stuck with him - newt tmr

This girl was crazy. She was passed out on a bed on anaesthesia just a few moments ago, and now she was leading them into a dark, menacing hole of an abandoned building that was buried in a mountain of sand. Maria cursed at herself as she slid down a steep slope that led into a pitch-black building, which echoed their murmurs and every movement, exposing their presence to the unknown. Once she stumbled to the bottom, she smacked off any residue of sand on her as much as she could, already triggered by its itchiness, though she felt it in practically every crevice on her body.

Then to her alarm, she hears a body tumbling down the sandy hill at concerning speed.

"Frypan, watch out!"

Fry was casually trekking down the dune at his own discretion before turning around to see Winston hurtling straight at him, resulting in him tackling him and fully taking him out. The two tumble down to the bottom, sprawling on the ground in pain. Maria made it just in time to jump out of the way before also becoming a bowling pin.

"My bad." Winston coughs out amidst the groans of pain. A couple metres away from him was Frypan with his back lying flat on the floor. "Don't sweat it." He was able to breathe out, huffing from all the running and tumbling away from the WCKD guards. As he begins to get himself up an outstretched hand comes into his view, waiting to help him up. He looks over to see Maria standing over him, her expression neutral.

She notices his hesitant demeanour and lets out a small chuckle, "Don't worry, this isn't some trick if that's what you're thinking." Her hand was still outstretched and he finally took it, and with one hard tug she pulls him up onto his feet in one swift motion.

"Thanks." Frypan says, offering her a smile of gratitude, and she returned a small one back before dismissing herself to return back to the group.

"We need to get going." Thomas declares, ignoring everyone taking in their surroundings in aimless wonder and confusion.

"Wait, Thomas, stop!" Teresa shouts. This causes everyone, including Thomas, to halt in their tracks. "Tell me what's going on."

Her voice was commanding, and carried a hint of authority that compelled the boys to comply. Maria raised her eyebrows in approval, if this Teresa had to deal with these boys in a maze, it makes sense for her to possess some sense of dominance. She likes her.

The rest of group looked towards Thomas, awaiting his answer - everyone was also greatly confused with the little information they had received.

"It's WCKD." Thomas stated. "The lied to us. We never escaped. Me and Aris - we found bodies, too many to count."

"What do you mean? Dead bodies?" Minho cut in, appalled.

"No, but they weren't alive either. They had them strung up. With tubes coming out of them. They were being drained, there's something inside of us that WCKD wants."

Maria flashes back to when Aris said the same thing to her in the vents. A chilling shudder ran through her body as she tried to picture the harrowing image - rows of hanging bodies, of kids she once saw laughing and talking next to her.

After a collective pause of grieving over the unfortunate victims taken by WCKD, Newt breaks the silence.

"Okay. What's the plan now?"

Maria lifts her head to Thomas, where he responds with a splutter. Great, he doesn't have a plan.

"We followed you out here, Thomas. And now you're saying you have no idea where we're going?" Newt cries out, appalled.

"Why don't you think of one?" Maria pipes up.

Newt whips his head to face her, alongside the others, as they watch in suspense, astonished by her interjection.