None of them talked for the rest of the day until it turned dark and they had to set the camp. Even then only few sentences were shared between the group. Aris felt most left out of the group. Somehow the death of Winston had a big impact on him, though he barely knew the guy.

He fought about his maze and his group, about Sonya and Harriet and their fates. He wondered what happened to his friends. Were they still alive? Did they escape? Were they tested? Or maybe they wondered on the desert like he was?

He laid few meters from the fire away enough not to disturb anyone and close enough to stay warm. He doubted he would get any sleep that night. In fact he didn't want any as he was afraid of nightmares that might have come if he did fall asleep.

Fry stayed near the fire, so close he could almost feel it burning his skin. But he didn't mind. Somehow physical pain took away the emotional one. Lately, him and Winston had become close friends and now… Fry honestly wished they hadn't. He knew he was being selfish, but he wished he could get Winston's voice and smile and many other things out of his head, because he knew he would never hear a stupid joke from him or drink whatever it was that Gally used to prepare with his friend. And knowing that Winston was gone made a vision of him not surviving the scorch realistic, and he hated himself for being so selfish but he never feared anything more than this.

As for Minho he pretended to be asleep. He didn't exactly care if anyone believed him, he wished he could fool himself. Now so much doubts where driving him insane, so much questions span throughout his mind. Would he survive the scorch? Would his friends? Would he ever find Nicole, whoever she was, wherever she was? Was she even still alive?

Newt and Julia cuddled near the fire. None of them spoke since they'd walked away from Winston. But for both of them the reason of silence was different.

For Newt handling the situation was the problem. He didn't know what to say, bloody hell he didn't even know what to think anymore. He knew their lives were at risk but he was sure they were immune. Now he had yet to accept that now everything he knew would as well be a lie.

For Julia on the other hand it was a different story. She just like Newt lost friends before, but this was different. David and Nicole both decided to risk their lives, to sacrifice. But Winston… No one she'd ever known or cared about died because of it. And also she never really witnessed anyone dying. And she didn't see the moment Winston pulled the trigger, but she was close enough to imagine it.
But there something that made her hurt even more. When Newt took the gun in his hand Julia for couple of seconds was sure he was going to be the one to kill Winston. She had never doubted him before. This was all new, strange, unwelcomed and felt like the biggest betrayal. She was surprised when Newt held her the moment they heard the shot gun, and that he continued to rub her hand the entire time that they walked through the desert. And even though not a single word was spoken between the two she felt as Newt didn't worry about those few seconds. She didn't know why it bothered her. Did she want him to get mad? Did she want him to say it was alright?

Julia heard a sight. It was soft and quiet yet heartbreak was echoed through her ears. She should not have heard that, but as she did she looked at the person at her right.
Thomas was sitting not so far away from them, but not to close as if he didn't want to get involved with the pair. When he noticed the look Julia was giving him, sympathetic as he thought, he stood up, turned around and walked away.

"Go after him." Julia told Newt still facing the direction Thomas was walking. He was confused at first, being deep into his thoughts, but then he noticed where his beloved one was looking and Julia felt him nod in agreement.

"It won't take long." He kissed her shoulder.

"Nah, don't worry about it. He needs you now and I guess you kind of need him, too." She reassured him. "I'll be fine." She gave him a weak, not so convincing smile, but it was hard to show any enthusiasm in those circumstances.

Newt stood up slowly as the words sank in. "Good that." He said before turning around.

Catching up with Thomas was hard. Newt limped as fast as he could but Thomas wasn't made a runner so quickly without a reason.

"Tommy!" Newt called out as he got closer. Thomas turned around a shocked look on his face.

"What are you doing, Newt?"

"What does it bloody look like?" Thomas walked up to Newt with an apologetic look.

"Why aren't you with Julia?" Thomas was obviously confused. The pair barely separated since they got each other back. As much as Thomas disapproved he couldn't blame Newt. After what he told him Thomas tried not to at least give the girl suspicious glares. It took lots of his willpower, but somehow having to think about more important stuff made it easier.

"You do know we aren't actually glued to each other, don't ya?" Newt tried to cheer the shank up, but it barely seemed to work. "She actually told me to go after you." There was a pause as Thomas tried to come up with a response, when he didn't Newt continued. "You seem… probably like all of us… you know… bloody hell I'm not really good at this talks but if you want to talk or cry or be bloody whiny then I'm here."

"You're not good at this? After what you told me in the Glade, you know while I was imprisoned with Teresa, that was… spirit-lifting. It was the best pep-talk I have ever been given."

"And probably the only one you remember."

"Good that." Newt managed to smile.

"You're using our slang." He pointed out with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Yeah, but it feels weird, when I say it."

"Well, you ain't wrong." Thomas chuckled lightly, forgetting for a moment about event that had occurred few hours earlier. Yet, the moment was gone quickly and they both stood there speechless.

"I'm the reason we are stuck here." Thomas through his hands up in the air.

"You're the reason we're free. You're the reason wicked is not doing some weird tests on us." There was a pause. Newt waited for Thomas to look at him, but when he did it he placed his hands on Thomas's arms. "Tommy, you're the very reason I have Julia back."
"And yes it's not easy out there and we're in constant danger, but we trust you. And those guys," Newt let go of Thomas and slightly turned around to point the campfire. "They followed you out. The truth is they'd follow you anywhere."

