The Maze Runner -Flare In Flames- |Newt X Reader|

Chapter 28~Pawns~

The heat of the water cleanses the immense amounts of grime and sweat from my body. Shower stalls are thankfully closed off by three walls and a curtain. Minho chose the stall next to me, and I know he feels just as relaxed as I do. My wig is setting on a hook the the right of me. I'm left with thoughts of the others. I wonder how things are on the island with Vince. Hopefully they were able to find some reasoning behind the washed up crank on the island. Brenda, Fry, and little Violet pop into my head. If everything is going as planned, they are still stationed at Amanda's city as our back up. They deserve a break from all of this. Although we've all been on the island for a year, a little vacation never hurt anyone. A vacation from a vacation... strange irony. My mind moves onto Y/N and Aris. They're more at risk than any one of us. Thinking about Y/N slowly turns into thinking about Teresa. "Hey." Minho speaks unexpectedly pulling me out of my thoughts at the right moment. "Yea?" I question debating on whether it's weird that we are talking in the shower. "How do you think Y/N- er I mean, Olivia is doing?" It's funny how alike Minho and I are. Here I was just now going through our group, our family, thinking about how they are. "Are you worried about her?" I let the water run through my hair, washing out the remaining soap. "No!" He says a bit too loudly. "Well, yes. How can I not be? With you know who gone and us not being there-" Before he can finish, I stop him in his tracks. "We are here." I listen as his water stops. "I know, but we're not with her. What if something terrible happens, or what if she gets herself into a bad situation?" As he finishes, I turn off my water and dry my face with the white towel. "Aris is with her. He has been watching over her before we even knew her." Minho speaks instantly, "I know that! It's just... I... want to know she's safe." I grab my wig, wrap the towel around my waist, and open the curtain to a shocking sight. "So my ears are not deceiving me, Thomas." My eyes widen as Pretty boy stands in front of my vision. I stagger trying to throw my wig on, but it's too late. I step forward just as Minho aggressively slides his curtain. "Thomas, I thought you locked the door!?" Minho accuses in panic. "I thought so too!" I turn my head to see the door wide open as Pretty boy's little pawns linger in the doorway. "Obviously you didn't." Pretty boy laughs before I lunge for him. His back slams against the white tile while his laughter continues. "Not so fast, Tommy. One more reckless move like that will get you sent straight to the General's office. And I know you don't want that." A devilish smile grows on his face as I take a step back looking at Minho. "Get dressed boys." Pretty boy clasps his hands, rubbing them together. "You've got some explaining to do."

