Fast As A Bullet {Maze Runner}

t w e n t y n i n e

Thomas turns and pulls open a random door, gesturing for them to follow him in. He slams the door shut and locks it while Leanne inspects the room. It seemed to be a small laboratory. Newt and Minho push a metal shelf in front of the door and onto its side.

"We're cornered." Leanne says in a surprised tone. "They fucking cornered us." She shakes her head. "Fucking Janson." She curses.

Suddenly, sparks begin to fly into the room through the crack of the door; they were sawing it open.

"Any ideas?" Minho yells.

"Maybe." Thomas says as he looks outside.

Leanne looks down at the courtyard below them. "Oh, we're up really fucking high." She shakes her head again. "I don't like this."

Thomas walks over to the large metal containers. "Minho, Newt, help me." The boys lift the can up. "Leanne, move!"

She moves to the side of the room, giving them space to launch themselves forward and rocket the container through the glass and out the building. She steps up beside them and watches it fall into the fountain below. "Okay," Thomas pants. "It's doable. We just need a little running start."

They move back to stand closer to the door. Leanne found the entire situation almost ironic, and turns to Thomas. "I guess jumping is the answer then, huh?" She sends him a small smile. "Well, no better time to face my fears." Shrugging, Leanne pushes herself forward and runs the short distance.

She hears the chorus of "Leanne!"s from the boys behind her but ignores them as she pushes her feet against the ledge and launches herself off the floor. She could feel the panic begin to claw at her chest, leaving her raw and bare, but she swallowed it down and jumped instead. She didn't know what she was thinking, and if anything she wasn't thinking at all. She wouldn't let her fear of heights take her own life, and maybe in jumping she had just overcome it. But instead, it was replaced with the fear of water. It approached her quickly and she knew the impact would most likely hurt.

When her body did hit the water, she was surprised. Leanne had thought it would hurt more than it actually did. She struggled a little to reach the surface with the layers of clothes, but just as her head did reach the surface three bodies landed in the water around her. It took a moment for them to surface, but once they did the four of them swam towards the side and got out of the water.

"You're bloody crazy." Newt says to Leanne, who shrugs.

"You jumped too."

The sound of guns being cocked rings out behind them. Leanne twists to see four armed guards making their way towards them. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Thomas says exasperatingly.

"Take it easy." They walk forward with their guns pointed at them. "Ah ah ah ah, don't even think about it." One of them says as Thomas reaches for the gun at his thigh. "Get on your knees with your hands in the air—"

One of the guards turns towards the other three, shooting them quickly. He moves towards them and pulls off his mask.

"Gally?" Minho frowns.

Gally nods curtly. "Minho." He looks up at the window where they jumped from them back at them. "You guys are nuts."

Leanne moves to follow Gally, passing Minho, who stares in shock.

"I'll explain later." She hears Thomas tell him. "We have to move."

Minho grabs a jacket from one of the unconscious guards and nods. "Okay, lets go."

Gally leads them through the building and outside. They keep low to stay out of sight from the patrol cars driving around. It seemed WICKED had really wanted them caught, since a helicopter patrolled the city from above.

They take cover behind some cement planters as more patrol vehicles drive by with their sirens blazing.

Beside her, Newt continues to cough. His health was deteriorating quickly, and Minho could tell as well "Newt, how are you feeling?" He asks, crouched in front of Newt.

"Terrible." Newt shakes his head. "It's good to see you though." He smiles up at Minho, patting his shoulder. Minho nods, then shuffles over to Thomas.

Leanne turns to Newt. "Here, I'll help you." She slips her wet jacket off, leaving her in her grey tank top, then helps Newt out of his.

"Lea," Newt's voice is raspy and small. "Remember our promise to each other in the Maze?"

"No." Leanne shakes her head in denial. Of course she remembered, but she didn't want to. "No Newt. Not today."

Newt sends her a small, sad smile. "If anything happens to me, you leave me." He recites what they had both made each other promise before their attempt to escape the Maze, so long ago. "You promised me, Lee." He takes her hand. "Don't start breaking promises on me now."

Leanne sniffles a little, but hides her tears when Thomas comes over to them. "Hey, Newt." He moves to help the boy stand. "Come on, bud. We gotta get you up." Thomas pulls Newt up, and Newt stumbles forward. Thomas catches him quickly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You okay?"

Newt steadies himself on his feet with Thomas' help. "Yeah, yeah." He nods. "I'm fine."

He wasn't fine.