CHAPTER EIGHT
Endless Climbing
MAE SIGHED AND kicked at the ground in front of her, sand flying into the air. "Absolutely not."
"Mae, shut up and climb." Newt said, sounding like a mother ordering their kid to eat their vegetables, earning a glare from the brunette. "How can you manage to run so bloody fast for so long, but stop when it comes to a few pieces of rubble?"
"You call that a few pieces?" Mae exclaimed, gesturing to all the rocks and cement that formed a hill they had to climb. "Are you blind?"
"Come on." The blond huffed before he, Thomas and Minho began to climb.
"Few pieces my ass." The girl grumbled before following after Frypan. The boy heard her comment and turned around with an amused look.
"It's not that bad." Frypan put forward, flashing an encouraging smile.
"That's debatable."
Mae and the group continued to climb up the rubble for a short while and the girl was beginning to get annoyed and tired. Though she had managed to get some sleep last night, it wasn't a lot.
The brunette then heard short and ragged breathing behind her, along with a few coughs. Mae turned around to see a Winston and her eyes grew wide. He didn't look good. His arm clutched his stomach, while the other used anything around him to support him. Dark bags formed under his eyes and his entire face was caked in sweat.
Mae huffed before she paused and turned to the injured boy. "Come on, give me your bag."
Winston shot her a weird look, his eyebrows knitting together. "Huh?"
"Give me your bag." Mae repeated, holding out her hand.
"Why?" The injured boy asked.
Mae rolled her eyes. "So, I can whack you across the head with it." Winston opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off before he could. "Just give it to me before I use my own bag to hit you over the head."
Winston gave in, taking the bag off him and handing it to Mae. The girl slung his shoulder bag around her before she ushered him to keep walking. She waited till he was in front of her, till she started, staying behind him in case he needed some help.
"Everyone good?" Thomas questioned, looking down at his friends. No one answered. But Mae had to resist the urge to throw a small rock at him. Don't get her wrong, she appreciated Thomas' concern, but he had asked the same thing not more than two minutes ago.
Aris glanced down at Mae, she looked tired. He sighed, knowing she didn't get enough sleep last night. He was worried, Mae hadn't had a good nights sleep in ages and he knew in the long run that it would affect her. Newt being behind Aris noticed Aris' pause and looked at the boy and followed his gaze to Mae. The blond turned back to Aris. "You okay?" He asked unsurely, never having said anything to the Group B boy.
The younger boy coughed, clearing his throat. "Yeah." He replied before he continued to climb.
Newt shot him a confused glance before he looked back at Mae again, her eyes concentrated on the cement in front of her while strands of her hair covered her face. His eyes made her way to jaw to see it was still purple. The cuts she had noticed when he first met her had opened again, noticing they were more red than before. The blond took a breath in before the he followed his friends up the mountain of fallen walls and ceilings.
The group had managed to climb over the rubble within ten minutes. Mae jumped down on to the flat ground and sighed in relief. She glanced behind her to see Winston following her action, but due to his injury, he stumbled.
Mae rushed over to him and kept him on his feet. "You good?"
"Yeah." Winston croaked out. "Thanks." Mae nodded at him before she walked away.
The brunette groaned as her hair stuck down on to her sweaty forehead. Mae reached behind her head to take off her hair band, only for it to snap. The girl rolled her eyes and kicked at the floor while she threw the broken band to the side. Her long brown hair fell down on to her shoulders and she sighed, regretting trying to take her hair tie off in the first place.
"Here." A voice offered. Mae turned her head to see Teresa standing next to her, holding out a brown hair band.
Mae flashed a small smile before taking it out of her hand. "Thanks."
"How's your jaw?" Teresa wondered, her eyes scanning Mae's jawline.
"It's fine, I don't even notice it hurts unless I put pressure on it." Mae shrugged. Teresa's mouth twitched upwards, almost as if she wanted to smile but forced herself not to. Mae furrowed her eyebrows at her action and coughed. "So, an all boy Maze, huh? What was that like?"
"Testosterone–y." The blue eyed girl revealed, earning a small smile from Mae. "It was chaotic. I was only there for a few days, but that didn't stop me from nearly getting sacrificed."
Mae raised her eyebrows. "Sacrificed? As in ritual, voodoo, dancing around naked sacrifice?"
Teresa cracked a smile before she shook her head. "No, I caused panic when I got to the Maze because everything started to change. A guy named Gally thought if he sacrificed Thomas and I, then everything would go back to normal."
"Ah, right." Mae caught on. The girl couldn't help,but think about a girl named Beth, when Teresa described this boy's actions.
"What about you?" Teresa questioned. "What was an all girl Maze like?"
"Oh, you know, oestrogen–y."
After their short lived conversation, Teresa had drifted off back to Thomas and Mae stayed at the back of the group, not in the mood to socialise. Mae quite liked having Teresa around, being stuck in an all girl Maze all her life, she didn't know what she'd do if she was the only girl.
Aris stayed back and walked alongside Mae. "You haven't gotten any sleep in a while, have you?"
