Disclaimer: I do not own TMRS.
"You okay shank?"
Newt shook his head, running his hands through his hair before locking his fingers at the back of his neck.
"I should have done something man. I just...shuck!" he hissed. He angrily scratched the back of his head.
Frankie made a disapproving sound. "Don't say that. You're a Runner. You know the rules. No use risking yourself if you can't do anything to help. He was on the other side of the shucking wall."
The blonde Runner recounted to them the details of what had happened inside the Maze. Everyone could see that the guilt of leaving behind a fellow Glader, a non-Runner at that, ate at his conscience. And Frankie knew no amount of comforting words could make him get it out of his head.
"It didn't feel right," Newt murmured in anguish. Despite all the plausible reasons he had come up with to justify that what he had done had been the right thing, he couldn't shake off the ugly feeling from having done something wrong weigh down his stomach. It was especially hard since he knew that had the situation been reversed and Alex had been on the safe side, the silly Med-jack would have scaled the wall and jumped at his side so that...
What? So that you can die together? A voice in his head mocked.
"You're not half-boy Newt," Frankie said, spitting on the ground beside him before gazing out to the south gate. "We need you more alive than dead."
"That right?" he thought aloud.
"Tsk. Quit acting like Minho and believe me for once."
As time ticked away and with none of the three Gladers walking out from the gate, Newt's nerves grew taut. Every muscle in his body felt stiff. His feet kept bouncing in a disoriented rhythm.
Jeff walked towards the two Runners and sat down on the grass on Newt's left side. It's been two hours," he murmured. "Where are they?"
"Give it time shank," he replied. "They're gonna make it."
He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more: Jeff or himself.
TWO HOURS EARLIER
Anton was dead. Minho didn't see it happen but he could safely bet on it judging from the skin-crawling sound of multiple bones breaking. It was followed by a pained groan which abruptly ended after another sickening snap.
The clicks and whirs of the Griever grew distant by the second, leaving Minho in the deathly silence of the attack's aftermath. Still he didn't let his guard down. The familiar blanket of numbness went down over his head, blocking out the fear and panic which had nearly consumed him minutes ago. His breathing evened out and his senses sharpened. He remained low on the ground, crouching as he cautiously peeked into a corridor adjacent to where he was hiding.
Everything was still. There were no signs of the struggle that occurred. He sprang up from the cold stone floor and fell into the regular pace he used to navigate around the Maze. His mind, however, worked double time to try to retrieve the specific pattern this part of the Maze was currently in. The Maze changed minutes after the gates opened. He noticed that much. While he has had quite a few bad runs in the past wherein he got caught in the middle of a change, he had never witnessed it happen this early. Usually the changes either happened at night while they were safely tucked in the Glade or in the later part of the afternoon, in times when he made the mistake of losing track of time. Things were quiet in the mornings.
And then there was that Griever. It seemed to him as though the longer they stayed in this trap, the earlier those monsters came out to play. A spine-chilling thought came into mind. If Grievers came out during the shucking day while the gates were opened then what will stop them from going inside the Glade? He mulled over this morbid possibility when a dark-haired figure ran past him. Despite the dire state he was currently in, it felt as though a ton of weight was lifted off of his shoulders.
He turned to the corner and shouted after her. "Alex you skinny shuck! Get your ass back here!"
The girl skidded to a halt, turned to look at him and dashed back at his direction. She jumped at him for a quick hug.
"We gotta go," she grabbed his hand and led him to the direction she was running to. "Exit's blocked that way."
"Where's Newt?" he asked.
"We got separated. He took off without me."
"He did?" Minho looked at her, surprised. "You must have been in really deep klunk then. He must have thought you were a goner."
"For a minute so did I."
Alex knew that Newt had a valid reason why he turned tail and ran. She tried to understand it. Still, she couldn't shake off the pang of resentment within her when she remembered the image of his retreating figure. She made a mental note to challenge blondie in a catfight once she got back in the Glade, complete with her ripping out a portion of his lovely locks by hand.