"Shit shit shit." Minho paces back in forth in the bathroom. We're fully clothed now and dreading a conversation with our enemies. "We have to get out of here." Minho panics ramming into the wall. "No! That's not an option. If we run, they tell the General, and Y/N. Aris. Dead." Minho tightly closes his eyes and hits his hand on his head. "What do you suppose we do Thomas? Go out there? Beg them to keep quiet? Our best shot is to get out now and find the others." I grab his shoulders, "You're not thinking straight. Maybe they'll be reasonable with us." The horror engulfs Minho's eyes. "I'm not thinking straight? Look whos talking? Reason with the shanks who have hated us from day one? Yeah, not happening." A sudden, brutal knock appears at the door. "Hey dumbasses! Times up, lets go!" Minho grabs my shirt with wide eyes. "We don't mention Y/N." I nod, "Obviously." Another bang at the door. "Hurry up!" Minho pulls tighter, "We lie! If we're lucky, they don't know about Y/N." I shake my head, "We don't know how long they were listening to us just now. Let's also not forget about the huge wanted signs with our information on them. Besides, lying might get us turned in." Minho lets go with a scoff, "We're gunna get turned in anyways." I start for the door, "Just follow my lead." As I open it, a bang comes from the other side. I peek over seeing Mullet on the floor. "Sorry man." I say lending my hand for him. He slaps my offer away, as expected, and joins his buddies. We stand in the empty bunk room with no disguise. "Took you long enough. I see you haven't changed much from your wanted pictures." Mullet mentions making me wince a bit. They already know about us. This one will be tricky. I look over at Minho, and I nod. "Let's start over. I don't even think we know your names." I start with a simple conversation starter. Afro looks me up and down, "What's it to you?" I think of the most friendly response possible. "We may have started off on the wrong foot." Mullet laughs, "Think playing house is going to stop us from turning you in?" Suddenly, Pretty boy's hand flies up to silence them. He takes a step forward and holds out his hand. "I'm Griffin." I quickly grab his hand in utter shock. "This one," He points to Mullet, "Lucas." I turn to shake the blondie. "And this here is Finn." I finish off shaking hands with the individual with darker skin. "I'm Thomas." I introduce as Minho starts shaking each of their hands, "And this is Minho." I stare into Griffin's hazel eyes waiting for a response. It's awkwardly quiet for a moment, until Lucas speaks up. "Cool hair, Minho." My eyebrows furrow at their niceness as Minho thanks him for the random complement. "Alright, this will be nice and easy," Griffin starts as I feel the nerves in my stomach, "You answer our questions... truthfully... and we keep your little secret." I glance over at Minho, knowing what I'm about to do will piss him off. "And what's in it for you?" Minho steps in. "Curiosity." Finn states. "We wanna know what you're up to." Lucas chimes in. "Maybe be apart of it." Griffin continues, "Look, we're not as bad as we make ourselves out to be. If I'm being honest, we only hate you because we know you're a threat." Confusion wipes over us. "What?" Minho beats me to it. "You looked to be our only competition." Finn admits as my mouth hangs wide open. "So, answer our questions, and maybe we can become good friends." Pretty boy finishes. I'm in shock. Absolute disbelief. They're lying. They have to be lying. Sarcastic at least. Right? Griffin sits down on the concrete flooring first, and the other two follow. Soon, all of us are stationed on the cold floor. "First things first, what are you here for?" Griffin interrogates. I keep constant eye contact with him, watching his every move. "We are here to fix all of this." I vaguely answer, hoping he doesn't pry. "Fix what?" I'm funny to believe he doesn't want details. "The Flare." "A cure?" Griffin asks instantly after. "Yes." I reply wish as little detail as possible. "I thought Y/N is the cure?" This is Lucas questioning now. "She is." I watch my mouth. "So you're here for a cure. Is Y/N dead?" Finn joins the interrogation. "No." Minho answers this time. From this, I know that he is on board with telling the closest truth possible. "Is she here? In this city?" Griffin leans in closer as his pawns begin laughing. "You just want to know that because you have a crush on her." Finn cracks up as I see Minho sit up straighter in the corner of my eye. "What can I say... she's hot, and she's a bad ass." Griffin smiles and Lucas nods. I look over at Minho expecting to see anger in his eyes, but he's laughing with them. "But seriously, is she here?" Griffin stops laughing as I glance again at Minho. "Yes." I say blandly affter moments of hesitation. I think Minho could tell where this was going anyways. Answer the questions, they keep our secret, Y/N is safe. "Why not just give Y/N to Wicked? Let them create their cure and everyone lives happily ever after." This is Lucas' smart mouth. "Wicked doesn't deserve glory for the cure. Not after what they've done to us." Minho states with annoyance in his tone. "What have they done? How do we know you're the good guys after that terrorist attack in Ava Paige's city?" Griffin seeks for more, and it takes everything I have not to give up on this right here right now. "We we're put into a Maze. Tortured, tested to find a cure. You have no idea what that's like. As for Y/N... you can't even comprehend the amount of messed up shit she's been through." I feel myself becoming heated. "We do." I'm not sure which bastard says it, but the quiet room somehow became quieter after this phrase. "We were in Maze group J." Griffin admits as my mouth suddenly goes dry. "What the hell. How are you here?" He nods getting ready for the explanation of his life. "We just got out about 6 months ago. After conformation of Y/N's antibodies to the flare, they opened the doors to our Maze. We were taken to a city and started preparation for the annual Recruiting Day." I'm in complete silence. I just stare at the three of them in such disbelief, I can't even tell if they're telling the truth. "It makes sense. They let you go because they found what there were looking for. Are the Maze Trials still going on?" Minho speaks as I try to wrap this around my head. "From what I could tell, they released all Mazes once Y/N was confirmed as the cure." It all adds up. The Maze Trials were created to test the generation for a possible cure. There were doctors that night that fled the city. Word must have gotten around, and that's why were fugitives. "We still need to know one more thing. All of you are known as blood thirsty terrorists. We want to know what really happened in that city." After Griffin finishes, Minho and I look at one another. "It's a very long story. But I was captured by Wicked and became the closest thing they had to a cure. Thomas and all of them went into the city to rescue me. That's it. The real attackers were the cranks. We didn't want to tear the city down... they did. We barely got out alive to begin with. Not all of us did." Minho's explanation is accurate and short. I appreciate his unknown mention of Newt and Teresa. Griffin, Lucas, and Finn glance at one another. "We want in. We want to help in any way we can." Lucas says with genuine desire. Before I can even question them, Minho does it first. "We have to be as cautious at possible. What can you tell me about your Maze?" Griffin nods understandably, "I am subject J3. We lived in wooden shacks in the middle of the Maze. We called it the zone. There were trees, a stream, and even vines that didn't quite make it to the top of the wall." Finn continues, "We had a system. The three of us ran the place, and we had people who would go into the Maze everyday trying to find a way out. We stopped sending people out there when we discovered these spiderlike monsters that came around at night." Lucas begins to talk, but Minho puts his hand up as if he's heard enough. "So can we help? You've seen us run. Fight. We're a good addition." Finn adds in. I look over at Minho, and he gives me that look he use to give me in the Maze. It's my call. My decision. I look at the three of them, and I am no longer filled with dread. Instead, I strangely feel right at home. "Tonight at 11pm, we will take you to our base. You try anything... and I mean anything... do not think I will spare you. Do I make myself clear?" I state looking between the three of them. They all nod fast in agreement. "For now, I am Austin. And he is Ryder." I reach out my hand to reintroduce my disguise to our allies. What we hope are allies. If we are right, they become our pawns.