AN: Hello everyone and thanks to those that reviewed! Your support is always appreciated :) Enjoy this chapter! ~ Sarah and Emma
Disclaimer: Don't own maze runner
Soon the anchor was up and Lyra started the motor. The boat slowly started to move out of the walls, the small gap that had been easy to come through proving to be nearly impossible to escape. Newt watched as the ancient walls crept closer, the dangerously sharp edges carved by centuries of wind and rain becoming clearer with every inch they drifted towards them, threatening to drag the hull apart if they got close enough. He leant over the railing and tried to use his arms to push away but it was no use, the boat was too heavy.
"We're a bit close on this side," he called out,
"Push us away then," Lyra said back,
"I'm trying," he mumbled.
They crept closer still, a gentle scraping sound coming from lower down the boat. Newt cringed at the sound and climbed over the railing. He leant against it and braced his legs on the wall, pushing against the solid brick until the boat began to slowly move away. The sound stopped.
He stood and moved to climb back over, but as he turned his feet slipped on the smooth plastic and he fell down, his hands gripping the metal railing. As he was trying to pull himself over the boat moved, towards the wall again.
"Shit!" He yelled causing Minho to look over,
"What the hell you doing, you shank?"
Newt couldn't answer though as his lower leg was caught between the boat and the wall and dragged along. The pain was so intense that he suddenly didn't feel anything at all, his grip loosening on the railing as his mind zoned out of the situation and to somewhere else entirely. They cleared the wall and he nearly fell into the water from the sudden lack of pressure. A pair of hands gripped his shoulder and pulled him the rest of the way over.
He didn't know where he was. He couldn't feel anything but panic and confusion but he could see there was blood. It was everywhere, on his hands, on the deck below him. Why was it on his hands? He looked down, the material of his trousers was destroyed, he'd have to find something else to wear. Someone was shouting, somebody else was screaming. Why didn't they stop? Someone had told him to do something. Stay on the boat?
A sharp slap brought everything back into focus.
"I said, we have to get you into the cabin," Minho was in his face but he sounded distant.
He shouted Thomas over.
"He's in shock… don't think… hear me… help move him,"
The words drifted down to him but he didn't take them in. He felt arms under each of his shoulders as he was forced to stand up but when he tried to take a step a powerful wave of nausea swept over him.
"I know it hurts but you have to walk forwards," Minho was telling him pointless words again.
He was half dragged to the hatch and down into the cabin where Ally directed them to her room.
"Put him on my bed, there's space to move around in there. There's a first aid kit in the bathroom and extra bandages under the kitchen sink," She instructed. She had heard what had happened through Lyra's updates but she hadn't expected all the blood. He was deathly pale and his eyes were wide and unfocused.
They were nearly out of the town by now and would soon be back on open water. She told Lyra to stop where she liked and headed to the front to see how Newt was doing.
The boys had found the first aid kit and were trying to clean his leg but they weren't doing a very good job.
Ally immediately left to grab a towel and a bowl of warm water and shooed the boys away from beside him.
"Pouring water onto his leg from a bottle is not going to work!" she said as she placed the towel under his leg and used a cloth to wipe the dried blood away.
"You've got blood on my sheets," she said disapprovingly,
"Sorry princess," Minho snapped back
"Have you given him any painkillers?"
"There's nothing that strong in there to be worth it,"
"Go ask Lyra where she keeps the strong stuff," Thomas hurried out of them room.
"Can you pass me a bandage?" She asked Minho without looking up,
He silently handed her one and she quickly bound his leg up.
"Do you think we should let him fall asleep?" he asked her,
"He's not got concussion so I think it is fine," she wasn't too sure.
"Just wanna sleep…." Newt mumbled under his breath.
"Got them!" Thomas said breathlessly as he ran back into the room,
"I know you want to sleep but you've got to take these first," Minho said, taking the box from Thomas and the remains of the water bottle.
The unmistakeable sound of the anchor being dropped vibrated through the cabin and Ally went into the main room to meet her, leaving Newt in their care.
"How is he?" she asked as she closed the hatch behind her,
"Sleeping but could be a lot worse. It's just a bad graze, thankfully not broken,"
"Good. The idiot slipped and got his leg stuck between the boat and the wall,"
Ally winced.
"Where is he now?"
"I put him in my room because there is more space. Can I sleep with you tonight?"
"I suppose so," Lyra said, rolling her eyes, "Funny how he ended up in your bed though,"
Ally spluttered, trying to find something reasonable to say.
She had nothing.
Ally woke up early the next morning, unable to sleep. Lyra lay soundly next to her and she couldn't remember the last time the girl had looked awake, so she snuck out and went to check on Newt. She grabbed some fresh bandages and food from the kitchen and wandered back to her room. She opened the door and was surprised to find him awake as well.
"How's your leg?" she asked quietly,
He moved to sit up and winced as his leg bent.
"Hurts like a bitch,"
She smiled. At least he was awake and talking as usual.
"I need to put fresh bandages on, we really don't want an infection,"
"Look at you, nurse Ally,"
She rolled her eyes.
