A/N: Hey guys! Couple of things before we get started:
1) There will be spoilers in this fanfic, so read at your own risk. Reading the main trilogy should sort you out, but I do follow the events of Fever Code as well (although not in great depth because I don't want the pacing to be too slow).
2) I've read the books and seen the films. I loved them both because they were so different. In terms of which this fanfic will be following... I'm going to try and take parts from both, but if you've got a preference for certain aspects just let me know!
Disclaimer: Believe it or not, I am not James Dashner, thus I don't own any of the characters or plot, apart from Ruth.
He could no longer see her.
But her cries still echoed down the hall.
Newt thrashed his limbs, trying to run after her, but the doctors latched onto him, and tightly pinned his arms at his back.
"Newt!" She screeched again.
What had she wanted to tell him? She had looked at him as if her world was being torn apart. The same frightened look that everyone had the day the Flare began. As he tried to fight the grip on his arms, he looked to the line of boys, watching the scene as they waited for their final medical checks.
No one moved.
"Someone bloody help!" Newt's voice cracked, the desperation overcoming the anger.
None of them could meet his eyes, even Minho's were glued to the floor.
How could they just stand by? His heart twisted in his chest. It was because they belonged to WICKED, all of them. What were they supposed to do- defeat WICKED and allow the chaos of the world to continue?
Newt felt the sharp prick of a needle on his neck.
No! His mind screamed.
He knew what they were doing- where they were sending him. The Maze. It's what all the candidates had been dreading. They also knew there was no avoiding it. He didn't know what challenges had been set, but he knew he would have to face them without her.
She wouldn't be going in with them, with either of the groups.
He had always known that she wouldn't be with him; it hadn't been an issue until he fell for her.
But he thought he had accepted that. The thought of a cure and the life that would bring- no fear of the flare; the thought of seeing her again- those thoughts would spur him on.
After that farewell, however, Newt knew something was very wrong and his mindset had flipped. He could no longer focus on the supposed good of the maze trials. His concern for her overtook everything, and his protectiveness spiked.
They wouldn't hurt her, he tried to convince himself.
She was WICKED's favourite... but maybe they no longer had a use for her. Maybe her job was done, now that the Maze Trials were about to begin.
The fluid from the needle thrummed through his blood, and quickly his arms grew heavy.
He needed to see her.
He would find her, however long it took. He would get out of that bloody maze and make sure she was safe. Not even WICKED could stop him.
But Newt didn't know.
He didn't know he wouldn't remember her. He would no longer have the memories they shared; not even her face would linger in his mind.
Unable to resist the powerful pull of the sedative, he tumbled into unconsciousness with her name, soon to be forgotten, on the tip of his tongue.