"I didn't see you today," Newt said, taking his place next to you at dinner. "Where were you? I spent the whole day looking for you."
Shit. You knew that you'd have to tell Newt about your new occupation sooner or later, but you weren't ready for this conversation. Not now. You lowered your gaze to the plate in front of you because you were unable to meet Newt's stunning blue eyes.
"I was in the maze," You muttered. You heard Newt slam his dish onto the table in anger and cringed. He was never so pissed off about anything.
"The maze? What the bloody hell were you doing in the maze?!?" He shouted. His face was red, but he still seemed to be on the brink of tears.
"I-I'm a runner, Newt," You stuttered, looking down at the table. You couldn't bear to see his gorgeous blue eyes fill with tears.
"I thought you wanted to work with me?" Newt asked, his voice shaky.
"I do, it's just that Minho, Alby, and Gally think it's for the best," You explained, finding the courage to meet his eyes.
"Why? They know you're the best bloody thing that's ever happened to me, why would they do that?"
"Do what?" Gally asked, taking the spot next to you. You glare up at him as he literally starts eating off your plate, and you fight the urge to slap him.
"Why would you send Y/N out into the maze? You know how much she-" Newt screamed, then stopped upon seeing that the other gladers turned their attention to the fight at your table. You felt heat rush to your face.
"It's for the best. Sorry," Gally said with a careless shrug.
"Sorry won't cut it, Gally! You can't bloody do this! She'll die out there!" He replied, his voice cracking on the last word.
"She'll be safe with Minho. And if I remember correctly, this wasn't your decision. It was mine, Alby and Minho's. And Alby outranks you, so keep your mouth shut. C'mon Y/N, lets go," Gally demanded, grabbing your elbow.
He pulled you away from the table despite the way you kicked and dragged your feet. Once you saw that escape was futile, you glanced back at your crush, only to find him staring down at his plate. You wanted to call out to him, apologize, but you couldn't find the strength to. All you wanted to do was run to the homestead and cry.
You heard Minho talking to you, but you couldn't find the strength to listen. Your mind kept wandering to Newt, who looked so heartbroken upon discovering that you were going into the maze. Would he hate you forever? Would you lose your only, closest companion? It made you sick.
"Are you even shucking listening?"
You were pulled away from your train of thought by Minho. You stopped running and turned to him to find his blue eyes widened with worry and regret.
"Let's stop for a sec," he suggested, grabbing you by the elbow and pulling you against the stone.
"I'm sorry this had to happen, Y/N. Really," he said, putting a hand on your shoulder as you slouched against the stone.
"I hate this!" You turned and slammed your fist into the stone, then had to bite down on your lip to say things no girl should say.
"I know, I know, but me and Gal and Alby? We care about you a lot. I hate seeing you like this, but it won't last long." He leaned forward and kissed the top of your head. It wasn't romantic, almost... fatherly. You honestly didn't expect much else from one of the guys who practically adopted you after you arrived in the glade.
"I know-" your sentence was cut short. You still aren't sure why, but it was as though someone had taken over your body.
Minho took notice of what was going on and shook your shoulder lightly. You continued to stare straight ahead, ignoring the keeper.
"Y/N..." Minho started, then shook your shoulder harder and said it again, more desperately than before. "Y/N!"
"It's time, Minho," You said, the words feeling foreign on your tongue. They weren't coming from you; they were coming from someone else entirely. An unknown force controlling you.
What is happening to me?!? you thought. You would've said it out loud, but you couldn't make your mouth open. All you could do was watch, like a passenger in your own body, as whoever was in control of you did their thing.
Minho's eyes widened at your spooky comment. Although you didn't know what the words meant, he clearly did. You stood up, slowly. Minho jumped up and pinned your arms behind your back, pulling you against his chest. Although you didn't want to, you struggled against his unrelenting grip.
"No! No! You can't do this!" He grunted, pulling at you, clearly struggling. You grunted as well, and when your controllers felt as though they'd had enough of Minho, they forced you into grabbing his wrists from behind you.
"Stop," your voice said, robotic and emotionless.
You bent down and, to your surprise, mustered the strength to flip him over your back, into the stone wall in front of you. His head crashed against the wall, followed by a stream of blood coming from a large wound on his head. Inside your head, you gasped at the harm you'd done, but on the outside you remained completely indifferent. He groaned with pain, but didn't move.
Your legs moved forward, leading you through the complex corridors of the maze. You screamed inside your head, begging your legs to stop moving, trying to gain control. Your eyes, which seemed to be the only thing you could control, darted from side to side in a panic-induced frenzy.