Mae shook her head hesitantly. "No. But, I'm fine. I think I'll live."
"Maybe you are now. But, if you don't get some rest soon–"
"Stuff it, Aris. I'm fine." The girl reassured, cutting the boy off. Aris obeyed and stayed quiet. "Look man, I'm sorry about Rachel. I know you guys had some sort of unspoken thing goin' on."
Aris visibly tensed at the mention of Rachel's name. Though, he had been thinking about her since he saw her, a part of him hoped that if no one spoke about it then, maybe it wasn't real. He wanted to believe it wasn't real.
"Nothing we can do about it now." The young boy deadpanned, before walking away.
Mae sighed as she watched Aris walk ahead by himself, his hands swinging lazily by his side. She knew Aris was sensitive and probably didn't want to talk about it so instead, she just watched as he kicked small rocks away.
"God, I wish Sonya was here." Mae muttered. The second in command was always the one to make other people feel better, she was always more of a people person and Mae had no idea what she was doing.
"Who's Sonya?" A quiet and strained voice wondered. Mae looked to the side to see Winston, his eyes dropping as he struggled to keep walking.
"The second in command in my Maze." The girl informed. "She was a lot better at situations like this."
"You've been stuck out in a desert before?" Winston questioned.
"Of course not." Mae scoffed. "I meant situations where no one knows what they're doing, she was always the one to lift everyone's spirits."
A small smile crept on to the boy's face. "That kinda sounds like Newt." Mae raised her eyebrows with a shrug in response and Winston sighed. "I'm sorry."
Mae turned to him, her face scrunched up in confusion. "Sorry? For what? Did you steal my lunch money?"
Winston's smile grew at Mae's sarcastic comment. "No, I'm sorry about not believing you back at WCKD."
"Ah, don't worry about it. I wouldn't have believed me either."
The boy nodded as he continued to walk beside her, his arm still clutching his injured stomach and he suddenly winced.
Mae's eyebrows pinched together. "Hey, you sure you're okay?"
Winston nodded again. "Yeah." He replied, his voice restricted.
The brunette then took off her bag and opened it, grabbing her water bottle and handed it to him. "Take it. Drink, it'll help with your dry and sore throat."
"How'd you–"
"It doesn't take a scientist to figure out when someones having trouble speaking." Mae interrupted. "Take it."
"But, it's yours." Winston protested.
"Yeah, thanks detective. We'd be lost with ya." The girl stated. "Right now, you need it more than I do."
Winston then reluctantly took the water bottle out of Mae's hand. "Thanks and not just for the water."
"Did I do something else?"
"Yeah, you warned us about WCKD."
Mae cracked a small smile at the boy as she slowed her pace down so she could be up to speed with him. They walked quietly, Winston drank from Mae's water bottle.
After what felt like forever, the group had walked through the city and were met again with more sand dunes. Mae sighed once she stepped into the sand, already missing the hard, flat floor where no sand seeped into her shoes. Mae rolled her eyes when her and the group got to the base of a sand dune, instantly knowing she'd have to climb up it.
"Come on, guys. Let's go." Thomas instructed as he already started to climb the big dune.
Newt turned around and looked at Mae, raising his eyebrows at her. "So, is this better than the rubble?"
The brunette smiled sarcastically. "Oh, stuff it, Newt." The boy laughed lightly to himself before he followed Thomas and Minho.
Just when Mae was about to follow Aris up the dune, she turned to Winston, who hesitated, a distant look in his eyes. She knew with his injury, it'd be hard for him to climb and walking normally was already a struggle. Mae huffed and took his arm, putting it around her neck and over her shoulder.
Winston's eyebrows knitted together. "What are you doing?"
"Wrestling." Mae retorted with another eye roll. "What does it look like? I'm helping ya up this stupid sand dune. Now, come on."
The two began to climb the sand dune, Mae carrying both their weights up with the added bonus of both their bags. She clung on to Winston's torso, careful not to touch his injured area while her other arm held on to the hand that was lazily lying on Mae's shoulder.
"A little further, guys!" Thomas spoke, looking back at the rest of the group.
Mae grunted as she lugged Winston with her, nearly falling over but luckily, she managed to keep them both standing. She eventually managed to get to the top of the dune where the others were stood and she stopped next to Teresa.
"Can you stand on your own?" Mae asked and Winston could barely manage to get a word out and nodded. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah." He panted and Mae reluctantly but gently took his arm off her shoulder.
Mae looked out to the Scorch and she swallowed, seeing sand dunes everywhere with broken and shredded buildings scattered out between them. The brunette squinted her eyes in attempt to get a better view at the faint lines of the mountains and to stop sand from flying into her eyes.
Thomas lifted his arm out and pointed. "Those mountains, that's gotta be it." He panted. "That's where we're going."
"That's a long way off." Newt said, his tone unsure as he looked between Thomas and the mountains.
"Then, we better get moving." Minho said heavily.
Winston went to take a step forward but before Mae could stop him, he collapsed down the dune, landing on his side. Mae's eyes grew as she rushed towards the boy.
