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"𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."
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vomiting again. keep it in your stomach arthur. bruising. blood. running. long one again.
"Be careful Artie." Newt eyed the bruise that still lingered furiously on Arthur's jaw, before sliding his eyes up his meet Arthur's who raised a brow at the boy who swiftly kissed Arthur's forehead.
With a chuckle, he picked up Newt's hand giving him a brief kiss. "Of course, I wouldn't leave you alone." The blonde rolled his eyes before glancing at Minho and Alby who watched the two.
"Good luck guys. Be careful." He patted them on the back.
"What? No kiss?" Minho batted his eyelashes at Newt before turning to the doors when they opened, With a swift farewell they departed into the Maze leaving Arthur and Newt. Shrugging Arthur waved to the Blonde with a smile on his face before running into the maze, turning the opposite way as the two.
There were better things Newt could think to be doing that wasn't talking to the questionable Greenie but he needed to get him working. "But why would Alby go into the maze? I mean, he's not a runner." Thomas glanced at the Maze with narrowed eyes before looking back towards Newt who was chopping a tree.
"Things are different now. Alby went to Ben's footsteps at sundown. Are you gonna help?" He sighed impatiently and leant to his axe as Thomas completely ignored him.
"So he's going back to where Ben was just stung-" Newt rolled his eyes for the second time that day and cut the dark-haired boy off from saying anything else. It was bad enough he wasn't helping job-wise.
"Alby knows what he's doing all right? He was taught by the person he knows better than all of us." He paused and looked at the open doors with a look akin to fear. Fear Arthur wouldn't make it out on time. Fear Minho or Alby wouldn't. He could lose his best friends.
"What does that mean?" Another question.
"Well, it's like you have heard, yeah? Every month, the Box sends up a new arrival. But someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have a whole month in the Glade, alone." He took a breath, spearing a glance at the Greenie was who fully listening. "That was Arthur. He came up and sent an entire month alone and when Alby came up a month after Alby was placed in charge." He bit the inside of his cheek and looked towards the maze doors. He couldn't stop looking, he was nervous.
"I mean, it can't have been easy, Arthur was out running the Maze all day and helped out where he could afterwards but it was only the two of them. But when those other boys started coming up, one the other..." Newt swung his axe at the tree root again, releasing tension. "They saw the truth. He learned that the most important thing is that we all have each other. Because we're all in this together.
With a small moment of silence between the two, Thomas nodded and stood moving to grab an axe. "Yeah. There you go, Greenie." Clouds started the thunder above them and Newt wondered with a creeping sense of dread, what this meant for his friends.
Newt bit his nails as he looked at the Maze from under the shelter. They should be out by now. He could feel Thomas's eyes boring into him as he leaned against the pole, his arms crossed. The blonde could only think of the way he had held Arthur last night, completely unaware that, that may have been the last time he would have seen him.
"They should be back by now." The onslaught of rain didn't cease and instead fell harder, obscuring the Maze doors from view. They were going to make it. He hoped they would, but he knew better than to hope because most of the time hope was fruitless.
It was quiet apart from the muttering of the gladers around him. After a moment, Thomas spoke up, his voice nearly mute from the harsh rain. "What if they don't make it?"
"They're gonna make it." Saying it aloud didn't make it feel any more true than saying it in his head. He could only hope that he would see them run through the misty sky, safe in the glade.
The dark-haired boy finally spoke the question everyone avoided. "What happens if they don't?"
"They're gonna make it."
Newt's mouth was dry.
His eyes stared directly down into the Maze, not even daring to blink in case he missed them stumbling down the hallway. They were cutting it close. Too close for comfort. This was worse than Arthur coming back late like he did years ago.
"Come on, guys, can't we send someone after them?" Thomas looked between Newt and Gally who stood right at the front, either side of him. Gally let out a minimal shake of his head.