You stopped short in the middle of a corridor. Please, what's going on? Get it over with! You screamed inside your head to whoever was controlling you.
As if in response to your internal pleading, you heard not-so-distant clicks and whirrs. Although you still couldn't control any of your own movements, you started shaking with fear as a grieber emerged from one of the corners. It's eyes were glued to you as it approached, terrifyingly slowly.
Then, it sprang forward. As if the controllers wanted the satisfaction of hearing your terrified screams, you could now control what you were saying.
"No! P-Please! Help!" You shouted as the griever's stinger rose threateningly above your head. Still as stone, you continued to scream for help until the needle slammed into your stomach. A terrible burning sensation emerged from your gut. You cried out one final time as you collapsed, now at the mercy of the griever that towered over you.
It slammed its stinger down into you again, this time in the thigh. You screamed to the top of your lungs as the pain multiplied. The griever snarled, then turned its back on you and walked away. You were now alone in the vast corridors of the maze.
You remained on the cold stone, writhing back and forth in agony, screaming for someone to rescue you from the hell that held you. It felt as though you were being torn apart from the inside out, and it was truly unbearable.
"Someone, please! Help me! HEEELLPPP!" You shouted. Tears streamed down your face as you shook, thrashed, and screamed. Your eyes rolled back in your head, but the pain didn't die down the slightest bit.
You heard rushed footsteps approaching you, felt muscular arms encircle you, try to shake you back to normal, but you refused to yield. Each time Minho tried to pick you up, your constant thrashing made it impossible for him to contain you, sending you slamming back into the stone.
"Damnit! Someone go get the serum! We need to try to save her!" Minho demanded. The back of your mind assumed that all of the other runners were surrounding you. Of course, you were a little more occupied by the torturous agony that consumed you.
Newt watched as three runners came storming through the maze opening, clearly shaken and worried. Fearing the worst, he approached the desperate boys and tried to calm them down.
"Woa, woa, woa, what the bloody hell is goin' on out there?" Newt asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"The greenie got stung, twice. Unlike anything I've ever seen. She's in terrible shape, and we gotta get her fixed up out there cuz we can't-"
Newt stumbled back, but was luckily able to regain balance. He ran a shaking hand through his hair, trying to control the mounting panic in his chest. He didn't even consider trying to hide his tears from the other runners around him. God, things couldn't possibly get any worse....
Then, he snapped out of it. The sobs turned into angered grunts. The shaking hands clenched into fists. The widened eyes snapped shut as he took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he would do next.
The creators had taken enough from him. His family, his memories... they weren't about to take the love of his life. Not without a fight.
Newt stopped short and slammed his back against the wall. He took a deep breath. Part of him was beginning to second guess his decision, but there was nothing to hold him back now.
Not when he was so close to the same griever who had stung you.
His eyes closed and a single tear fell against his face. He wiped it away, but then got back to the situation at hand.
For Y/N.
"Hey!" Newt shouted, coming out from around the corner. The griever turned and screeched as he caught sight of Newt, who felt as though he may have collapsed when he saw the amount of blood that soaked the creature's stinger. To his surprise, that only fueled his anger and ambition.
Newt clutched the spear harder in his hand as the griever sorang forward with a high-pitched squeal. At the last second, Newt slid under the gargantuan creature and slammed the sharp part of his spear into the creatures underbelly. It screeched and raised it's stinger, trying to aim it at the gardener. He twisted out of the way with ease and stood.
"You bloody-" he started in between heavy breaths. "I'll kill you!"
The griever squealed again and leapt forward, this time catching Newt in his bad ankle. Pain shot through his leg and he cried out as the griever pulled him forward. He grunted as the creature pulled him just beneath it, the brownish goop dripping onto his shoulder.
The stinger was raised above Newt's head, and upon seeing the blood-your blood- on it, he let out a cry of rage. He clutched the spear and slammed it into the griever's head. The thing cried out, and Newt did it again, hearing the sickening squelch of the metal against the griever's slimy flesh. He continued to push the spear in and out of the griever's face until the creature was, for sure, dead.
He rolled out from beneath his kill as it collapsed into a slimy heap on the ground. Without sparing it a passing glance, he ran through the long corridors to find you.
Upon seeing you, shaking with your eyes rolled back, he let out a choked sob as he dropped to his knees at your side. He didn't even acknowledge Minho, Gally, or Alby, who were standing around your body solemnly. Your screams were agonizing, and each one was like a dagger through Newt's heart. He lifted your head and put his hand beneath it, allowing his tears to drip onto your face.
