Happy Endings... - Newt x Reader | Book 3

I stare at the screen, looking at younger me. It feels so bizarre. My eyes scan over the boys' features, and they look oddly familiar.

"Stop throwing a fit, Clem," the boy with dark brown hair states, his voice all squeaky. "They're going to get mad."

"Whatever, Minho. They're treating us like babies and expecting us to play like five year-olds," younger me tells the boy, my heart skipping a beat at the realization. That boy was Minho, which means the boy with blonde hair is probably Newt.

"We can't do anything about it, Clem. We just have to deal with it," the blonde tells her with a heavy british accent, confirming my speculations.

So the three of us really were close friends before the maze. Newt was right. It was us three since the very beginning.

--

The video changes to a different one. Minho isn't there this time, but Newt is. The video takes place in a small room, looking like a bedroom. Some drawings are hung up on the walls and a picture as well. I look closer at the picture, realizing it shows younger me and Milo.

"They took him away," younger me cries, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. And I don't even know if I'll ever see him again."

Newt sits beside her and reaches his hand over to hers, holding it. "I'm sorry, Clem."

"I wish all of this would just stop," she sniffles.

It's quiet for a bit before Newt speaks up again. "It will one day. We'll run away--you, me, and Minho. We'll get away from all of us, and then we can live happily ever after."

Younger me reaches her arms up and hugs the boy, as he hugs her back.

--

The video changes again. It's a different room, with nothing but a table in the middle of it. Minho, Newt and I sit around it as we talk and laugh. We look older, maybe fourteen.

"You two are the best," younger me tells them once the laughter dies down. "I mean, despite everything, you manage to help me have fun."

"Let's make a promise," Newt tells Minho and younger me as he looks at us, his voice sounding more scratchy than the last video. "Promise that no matter what, we will always stick together. And if we lose each other, we will find each other."

"That is so corny, man," Minho snickers, getting a laugh out of younger me as well.

She stops laughing and looks at the blonde with a small smile. "Yeah, I promise."

Minho looks over at younger me before sighing, "I promise."

The three of us put our hands in the middle of the table, stacking them on top of each other. "I promise," Newt mutters.

--

The video appears staticky before changing again. Younger me sits at that same table, all alone. The two other chairs are gone, and she sits there with her head laying on the table. Her sniffling is heard as she picks her head up.

She looks like a mess as she pulls her hair out of her face--her tearstained, face. Reaching her hands up, she wipes her face and looks dead straight at the camera.

The action makes me unsteady, as I feel like she's looking right at me through the screen.

"Why," she cries. "First Milo. Then Minho. And now him too? Why do you keep taking the people who mean the most to me away?"

--

The screen turns black for a few seconds, before a bunch of random headshots of me appear all over. It starts from when I was younger, about eleven, then moves on, ending at a picture that looks like me right now.

I pull away from the screen, my head spinning. My whole life I was in W.C.K.D.'s hands and they took everything from me, and they somehow still manage to take even more away.

I reach a set of monitors, finding a bunch of files with dates on them. My hand reaches over to the mouse and moves the cursor to click on one of the files. It opens up a page:

Clementine ########
Subject A4
Formerly known as: The Sample
Now known as: The Support
Property of W.C.K.D.

D.O.B: 205.5.12
Age Now: 16 years

Today is 221.6.28.
Clementine, Subject A4, has now been in the Maze for around a year. We sent her in on 220.3.15.
Our intention when sending her in was to allow us to see how the other subjects (all males) would react to a female after only receiving males in the supply carrier every month. She was known as The Sample at the time. Her arrival would help us observe and determine their reaction when we add Subject A1: The Betrayer.
However, after some observation, we've come to rename her as The Support. Since her arrival, she has indefinitely helped Subject A5: The Glue, regain his motivation. It has allowed him to continue doing what we intended for him to do: lead the community and maintain order. He began to fail at his purpose after the incident, but Subject A4 has managed to take away his incapability. This fellowship was not calculated as we wiped their memories before sending them in and did not expect for them to bond again.
But despite our miscalculations, we have decided that it is unnecessary to break the bond. Upon her arrival, Subject A4 has raised the dopamine levels around the community they built significantly. The subjects seem to be doing their work more efficiently and enjoy their time there more.
Concluding this update, Subject A4 has been a big addition to the trials and has benefited us greatly. Our testing will continue and we will move on with adding more subjects to the maze. Next year, we will begin The Ending.
End of transcript.

I stare at the screen after reading it, trying to comprehend everything. "So that's why I was labeled as all that when I saw that information back at Janson's facility..," I whisper to myself, thinking aloud. "Subject A5... the incident... maintain order.... that has to be Newt. Right? Who else would it be?"

My eyes glance at the given birthday for me, then to the bottom of the screen where it shows today's date--223.6.20. So I'm already 18. I'm guessing Minho and Newt are turning 18 if they aren't 18 already.

Suddenly, I hear a loud bang on the door. The handle fumbles around as it looks like someone is frantically trying to open it. I hold up my stun gun, pointing it at the door as it bursts open.

To my surprise, out of all the people who could bust through, it was Teresa. She quickly closes the door before rushing over to me. I keep my gun pointed at her, "What the heck do you want? Aren't you supposed to be doing tests or some other random crap?"

"I came to find you," she babbles, rushing out her words. "You have to go now. Janson's getting the whole place on lock down."

I lower my gun and check my watch. It's already been twenty minutes since I entered this room. Sighing, I walk over to her. "Where are they? The boys."

"They're down the hall. Take the first right and then the next left, and they're in that first room on the right," she tells me.

Taking one last glare at her, I move to walk past the door but she pulls me into a hug, slipping her hands underneath the W.C.K.D. soldier jacket and around my actual jacket beneath it. It takes a second for me to register what's happening, but once I do, I shove her off me.

She looks at me, her blue eyes burning into mine. "Good luck."

I give her a weird look before I turn and walk towards the door. My hand lands on the handle as I open it.

"Clementine," Teresa calls out to me. I stop and turn to her again. "I'm sorry... for everything."

Her words catch me off guard, but I simply nod before walking out and following the directions she gave me.