"Oh my God, where's Anton?" Worry erupted in her chest at the thought of Minho losing track of the Bagger. It could be anybody's guess as to where the monster had taken him. The Keeper of the Runners took his time in answering.
"I'm sorry Alex. I couldn't get there fast enough." After a long pause, he added, "Say something."
What was there to say? They both knew that even if Minho caught up with the Griever he couldn't fight the damn thing on his own.
Alex was at a loss for words. The only sound coming from her was from her feet as they pounded on the stone floor. She forced herself not to cry out to save her breath. She knew she couldn't afford to stop running even if she wanted to, not even to grieve. Things did not work that way in the Maze.
After a few minutes when she was sure she wasn't going to cry and start hyperventilating when she talked, she said, "He died angry at us Min."
She did start crying. But her feet kept running. She now knew for sure that she would have hated being a Runner.
"Yeah well," Minho replied, at a loss for words and going short of breath.
Well nothing.
The circumstances that happened before that rogue Griever got Anton was as irreversible as his death. This was one of those things that held no second chances, a missed opportunity that they would allow themselves to be haunted by if only as a means to pay respect to the fallen Bricknick.
Alex's anger at Newt was pushed down by the guilt she felt for Anton. If onlys ran in her head in an endless loop.
If only I had been quicker.
If only I had known beforehand that there was that thing in there.
If only we had been more careful.
Gods Anton, I'm so sorry. What she wouldn't give to have him back safe and sound, to have his curly mop tickling her face whenever he cuts in front of her in the breakfast queue.
There will be none of that now.
"Please get us out of here," she begged in between breaths.
Minho came to a sudden halt, holding out an arm to stop her.
"Look!" he said, pointing up ahead. To Alex's horror, she saw one large crack appear in the middle of the stone floor. Dust and debris showered in its wake as it raged through the corridor, running between the two of them. In a split second the two halves of the floor moved away from each other. The Gladers almost toppled off balance as they drifted away from each others' reach.
"Minho!" Alex screamed. With each passing second the two broken parts separated by inches until there was a vast empty space between them. "What the hell are you doing?"
She felt as though her heart would jump out of her mouth as she watched him take a couple of steps backwards to gain momentum.
"Don't do it," she begged.
The Runner crouched forward and sprinted right towards the ravine.
"Oh shuck!"
Time seemed to slow down as she watched him jump up in the air in a wide arc. Every cell in her body screamed at the heavens above to help him reach the edge. She begged for the abyss to not take him to his death just yet. As quickly as time slowed down, it quadrupled its speed. She froze in silent terror as Minho's upper half slammed against the edge of the cliff, knocking the air out of him. His hands struggled to get a grip as he felt himself slipping right into the endless fall.
"Shuck, shuck, shuck, shuck!" he hissed, bracing himself for the end when he felt hands dig into his left arm.
His eyes locked onto Alex's straining face. She was practically lying on top of his arm and yet they were still slipping. His fall slowed down enough for him to get a hold and pull himself up and on to the edge.
The dark-haired boy had barely caught his breath when the Med-jack's lips locked on to his, drowning him further. Just when he thought he was going to pass out she moved away and punched him on the chest.
"Crazy sonuvabitch!" she snapped. "You nearly died! Again! What's wrong with you?!"
"Crazy...love...piece'acake," he gasped in between breaths.
Alex was ready to give him an earful when another loud rumble echoed throughout the Maze walls. Minho pushed himself up to his feet before pulling Alex by the hand.
"Just like the old times?" He smirked, giving her hand a firm squeeze.
"I love you Minho," she blurted out. There was an unexplainable, almost painful itch in her guts at that moment. There were so many things she wanted to do and say to him and yet their unfortunate circumstance only allowed for that one declaration, which she thought sounded cheap. She could only hope he could see how much she meant it.
