Amazing: A Maze Runner Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own - 'Maze Runner'. If I did, oh the fun that gorgeous Thomas Brodie-Sangster and I would have.
They were all confused, looking around in wonder and fear. None of them knew what was going on, where they were.
"Excuse me." A teenaged girl spoke amid the yells and shouts of a group of boys. "I said, 'Excuse me!'" She shouted, gaining the attention of every other soul there. "Can we please calm down and have a little quiet. Screaming and shouting isn't going to do anyone any good." She was met with a brief silence before everybody bombarded her with questions, thinking that, because of her calm demeanor, she had the answers that they were all desperate to hear. "Look, I'm in the dark just as much as you are."
"Who the Hell are you?" One boy yelled out.
"Yeah! Who are you?" Another echoed.
"I'm...I...My name is, uh..." She struggled to remember any details about herself. "I'm, uh, I-I don't know. Who am I?" Each person in the grassy glade asked themselves that exact question.
''
"You alright there?" Zero looked down to see a honey-blonde boy standing at the base of the tree.
"I'm fine." She replied.
"Be careful up there, right? Wouldn't want you falling from so high up."
"Thanks for the concern but I have a feeling I've done this plenty of times in the past." It was silent for a moment.
"Mind if I join you up there?" Zero gave a non-committal shrug and waved her hand at the branches below.
"Go ahead. I'm not the Keeper of the Glades or anything like that." Newt smirked at that. 'Keeper of the Glades' sounded rather cool. It wasn't long before the boy reached the same height as Zero, balancing himself precariously on a branch. He moved a little, swung himself up and landed beside the girl. He held out his hand.
"I'm Newton."
"Nice to meet you Newt; I'm Zero." He smiled at the nickname she immediately gave him.
"Pleasure to meet you Zee." She smiled back.
"Do you remember anything from before this?" Zee asked, breaking the silence.
"Bits and pieces of information that makes sense but at the same time means absolutely nothing." Zero glanced at him.
"You sound a lot older than you look Newt." The boy shrugged this time. "Must be the English in you."
"England. I remember a place called London and red buses. They were everywhere. You English as well then? You've a bit of an accent."
"I'm not too sure to be honest. I can remember buildings that seemed to rise forever above the ground and people, so many people."
"Do you have any idea why we're here?" He asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine." A moment passed before Newt heard his name being called by one of the eldest boys. "Well, this has been fun. We should do it again."
"Yeah, why not. See you Newt."
"See you Zee." He said, winking at her and making his way down the tree trunk.
Zero wasn't entirely sure if she should have mentioned it but there was something familiar about the boy Newt. She had let the nickname slip as if they were old friends and couldn't help but feel that they might have been.
''
"Come over here then and let me see that arm of yours now Benji." The thirteen-year-old boy hesitantly held his arm out to the girl. It had been three months since they all mysteriously awoke; two months since they discovered they weren't alone and a month since some order had been properly established.
"This will sting a little, okay Benji? Ready?" The boy nodded. She finished treating the minor wound and bandaged the boys arm, smiling warmly at him. "All done. I'm giving you the all clear. Remember though, I don't want to see you doing any heavy lifting today. I'll let Nick know. Off you go!" She said.
"Thank you Miss Zero."
"No problem Benji. See you tonight." Zero cleared up her work station and made her way through the Glade, headed towards Nicks spot.
"Benji alright then?" The older boy asked.
"He's right as rain now Sir."
"What have I said about calling me that?"
"You've still got the boys calling me Miss. I feel like I'm forty, not fourteen." Nick shook his head and laughed.
"To what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from the Lady of the Glades?" Another voice spoke, one which had a distinctive accent setting him apart from the rest of them.
"I was informing good old Nicky about Benji's boo-boo."
"The little shank hurt himself when he tried to show off to some of the Gladers." Nick supplied, making the other boy chuckle.
"Well, I'm here to let you know that Gally and the boys have almost finished construction on the Homestead." Newt informed them.
"That's wonderful!" Zero replied. "When do we move in?"
"You're getting your own space." He told her.
"Really?" She said looking between Newt and Nick. "That's a little unfair to the rest of you."
"I don't care. I don't trust those little blighters to keep to themselves while you're there sleeping." Newt explained.
"Well aren't you just my Knight in shining armor then." Nick smiled as he watched the two. He'd become close with both; Newt was his best friend in this odd, new World and Zee was his little sister.