"That's against the rules. Either they make it back or they don't." Newt wanted to run into there and find Arthur. He was alone in there. Alby and Minho had each other but Arthur had no one to help him if something happened. Suddenly he regretted not putting up a bigger fight to keep Arthur in the glade.
"We can't risk losing anyone else." Newt glanced at Thomas when he spoke. The maze doors sounded and his heart dropped. Wind gushed into his face, but he refused to look away and risk not seeing them.
"There!" Newt started, his eyes rapidly searching for the figures and hope-filled him when he saw the two stumbling figures approaching. Then he clocked it. Two.
"Wait, something's wrong," Newt spoke. His voice carved the way for the realisation. Arthur wasn't there. The lack of Arthur caused Newt's heart to plummet. He noticed Minho supporting all of Alby's weight next, and Newt knew that must have been no easy feat.
"Come on, Minho, you can do it!" The group cheered on the boy, multiple voices yelling at him but it all headed downhill when
Gally leans forward and yells, "Minho, you gotta leave him!" All of them prayed that they would not lose both of their friends.
Newt had the same realisation. His face dropped more, if that was even possible as he stared unblinking at the stumbling figure of Minho and the limp figure of Alby. "They're not gonna make it."
"You gotta leave him!" That wasn't going to happen. Leaving Alby in the maze to fend for himself whilst he was so vulnerable never even came to mind.
He knew he had lost three of his friends but watching as Thomas started up caused Newt to reach out for him, trying to grasp onto the boy. But he slipped just out of reach and into the slim crack that remained of the opening.
"Thomas, no!"
Gally watched with wide eyes. "He has fucking killed himself."
Minho stared at the fallen boy with wide eyes, his hair dishevelled and face filthy. "Good job. You just killed yourself." His voice was heavy as he breathed quickly and deeply.
"What?" Thomas's voice was loud in the silence of the Maze, his voice bouncing off the walls as Minho stumbled towards the wall where he slumped against it in a defeated manner. The stone seemed cool against his skin that had flushed from all of the running as well as carrying the deadweight that was Alby.
"What happened to him?" Minho, who had been watching Thomas move with his eyes sighed, his voice wet and breathless as he responded.
He trained his gaze back toward the floor, unable to look at his friend who was a shell of his former self lying sprawled out on the floor like a ragdoll. "What does it look like? He got stung." Minho never had a problem with saying it as it was but the truth had never been so hard to say. Alby was a constant in his life, along with Newt and Arthur. Watching him attack, scratching and punching was painful in every sense but physically.
"What happened to his head?" Ah. The bloody spot on Alby's temple. A deed that hurt to even think about doing. Luckily there wasn't much thinking involved.
"I did what I had to do." Thomas looked over to Minho, slightly shocked by the revolution but he knew what damage being stung could do having witnessed it only yesterday.
Out of nowhere, A screeching noise filled the halls, drawing them into a foreboding fear just before a loud scraping noise came from in front of Thomas. The noise was similar to the wall's closing but he knew it wasn't. Minho stumbled to a stand as Thomas fumbled over Alby's body.
"Okay. Okay." The boy wasn't sure whether he was talking to himself or Minho as he quietly muttered. "Help me get him up."
"We gotta go. The maze is already changing." He limped forward, his steps staggering as he panted from exhaustion. He never got this tired but it was the end of the line for him. He was trapped in the death trap that caught up gladers that never deserved it.
Thomas however, wasn't having it. "Hey, Minho!" His voice was husky as he stared at the retreating figure of Minho who paused. "We can't just leave him here." His voice wobbled as he gestured down to the injured Alby who Minho knew would slap him silly, for even thinking about giving in.
Slowly turning around, Minho gives in and pulls the unconscious Alby to a standing position before grabbing one leg. "You helping or not?"
"Just sit him down. Sit him down." A clunk came from the distance and the two snapped their necks over towards it. Minho took a deep breath and regained as much composure as he could before speaking again.
