I woke up in the middle of a white room. I groaned, What happened? I thought.
Then it hit me, I remembered a man yelling, screaming at me. Demanding I program faster, though I had been working to the bone for hours. I was programming the sky for the maze trials. I knew it would get easier once I got the groundwork laid down, but had no idea where to start with such a massive amount of coding. Everything I tried so far had failed. It was like old fashioned Christmas lights. If one bulb was broken, then none of the others would work. Then you'd have to either start over, or comb through every single line of code and pick out the single imperfection. The man, Janson, had hit me on the head, thus knocking me out. WICKED was getting impatient, I was working on it for six hours straight every day. WICKED became more and more violent, and I knew he couldn't hide the growing amount of bruises from Newt for much longer. I found a note in my pocket,
We are growing impatient. If we don't see some kind of progress soon, then you will be punished. You have a week.
I felt a cold sense of dread course through me. I knew that I should start working right now, but who was I kidding. I could barely stand, much less concentrate on extremely complex code.
I got up and headed for the door, knowing that a decent night's sleep would help. I stumbled out of the door, and began to drag myself down the hallway. Surprisingly, I made it pretty far before collapsing in a heap in front of somebody's room. I was so dizzy, and I just wanted to sleep. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.
I had no idea how long he was out, but too soon I regained consciousness. I was lying on a bed. Wait. Why the shuck am I on a bed? I wondered. I opened his eyes, and saw Newt. There goes my plan of hiding this from him. I thought gloomily.
"So. You finally decide to rejoin the world of the living." Newt said.
"N-Newt! I can explain." I stuttered.
"Do you have any idea how long you've been unconscious for? It's bloody midnight!" Newt demanded.
His stomach filled with ice, "What? I've got to get back to work!" I cried. I rushed to get up, but Newt shoved me back down, "You sit your butt down and tell me what the bloody hell happened."
I knew that Newt was serious. But I also knew that he couldn't find out, "I'm fine-"
Newt cut me off, "Fine people don't pass out in the middle of the buggin' hallway. Tell me the truth, Tommy. You've been coming down here less and less. And when you do, you're so tired you can barely stand. Oh yeah, and don't forget those bruises. Yeah, I bloody noticed."
I opened my mouth to insist that I was fine. But I felt a pain in my head, and groaned. A look of concern flashed across Newt's face. He raised his hand to brush the hair in front of the bruise out of the way. I automatically flinched. I immediately regretted my impulse as a dangerous expression crossed Newt's face. It was rare to see Newt, my level headed, good natured Newt, so angry.
"So they've been hitting you?" He asked in a tone that suggested he was going to murder every WICKED official one by one.
"It's fine, Newt. It's my fault anyway, I just can't figure out this stupid sky." I quickly reassured him.
"Your fault? WICKED giving you a bruise the size of your forehead is not your fault. And what sky? Seriously, Tommy. You've got to tell me what the bloody hell is going on." Newt said.
I knew that I couldn't hide the facts from my incredibly observant boyfriend anymore, "WICKED has a new assignment for me. I've already helped programmed the grievers, and Teresa programmed the beetle blades. Now we have to program the sky for the m-" I was cut off by an agonizing pain in my head. I yelled in pain, and fell off of Newt's bed. The pain persisted, and I groaned, yelled, and clutched my head. Eventually the pain subsided, and I became aware of Newt shaking me, "Tommy! Tommy, are you okay?" He yelled.
I groaned, "They don't want you to know. Let's just say that WICKED is making me program the most complicated thing I've ever done before. And I can't share about it, or that happens."
"I'll kill them. I'll kill every last one of them," Newt seethed with un-Newtlike rage.
"Newt, just let it go. I'm fine. I'll finish my project soon." I ordered.
"Fine. But you can't expect me not to worry about you. You also can't expect me to let you go back to work, you look bloody awful." Newt pointed out.
I rolled my eyes, "Fine. If it means that much to you, I'll stay here."
I lay down on the bed and patted the spot next to me. I looked up at Newt, who was blushing furiously. I was exasperated, "I'm not the only human here. You need sleep too, and I doubt I could make it back to my room on my own. There's nowhere else to sleep in here, so unless you want to sleep on the bare floor, you'll have to put up with me for the night." I said.
"Yeah. It-it's just…" Newt's voice trailed off.
"Come on, Newt. We used to do this all the time when we were kids." I said.
Newt shook his head in annoyance, "You're lucky you're my boyfriend. You snore."
"I do not snore, you shank." I protested.
"Mm hm. Now slide over, you're taking up the whole bloody bed." Newt ordered.
I slid over and Newt laid down next to me. I should've been exhausted, but I still lay awake. Newt's presence is comforting. I burrowed deeper into his side.
I thought Newt had fallen asleep, but he spoke, "You still awake, Tommy?
"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.
"Just, about the whole WICKED project thing. Tommy, promise me you won't keep a secret like that again." Newt said.
"I'm sorry, Newt. I didn't want to put you in any danger. You're not immune, and I couldn't handle it if-if." I broke off.
"Don't worry about me, Tommy. If WICKED wanted me dead, they would've killed me a long time ago," Newt reassured me.
"Thanks, Newt. Sorry for stealing your bed." I said.
"No problem, shank. And Tommy." He said.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Remember I'm always here for you." Newt said.
We both had nothing left to say, so we were finally quiet. And I got my first good night's sleep in the first time in a long time.