Wow, it's been ages since I posted something here. Life got in the way so I had neither time nor inspiration to write. But lately I've been writing a lot of screenplay, maybe that's why I'm suddenly inspired to write prosa again. Anyhow, I recently finished the Maze Runner series and immediately fell in love with it! I'm currenly re-reading The Maze Runner and when I got to this part I thought, it's a shame we'll never know what was going in the Glade while Thomas and Minho fought to stay alive in the Maze at night. Newt's my favorite character so I chose him for this one shot. Enjoy! :)

Maze Runner OS: Disrupted Order

„Newt won't say it," the boy said "so I will. If they're not back, it means they're dead. Minho's too smart to get lost. Impossible. They're dead."

A big lump formed in Newt's throat. He tried to gulp it down but nearly choked on it. He knew Chuck was right. He had come to the same conclusion. He just had not let it in yet.

"The shank's right," Newt said solemnly. "That's why we can't go out. We can't afford to make things bloody worse than they already are."

The words stung like a knife to the heart. He felt as if he was abandoning his friends out there but they had agreed on this protocol. It was all about order. And he would be the last to shake things up. Still…

He put his hand on Thomas' shoulder, unable to blink the tears, pooling in his eyes, away. He needed to get away, get a grip on himself.

"The Doors close in two minutes," Newt said, a statement so succinct and finale, it seemed to hang in the air like a burial though caught in burial shroud caught in a puff of wind. Then he walked away, hunched over, quiet.

As he was making his way toward Homestead he heard the familiar loud boom, followed by the crunching grinding sound announcing the closing of the Doors. He was only a few feet away from Homestead when Thomas's scream echoed all over the Glade.

"Newt! They're coming I can see 'em!"

Newt immediately turned around and broke into a stuttering run toward the Door. Hope rising in his chest. Maybe it was not all lost yet. There, he saw them, too, now. Minho carrying Alby who seemed unconscious. Fear surged through him. He ran as fast as his limp allowed, pushing himself on. His heart hammering in his chest. Then stopping when Minho stumbled and fell to the ground. It was no good. The walls were moving too fast. They would never make it in time.

Thomas was standing there, seemingly frozen but his body had begun twitching. No way…

"Don't Tommy! Don't you bloody do it!" Newt screamed.

But it was too late. Before he could reach and stop him Thomas had surged forward and squeezed himself through the narrow opening, stepping into the maze.

The walls slammed shut behind him, blocking the view. Sealing off any way of escape.

Newt collapsed to the ground, all strength leaving him. The sprint had drained him of a lot of energy but worse was the feeling of hopelessness filling him up. His two best friends were out there, with the stupid new shank that had quickly grown on him. They were all lost. Not coming back. At night in the maze which meant in fact dead.

A bloodcurdling wail erupted from Newt's throat and resounded around the entire Glade. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to keep the tears at bay, fighting the defeat threatening to swallow him whole. He clenched his jaw firmly shut, preventing more strained sounds from escaping him. His hand found the earth beneath, his nails digging so deep into the dirt that it hurt. But the pain was nothing compared to what he felt inside.

Startled by the noise coming from the Doors the Gladers had come running out of Homestead. When they saw Newt there on the ground in front of the walls they hurried over to him. No one said a word. No one helped him up. They all but stood there, facing the Door, shocked. Words were not necessary. The screams and Newt's behaviour was enough for them to figure out what had happened while they were enjoying their carefree meal.

After a while a sniffing sound reached Newt's ears. He willed himself out of his paralysis, wiped off his tears and stood, facing the crowd of Gladers with a hard stare. There in the middle of them was Chuck, crying silently.

"Stop bloody cryin'," Newt ordered with a hard edge in his voice as he walked over to him. "Cryin's not bringin' em back."

"He was my friend," Chuck defended himself, referring to Thomas.

The faces of Alby and Minho sneaked into Newt's mind, threatening to destroy his last resolve. He quickly pushed them away.

"We're all friends here," he finally replied matter-of-factly. "Make room."

The Gladers moved to left and right to create a passage for Newt. That was when he realized that they were all looking expectantly at him. And it slowly dawned on him that they were waiting for him to address the matter at hand. With Alby gone Newt was the only leader they had left. Except for Gally who only called himself the leader.

But Newt ignored their stares as he walked by, heading back to Homestead. He needed to be alone. He was feeling sick, afraid to throw up any second.

Frypan joined him. "Should I call a Gathering?" Of course it was protocol calling a Gathering after an event like this.

Newt stopped dead in his tracks. "No," he said flatly. He wasn't ready to talk about it, yet. There was only one thing he was sure of.

Screw order.

His gaze found the Runners whose heads hung low. They, too, had lost a good friend tonight. Minho, their Keeper, was gone, leaving them distraught and without direction.

"Listen up, you shanks. I'm establishin' a new rule 'round here. No one goes out into the Maze tomorrow. In fact, none of you will ever go back out there!" The Runners stared at him, speechless.

"Newt, that's the dumbest shuck thing ever!" Gally protested. Of course Gally. Always with an opinion.

Anger filled Newt up, itching to be let loose. "Oh yeah?" snapped Newt.

"Yeah," Gally snapped back. "If no one's exploring the Maze we will never get out of here!"

Newt was trembling. Gally's argument was so ridiculous. He almost burst out laughing.

"Newsflash. To all of you!" he retorted waving at the other Gladers. "The Maze is a blood joke. We've been here for two bloody years and found bloody nothing. The Maze nothing but get us killed. We're never getting out of this shuck place!"

Dead silence filled the Glade. Everyone held their breath and stared appalled at their leader for proposing the unthinkable, that all hope was lost.

Having let off some steam Newt felt a little light. "You'd better follow this rule. Don't and be Banished. Plain and simple."

With that he turned his back on the group and headed back to Homestead.

No one followed him.

That's it! I hope my first Maze Runner fic wasn't too bad! If you liked it I can imagine writing a second part taking place when Thomas and Minho return to the Glade with Alby in the morning. Tell me what you think! ~ Asu