Thomas watched as he bounced on the spot. "This isn't to work." He turned towards Alby again and patted his chest before standing up and walking a small bit away, hoping he could get them out of there, he was unsure whether Alby had time left but Thomas still did.
"We gotta go." He turned away from Thomas. "We gotta go!"
"Wait, what are you talking about? We gotta hide him." Thomas's frantic voice fit perfectly with the anxiety that swarmed the air around them. He was scared.
"Where?"
"I don't know. Are you telling me there's not a single place we take him?" The dark-haired boy pleaded with Minho and he let out a sharp groan of anger as he quickly paced over to Thomas and pushed him against the floor, having to crouch down to reach the low level.
Thomas looked at him with wide eyes, their breathing loud as they stared face to face. "Listen to me, shuck-face, all right." His voice was a mere whisper but Thomas listened intently, whether he meant to or not. "Take a look around. There's nowhere to go!" He only got closer as he spoke, his mind taken over in a state of furious panic.
There was a pause before Minho pushed his backwards and stepped back almost as if he had been burnt. "You don't get it. We're already dead." His breath was rapid as he stared at Thomas, the two locked in a moment of eye contact before Thomas spoke up again.
"Is Arthur dead then?" This caused Minho to pause. His gaze drifted to meet Thomas's eyes.
With a look that was filled with something Thomas couldn't put into words Minho faltered. "Arthur didn't make it out?" Thomas couldn't quite understand why he sounded so terrified. Why this was what set him off to help him hoist Alby up?
Their hands burned as they pulled on the vine, the green outer layers smearing onto their hands as their friend was pulled higher into the sky, Thomas was constantly muttering to himself as they worked and Minho could only think of what he had said. 'Arthur was dead.' Sure he hadn't said that but he might as well because Arthur had signed his dead warrant by running alone.
The creaking sound of the walls moving again caused Minho to crane his head to the side and witness them moving, for the first time. Faintly he could hear the mantra of 'What are you doing.' Spoken by Thomas but his self-preservation kicked in.
"We need to go." He nudged Thomas who spluttered before rushing out the same phase again. "We gotta go now!"
"No, no, just a more and we'll tie it off. Minho, stay with me. Stay with me, Minho. Just a little more." There was mechanical whirring and Minho made a split-second decision. He decided he needed to survive. Only Arthur and him knew the Maze and since Arthur was dead only he knew. He needed to stay alive.
"I'm sorry, Greenie." He ignored the questioning and ran off, trying hard to block off the grunting and crying out behind him and he turned a corner, recognising it
He couldn't feel guilty. He didn't have time. As he turned corners he found what he was looking for. He traced the path, it being pure instinct at this point had run it for over one thousand days. The steps were loud as he moved quietly and swiftly around the maze with precision.
He needed closure. He needed to know if he really was dead. He wasn't sure if he could even find a body but he prayed he could. Rounding a corner he came to a dead end. He moved to turn back but a figure slumped against a wall caught his attention. Quicker than he had ever moved before he approached the unconscious brunette, his face having been filthy now, the opposite of the clean it usually is.
"Arthur?" He didn't stir, his chest was moving but he didn't wake up. Screaming from the Grievers interrupted the quiet and Arthur gasped awake, shooting upwards and nearly smashing heads with Minho who watching him with undiluted relief.
The brunette couldn't seem to form words as his eyes darted around. "Arthur, are you alright?" The moon shone through the tall tops of the walls exposing the most likely reasoning. The bruising on his jaw had developed and was now purple. He also seemed sluggish but Minho wasn't a Med-jack. "Archie, we gotta go come on." He crouched low enough to swing an arm around Arthur in a practised motion and pull him upwards, causing him to groan and gag.
Tilting his head to the side, everything Arthur had eaten, which was barely anything came straight back up and splattered onto the floor. He dry heaved for a few seconds before righting himself again, sweat covering his forehead and body.
"We gotta go Archie come on, can you move?" Minho took a step forward and hoped Arthur would respond, listening for the metal sounds of the Griever.
