Chapter 5

AN: This one was more difficult to write, mainly because I didn't really have any inspiration to run with. I'm not sure if I'm just being overly paranoid or critical about my own work, but quality seems to be dropping ever so slightly. Tell me what you guys think! Enjoy.

I do not own the Maze Runner or any of its characters; all rights go to James Dashner

Thomas managed to grab Newt and break away from their escort.

"Alright Newt. Mind explaining now?" Thomas said as he pulled him into a side corridor.

"A little grumpy, aren't you, Tommy?" Newt asked, continuing to walk.

"I guess it's to be expected, after the person you're speaking to decides to ask you to shoot him. Only you didn't die, did you?" Thomas replied with a sardonic tone of voice.

"Should've known you can't stick a bullet through my head at point blank range, Tommy. Somehow, your aim sucked so bad you caught me in the side of the head. Right where the Flare was slowly eating away at my brain. Well, to cut things short, the physical manifestation of the Flare prevented too much of me from being splattered on the sidewalk. Suffice it to say, somebody at WICKED really wanted me alive. If you had bothered to look back after you shot me, you would've seen a Berg coming to pick me up. A bit of patching up of my head later, I was their first test subject for the Cure."

Thomas didn't know what to feel. Relief and happiness that Newt was alright, suspicion about his comment that somebody from WICKED wanted him to be kept alive, or embarrassment about the way Newt had described his aiming skills. So what if his hand had been shaking, this was his friend he was killing. It was perfectly normal to have a panicked reaction by that point, right?

In the end, he simply said "I see." and let it go. What else was there to say, really? He was still mad with Newt for making him kill him, but it turned out alright in the end, it seemed. Now that Newt was cured, and vaccinated, if he remembered Rat Man's words right, there was really no point in continuing with this conversation.

"You're mad at me, aren't you? For asking you to kill me." Newt questioned quietly, an emotion Thomas couldn't quite make out displayed on his face.

"Yes," Thomas admitted, "but that's beside the point. We have one last job now. That's all that matters. For now, let's just get back to the others."

"Might have a slight problem with that, Tommy." Newt said somewhat sarcastically, "Do you remember where they went?"

Oops.

-Line Break-

"Hey, did anyone see Thomas and Newt?" Minho called out. They'd been gone some twenty minutes now, and he was starting to get worried. They'd been put into a common room to while away the time before turning in. Nobody, not even their escorts, seemed to notice that the two of them had disappeared, however.

Nobody responded. Most of them had only just realized that Thomas and Newt were missing, and most of them didn't seem to care a whit.

"Probably just gone off for a walk. They'll be back eventually, don't worry so much. Although, I wish I had Thomas' help right about now. Aris seems to be getting really worked up about something, but he won't tell anyone."

-Line Break-

Thomas and Newt had only gotten more lost, and they hadn't seen any WICKED employees around. Something seemed ominous about the corridors as they ventured deeper and deeper into the complex, the feeling that something was at work here. All this didn't sit well with Thomas, and he grew noticeably more and more nervous as they continued.

"I think we're going the wrong way, Newt. Let's-" Suddenly, a gurgling scream could be heard from deeper in, cut off abruptly.

"What was that?" Newt asked in apprehension.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Thomas said, before dashing in. Newt hesitated for a moment before following.

There was a room at the end of the corridor, and silent sobs could be heard inside. Thomas could see that the door was slightly ajar, and he slowly tried to get a glimpse inside, Newt's head over his shoulder.

And his eyes widened, before darkness engulfed him.

AN: I think I'm going to actually decide on a schedule. I mean, releasing rapidly is good and all, but I think some time to actually check through my work is going to be important too. Besides, I need some time to actually live my life. Tentatively for now I'll say one every Wednesday and Saturday, UTC+08:00 timezone.