Minho had cut away the fabric on his ruined trousers last night so it was easy to undo the old bandages. It looked slightly better, but not by much.
"Can I see?"
She raised an eyebrow at him but moved out of his way.
"Bloody hell," he muttered,
"I can't give you any more painkillers until you've eaten," She threw a cereal bar at him as she put her cloth into the bowl of water and began cleaning up. He hissed but didn't say a word. Ally tried to hide her smile.
"You enjoy this don't you, seeing me in pain- shit!" he yelped as she began dabbing antiseptic onto it.
"Does that hurt?" she asked sweetly,
He sulked and crossed his arms as she continued.
"There," she said, tucking in the end of the bandage and grabbing the old one off the floor, "I'll be back with the painkillers in just a second,"
After stuffing the old bandage in the washing machine and cleaning her hands she headed back in. He had managed to get himself sitting upright and was gritting his teeth as she handed him the drugs. Idiot, he needed to stay still.
She sat on the end of the bed and ate her cereal bar as he gulped down the water.
"Thanks," he said after a brief silence, not quite meeting her eyes,
She nodded.
"What did you do to your hands?" he asked,
She looked down at the plasters she had stuck on there sometime last night, surprised to see they were still there,
"They're from jumping out of that bloody tree,"
He laughed,
"But of course you had to out do me,"
"Ah yes, that was certainly my thought as I fell down. 'I must get more injured than Ally or it won't be worth it',"
It was her turn to laugh.
"I don't remember a lot about last night but I do remember you ordering the boys around a lot,"
"Well someone had to, they had no idea what they were doing!"
"And you did?" he asked, a mischievous grin on his face,
"More than they did,"
He snorted,
"I did a first aid course at school I'll have you know!"
"I doubt amputating legs was part of the curriculum,"
"Stop being so dramatic you're not going to lose your leg,"
"He almost lost my boat though," said Lyra from where she was lurking in the doorway,
"Lyra!" Newt called but she had already left to sort out the kitchen. Typically, no one had emptied Thomas' bag, despite what she had said last night.
"God, she reminds me of my brother," he said, shaking his head before realising what he had said and going deathly still,
"Your brother?" Ally asked tentatively,
"Yeah," he said heavily,
"Where is he now?"
"Dead Ally, he's dead. They all are,"
Ally's eyes drifted to his shaking hands,
"I'm so sorry," her mind drifted back to the night he had left her on deck after telling him about Rhea. She cringed, of course he would have lost people, of course he would be hurting just as badly.
"So am I. After all, it is my fault in a way," his voice was so quiet,
"No it wasn't," an automatic response,
"All-seeing Ally, how could I forget you know everything," he mumbled,
"Sorry," she said again, shrinking into herself,
He stared off away from her, like he was having a conversation in his head. After a while he sighed and looked at her again.
"I had two brothers, Alby and George. We lived in a council house in a dead end part of town with our Mum, even though both my brothers were both old enough to have places of their own. It was in an area called the Glade, hidden within a maze of little streets. It wasn't much but it didn't matter.
"My Mum was the first one I failed. She worked in a warehouse in the shipyard and as soon as I heard what was going on I raced to find her but I didn't get to her in time. I was too slow and by the time I reached her building it had already been raided and, and she was dead. I could see her lying there behind the group of men who had broken in but I knew I couldn't fight my way in to reach her. So I ran."
He started to pick at the bandage but Ally slapped his hand away,
"Sorry," she gave him a reassuring smile, but he broke her gaze, "My brothers were at home and I tried to tell them about the solar flares, what it meant was going to happen. They didn't believe me when I told them what had happened to our Mum, they wanted to see for themselves. I told them there was no time, we had to get on water, and they laughed.
"We went to the shipyard and I showed them the warehouse and they wanted to get her, saying she might still be alive. I told them there was a gang inside but they said it would be okay. I believed them, I wanted to hope," he stopped talking for a second, shaking his head at himself. Ally sat as still as possible, waiting,
"But it didn't work. They saw us and ran for us. Alby and George fought them and told me to run but I couldn't leave them there. I tried to help but when I saw Alby go down I panicked. I ran and I ran until I found your ship and hid. Hoping that if I returned later they would be there. Now it's all gone. Where there was land there is just sea, I have no home to go back to."
"I'm so sorry,"
"So you see, it is my fault Ally,"
She crawled up beside him and gently took his hand, kneeling by his side,
"No, it's not,"
He refused to meet her eyes,
"Look at me Newt. There was nothing you could have done, you couldn't have stopped those men from killing your Mum. You couldn't have stopped your brothers from wanting to help her either,"
He finally looked her in the eyes and she saw the pain he had hidden from them for the past two weeks,
"It's not your fault,"
A single tear fell from his eye and without thinking she brushed it away. They stayed like that, almost frozen in time until a call from Lyra to come into the main room broke the silence. Ally stood, slowly dragging her fingers out of Newt's.
"Thank you," he said quietly as she walked to the door. He looked broken as he sat there, staring blankly at her. She smiled sadly in response, words unable to form on her lips as she forced herself to leave the room.