Once Arthur had gathered himself enough to walk without leaning all his weight onto Minho they moved, finding it too dangerous to stay in one spot.
"We have to keep moving Archie." Minho was more used to carrying Arthur like this than he was to Alby. It also helped Arthur was holding some of his own weight. Soon the brunette was able to stumble by himself making their journey much faster.
After a moment of silence, the bruised boy started speaking, his words slurred but still understandable in the threatening silence of the Maze. "Did the doors close?"
Minho looked at him, frowning to himself before nodding. "Yeah, it's been an hour or so." Arthur let out a noise and groaned to himself as he shook his head.
"I promised Newt I would make it back." He truly seemed so forlorn that he went back on his word with Newt, no matter how unwillingly that Minho only glanced at him with a blank look before turning towards the front of them and speeding up making sure he had a firm grip on Arthur who was moving beside him at a slightly slower pace.
They came across a cross-section and ran into Thomas. The Greenie. Who was running away from a massive Griever. Suddenly the fog cleared a bit. "The Greenie is in the Maze." Minho hushed him and whispered to Thomas.
"You're a crazy son of a bitch. Come on, follow us." Minho took off running leaving Arthur and Thomas to follow. Swiftly Arthur caught up to Minho.
"The Greenie is in the Maze!" His voice had raised an octave to where he was now nearly shouting. "Why is the Greenie in the Maze?" His hands waved about before he focused on keeping in line with Minho, listening in out for the Greenie.
"I don't know Archie! Come on!" Screeching got louder and Minho ducked and looked around and rumbling filled the area again. "Okay, it's changing. Come on, come on!" They reached the corner and Arthur had to hold a hand over his mouth to keep everything in.
Dust rattled off the tops of the walls and Minho turned to look at them, his eyes wide. "This is closing. Come on. We can lose it down here!" Minho grasped Arthur's arm and tugged him into a run, too focused on getting them to the other side to listen for Thomas's footsteps. Arthur was too focused on keeping everything in.
"Thomas! What are you waiting for? Get out of there!" Thomas paused before sprinting down the closing doorway, a griever on his tail approaching and scrambling rapidly after him. "Come on, Thomas! Don't look back! Run!" He waved him towards them with his hand and Arthur staggered upwards and joined Minho in watching him run towards them.
"Move it, Thomas!" Minho was basically bouncing on his feet, resisting the urge to basically kill himself. "Go on! Move your ass! Let's go! Come on! Come on, Greenie! Let's go!" He clapped his hands, eyes glued onto the Greenie who had risked his life coming into the Maze.
As the doors squished Thomas between them Minho let out a yell. "Thomas!" It was full-chested and Arthur glanced at how close Thomas was and moved slightly into the gap and tugged him out, the momentum pulling them both to the floor as Thomas gasped and Arthur rolled onto his front to push himself upward.
"I fucking hate you guys."
Newt sat on the log in front of an unlit fire alone. All his friends were in the Maze alone and the utter sorrow that ripped at his chest was agonising. If he thought enough he might be able to feel Arthur's head on his knee as they sat in silence. Something they would never do again.
He would never Hear Minho's blunt teasing as he stared at Newt's dirty face from a long day on the farm. His complaints about how his hair gets ruined by someone, Arthur, messing it up.
Alby wasn't there to help him move along, to support and control the Glade. He wasn't there to be the steady head everyone needed. That he needed.
Arthur settled in his spot against the wall, where they were all sitting watching as the moon lowered. Thomas had been drumming his fingers against the stone floor in a pattern whilst Minho stared quietly at the single place on the wall that had caught his attention nearly three hours ago.
The brunette, now seeing Thomas was completely zoned out turned to Minho who was next to him and nudged him making sure to speak in a whisper to one, not to attract the Grievers and two, not to irritate his already pounding head.