"Okay, enough of the flirting. Tell the boys to take a break will you Newt, they've been working harder than most of the boys."
"Righty-O then. See you both at dinner."
"See you Newt."
"Bye Guv!"
''
Over six months had passed since they'd woken in the Glade. It had been a little over a week since one of the boys ventured into the maze and the Gladers were made aware of the existence of horrible, mechanical abominations who were eager to take the lives of those that resided within the Glades. It had begun as any other day there in the Glade.
"Where the bloody hell does that shank think he's going?" Newt asked, gaining the attention of Nick, Zero and a boy named Alby.
"Andy!" Zero bellowed out, causing the boys around her to jump at the volume. They watched as the boy redirected himself towards their group.
"Hey everybody." The boy said, waving shyly at the lot of them.
"What were you doing heading over to the gate?" Nick asked.
"N-nothing. I wasn't headed over that way." The boy replied immediately. All four gave the boy a look of disbelief.
"Andy, please don't lie about something like this." Zero began. "Now why were you headed towards that gate?" The boy looked down.
"I just wanted to see what was out there."
"Andy there's a reason we don't go in there: It's dangerous." Nick said.
"Look Shank, it's for your own good. Don't go in there or else you'll be in a bit of trouble, got it?" Newt warned. Andy nodded his head. "Well go on then you blighter." The boy turned tail and walked away, fast.
"He's going to do something stupid, you know that right?" Alby said to them. "No doubt about it."
"Let's just hope it isn't as stupid as I think it's going to be." Zero said. Her hope vanished the moment they witnessed Andy running full pelt towards the Eastern gate of the maze.
"What the bloody shuck?!" Newt shouted and the foursome ran with all their might after the boy who had fled in the opposite direction. "Hey!" The blonde shouted, gaining the attentions of the Gladers. "Stop him!" There was a mad rush as everyone in the Glade ran after Andy.
"Don't shucking go in there you bloody slinthead!" Newt screamed.
"Andy! Stop!" Zero shouted. The boy continued to run. Everybody watched as he then disappeared into the maze. Many of the Gladers stopped running at this point, choosing instead to watch the happenings at a safe distance. Nick, Alby, Newt and Zero, along with Gally, stood at the gate and watched as the boy disappeared from their view.
"What's that Shank think he's shucking doing?" Gally asked the four of them.
"We don't bloody know." Newt replied. Gally turned to Nick and Zero, hoping they'd provide an answer.
"I don't know Gal; I really don't know." The builder nodded his head and they continued staring into the nothingness beyond the walls of the Glade.
"Come on Shanks, let's go. He'll come back eventually." Alby said.
"There's no point in us waiting here and no one else is going to go in there after him." Nick ordered. As the group turned around the entire Glade froze as they heard a scream sound from inside the maze.
"Help!" The four boys and the girl turned back around to see Andy sliding around a corner and heading straight for the Glade. That was when they saw it. One moment Andy was running towards them and the next he had been picked up by some odd looking creature that mercilessly tore him apart. The walls within the Maze then shifted, causing something akin to an Earthquake to happen within the Maze. The Eastern Gate then closed. Zero stared at the closed wall, as did the boys. She then fell to her knees as her brain finally caught up with what she had just witnessed. Gally went to catch her as she pitched forward and lowered them both to the ground. Newt turned to Nick.
"What the bloody hell just happened?" He asked. He had tears welling in his eyes and he, too, knelt down beside Gally and Zee, hugging the girl with one arm as she kept her head bowed and silently cried. He caught Gally's gaze and the builder nodded, removing himself from the girl and allowing Newt to take over from there.
"We need to hold a Gathering." Nick said. "Gally, go round everybody up, and I mean everybody. They are to stop what they're doing and get the shuck into the meeting place."
"Won't have too much trouble with that. Everybody's shucking heading towards here anyway." Newt said.
"Come on, we need to go now." Nick said. He looked at Newt and nodded towards Zero, clearly indicating that he needed her to be there as well.
"We'll be there mate, don't worry." With the boys gone, Newt could focus solely on Zero. "Zee, come on. We need to go."
"He's dead." She turned to him, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What the bloody hell was that thing Newt?" He shook his head.
"I don't know love." He almost winced as the last word slipped from his mouth. He'd been able to stop himself every other time he'd spoken to her.
