RECKLESS [The Maze Runner || Newt || Book 1]

"What's going to happen to him?" Thomas asked. He sat in the med room with Chuck and Alby as Clara cleaned his wrist. Ben had grabbed it so hard he almost broke the bone and his fingernails had dug deep into Thomas's skin, leaving a giant bruise and deep cuts on the boy's arm.

"It's called the changing. It's what happens when someone gets stung." Alby said, moving closer to the boy and sitting next to him on the bed. Clara stepped away for a second, grabbing a bandage off the desk and she sat back down, unrolling it before starting to wrap it around Thomas's wrist.

"Listen, we haven't been able to get a clear word out of Ben since it happened. He's not making any sense. And it's only gonna get worse, the infection is spreading and he's dangerous. What did he say to you?" Alby asked,

"He – he said he saw me... and that this was all my fault. How could this be my fault?" Thomas responded, looking to Alby for answers. The leader looked at Clara as he remembered what she'd told her that morning and he stood up, patting the greenie on the back,

"Get some rest." He said before walking out of the med-room, closing the door behind him. Clara finished wrapping the bandage, using some pins to secure it,

"What's going to happen to Ben?" Thomas asked, looking up at Clara. She glanced over at Chuck who stopped carving his wood to look back at her.

"You really have to stop asking so many questions greenie."

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The keepers gathered in a semi-circle around the maze doors, all holding their long wooden poles as Minho approached them, dragging Ben along with him. As he reached them, he dropped Ben to the ground, cutting the rope that was tying his hands together. Minho tossed Ben's bag out into the maze and took his spot next to Clara and she passed him his pole as Ben crouched over in the middle of the circle, coughing violently, a black liquid oozing out of his mouth.

"No, please... Please no... please don't do it." Ben mumbled. The loud familiar rumbling began inside the maze, the gust of wind blowing into the crowd as the doors began to close.

"Poles!" Alby shouted and Clara lowered her pole with the other keepers, "Move in!" They stepped closer to Ben, pushing him into the maze with the ends of their poles as he desperately cried out, begging them to stop. He got pushed deeper and deeper into the maze and the keepers pulled back as he was now standing in between the closing doors, forced to step inside the maze to avoid being crushed. Clara stepped back and lifted her pole back up, looking down, a tear rolling down her cheek as Ben's yells were cut off as the doors closed in front of him. She knew that participating in the banishments was part of being a keeper, but she never thought she'd have to kick one of her own friends into the maze. Newt noticed the tear and moved closer to her, reaching down and wrapping his pinky finger around hers.

"He belongs to the maze now." Alby announced before walking away, the rest of the keepers following behind him as Thomas stood frozen in front of the doors, distraught by what he'd just witnessed.

"Come on greenie, let's go." Clara said, placing a hand on his back and leading him back towards the homestead, a new solemn mood hanging over the Glade.

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She sat in front of the small fire in the homestead with Chuck and Thomas, warming her hands up in front of the flames as they all watched Gally scratching out Ben's name on the wall.

"Do you think he might make it?" Thomas asked,

"Ben? No. No one survives a night in the maze." Chuck responded, sighing sadly, "You've just gotta forget about him."

"It's not your fault greenie." Clara said, looking at the boy.

"What?"

"You think that it's your fault Ben was banished. You have that guilty look in your eyes."

"I mean he was banished because he attacked me, right? He broke one of the rules."

"It's not your fault he attacked you. He wasn't thinking straight, that's what happens when you get stung. Don't lose sleep over it." Clara said, standing up and turning around towards the stairs,

"How did you know I was feeling guilty?"

"Been here for about 3 years Thomas, I know that look very well. Go to bed." She said before climbing the stairs and jumping into her own bed, forcing herself to try and forget about what had happened that day.