was going on. Only Newt, Gally, and Minho were allowed inside. Frypan stood guard at the door. No one could get you to stop crying. Then, Chuck somehow got in, and you smiled through your tears knowing he was okay. You ran over and embraced him, then the dizziness suddenly hit you and your vision turned white. You collapsed on the floor. Newt ran over to help you up, hooking his arms under your shoulders. Your vision slowly returned and you smiled at Chuck.
Thomas came in to drag Chuck out, and he longingly glanced at you. But you didn't notice him.
Once you were laying back down you were bombarded with questions. All you wanted right now though was sleep. For some reason your whole body ached, hell even you just being conscious was painful. it was brutal what happened to you, but you needed food and water.
"Stay awake, Y/N. We need you to eat something," Jeff tried to tell you. But sleep seemed so much better.
"C'mon please eat something," Newt pleaded with you and for the first time in a while you looked at him. His eyes glistened with hope, and faint tears were coming to his eyes.
"Only if you'll eat with me, Newt." you said, testing out your new voice. It was scratchy and cut off a bit through the one sentence, but it worked.
Everyone gasped and Newt just smiled at you lovingly. It looked like he was a giddy puppy waiting to go on a walk. "I can definitely do that," Newt said, smiling softly at you.
You smiled as well, because this joy was contagious.
So, Frypan brought your food over from the Homestead. You thanked him and it felt weird to talk still but you loved it. Newt had to feed you since you were too weak but he didn't mind one bit. After every bite he gave you though you made him eat one, so the two of you were even. Even having a chugging competition with the water which left Newt choking.
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1794 words~
I honestly loved writing this chapter after the sad stuff, the ending is kinda heartwarming 👉👈. thanks for reading!! the next one will be out soon!
QOTD: Have you ever pulled an all nighter just to finish reading a fanfiction?
When I first got into The Maze Runner, I wondered if Wattpad had any fanfics for them and they did so I stayed up all night reading some of them. Particularly a really long one that was like 50+ chapters idk.