"I guess we better go then." Newt nodded and helped her up. Both of them headed towards the Gathering in silence, replaying the look of fear on Andy's face as he raced for the gate, replaying the look of realisation as he was caught by the thing in the maze and replayed the amount of blood that painted the neutral colour of the stone maze an unnatural red.
''
"We'll have to figure something out. We know a little of how the entrances work: when they open and when they close. If we train up, start a training course of some kind, practice attacking and defending you know, then we could maybe figure out a way to defend ourselves against them." Nick was not happy about what he was hearing; not one bit. It had been two and a half weeks now since the Gladers lost one of their own. He kept a stern face, hoping that giving her his 'look' would deter the girl. Unfortunately, after mourning the death of Andy, Zero began to get curious about what lay outside of the walls of the Glade. She was currently trying her best to convince the Leader of the Gladers to allow her to go in and check it out.
"And then what Zee?"
"Whatever's beyond those walls could lead to freedom. We've been here for half a year and not once have we tried to escape."
"He tried to escape and now he's dead!" Nick shouted. He started to shake his head though, noticing the look in Zee's eyes. "No. Whatever it is that's cooking up in that head of yours: no, and that's final."
"We need to think of a way to get out of here Nick and you know it. What kind of life is this? Living in constant fear?"
"You seem to be missing the point Zero. We are living. Not everyone has been that lucky."
"Andy at least tried." She could understand now why the boy did what he did. Everyone felt it; the oppression despite the peace of the Glade. They were trapped there by something or someone and they didn't have any choice.
"We're not burying anyone else, especially not you."
"I can do this. Let me try, Nick. If I get even a scratch, I'll head back and I will never attempt to go outside the Glades again. It's that or I go behind your back and do this without you knowing when I've left or where I've left from and none of the boys will tell you."
''
"It's a maze! We're in the middle of a fudging maze. There were signs. This, whatever the hell this thing is that we're in, it's run by someone called W.C.K.E.D." She was immediately enveloped by the arms of a honey-blonde, English boy. "It's a maze. We're all trapped in a maze." The girl was distraught. "Who the hell is sick enough to kidnap a bunch of kids and trap them in deadly maze?"
"Hush now love." Newt whispered to her, his voice firm yet gentle. He then turned to Nick, his eyes narrowed and expression dark. "You shucking let her through the gate by herself and you didn't shucking tell anybody?!" He said, his tone low and harsh. Nick ignored the English boy.
"I need to know everything you saw while you were beyond our walls Zee. Think you're up for it?" Nick questioned, earning a glare from Newt. The girl took in a deep breath, calming herself down before she turned to him.
"We need to study the maze. I-I don't know why but I know we need to study it; map it out." The leader of the Gladers nodded his head.
"We'll make a group. They can run in, draw out paths, what they see and return back before the gates to the Glades shut. We'll need food, water-"
"Watches, pens, paper; do we have anything of the sort?" Newt asked, not happy that Zero went behind his back to do something so dangerous but getting a little excited about the prospect of freedom. "I can't remember any materials coming up from the box."
The night passed with the three talking, planning and preparing.
"There'll be a gathering in the morning. We'll sort out what to do then."
''
Morning came and the Gathering had begun.
"You want us to what?" One of the boys exclaimed.
"I don't want you to do anything. I'm asking if anyone is interested. There is a difference."
"Miss Zero went into the maze? You sent the only female into the maze yesterday!" Another cried out. "Are you crazy?!"
"Boys!" Was the one word which got the talking to stop. Zero stood up from her seat on the grass and proceeded to address the group of rowdy teens as she had done on many occasions before. "I returned, I'm alive and now we know more about where we are."
"What did you see out there?"
"We are trapped in the middle of a giant maze, boys. I don't know the how or the why but I do know the who: an organisation of some kind named WICKED."
"Now boys, I'd like to know which of you are willing to go into the maze. Show of hands." It was almost silent, and asides from the hands of Newt and Zero, no one else volunteered. "Well okay then."
"What? That's your brilliant plan then Nick?" Gally, a rather intimidating boy with a tendency to be a bully, spoke up. "Send in the lovebirds and have them killed off? What are you shucking thinking you slinthead?"
"Zee made it out of there alive. It's more than just a possibility now. We've always wondered what was beyond the walls and now we know a little bit more."
"Are you shuckheads forgetting what happened to Andy? Did you not shucking see what happened to him? I shucking did! Do want the same to happen to them?"
