Disclaimer:

I own these disclaimers (but not The Maze Runner) and apparently they're funny so there's gonna be a lot of them.

-✼-

I woke up screaming. My body was thrashing and I was violently kicking my feet. Someone's arms were wrapped around me, and people were shouting. I stopped yelling so I could get a better glimpse of what was going on, my chest heaving and tiny whimpers escaping my lips.

Alby, Thomas, and Chuck were gathered around the bed I was laying on. I immediately realized I was in the Homestead, but not in my room. It was then when I noticed a guy who must've been a Med-Jack standing by the door, just watching.

Wait. If they were all there, then who was holding me?

Please don't be Gally, please don't be Gally! I thought as I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Dylan! Dylan, you're fine." No, that voice was not Gally's, thankfully. It was Newt. But why on earth was Newt holding me? It didn't matter. I felt like all of the life had been sucked out of me. My hands were cold and clammy and whole body was shaking, but that didn't stop me from collapsing into Newt's chest, relying only on his strength to prevent me from falling off the bed.

"At least it's quiet now," Chuck commented, trying to keep the situation light. Alby just stared at him in disapproval, so he didn't say anything else.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"You passed out from hunger," the Med-Jack explained. "Wasn't too major till you started screaming in your sleep. Shuck, it was loud."

"You wouldn't be quiet till we got Newt in here," Alby added quite gruffly. "Not that it didn't take much. He was already waiting outside when we went to get him." The tips of Newt's ears turned red. "Took about a minute, but he got you awake just fine."

My body was still shaking, but I felt more stable, so I started to release my hold on Newt. However, he didn't let go and instead hugged me tighter. It was comforting; I didn't complain. I could feel a wave of calm washing over me.

"Do you remember what you were dreaming about?" Thomas asked cautiously.

I shook my head, then I thought of how it was weird that a dream could be so bad, yet I couldn't remember a thing about it. The only thing I knew was that it was enough to make me absolutely terrified.

"You wanna get up, Dyl?" Newt murmured, slowly letting me go. I nodded, wondering why he had called me 'Dyl'. Not that I minded - it sounded really good with the accent thing he had going on.

Newt released me and I moved the stray hairs that had fallen out of my braid away from my face, sighing. I swung my body around and stood up hesitantly. I didn't fall or anything, so I walked along as normal until I got to the door, where the Med-jack was. He stopped me before I could leave.

"Make sure to eat something as soon as possible," he reminded me. "My name's Jeff. If you ever feel faint again, come find me, though I'll probably be up here."

"Okay, thank you." I smiled at him and opened the door, walking out with Newt right behind me. Alby, Chuck, and Thomas followed closely.

"Let's get you to Frypan, Greenie," Chuck said, jogging in front of me. I held my stomach and frowned.

"That's weird," I said. "I'm not even hungry."

"You need to eat, Dylan," Newt commanded softly, though there was a certain sternness in his voice that made me know he wasn't joking. "I'll feed ya myself if I have to. We don't need you bloody passing out again."

We walked out of the Homestead and I noticed that it was still the afternoon, maybe a few hours before dinner. Gladers were continuously at work, scattered among the field.

I noticed that Thomas was staring warily at Newt as he walked a bit behind us, but close enough to be within earshot.

"She's not a baby," he said. Newt turned toward him.

"Never said she was," he replied casually. "I just want to make sure she's okay. Maybe there's just something weird going on with the girls."

"Hey, Newt!" a guy called from a little ways away. It looked like he was standing by a huge project the Builders were making.

Newt groaned and pointed to Thomas and Chuck. "Make sure she eats, even if she hits you where the sun don't shine." He then walked off, leaving Thomas and Chuck to ensure my safety.

"I'm fine, guys," I told them. They were walking so close to me that it was making me uncomfortable. "Really - you don't need to walk this close to me."

"Those screams sure didn't say you were fine," Chuck argued, then shook his head. "Man, it sounded like you were being axe murdered in there."

I shrugged. "Couldn't help it. Whatever I dreamed about must've been pretty horrible."

We made it to Frypan, who handed me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottle of water without a word of complaint. I thanked him and turned to Chuck. "Do you think they'll get mad if I eat this in the forest? I just need some peace."

Chuck thought for a moment, then shrugged. "There wouldn't be much they could do. You're new, so I suppose it would be fine."

