When We're Older- The Maze Runner (Newt)

winston

the last chapter was one of the last short chapters in this entire book. there are gonna be a couple more short chapters, none in this part of the story though. so they're going to start to get long so be ready for lots of reading

love you all endlessly

NEWT

I think I've mastered the art of fake sleeping, because I heard every single word of Mae's and Tommy's conversation last night.

I was awake all night, thinking over the words that they said about me. I wasn't mad, I was...curious. I wanted to know what was going on in her mind during that conversation, although I have a good idea of what was. I knew that Mae wanted me to open up...hell I wish I could open up. But it was a lot easier said than done. It's not like I'm just going around telling everyone how I got the limp in my leg and that I've never achieved happiness before. That's a really depressing conversation starter.

Also, it's not like we really have the bloody time for all of that. I mean we've hardly had time to take a deep breath before we were on the run from some crazy type of monster or WICKED again. All I wanted was to find a safe place where we all could take a breath and not worry about what was next or when we were going to have to run again. But, we had to do something or WICKED was just gonna keep taking innocent kids and stringing them up to drain them of whatever it is they wanted so badly. As much as I wanted to, we couldn't just sit on our asses and wait for these people to catch us.

So when Tommy shooed a crow out of our food this morning, that's when I knew it was time to move again. I opened my eyes, not being effected by the morning sun. Mae was still sound asleep in my arms, and I looked at her, sensing a small smile creep up on my lips. She was in the same position she was in last night, her legs entangled with mine, and her small hands gripping the collar of my jacket gently. Her shallow breaths heated my neck, making me want to drift off into a real sleep this time. But my arm was starting to tingle, so I very gently moved her tangled hair from her neck.

"Maisy," I whispered, "It's time to wake up."

She furrowed her eyebrows and scooted closer to me, and I breathed out a laugh, gently pressing my lips to her forehead, "Mae, c'mon. Wake up, sleepy."

"No." She yawned. I pursed my lips and sighed, moving my aching arm from under her head, causing her to groan and finally sit up. The others were just starting to wake up as well...Minho was yawning and rubbing his face, Frypan was staring at the slab of concrete above our heads like he was only thinking about moving. Tommy was already starting to stand up, sleep still prominent in his eyes.

I sat up as well and rested my body on my elbows, watching as Tommy looked behind us for those creatures that almost killed us last night, "Are they gone?"

He nodded and looked down to me as I moved my gaze to Mae, who was now rubbing her neck, "Yeah, I think we're safe for now."

I gripped my bum leg and moved it so that my knee was pointing towards the sky...it was always easier to stand up that way. Mae was looking around her backpack for something, and when she finally retrieved it, she hummed with pleasure, taking the small bracelet and tying it around her wrist. It suddenly occurred to me that she had been looking for the bracelet that Chuck gave her on his deathbed. I pursed my lips at the memory, not really knowing what to say. What can you say?

   "Okay, we should get moving." Tommy encouraged all of us to get up. Mae moved in front of me, her backpack already on her shoulders. She held her hands out, and I took them, feeling her pull me up and into a standing position. I gently patted her back as I bent down to grab my own things as a thank you.