"No one will ever be able to forget what happened to Andy, Gally. We don't need you to remind us and that's not going to happen to Zee or Newt." Gally looked to the Leader with absolute disbelief.
"You know what? Shuck the lot of you. It was nice knowing you Zee, Newt. I'll be sure to bring flowers for the both of you 'cause that's about all that's useful for a person's shucking grave." The boy stormed off. Newt, Zero and Nick looked to each other before the Leader spoke again.
"We'll be planning out how to go about this. We're testing out another theory involving those shucking Beetle Blades."
"I've written a request for materials that myself and Newt will need to enter the maze and get back safely." Zero said.
"You mean you asked if they could get rid of the Grievers?" A boy asked. 'Grievers' is what the mechanical killing machine was named. They grieved for their friend, all felt that one emotion, so it seemed a fitting name.
"No, I've a feeling that they wouldn't listen so I thought I should just keep it to things needed to survive."
"Including weapons?" A young boy who went by Frypan asked.
"Yes, but understand that there will only be two and they'll be restricted to the people mapping out the maze." Nick told them all.
"When is this going to be happening?" A teenaged boy named Charlie spoke.
"Next time the Box comes up. If they've given us what we need, we'll start a week afterwards." He paused for a moment. "Alright Shanks, meeting's over. Get back to work."
Zero smiled as the boys went to do their assigned jobs. As she started to walk away, Newt called to her.
"Where do you think you're going love?"
"To the gardens, Guv. Problem?" The girl replied in a mock-British accent.
"Need someone to walk you there? You know, it's not safe for a girl such as yourself to be walking places all by your lonesome." Newt's cheeky smirk turned into a smile as the girl laughed, shaking her head at the boys show of protectiveness. He loved it when she smiled; loved it even more when he was the reason she was smiling or laughing in the first place. The two of them had just clicked, from the moment they introduced themselves properly to each other. There was something about her that Newt seemed to recognise and it was the same for Zero. His smirk was back in place now as he went to catch up to the girl who had decided she didn't need an escort.
''
"'S 'ere! Come on Shanks! 'S arrived!" Shouted Terry, the Keeper of the Box. The response to his words were instantaneous. Every Glader legged it as hard as they could over to the box, eager to find out whether the requests made had been received. Lo and behold, as Terry lowered himself into the box, Newt, who was down there in record time, shouted back up to the rest of them.
"Love, there's a box here for you."
"Yer names written on it 'n everthin'" Terry's Southern drawl announced. "I think they 'eard ya Darlin'."
Gladers were peeking over the edge, waiting to see either boy come up.
"What about the Greenie?" Nick shouted down to them.
"Greenies unconscious; has a nasty bump on his head." Newt shouted back. Nick nodded.
"Alright boys, we'll send down extra rope. Make a harness for him and tie him up good then." A few minutes passed by before a 'We're ready' came from the Box. "You guys, grab the rope and help me pull." Before he gave the signal he turned back around and, knowing that she was definitely holding the rope, called another boy. "Take Zero's place." The boy he asked didn't even hesitate to move her out of the way.
"Sorry Miss Zee, Nick'll kill me if you get rope burn and I don't even want to think what Newt would do if he got to me first." Zero shook her head and moved aside.
"Have at it Char." She said, gesturing to the rope and letting out a sigh of defeat.
The boys tugged on the rope, hoisting up the newest arrival and the Med-jacks walked on over to assess any damage.
"He'll be alright. Give him a day or so and he'll be awake." Clint said.
"Have we nearly got everything out of the Box yet?" Nick asked Terry.
"Yeah, everything's out." The boy said, climbing out of the box.
"Everything?" Zero questioned playfully. "I think you've forgotten something very important down there." Newt eventually climbed out the Box himself and smirked at Terry.
"I am very important: see!" Zero childishly stuck her tongue out at the boys before opening up the box that was marked with her name.
"Well go on love. Tell us what's in there." Newt said, walking up to her. She grinned up at him and stood.
"They heard, they listened and they've answered. We have extra supplies in here, watches, pencils, paper galore and backpacks. Oh, sneakers!" She started nodding as she took in the amount of supplies in the box alone then laughed. "We can do this. We can actually do this, boys."
"A man had to have put us in here," Alby spoke up, "because it seems that even WICKED can't refuse Zero anything." He, too, started to laugh and soon enough the Glade was filled with the happy sounds of all the Gladers celebrating.
It wasn't until later that night that Nick, Newt and Zero sat around a fire, watching as the last of the Gladers made their way to the Homestead.
