DEFENCE SYSTEM | NEWT; THE MAZE RUNNER

chapter six | aftermath

'left, left, right, left, forwards and the same' i was happy i figured it out, but there's no time to celebrate i needed to get the hello outta there before they see me.

running and running. not stopping. out of breath. 'god maybe being a medjack is better than giving out all my energy for half an hour' happily, i could see the entrance. i was over the moon, but still needed to get there before they catch me. i could still hear the runners getting closer and closer, it was much more clear now, they were about two seconds from catching me. i finally stepped outta there. i was gonna jump up and down, but i was too out of breath and my ass would still be punished and thrown into the slammer without food if i was caught.

so i ran faster out of the woods into the hut. finally i got there, slipped off my trainers and jumped into my hammock. obviously i was bummed i didn't find anything, maybe the runners did, hopefully. i still needed to do something. i feel so useless, like i haven't done anything to help the glade out. yeah, i bandaged up a glader or two, but that was nothing compared what the runners do to help out the glade. i needed to do something even if the gladers don't agree with me. i mean i did find the hole in the first place, maybe i'm not totally useless after all. i crossed all of the thoughts out of my head and went into a deep sleep.

THE NEXT DAY

i woke up again with the sun blaring into my eyes. i groaned and stood up to put my trainers on. after i did my morning stretch, i stood up and walked out of the hut and towards the kitchen. everyone seemed different, almost sad.

'probably about the hole, maybe the runners didn't find anything, as did i '. there was no smiles or laughs, everyone was just looking down in their food and slowly eating. i saw minho looking so sad, i expected him to greet me by saying

"HEYY BESTIEE!" like he always does every morning, but no, no one even looked at me, let alone acknowledge i'm there. it was so strange, i just walked towards fry to get some breakfast. even frypan looked upset, now that was shocking, he always has a smile on his face.

"thanks fry," i said while grabbing my food. he just looked away. holding onto my breakfast, i walked towards newt and minho. they are normally bickering at each other, fighting over who gets the last egg, but now they're looking down and barely eating their food. it was so bizarre.

'yep, it's about the hole'. i thought because the runners would have gone already.

maybe they have just lost all hope. it only took them three years to figure out the obvious. even if there's no hope, you could always have a little more positive behaviour and try. so that's what i'm gonna do. try.

after i finished my food, i gave it to frypan to clean. everyone didn't move, they just stayed there, still looking down. i huffed and exited the kitchen.

'what am i gonna do?' i thought. thomas. i didn't see him at breakfast, so maybe he was at the treehouse, where he usually is. i strutted towards the treehouse and there he was sitting, facing the maze doors, like usual.

"thomas!" i shouted from the bottom and he looked at me and gave a small wave with no smile. that took my grin off my face.

'must be about the hole' i thought.

"get your ass down here!" i shouted from the bottom, he just nodded and came down.

"what do you need y/n?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets, looking down at the grass.

"look, i know your bummed about the hole situation, but we need to do something to get everyone's hope back," i said.

"don't you get it? there is no hope y/n, what's the point in trying when we cant find anything?" thomas said, clearly on the verge of tears. this made my heart sink. i hated thomas upset, it made me feel upset for him.

"there's always hope thomas, you cant give up, i won't let you," i said, trying my best to reassure him the best. he just nodded and looked back up.

"okay," he said with a slight smile on his face. i grinned and began walking around the glade. we both came to a stop to the middle.
"okay, where are we going exactly?" thomas asked me. i never really thought about where i was going or what i was gonna do. until one thought came to my head. the dead griever.

"the griever," i said, looking at him.

"what about it?" thomas asked.

"we are gonna examine it," i replied. it was like a lightbulb above my head lit up. thomas nodded and followed me again. after what felt like centuries, we finally found it, near the forest. with a disgusted face, i started to touch it and look deeper at it. thomas did the same. after about half and hour, i felt something.

"thomas," i shouted and he came to me.

"yeah?" he asked me. i pulled out what i felt.
"what is that?" he asked me.

"i have no idea" i replied. we both looked at each other as to what the hell was in this dead monster.