"Let's go!" he barked before starting up on a sprint. His right hand clutched her left as he did.
They worked in that well-oiled tandem Alex had sworn she would never get herself involved with again. He maintained their pace while she watched out for debris on the way.
"Look out!" She pushed Minho aside when another high-pitched sound exploded from behind. A foot-wide crack appeared on the floor between them and from within it, another wall emerged.
"You're shucking me!" She heard Minho say before she lost sight of him yet again behind the emerging wall.
"What's happening in there?" he asked, voice sounding muffled through the stone barricade.
At the corner of her eyes she sensed bright lights going on and off. It pulsated in sync with the rhythmic combination of clicks and whirs. Despite her feet pumping overtime to towards an escape, her curiosity got the best of her. She braved a look at the entity making the mechanical noises behind her and let out a scared shriek. If it was possible, she ran even faster. What she saw paled every terrifying thing she had witnessed in the Glade. It was a gigantic monster, hairy and bulbous with a mouthful of teeth and an arsenal of metal appendages at its sides. The thing that set her off in a fear-induced panic was the metal stinger that was slowly creeping up towards her direction. The sharp metal looked deadlier than any of the wooden spears the Bricknicks could ever come up with. It was bigger than all of them as well.
"Minho!" she called. A few yards away she could see the end of the wall. She thought desperately that if she could just reach that turn she could get to Minho and out of the monster's way.
'Almost there,' she thought. It was possible. She could make it.
The second she reached the edge, she made a sharp turn to her left and crashed into the Runner. They both grunted at the impact. Alex pushed away from him.
"Hey," he gasped. "We gotta get out-"
Everything vanished for Alex as white hot pain erupted from her back going through her chest. She could feel her heart pounding against something hard, cold, and painful.
"Jesus! Alex!" he exclaimed.
She blinked slowly before tearing her gaze from his terror-stricken face to the spot on her chest where the pain came from.
There, jutting out of the left part of her chest was a metal stinger which was big enough to punch a large hole through her rib cage. It was the same one she saw chasing her just moments ago.
Dull green eyes gazed back at Minho's dark ones. The tears poured down in droves. Both were too stunned to do anything as realization began to sink in through the haze of shock and pain.
Alex couldn't even scream as the large metal appendage retracted, lifting her in mid-air like skewered meat. She could feel herself floating backwards and bouncing up and down to the rhythm of heavy mechanical footsteps.
"Alex!" Someone was calling her name again and again.
She didn't even know her eyes had closed until she pried them open. Minho's anguished face came into view, running after her with outstretched arms. His own tears created moist dirt paths down his face. "Please!"
Every step took her further away from him. Minho had always been fast. This time he just couldn't be fast enough.
"Take my hand!" he screamed.
She wanted to. She really did. But her entire body was too heavy. It felt as though somebody injected lead in her bloodstream and she was paralyzed. She couldn't call out to him, neither could she scream as images flashed in front of her, threatening to split her bruised head into two.
The image of an elegant-looking woman with blonde hair materialized at the back of her eyelids.
"Tell me about WICKED, Alexandria," she said.
She sounded younger when she heard herself reply.
"The World in Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department is an internationally-funded organization whose main purpose is to eliminate the Flare in the human population."
Bloodshot eyes flew open once again. "Minho," she whispered. The Runner fell on the ground with a loud yelp.
"It has to be you."
Images of a dark-haired boy with sad eyes floated into view. She realized that she recognized him. His name was Thomas.
A younger Minho appeared in her mind's eye. He was smiling that be-dimpled smile of his as he stood in front of her, clad in white.
"So you do care, Alexandria."
He looked so happy and unmarred by the horrors of the Maze that she couldn't help but smile back despite the pain she felt.
You're lucky I love you this much.
She closed her eyes for the final time while listening to the sound of two children's carefree laughs.
"Alex?"