"You know what this means right?" Nick questioned.
"Somebody's watching us; somebody's always been watching us." Zero answered.
"This has to be some sort of disturbing and warped experiment by WICKED. We're being monitored not just watched." Newt said. "Question now, though, is why?"
"I don't know Guv. 'Spose we'll have to trace the maze and get the answers for ourselves then."
"You two are the only ones crazy enough to go back in there so you two will decided when you go and how long for. It's all up to you two." The two nodded at Nick. "I'm going to talk to Alby. I think he'll be a good substitute second while you're out and about mapping the maze." He said to Newt. "Not replacing you mate, just need someone to help reign in the boys." Newt smiled at him.
"No worries Nick. I reckon he'll be bloody good at it too."
''
"Hello Angel, how you doin'?" Zero just blinked before she burst into laughter. The smile on the boys face slowly dropped when he realised she was laughing at him. The rest of the Gladers stopped what they were doing to watch the scene unfolding in the middle of the Glade. The Asian boy forced a smile and tried again. "My names Minho but you can call me anywhere, anytime." He winked for emphasis. Zero sobered up and smiled gently at the boy.
"It's nice to meet you Minho. My names Zero. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and tend to my duties." The boy grinned at her.
"How about you attend to my duties?" He said, waggling his eyebrows. She just laughed a little before walking past him. He turned around and gestured 'What?' to the Gladers that were looking at him, all with knowing smirks on their faces. Minho felt an odd sense of foreboding when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.
"Stupid thing to do Greenie. You'll get a talking to from Newt if you're lucky. There are four rules here in the Glade. Listen and listen well. Number One: Everyone does their part around here; no slackers. Number Two: Never hurt a Glader. Number Three: Never leave the Glades unless you've got express permission from me and Number Four, now this one, this is probably the most important rule of them all: Never, and I mean never, try anything with Zero unless you want to be killed by an angry mob, and that's only if Newt hasn't finished you off on his own." He almost laughed at the fear that was etched across Minho's face as he stood towering over the boy. "I'll let you off with a warning this time Greenie but you won't be so lucky next time." He then stalked off as menacingly as he could, knowing that the boy was watching him leave. He then allowed a smile to take over his face as he went in search of Zero.
"'The Map Shack' - what do you think?"
"I think that's a shucking stupid name." Nick replied immediately. "You let her name the place?" He said incredulously, asking Newt. "Wait, nevermind, of course you did." Newt looked over, unimpressed while Zero continued smiling.
"So we'll time the closing of the entrances from today and for the next week. We'll go in the day after the seventh and start to map."
"Are you going in different directions?"
"You think I'd let her go off on her own you've gone bloody mental." Newt said. "We're going to map it out together. If we run into any trouble: we'll run back here."
''
"Oi, Minho!" Newt called out. "Got to the Fifth. Here's the map." Newt handed over the papers from his pack and nodded to the Asian boy. "Where did you get up to love?" He asked, turning to Zero.
"Half way to the Fifth. No trouble yet but I heard those shucking Grievers walking around on the other side of this wall." She said, pointing to the location on the map. Newt wrapped his arms around the girl, looking at the map over her shoulder. "I don't know when that wall is open but it wasn't today."
"Good that." Newt replied. "Shucking lucky it wasn't either."
"Okay, so I figure that we'll run together as a group in two days' time to map out the Fifth on the Western side. I've heard a lot of movement through those walls and there's no way I'm letting any of us go there by ourselves." Minho said. Three weeks and they had established a brilliant system. Minho was now Keeper of the Runners. The debate about what to name themselves was entertaining to say the least. Minho suggested they be called 'Minho's Fast Shanks' or the 'MFS' for short but that name was quickly outvoted by 'Mazers'. Eventually Newt suggested 'Runners' seeing as that was what they'd essentially be doing. It was agreed to faster than 'MFS' was shot down.
"We'll be getting a new Greenie in a couple of days so we'll see what he's made of and keep an eye out while he does the tour and his job trials." Alby said, getting a nod from Nick who showed his acceptance of the idea. "Come on then Shanks, let's head back to work."
''
Authors Note: I saw 'Maze Runner: Scorch Trials' and now I'm a little hooked. I watched the first one after finding out the actor for Newt though. I didn't mind it. If you listen to anything I write here, then please, for the good of the world and your own life, please watch the Scorch Trials. Thanks for reading.
