•••

/you\

"be careful, okay?" my best friend said to me before i left the safety of the glade.

he's been telling me that everyday since i was a runner, which was at least a month by now.

i remembered asking him in the first week after i started;

"tom, are you really going to tell me that every day?"
i asked him.

"yes, i am." he says confidently, "because you never know what could happen." i laughed.

that day seemed like yesterday. now i'm fully trained and one of the best at knowing my surrounding out in the maze. and still to this day, he asks me to be safe.

i nod at him and smile, minho meets up with us.

"ready?" he says, smiles at thomas.

"yep." i nod and smile back. wave to tom.

"bye." i say.

"bye." and with that we head into the maze.

---

we run for hours, mapping and remembering where to go.

we stop for a short lunch break.

"tommy cares a lot about you doesn't he?"minho says, laughing at the thought.

"yea, i guess so." i say, shrugging.

"it's cute."minho smiles at me. i blush.

we get back up and start running.
i run next to minho through the seeming to be endless walls, but we soon stop when a dead end greets us.

"what the-" minho speaks, but is soon cut off by a loud screech.

we give each other a look, but his soon turns into shock and then contorts into horror. i go to ask him what's wrong until something stabs me in the side and i fall over. pain searing through my whole body.

loud screams above me drain out as shock overwhelms me and blackness surrounds me.

---

/thomas\

the suns getting low. they should be back any minute.

i pace by the big opened walls, i always wait for them to come back. and i always pace, but not out of nerves, just waiting.

soon the sun gets lower and i begin to worry. i stop pacing and sit down against one of the walls, hoping they come in soon.

the maze has always scared me. the towering walls and ivy hanging from them. always seemed like a death trap. then it became one. people soon began to get hurt in the maze. some never coming back, or getting killed or injured. each never knowing what happened or why.

then she came. it was my first week of a new greenie, and it was her. i remember seeing her in the box, shaking with fear. even frightened, she was the prettiest i've seen.

the sun was getting too low, dangerously low. newt jogged up next to me.

"bro what's going on? where are they?" he said exhausted, wiping sweat off of his forehead. i shrugged, sat roughly against the wall, worried for the worst.

/newt\

i was worried for the pair.

where were they? what was happening.

i kept my thought to myself as i expected the worst. how the maze has become dangerous. how countless people have been getting hurt. what if they are, or her.

i looked at thomas. he was a wreck already, knew it was probably to late.

everyday, he's told her to be careful, since the day she started.

it took him a while to even except that she wanted to go out there. that she wanted to become a runner. she was exactly like thomas; was way to curious when she came up, always asking questions or trying to figure certain things out. then came the scary part; the want of being a runner. thomas, of course, didn't want her to, for her and tom had started a really good relationship, and we've all lost to many to the maze. but she put up a fight. she wanted to be a runner.

we soon found out her relations to tommy, even he figured it out. they were exactly like each other. the gladers soon started a little mystery if they were in some type of relationship in the past, before all this. and that till this day has never stopped. we still think it's true.

so thomas made minho promise that he'd always be by her side, every time she went into the dangers of that maze. he understood and kept his promise, every single time.

the only promise he wanted him to make was the only impossible one. her safety.

in the maze, you can't promise safety. danger comes with the job, and so does trust. trust in the people running the job, trusting that they'll make the decision that's right for their safety, not that's right for ours.

but she was never like that, she always wanted to put herself in danger, even if it was to help us. she's gotten way to close to herself getting killed, to many times she's been close to not making it back. every time tom, and the rest of us, get mad, tell her she needs to be more careful. she says we're too dramatic, but truth is... just worried.

a loud bang startled me and slight ticking.

shuck.

/minho\

i run as fast as i can, carried her through the complex maze.

imagines still flash through my mind. first it was the dead end. we both gave each other a look and then it happened, all to fast. a griever showed up and all to quickly stabbed her with the needle, making her lose consciousness. i immediately picked her up and started to run, knew it was getting late.

i ran faster than i ever have, the promise to thomas seeming to repeat in my head over and over. i promised to do as much as i could to keep her safe, always be by her side. and i just let it happen.

i ran, soon turning the corner to see the maze doors closing and tom standing by them. his face drifted down to the limp body in my arms, and anger and fear spread across his face.

i shook it off and sprinted through the doors, i had plenty of time, but we needed to get her help quick.

i ran into the glade and right passed tom, knowing he'd be mad at me but i needed to get her to the medic huts. i heard him scream behind me but i shook that off too and continues to run.

jeff must've heard the screaming and he bursts out of his hut, immediately sprinting over to me. he scooped her out of my arms and sprinted fast than i ever could to the medics. i stopped and watched him run. i slowly turned around to tom, finding him right behind me.

i jumped.

"what happened!?" he screamed at me, tears already flying down his face.

i got my breath back, ignored the continued screams from my best friend.

once i got my breath back adrenaline kicked in and i raised my hands for him to stop. he did.

"look, it just happened so fast. first the weird dead end that wasnt supposed to be there and then the griever showed up stung her and left." i decided to be blunt, and soon found my self out of breath again and i stopped.

thomas' face looking like it got drained out from any emotion or color, he just flipped himself down on the ground, burying his head in his hands.

"i'm so sorry." i said, looking down at the broken boy beneath me.

he's breaths were shaky, and i helped him up and over to the huts, pretty much dragging him.

we finally reached the medics and i brought him over to the room she was kept in, chaos followed.

the medics were running around, getting supplies to help her through what was coming. the changing.

i put him in a chair which was pushed over next to the bed she was on and he grabbed her small hand.

i plopped myself in one on the side of the room, letting my exhausted body rest.

i fell asleep.

/thomas\

it was newt that finally woke me up.

"tommy, hey wake up." he shook me awake. i jumped up.

"what? what happened!?" i said, looked over at her, still sleeping. peacefully.

"the medics helped her, a miracle really.." he trailed off, "but she's gonna be okay." he said, beaming.

"really!?" i say, gaze at her, laying on the bed. i smile.

we wait, for more hours. till her eyes finally open.

"tom-," newt said next to me, slightly tapping me. i was focusing on the ground, dazing off, but i jumped at his words.

i looked up to see her eyes, staring at me. i quickly embraced her in my arms.

"don't do that again." i say in her hair, taking in her scent.

"i won't." she smiles in to my shoulder.