An older Minho appeared in front of her. This time his hair was cut the same way she remembered him wearing it in the Glade.
"When all this is over, come find me."
"Alex! AAALEEEX!"
A raw, animalistic cry ripped out from the teenager's throat. It echoed all throughout the walls of the Maze. The technician had put the shifting walls on a standstill as the scientists studied the blueprints of the candidate's killzone patterns. The results were printed, analyzed and decoded.
It was a blockbuster success. A47 lived up to her name. A7 remained in the running as one of the prime candidates to look out for in the discovery of the Cure. While Minho sobbed in anguish on screen, the white-coated scientists in the study room silently congratulated each other for a job well done. Thomas, the only one present in their group to see the commencement, was glued on his seat. His eyes never left the monitor since the Griever took Anton. Everyone around him was too caught up with how well Minho reacted to the variable that none of them noticed the white-knuckled grip the young boy had on his armrests. He fought not to look at the two cardiac monitors which made continuous high-pitched sounds. Their screens showed two flat lines.
A pair of hands clapped him on his shoulders followed the sound of Janson's voice ringing in his right ear.
"Congratulations Thomas. You are a genius!"
That did it. It was the needle that broke his resolve.
He shrugged him off and stalked out of the room, away from the proud murmurs of the brightest minds in the planet. He didn't even know where he was going. He went where his feet took him. He took every turn he encountered until he saw a dead end. And when he did, he charged at it, kicking and screaming through the guilt that wrecked havoc in his humanity. It was too much for him to take.
His legs gave way and he sank on the floor. Snot and spit lathed his face but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was a monster. Monsters felt no shame.
"I'm sorry," he sobbed against the cold metal wall. "I'm so, so sorry."
Newt's nerves grew taut. Every muscle in his body felt stiff. His feet kept bouncing in a disoriented rhythm.
Jeff walked towards the two Runners and sat down on the grass on Newt's left side. It's been two hours," he murmured. "Where are they?"
"Give it time shank," he replied. "They're gonna make it."
He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more: Jeff or himself.
Out of nowhere Minho stumbled out of the gate. His head was down. His jeans looked tattered and torn in different places.
"Minho!" Jeff sprinted towards the lone Glader. The entire crowd followed suit.
"Where's Anton and Alex?" Newt asked from afar. A heavy anvil weighed down on his stomach. He felt too out of breath to run with the rest of the boys.
The longer the Keeper kept silent, the more questions came pouring out.
"Minho?"
"Where are they shank?"
"Where's the rest of you lot?"
"Say something, will ya?"
"Hey!"
One Glader exclaimed as Minho shoved him out of the way. Newt caught a glimpse of the Runner's eyes. They looked dull and dead to the world.
Everyone watched in silence as dark-haired boy slowly trudged his way to the wall of names. He bent down and took a small knife from each boot. To everyone's surprise, he began to slash away at two names chiseled on the wall.
"What are you doing?!" Jeff screamed incredulously. The smaller-built teenager charged after Minho before anyone could stop him.
"Knock it out, shuckface!" he grabbed him by the collar, almost toppling the two of them off balance. Minho was quicker. He elbowed Jeff on the side of the face and regained his balance before he fell to the ground.
Newt pushed through the crowd to have a better look at what was happening. By the time he reached the front, Minho was back on his feet and running his knives over two names on the stone wall.
Slashslashslash. Anton.
Slashslashslash. Alex.
On the ground, Jeff managed to sit up before bursting into tears.
"Stop that. Stop...no, no, no, no..." He sounded like an overgrown child as he cried for the friends who were very suddenly robbed away from him.
The rest of the Gladers grew silent. The knives barely made their marks on the stone wall but the cause of Minho's odd actions were clear to all of them.