"Do you know why Newt and I stopped speaking?" Minho's eyes never left the spot but his quiet hum suggested he heard. Arthur rolled his head towards his friend before letting out a breath of a laugh. "He kissed me." This caused Minho to snap his head towards Arthur who raised his eyebrows at the previously distracted boy.
After a moment, Minho spoke again. "When." Short and sweet, Minho was a man of very few words but oh god did he want to word vomit questions in an act of Thomas.
"Day before Greenie came up I suppose..." The brunette held his arms as the cold air swept across them, breaking them into goosebumps.
Minho was looking at the side of his head with a look of disbelief. "You're telling me that's why you weren't talking?" Arthur nodded and Minho groaned to himself and leaned back further on the wall. "What did you do?"
"Me? Why would it be me?" The brunette smacked Minho's arm and he rolled his eyes at Arthur's childish behaviour.
With a deadpan, he rolled his head to face the spot on the wall and spoke again, his tone one of such confidence that if Arthur didn't already see it as believable then he would have. "Because he kisses you and everyone knows you like him so he wouldn't run away after the kiss..." He paused and took a breath looking at Arthur who had stretched, his joined popping slightly before moving to his curled up position. "Did you run away?"
Arthur nodded once more, he had been expecting it yes but better tell him now than to get throttled later on when someone else tells him. "We talked again though we are alright."
"Did you kiss?" Minho raised his brow.
Arthur sighed as he tapped his fingers against the floor, the noise matching up with Thomas's repeated motions. "No."
There was a silence before Minho turned his head to face Arthur again his face now one of disbelief. "What the shuck do you mean no!"
The maze doors slowly creaked open, the noise seeming like too much noise for Newt whose head hurt. "Guys, get up!" Chuck's voice was nearly drowned out by the loud sounds. Carefully, Newt approached the small boy, careful not to be too careless and shatter his heart. They watched the long hallways for any signs of life only to be met with nothing.
"I told you, Chuck. They're not coming back." The blonde's voice was quiet, and the area around them was quiet. The somber mood that was hovering over them had finally lowered suffocating them in a cloud of silence.
They turned away from the Maze and began walking away leaving Chuck to stare at the Maze with a look of dejection on his face. His head spun around slowly to face the walking away boys when Zart spoke up his tone full of disbelief.
"No way."
There stumbling toward them were Minho Thomas and Arthur walking beside them, stumbling a bit. Immidetly Newt's eyes zeroed in on Arthur, relief filling his body as they neared the Glade.
As soon as they crossed the threshold that separated them the two carried Alby and placed him down before kneeling on the floor a panting mess. Arthur headed straight for Newt who hugged him tightly. Their chests pressed closely together, feeling their hearts beat in sync. Their arms wrapped around each other, and they hugged tightly, not wanting to let go. Arthur let his head drop onto Newt's shoulder, exhausted from the night.
This was more than just a simple hug. At this moment, they felt completely secure and comforted by the presence of each other. There was a sense of peace and safety, and for a moment, all problems were forgotten. At that moment, they belonged to each other, and nothing else mattered.
Chuck spoke up from where he had now switched his attention to Thomas and Minho who were being hovered by the Gladers. "See a Griever?"
"Yeah, I saw one." Thomas shook his head and he rested his forearms on his knees, his eyes looked across Alby who was lying on the floor, his chest still rising and falling to his immense relief.
Minho scoffed as he looked up and made eye contact with everyone. "He didn't just see one. He killed one." There was a heavy silence as they took in what seemed like the impossible idea of even touching one of those murderous beasts.
"Get Alby to the Medhut." For the first time Newt spoke up, his voice firm as he unraveled himself from Arthur who let him go. A hand remained on the small of Arthur's back unwilling to let him go. With a brief nod, the group dispersed the majority lending a helping hand to Clint and Jeff and the rest going back to their jobs.
The blonde, however, stayed glued to Arthur's side, as Arthur spoke to Gally who firmly clasped him on the shoulder with a smile. "Welcome back Arthur."