"Love...." he started, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. With a heavy sigh, he pulled the syringe out of his back pocket and watched the blue serum flow around the glass for a second. "I'm sorry..."
Another choked sob escaped his lips as he gently pushed the pen-like contraption into your gut. You let out a tortured, blood-curdling scream which made Newt's heart shatter. Following the scream, you started convulsing madly, as if the serum was more painful than the actual sting. A crushing realization hit Newt upon remembering that after someone was stung, they were supposed to calm down and fall into a deep slumber.
Something was terribly wrong. This only happened once before, and the only person who it occurred to...
"No..." Newt started, his voice haunted with grief. He picked you up into his arms and sobbed, screaming to the sky. "No! Bloody monsters!"
Then, Newt remembered something that he needed to do before your heart stopped. Something he desperately wished of doing since he laid eyes on you.
He smashed his lips onto yours. The tears on his face fell onto yours as he pulled you as close to him as possible. His sweaty, shaking hands ran through your tangled locks as he held you close and kissed you. You seemed to relax, stopping the convulsions and shaking. In any other situation, his heart would be beating a thousand miles an hour, but he couldn't fully enjoy the feeling. It was just something he wanted to do in order to show you....
"I love you, Y/N. Please don't leave..." he whimpered. He closed his eyes and pressed his forhead against yours. "I bloody love you."
As if you heard Newt's begging, you smiled and opened your eyes slowly. With all the strength you could muster, you lifted your hand and placed it against his cheek.
"I love you too," you muttered. Newt jumped with a gasp, then brushed a lock of hair from your face as he gaped down at you.
"Y/N?" He asked, caressing your cheek. "Is this a joke?"
"I-I dunno," you said, lifting your hands in front of you. Newt chuckled and brushed your hair out of your face.
"Shuck, I nearly lossed you. I dont know what I would've done..." he muttered. He bent down and kissed your forehead.
"I love you, Newt," you muttered, leaning against him.
"I love you too. Never bloody forget it," he replied with a warm smile.
"Thomas, how could you have been so selfish?!?" Janson shouted, backhanding Thomas across the face. Thomas stumbled and fell back onto his butt. A smirk crossed his face as he glanced up at Teresa -who was just across the room and watched with widened eyes- knowing that Janson is furious about your survival.
"Why is it such a problem? I thought we were trying to preserve lives here," Thomas said, daring to look Janson in his cold, hateful eyes.
"You know very well what that witch has done to us. You are a traitor!" Janson shouted.Thomas only smiled.
"Janson, I understand your heroism, but... your obsession with Y/N's death seems to be purely motivated by hatred, Thomas accused as he adjusted his shirt.
"You stupid child..." Janson muttered, and grabbed Thomas by the collar of his shirt.
"Enough!" Ava yelled, stepping off of the elevator just feet away from the scene.
"Doctor.." Janson began, but Ava silenced him with a wave of her hand.
"Thomas is one of our most important subjects, Janson," Ava said, gesturing to him. "Treat him with the respect that he deserves."
"Do you realize what he has done?!?" Janson shouted. Thomas could practically see his blood boiling as his grip on Thomas's shirt tightened.
"Let him go," Ava demanded. With one final snarl at Thomas, Janson released his grip.
"We cannot allow ourselves to break apart over one small issue in the trials. This girl may have been trouble in the past, but everyone changes after their entry into the maze. If she becomes an issue again, them we will eliminate her. Until the time comes she will remain unharmed. Understood?" Janson only nodded, his face still the shade of a strawberry.
With a dramatic turn away from the boys, Ava walked away. Thomas ran over to Teresa, who was watching the scene from the other side of the hallway.
Teresa ran away as Janson left. Thomas knew she was going down the hallways to the observatory. Thomas followed close behind her. He found her standing in front of the monitor, watching as Newt carried you bridal style through the glade walls with a smile on his face. You were giggling as well with your head resting on Newt's shoulder.
Thomas was overcome with a bittersweet feeling when he saw the tears forming in Teresa's eyes. She smiled at the image of her little sister with such happiness.
That's why they were so motivated to keep you alive: you were Teresa's sister, once upon a time. She remembers the way the two of you played together at a young age, before the sun flares and cranks and trials.
Thomas was there when she found out you would die. He watched her cry and beg them not to go along with their plans. Thomas had to pull her out of the room to allow the rest of them to keep working.
And now, you were safe. There was nothing that could dull his mood, knowing that he saved his best friend's sister.
Life for Newt and you were different also. Even with the trigger of the end, and the grievers attacking, and the scorch, there was one thing that remained true until you took your last breath- you and Newt only had love for each other.