"Are you sure?" Jeff asked shakily as he pushed himself up to his feet. He turned to the crowd. "Can someone get back there and check? Anyone? Please!" When no one said a word, he turned back at the shell-shocked Runner and pulled at his hand. Minho didn't even shrug him off. He just continued to dig his knives across the names of the recently deceased.
Newt's hands flew to his hair. He gripped tightly at them as guilt racked his insides like a rabid beast. He couldn't breathe. Even as he continued to gulp in air he still felt like he was drowning.
You left them there. You turned and ran so now you're alive and well and they're as dead as a door nail. What have you got to say about that?
There wasn't anything I could do!
Isn't there? His conscience mocked at him, smiling maliciously as guilt tortured him within. Fear clouded your head, didn't it?
I had to do it. Too many of them still need me.
Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, shank.
"Fuck!" he whispered, clutching at his hair. His scalp began to burn but he didn't stop. "Fuck. Oh God..." he gasped. Bile rose up to his throat. It burned him on its way out of his mouth. His eyes watered. They refused to dry for a long time after that.
The entire Glade was plunged into sorrowful silence. For minutes, the only ones that could be heard were Jeff with his child-like cries and Minho with his knives.
Finally, Alby stepped forward and put a hand on Minho's shoulder.
"You've done enough shank."
The Runner seemed as though he was too far inside a daze to hear. He continued attacking the names.
"Minho," Alby called out louder. It was only when he pulled him back and finally took the knives from his hands did the almond-eyed boy gazed at Alby.
"They both died in front of me," he said flatly. "And I couldn't...I just...why didn't it take me? I was right there."
"Don't be too hard on yourself shank," Alby replied. He shook Minho by the shoulders to make his glazed eyes focus on him. "Hey! Hey. You did everything you could, alright?"
Minho shoved him away. "Don't! Just...don't." He voice broke at the last word. He's had enough.
"Where are you going?" he heard Alby call out as he ran away from everybody. He had to get away. Everything was too much and not enough at the same time. He felt as though he was in the worst pain he could possibly feel and yet he felt numb as well. He couldn't tell which was which.
He broke into a sprint and dashed into the Deadheads. He ran past the graveyard until he reached into a small clearing near one of the walls of the gigantic Maze. On one of its corners, under a thick-leafed neem tree lay their scratchy little blanket. It was crumpled on the ground and half-hidden underneath a pile of dry leaves and dirt. With heavy feet and an even heavier heart, he tilted his head back and he collapsed on it, landing on his back with a muted thud.
He turned his head to his right and opened his eyes. A part of him still yearned to see a pair of green eyes looking at him, smiling carelessly the way they usually did when she greeted him. Tears ran down his temple. There was no one there lying beside him...and there never will be.
"Come back," he whispered to no one in particular. "Please come back to me."
For the first time in a long time, Minho cried himself to sleep.
Author's Note: *twiddles thumb* Hiya. So um...real life has gotten quite hectic lately. I have a forehead full of pimples to prove it.
Plus I have a feeling one of you would want to crawl up my shared room and hit me over the head while I sleep for 1)taking too long to upload this chapter and 2)uploading this chapter. I am so, so, SO SORRY. When I first started this story my main goal had always been to make Minho attached to the skinny shuck (Alex) in a realistically paced manner...you know, slowly but surely. I was so focused on achieving this I didn't notice that she had found a way under everyone else's skin as well until it was too late...like I literally had the chapters uploaded here on ff and I couldn't stop...nor could I change the ending into a happier one. Because really, changing the ending defeats the entire purpose of the story to begin with. So ummm...yeah.
Again thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for everyone who supported this story. You have all been so awesome. Before you go do check another story if you're not already reading it entitled "Lost Within The Walls" by JustYourAverageJackSparrow. I like it. So does a bazillion other people. And I have a feeling you will too, if you're not hooked to it already. Teehee!
I've never done this before but I guess now's a good time to start as any. The next chapter will be titled "Alexandria's Genesis". Here ya go. The title is so self-explanatory it borders on banal.