"Winston!" Thomas yelled, worry in his voice as he and the others crowded around their friend. "Hey! Winston!"
Teresa gently cupped his face and turned him around so he was now laying on his back. The injured boy's breaths came out short and ragged, as if he had no oxygen in his lungs. Gasps came from his mouth and he could barely open his eyes.
"Winston! Winston!" Frypan called out as he held on to the boy's leg.
"He's hurt pretty bad." Minho spoke, a look in his eyes that Mae couldn't exactly read.
Teresa looked to her friends, then stared at Thomas. "What do we do?"
"Winston, can you hear me?" Newt asked, his voice soft.
"Guys, what the hell do we do?" Frypan panicked. "He can't walk." Mae shook her head, an idea going through her head but it'd be exhausting for those who were involved. "Mae, you got something?"
Mae snapped her head to Frypan's direction and licked her lips while looking back down at Winston. "I don't see another option we have here. If he can't walk, we're gonna have to carry him."
"Like a baby?" Minho questioned, his eyebrows pinching together in disbelief. Mae rolled her eyes at the boy's comment.
"Yes, Minho." She deadpanned. "We're gonna carry him like a baby in our arms for a few days straight and burp him, change his diapers and stop him when he cries."
Minho sent Mae a glare, earning another eye roll from her.
"No," Newt denied, catching on to what Mae was thinking. "We gotta make something for him to lie on."
"Like what? I don't see any mattresses out here!"
"Then, stop your yappin' and get out any sort of clothing or rope you have!" The blond ordered and then he turned to the others who stared at him. "Go on."
After at least forty five minutes of finding old fabric, clothes and wooden poles, the group had constructed a make shift bed for the passed out, injured boy.
Frypan and Minho gently lifted Winston up and laid him gently on the bed. Mae then took Minho's back pack and jacket and slung it over her own shoulder before he could grab it. He and Frypan were going to drag Winston through the scorch first as they were the strongest, the least Mae could do was hold their bags.
Minho nodded at Mae. "Thanks." To which she replied with a smirk.
Just when Mae was about to grab Frypan's bag, Teresa had grabbed it while shooting Mae a smile to which she returned. The brunette then placed the bags she had been carrying down and took off her own jacket, suddenly feeling the boiling heat. She then put the three bags she was carrying around her body and put her and Minho's jackets on the strap of the bag so it was now pressing against her side.
"We good to go?" Thomas asked, earning a few nods in response. "C'mon."
Newt looked at Mae to see her carrying three bags– hers, Winston's and Minho's. He furrowed his eyebrows as he walked towards. He then gently took Winston's bag off her shoulder and swung it over his. "That easier?"
Mae smiled in relief. "So much. Thanks."
The two walked together quietly, Newt sparing small glances behind him at Winston. Mae pressed her lips together, wanting to say something, but she knew the only thing that would make him feel better was someone telling him that Winston would be okay and that he'd make it. But, she knew better than to give false hope. Winston wasn't doing so well and everyone knew it but nobody had the courage to voice it. The girl settled on not saying anything, finding it to be the less dangerous option.
Newt began to slow down his pace and his breaths got shorter. She glanced to the side of his bag to see his water bottle was halfway finished. Mae then shrugged her bag off her shoulder and opened it, taking out her other water bottle. The girl took a few sips, feeling refreshed as the liquid ran down her throat, before holding it to the blond. "Here. Take a few sips."
"It's fine. I got my own." Newt shook his head.
"Yeah, I noticed." She deadpanned. "You used up half of it to clean Winston's wounds. You gave me another bottle yesterday, it's fine. And it's not like you're gonna drink the whole thing." Mae wasn't lying, she did have another bottle, she just gave it to Winston.
Newt looked down at the bottle then back at Mae. He then took it from her and flashed her a smile of gratitude. He tilted his back as he let a few drops drip down his throat. Newt then closed the bottle and handed it back to Mae. "Refreshing."
Mae raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Cool...get it?" Newt smiled again in response and the two resumed the silence they walked in. The brunette then looked at Aris to see him look more discouraged than she'd ever seen.
"You and Aris are pretty close, huh?" Newt asked, clearly intrigued. Mae was a lot closer to Aris than Newt or the others, except Thomas, were to Teresa.
"Yeah." Mae sighed. "It's amazin' how close you can get to someone when you're both put in life threatening situations."
"Tell me 'bout it." The blond agreed, his eyes drifting to Thomas. Newt then looked down to see he was still holding Mae's water bottle. "Oh, yeah, here. Thank you."
Mae took the bottle from his hand. "Don't mention it."
Newt then looked at how much further they had to go to get to the mountains and saw another sand dune they'd have to climb soon. He smirked and turned to Mae. "Another dune, think you can handle it?"
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A/N: pretty short chapter but hoped you enjoyed it nonetheless! Don't forget to vote and comment!
Yk I love book Teresa, movie Teresa not so much but I don't hate her like she isn't a bad person and I love Kaya sm
Also Gally was the highlight of TDC in my opinion tbh, literally what a fucking legend
Gif is Mae taking Minho's stuff