A slight grin lifted my lips. "Great. Now, I know I was just passed out for who-knows-how-long, but I need some alone time to clear my head."

I heard Chuck mutter, "Girls," before saying more loudly, "Alright. We'll leave you alone."

Something in that kid's eye told me they wouldn't be leaving me alone anytime soon.

-/-

I was sitting deep in the woods, my back against a tree as I stared at the plants around me. The grass was extremely long and wildflowers were scattered amongst it, adding more color to all the green. The trees' branches were so wide that I couldn't see the sky, but I knew it was getting dark and I should get going soon.

I'll just stay for a few more minutes, I decided, dusting bread crumbs off of my lap and drinking the rest of my water, setting the bottle down before standing up to stretch.

How long had I been sitting there? Judging by how my back ached and all of my joints were cracking, it had been at least an hour.

Just as I was about to bend down to pick up my empty water bottle, I heard the snapping of twigs, like someone had stepped on them. My mind instantly whirled through what it could possibly be. Deer, rabbits? Did they have animals back here? Alby didn't say, and I doubted I had eaten venison in the past two days. So that meant it had to be a person.

I stayed still and silent, my eyes scanning the bushes around me. I looked around the tree trunks, by rocks, and strained to see through leaves, but as far as I could tell, no one was there. It didn't help that it was dark. Eerie shadows flickered around every turn, creating a foreboding atmosphere that put me at unease.

Another rustle. My head whipped around in the direction the noise came in, and I squinted to see.

It all happened too fast.

Just as I was about to get myself the heck out of there, a boy lunged through the trees to the left of me. I barely got a glimpse of extremely pale skin and crazed eyes before he landed on top of me, sending us both sprawling to the dirt.

"What the—" I started to exclaim, but the boy was deadly strong, and he sat on my lower half, pinning my legs down. And then his hands locked around my throat.

My eyes went wide and I reached up, prying his fingers apart, but my hands were sweaty and slippery. I raised my fist and punched him hard in the face. He immediately released me and held his hands up to his eye where I had hit him. I used this as my chance and pushed him off of me, coughing and gasping for air as I stumbled to my feet. I ran as fast as I could away from were he was. Hopefully I was heading in the direction of the Glade.

"Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, stretching out the word. "Help! Newt! Thom-"

The boy launched himself onto me and I fell hard to the ground, almost hitting my head on a tree trunk. He pinned me down and I screamed horrifyingly loudly before his hands found my throat again.

"You let him," he spat in my face, his cheeks twitching. "You let him. You could've stopped it, but you let him do it. HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU LET HIM—"

"Dylan!" I heard a familiar voice shout. I would've sighed in relief at the sound of Thomas's voice, but unfortunately, I couldn't.

Since he had stopped screaming in my face, my brain was able to kick in survival instincts. I found myself slamming both fists into the inside of his elbows. That loosened the chokehold, but just as I was about to shove him off, he was tackled away. I laid there for a minute, gasping and clutching my chest as Thomas and Crazy One tumbled, punching and clawing at each other. However, it seemed Thomas's opponent had the upper hand, and because of that, I was going to protect my friend no matter what.

"Get the shuck off of him!" I yelled, slamming into the boy, who was on top of Thomas. My foot found a tender part in his side, just beneath his ribs. He sprawled to the dirt. However, he sprung up before I could blink and shoved me into a tree trunk. The back of my head crashed into the rough bark. He let me drop to my knees and left to get back at Thomas, I suppose.

The world spun. My skull ached so badly I thought it was splitting in two. My heart raced and I was breathing - well, more like coughing - hard, trying to get air into my burning lungs.

My vision cleared just in time to see the boy sink his teeth into Thomas' shoulder, earning a long, agonized scream from him. He planted his hands on our attacker's chest, pushing him away. Finally, the kid was off of him, and Thomas wasted no time in getting to his feet again.

I staggered over to Thomas, the earth still tipping and turning. I stood side by side with him, ready to fight with him until I couldn't anymore.

Just as the boy crouched, his eyes darting between the two of us, a voice broke through the forest.

"Ben!"

I turned toward the voice, and to my surprise, there was Alby, holding a bow and arrow and waiting to shoot the kid down.

gif is thomas running like an idiot away from ben

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this was a sucky ending, but oh well. at least there was some newt x dylan moments amirite ladies?

they need a ship name. like pronto. someone give them a ship name rn

~kristyn