Disclaimer: Refer to first chapter.
Sorry about the wait before this chapter, but I received no advice on who I should do until I PM-ed Kingy.77 asking if Minho, Newt and Thomas would be a good idea for the next chapter. Kingy said yes so here I am. I should inform you that this is the last chapter.
My cat ate my charger so the stupid store took my computer for, like, two weeks and then I had to write something else so I've had almost no time for this. I've got tones of stuff due soon, but I'm trying.
Honestly, I am quite lazy though.
Newt had not always been tall; at ten he'd stood at a mere 4'9, shorter than the rest of his age group with ease. Even the younger children were taller than him. At twelve, Newt had been a wee bit taller than Beth, a pretty girl with black-hair and dark eyes- and Beth was short, very short at 4'11. At fourteen, Newt had begun to grow like no tomorrow. There had been one night where Newt had fallen asleep and woken up the next morning to be two centimeters taller; he felt like he were the beanstalk from that old fairy tale- Jack and the Beanstalk. It was quite simply crazy. As Newt shot up, he felt as though all his classmates were shrinking until, six months after Newt, another boy had shot up. That boy's name was Minho. He was sassy and annoying as shuck, yet one of the nicer children in the WICKED Headquarters. Of course, there was also Thomas who was easily the nicest person Newt had ever met. Of course, that wasn't hard but nonetheless Thomas was very nice. It was odd for Newt's only friend to be a boy he wasn't supposed to know existed. Naturally, rebellious Newt had decided to throw the rules aside and continue to do what he wanted like the street kid he had been born as. He continued to hang out the boy of lesser rebellion and would continue to do so for years. In public he would say that he knew no one by the name of Thomas if he were asked. Thomas was the person closest to Newt, the boy had said, and vice versa. Thomas had never been cruel to Newt, nor anyone else that Newt knew of.
And all this was despite having hardly met anyone. For as long as Thomas could remember, he had only known a few people; or so he told Newt. He said there was Director Paige, A.D. Janson, two doctors, the head and one who had taken care of Thomas as a young child, and a girl just a bit older than him. It was strange for Newt, who was surrounded by too many people day and night to here about a person who scarcely knew anyone.
That was not the point. The point was Newt had sprouted up like a beanstalk and now was sitting in the same room as a very depressed Minho and a sad Thomas.
A moment before an irritated girl had stomped from the room. "You know what?" She'd snapped. "I'm done! This is hopeless!"
"Teresa!" Thomas had protested before stopping. Clearly, it was pointless.
Their eyes met for a moment. Brilliant blue met nervous hazel. It was a silent agreement, naturally. Newt did not know Thomas and Thomas did not know Newt. The latter boy offered up a faint and nervous smile at Thomas and Minho. "Hello Minho, hello Thom- ah! Do I know you?"
Minho shot Newt and odd look through a veil of pain and anger. "How do you know him?"
"I'm Thomas," Thomas replied, clearly the better actor of the two friends. "You're A5, yes? And you do know, Minho here, right?" He patted said boy's shoulder gently. "I'm afraid I have some bad news, A5. What's your real name, anyways? I prefer real names to letters and numbers."
Newt breathed out a long sigh. "Newt, cha- ehm, sorry." Thomas gave a friendly nod at Newt, ignoring his slip up. "So, what's the dark news? What's bad? We all gonna die, now?" When Thomas didn't answer, Newt burst out with anger bubbling in his voice. "Tell me ya bloody idiot! I have to know!"
"Calm it, blondie. I'll tell ya. We are not all going to die. Eck, how do you want me to break it to you? You want the sugar or the salt?"
"Salt, please," Newt replied, strangely nervous.
"We are not all going to die. You've heard of the Killzone Experiment, right? That's the department that we're part of. It's slightly complicated, but the point is the largest and by far the most dangerous part of the experiment is just beginning. The whole and entire point of this experiment is to find a cure for the Flare. The Flare is the only reason we're here; we need to find the Cure. Soon, in just a few hours, really, I'm extremely sorry to tell you- oh what am I doing? I just need to blurt it out." Thomas paused and took a deep breath. "You will soon be entering the highly sophisticated Maze. The Maze is a system moving walls designed to confuse and scare. You, along with 39 other boys, Minho included, will wake up in the centre of the Maze, the Glade, with no memories save for your names. You got that?"
Newt froze. His limbs went still and eyes glassy. "I can't do this," he whispered. "I'll die. We're all gonna die. I'd rather shoot myself than live."