AN: Just a short mid-week update, sorry it's a bit late! Anyway, get ready for Sunday ;)
Disclaimer- Don't own maze runner
And so it continued, day after day. Moving a bit further along the old coastline, fighting the water running off the land with nothing to see but clear blue water. They were the only people in the world it seemed.
Ally and Lyra swapped jobs now and again, to give the other a break from the Sun (much to Newt's annoyance) but it did little to alleviate the boredom that was slowly sinking in. With nothing to look at and only each other to talk to, tempers were quick to fray but arguments quick to resolve. There was nothing else to do.
It took just over a week before the water finally started to settle. On that evening Lyra and Newt stumbled into the cabin as they usually did, red from the Sun and more than exhausted. But instead of being greeted by an equally weary Ally, she was grinning instead.
"What's going on? Have you finally gone mad?" Lyra asked, slightly disturbed by her expression.
"The water levels are starting to go down again,"
Lyra's mouth fell open, not quite believing the words she had been hoping for all week.
"You sure that isn't because we're over land?"
"No, we're still technically out at sea. I've been checking all day and I'm sure."
"Does this mean we'll be able to get off this boat soon?"
"I doubt it Newt," Ally said with a sigh, "I have no idea where the new coast line will be, but we will be better off searching further north for higher ground,"
"You that keen to be rid of us Goldie boy?" Lyra teased, narrowing her eyes and smirking.
"I'm counting down the seconds," he grinned,
"So we have a decision to make," Ally cut across, "We are currently in the Norfolk area, it's a very flat part of the country so we either keep following the old coast line or head west to find the new one,"
"We have enough supplies for two more weeks, we could keep heading north," Newt.
"That could end up being risky if we arrive on land further up with little supplies and can't find any more," Lyra said,
"Following a new coast line will increase our chances of finding supplies,"
"But also a higher chance of being suddenly stranded if the water level drops a lot, Ally!"
"I don't know why you're getting angry Ly,"
"Because you're not thinking!"
"That is not true-"
"GIRLS!" Newt shouted out, "You're doing it again,"
They shot each other a quick glare.
"So, what are we doing?" Newt asked.
A pause of silence filled the room and Ally found herself looking to Ly, it was her boat after all.
"Let's find the new coast line. Anything on land must be better than this constant blue, but we play it safe, travel along old rivers, never get too close to shore."
"It's settled then," Ally confirmed.
The three returned to their comfortable silence, letting the gentle rocking of the boat wash over them.
"Does someone want to get the food out?" Newt mumbled,
Ally snorted, he was always the first one to think about eating.
"You said it, get up!" She replied.
"I should have seen that coming," he muttered as he pulled himself up and grabbed a few tins from the kitchen shelf.
"Are we still not allowed to use the stove Lyra?" He called, a mischievous smile lighting up his eyes.
Instantly Lyra was sat upright and indignant,
"How many more times, we are not wasting fuel on heating food up. If you're that bothered go leave it on deck. Honestly, first you hijack my ship and then you try and waste my fuel on heating up my food for yourself to eat-"
She broke off from her mini rant to see Ally and Newt laughing uncontrollably.
"I walked into that one, didn't I," she admitted, instantly calm.
It was strange how quickly Newt had been accepted by the two girls. The loss of Rhea was still fresh but they were unable to keep him out, especially when they had to trust one another to make things work. It wasn't completely one sided either, the girls were alright, when they weren't bickering.
Even though they finally had a plan and some good news, tiredness swept over them all and they fell into bed as they had done every other day.
Lyra quickly fell asleep, as did Newt, but Ally was left awake. Was she right? Was the water receding? And could she safely navigate them over actual land? There were so many uncertainties and she knew that all of their lives were in her hands. In the past, the three of them had always looked out for each other as no one else would and whilst she may have lost Rhea, she still had Lyra. And, she supposed, she had Newt now. But 'looking out for' had now turned into 'keeping alive'. And the responsibility was far greater than anything she had had to do before.
Doubtful and scared, Ally also fell asleep.
The next day they started their journey west. The progress was even slower than before as they had to sail slowly under Ally's advice. Lyra looked for signs of coast but all she saw were tips of towers and trees now and again. It was like some weird landscape from an expressionist painting. The closer inland they got, the more rubbish they found floating on the surface- everything from general rubbish to whole trees and car parts. But still no sign of any other boats.
They stopped for lunch for once on Lyra's call and Ally brought their food up from below deck. The landscape had changed from the endless blue bubble to a polluted and imperfect one. But she liked this one better, it felt more human, more corrupt.
"It's been over a week and still no rain," Lyra moaned,
"Never mind rain, I just want a cloud," Newt said running his fingers through his matted hair. Somehow it still looked good, Ally noted. And evidently at some point she had noted his hair looked good before.
"I predict there's going to be a massive storm any day now. There must be. I swear it is getting hotter,"
"There better be, at this rate we will run out of sunscreen by next week."
"Not that it makes a difference, I'm still burnt," he complained.
"That's because you refuse help and miss half of your back," Ally pointed out.
He shot her a sideways glance, "I do not. And anyway, I am 20 years old, I can put sunscreen on myself. Why are you watching me anyway?"
Ally blushed to her annoyance,
"I just noticed that's all-"
"Ally, shut up before you embarrass yourself," Lyra cut across, "where are we now?"
"A couple of miles inland," Ally replied, grateful for the change in subject, "we should be over Norwich by sunset,"
"That's not very far," She frowned.
"That's because I don't want to suddenly crash the boat into a tower or something. It's hard to quickly manoeuvre at higher speeds and we have no way to repair the hull without land to moore on first."
"It's just frustrating," Newt said, staring at the horizon where land should be appearing.
"It is," the girls admitted.
"Let's set off again,"
So they did, crawling along at a snail's pace. They did make it to Norwich that night but there was no way of recognising it.
The next morning, Newt knocked on Ally's door, earlier than they usually emerged holding a sunscreen bottle and looking marginally embarrassed. When he saw her questioning eyebrow (and ignoring her astonishingly messy bed hair) he just sighed and turned around, revealing a particularly bad patch of sunburn in the middle of his back, just where his fingers couldn't reach.
He tensed as she laughed.
"So once again I was right-"
"Just shut up,"