𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘  .ᐟ

❛ the wait ❜

   "WICKED is good."

that was the last thing thomas heard before jolting awake.

he had something that seemed like a nightmare.

he remembered everything distinctly.

he remembered being in the box.

seeing different faces, ones he didn't recognize at all.

different machines he had never seen before.

the vivid picture of a girl, sitting directly across from him, quietly whispering his name.

her telling him that everything, was going to change.

he remembered laying on and operating table. doctors and surgeons hovering over him, with sharpened scalpels in hand.

the words "wicked is good" repeating over, and over again in his mind.

thomas' eyes shot open, waking himself violently, sweat beads dripping down his forehead. in a panic he looks around his surroundings, hearing the rumbling of the maze in the distance.

he quickly turns toward the sound. the doors were opening. and standing in front of them, emilia, minho, alby, and archie.

he watches them intently as three of them rush into the opening doors. leaving archie standing by himself.

𖧷

   "𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧, but why would alby go in the maze?" thomas asks, sitting on an old log besides chuck, "i mean, he's not a... he's not a runner."

"things are different now." newt says blankly, pulling his small machete out of the wood, "alby went to retrace ben's footsteps before sundown." he says, before pointing at the stump of wood he and zart had been chopping down, "look, are you gonna help?"

"okay, so he's gonna go back to where ben was just stung?" thomas says, ignoring newts question.

"alby knows what he's doing," newt says, pulling away from his work to look at thomas, "all right? he knows better than any of us."

"okay, but what does that mean?" thomas asks just as newt chops another piece of wood.

newt pulls back from the stump and sighs, scratching the back of his head, "it's like you've heard, yeah?" newt says, "every month, the box sends up a new arrival. but someone had to be first, right?" newt explains, holding up one finger, "someone had to have spent a whole month in the glade, alone. and that was alby. i mean, it can't have been easy. but when those other boys started coming up, one after the other, he saw the truth," newt says taking another swing at the wood, "and he learned that the most important thing, is that we all have each other." he explains, motioning with his arm to point at each of the boys, "cause we're all in this together."

"well, what about emilia?" thomas asks, "i thought she wasn't a runner anymore."

"like i said greenie," newt sighs, "things are different now. but knowing emilia, we don't need to worry about her. that girl can take better care of herself than most of us can."

thomas stays silent for moment, watching as newt goes back to chopping at the base of the stump. he fiddles with a piece of bark he had picked off of the stump he sat on in his hands, before softly throwing it off to the side, picking an almost identical machete up off the ground beside him. he walks over to where newt and zart were, before he kneels down, taking a swing at the stump himself.

"yeah!" newt smiles.

thomas pulls the blade out of the wood before bringing back down with more force.

"there you go, greenie!" newt giggles before swinging his blade back into the wood himself.

a loud rumbling comes from above them, and thomas looks up to the sky, finding storm clouds quickly forming above them.

𖧷

   𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 drops began to fall from the sky, causing all the boys out working to come running under their tents for shelter, not wanting to get soaked from the weather. thomas stood under one of the tents. newt stood behind him, watching thomas as the greenie impatiently watches the maze doors.

"they should be back by now," thomas says, looking back towards newt, "what happens if they don't make it?"

"they're gonna make it." newt says.

thomas sighs, turning around and walking over to stand next to newt, "and what happens if they don't?"

"they're gonna make it." newt repeats himself in a more serious tone.

𖧷

𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 what felt like forever to thomas, the rain came to a stop. the sun slowly peaked through the clouds, beaming down on the glade. the ground still damp and the dirt all mushy after soaking up the rain. each of the boys slowly came out from under their tents, all running directly to the maze doors.

each boy stood at the entrance of the maze, waiting in silence for any sign of minho, alby, or emilia.

the sounds of grinding machinery, and low rumbling began to get louder and louder as they waited, signaling that the doors were soon to close. signaling that if minho, emilia, and alby didn't hurry up, they'd be trapped inside. thomas watches the doors, becoming all the more impatient. thomas, becoming all the more worried.

thomas fidgets nervously in place, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, "come on guys, can't we send someone after them?"

"that's against the rules," gally responds, thomas looks down to his crouched down position, "either they make it back or they don't."

newt turns to thomas, "we can't risk losing any one else." he says softly.

a gust of wind blows out onto the boys, causing them all to take a step backwards. a loud rumbling erupts from each side of them.

the tall doors creak loudly, before another rumble echoes, and the doors begin to slowly inch together.

"oh no." chuckles mumbles to himself.

thomas frantically looks back into the maze, noticing movement immediately, spotting the two boys and the girl in a dimly lit area, making them extremely hard to see.

"there!" thomas shouts, pointing towards them.

both minho and emilia let out loud grunts, visibly showing their struggle.

"wait, no, no," newt says softly, "something's wrong."

all the boys look back out into the maze as they come out of shadowed section, finding emilia and minho, hunched over, with alby's arms thrown over their shoulders, desperately trying to get him to the exit.

"come on, guys!" chuck shouts, as the two stumble over their own feet, "you can do it!"

as the doors begin to come together quicker, the boys begin to shout louder, urging the two to hurry as fast as they can.

they all watch in horror as minho stumbles to the ground, before getting up and dragging alby. emilia grabs alby's wrist using all of the strength she has to pull him up.

"minho, emilia!" gally shouts, "you gotta leave him, come on!"

"they're not gonna make it." newt realizes.

emilia lets out a yell, fear filling her eyes as she watches the doors close in more and more, gaining shouts from both archie and wick.

thomas panics, looking around trying to figure out someway to stop the doors from closing. he hears both emilia and minho yell and grunt as they drag alby, knowing that everyone including them know they aren't going to make it, listening to the boys as they continue to scream at the two of them.

he takes one last good look at the two of them struggling between the almost closed doors, desperately wanting to help them, but feeling powerless knowing he can't.

until the adrenaline rush hits him.

without a second thought, thomas takes a step forward. he feels newt's hand latch onto his arm, but he rips away from his hold, running directly into the maze.

"thomas, no!" he hears chuck yell, but he continues to push himself through the closing doors, slowly beginning to feel the hard stone of the doors pressing against his chest and back.

just as they are about to close on him, he throws himself forward, falling directly onto the ground in front of the two runners, and their unconscious leader.

thomas turns around on the ground, panicking at what he has just done. he stares at the closed doors in horror as minho falls to his knees and emilia leans her back against the ivy covered walls.

"good job," minho grunts as thomas turns to look at the both of them, "you just killed yourself."

𝗔𝗩𝗔'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 !

if i see one high school musical reference with newt i will quit

much love!
ava

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