AN: Sorry it's taken a lot longer than usual for me to update. Like I said, these next few updates are going to be a it slow, but after that I have like ten in a row already written. Just hang in there guys!

Please review! I love reading them!

-Sir

Days off are the most bloody boring thing in existence. The touch of relaxation is nice, but I can't stand just sitting around and not being useful for more than an hour. Not without Sam or someone else to keep me company. And now I was anxious.

Sam and Minho had gone off into the Maze countless times. Shuck, so had I. But that didn't mean I wasn't worried. They'd missed dinner, and they've never been this late. Minho wouldn't miss dinner, I had a right to be worried, didn't I? My girlfriend and one of my best friends are out late running around in a concrete death trap and I have no way of knowing what's happened to them or if she's even-

"You okay, man?" Chuck asked. I jumped. He'd walked up behind me. I nodded.

"Brilliant." I said tersely. "Just brilliant." Chuck followed my gaze.

"You worried?" He asked. I pursed my lips.

"Chuck, I-I really don't feel like talking, alright?" I managed. "Just go, would you?" Chuck looked hurt.

"They're my friends too, you know." He mumbled. Instantly, I felt guilty. Sam says Chuck's got some sort of magic puppy eyes that make everyone bend to his will. She's quite protective of him. I smiled slightly. She was so cute.

Sam. God, where is she?

I paced in front of the Doors. Nick came to stand beside me. I frowned.

"You're waiting?" I asked. I shot another glance into the Maze.

"Unfortunately." Nick said grimly. "I know the two of them joke around a lot, but I don't think they'd be late if there wasn't something wrong."

"Look, I know it's against the rules, but can't I just-"

"Newt, you can't be serious. I know you're a Runner, but we could lose them and I don't want to lose you too. You're not going anywhere." Nick said firmly.

"Just-"

"I said no."

I sighed, frustrated. The two of them were cutting it close as it was. They'd been getting careless and now...now they might not make it back. Sam and Minho might be...then Minho burst through the Doors. Just Minho. He sank to the ground, catching his breath. I stormed over to him.

"Where is she?" I growled. "You're alone. Where is she?"

"Right...behind me." Minho gasped. I stared down the corridor. No one.

"You're a team." I spoke angrily through clenched teeth. "You're supposed to work together. You're supposed to watch her! Where is she?"

"She's...I...we have to..." Minho struggled. Sam nearly slammed into me. Surprised, I stepped back, and reached out to steady her before she could fall over. The sound of grinding gears filled the air as the doors began to shut for the night. They'd both made it. They were both safe. Barely.

I let go of her and started to turn to Minho. Then, without me supporting her, Sam collapsed to the ground. I wasn't expecting it at all, or I would've caught her. Immediately I kneeled beside her. The color was practically draining from her face.

"Serum." Minho rasped. "She...need to..." he broke off, coughing. Immediately, Nick raced off towards the Med tent. It didn't matter that he was in charge, none of us wanted to lose someone. Especially me and especially because that someone was her. I moved to try and carry her towards the tent, but she gasped in pain as soon as I touched her.

Suddenly, Sam contorted in pain and clutched her side. Her fingernails dug into the palms of her hands as she cried out. Carefully, I pushed her shirt up to just below her chest. The skin was black and mottled, veins branching out from just below her ribs. With the shirt out of the way, I could see a massive gash surrounded by blood that had been smeared by her torn shirt. She groaned. There was virtually no way I could move her without her bleeding out.

Suddenly Nick was back, followed by Jeff and Clint. Jeff, holding the needle with the serum, moved quickly to Sam and jammed it into her arm. Instantly, her eyes shot open. And she screamed. Something that shouldn't have happened. It tore through me like a great shard of glass, cutting like a dagger.

Her hands went to her head, tearing through her hair as though she was trying to reach the inside of her head by scraping away the skin. She screamed hysterically. Terrified by her reaction, I grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the ground, trying to keep her from hurting herself. Sam thrashed, trying to throw me off.

"You're making it worse!" I shouted. "What did you give her?"

"What did I give her? I gave her the shucking serum! It should've worked!" Jeff responded. As if on cue, an alarm rang throughout the Glade. Minho, who had recovered and had been watching the scene in front of him unfold with a look of complete horror, ran straight for the Box. I watched him race off with Clint. He couldn't possibly get whatever they were sending up, it was impossible to tell how long the alarm would ring for this kind of thing. Sam was sobbing.

"Sam, you need to listen to me." I looked at her. "I want you to focus on me. Keep your eyes open. It'll be over soon, you just have to-"

"She's not a child, Newt." Nick said gruffly. I glowered.

"Yes, because you doing absolutely nothing is incredibly helpful!" I shouted. Nick scowled. Sam made a suppressed choking noise, like a sob that was coming from the back of her throat. I felt like I was about to have some sort of frantic breakdown. Jeff had finally taken stock of everything he'd managed to grab before running over and was in full on Med Jack mode.

"Newt, I need you to restrain her and keep her from moving. I need to stop the bleeding, but if I don't whatever just came up won't help her." He said seriously. But I couldn't. He couldn't help unless I let go of her and I-

"What the hell is going on here?" Gally demanded. Unsurprisingly, he and a few others had come to see who was screaming.

"Grab her legs!" I yelled. "Restrain her! Do something!" Miraculously, he listened. Distraught, I shifted to try and give him a better angle as he got down and grabbed her ankles. The others, deciding it wasn't their place to be standing over us, ran off.

"The serum-" Gally started.

"Wow, I hadn't thought of that." I snapped, nearly shouting. "Thanks, Gally, for being such a bloody genius!"

"Move!" Minho was back. He was holding a small box. Practically throwing himself down next to us, he tore the lid off and pulled out the new serum, quickly jamming it into her arm. Instantly, her eyes shot open. She slowly stopped thrashing, but her breathing was slowing down. Then her eyes closed.

"Sam? Sam!" I started panicking.

"She's fine. Newt, no. Stop! Calm down!" Jeff put his hand to her wrist, double checking her pulse. "Listen to me. Look, she's fine."

"Then why did they send a different serum?" I growled. Jeff said.

"Look, its over." Nick said, seeming surprisingly unaffected by the entire ordeal. "She's alive. She'll go through the Changing. You'll get her back in a day or two."

"You're kidding right?" Gally asked him, incredulous. I'd almost forgotten he was there.

"You don't know what'll happen to her head while she goes through that." He said. "She could be completely different when she wakes up. Hell, she got a different serum than we did. It might take a lot longer or be a lot shorter for her. For all we know, she might even be able to talk when she's done. We don't know what they're doing to her. But you can't just pretend like she doesn't exist for a few days and hope she survives."

We stared at him.

"What? You know I'm right." He said gruffly. He had said about five different things at once and none of them were improving my mood. Then, somehow, he misinterpreted my staring.

"Here, move, I'll take her to the tent." Gally said. I stopped him.

"No, I'll...I've got her." I managed. I looked at Jeff, who nodded. With a heavy heart, I carefully lifted Sam off the grass and carried her to the MedJack tent. Glancing at her every now and then, I couldn't help but notice that even after what she had just gone through she still looked like an angel. I pursed my lips, telling myself not to think about the fact that angels are dead. She was strong, she would make it...she had to.

AN: I know the Changing is kind of cliche for these types of stories, but it has a reason. I promise.