"They'd follow you, too." The corner of Thomas's mouth raised in a half a smile.

"It's different with me. We both know it. It's just not my role."

"Newt,… I don't' know where I'm taking you. I'm completely lost."

"It's not the first time. Believe me I've been through worst." Thomas's mind wondered back to Julia. He couldn't imagine how Newt felt after they'd parted. Thomas may have not trusted Julia but the look Newt was giving her basically all the time said it all. He wanted to ask why he didn't mentioned her earlier. Why did she even leave? Once again the unwelcomed thoughts corrupted his mind. But he pushed them aside and focused on the conversation again. "There's a place for us out there. I don't know where it is, but I do know as well as you do that lots of our friends died for us to get this far. So we can't give up. You can't give up. I won't let you."

"Thanks, Newt." Thomas went in for a hug. It was the first time he hugged someone and the feeling was overwhelming. Newt, his probably best friend, had faith in him, so maybe he could, too?

Newt patted Thomas on a back with a quiet cocky smile. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Good that." They looked at each other.

"Yeah, that's weird." They said in unit before Newt turned around and left. He felt better himself, knowing he helped out a friend.

"I'm gonna beat you to it." Thomas moved passed him getting closer to the campfire.

"Don't bloody rub it in!"

When he came back Julia was warming up by the fire, but her expression made it clear that her mind drifted somewhere far away.

"You alright there, love?" He sat up next to her. She noticed his aura changed, he was still not in the best mood but he seemed at least a little calmer.

"I guess. How was the talk with Thomas? You look… kind of relived."

"You were right" He put the arm around her. "I needed this talk." He smiled but noticed quickly she was not on the same page. "Really what is it? Is it about Winston?"

"Kind of… yeah." She sighed. "I could really use a walk if you-"

"It's okay." He didn't let her finish. He stood up and offered her a hand. Soon they were getting farther and farther away from the camp, but she wouldn't speak up. "Hey." He nudged her delicately. "It's gonna sound stupid, but are you okay?"

"Not really, no. I just… Ugh." She turned to face him. "Newt, I'm really sorry." He took her hands in his

"Me too." He said referring to Winston.

"No, Newt, you don't get it." She felt tears gather in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry because the moment you took the gun," It was painful looking him in the eyes while she confessed. "I thought you were going to kill him." She felt hot tears run down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

He definitely was not expecting that. And as the silent continued she dropped her head and let go of his hands. She felt ashamed, guilty, regretful and scared of what would come next.

But then Newt lifted her head by putting two fingers under her chin. He whipped the tears away with his other hand. But her eyes wouldn't meet his. "Hey." He tried to gain her attention. "Look at me, love." And when she did with pain and yet a glimpse of hope she probably didn't realize was there. "It's okay."

"No, it's not!" She shook her head and her hair stuck to her face along the way. "Newt, I am so so sorry. I just… I know I should have known-"

"No, love, you couldn't have known, because in fact I didn't know myself." He confessed. This wasn't really a lie. He really hadn't known back then how far he would go. Yet he hadn't considered putting a bullet in his friend. "I just… None of us moved and I realized if this happened to me I… I wouldn't want to put any of you in danger-"

"Newt-"

"No, let me finish. When I looked at Winston I realized that if I were in his place I'd have done the same thing to keep you safe and that's why I gave him the gun, because I would make the same choice."

"Newt, please don't say that."

"But it's true. I would do anything to keep you safe. And… love, the truth is…" He took a step back. His eyes suddenly found sand very interesting. "Love," He looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Please don't hate me." She walked up to him, her hands whipping the tears away.

"You know I could never hate you, my love." She gave him a sweet smile, the most realistic one he'd seen since the moment they found each other.

"Love," He took her hands off of his face, but held them tightly. "When you were gone, before I'd found letters from you… I tried to kill myself." He was prepared for her to take a step back, free her hands from his, turn away, cry, scream at him, but she did none of that. Instead she said.

"I know." In his disbelief he stayed silent for a while.

"What do you mean you know?" And then he added. "How?" She squeezed his hands.

"After I escaped the wicked... I… they wanted me to work for them. They tortured me… Once I was in the room working, the Glade was on the computers as well as the maze… and I saw you." She did not know when tears started falling down. "Before you did it I had tried to stop you. WCKD had lots of tech in the maze. I was pushing every button and screaming, but they took me away and locked me up. I thought you were, but then…" She realized she was going to refer to Nicole. She did not think she was ready or if Newt was ready. "A friend told me you survived."

They both tried to wrap their heads around what was just said.

"You've known all this time and-"

"I didn't want to push you. You've never pushed me. And as much as it hurt to see you attempt suicide… Newt, I've lost everything." She confessed. "You're the only thing I have left and I've done horrible things just because I wanted you back. And if I were to lose you..." She cried out the last part. His arms wrapped around her immediately.

"You'll never lose me. Never." He kissed her as if he wanted to prove that he was not going anywhere.

"Good that."