《Broken Vows and Empty Promises》


 The Scorch

    (this is a Maze Runner fanfic!)


    Shuck it. We finally get through the maze, we think everything is amazing, then Bam! We get dropped in the scorch.


    ¡° Minho! Look!¡±


    It was Chuck.


    ¡° Huh, what? What''s happening?¡±


    Chuck was almost ecstatic. His face was shining, his eyes were lit up, and he was jumping up and down, which caused a lot of dust to travel everywhere.


    ¡° There''s a building! Finaily!¡±


    I could understand Chuck¡¯s excitement. We had been walking for what felt like forever under the shuck sun, and everyone would welcome a bit of shade, no matter where it came from. My skin must have been sunburned a thousand times over, my saliva was starting to cling together, and each foot fall felt like a punch to my overheated body. My thoughts were interrupted by Alby¡¯s sharp voice


    ¡°Well, who wants to check it out?¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Thomas tentatively raised his hand.


    ¡° I don''t know why, but it feels right for me to go.¡±


    Well that sure was weird. At least Thomas could handle himself if there was trouble. But when I heard the sound of pounding footsteps, and looked up to see Thomas was sprinting towards us, looking flushed and terrified, and I instantly doubted my previous statement.


    ¡°We have to go. Now.¡±


    Before I could ask him what was wrong, Thomas muttered something about telling us when we were a safe distance away, then he bolted in the opposite direction of the hut. After We got a few miles away, Thomas stopped and started to explain, but was cut off with a loud ¡®boom!¡¯ Followed right after by a bolt of lighting only a few feet from Alby. Before I even had time to think, my runner instincts kicked in, and I found myself bolting to the nearest building, which was a couple hundred feet away. Everyone else soon followed suit realizing at the same time what was happening. We were in a lightning storm. I could smell the electricity hitting the sand, and it reminded me of burnt toast, and the sound of the loft thunder and lighting was a loud beat in the inside of my brain, followed by an electric snap.


    Somehow, even with his limp, Newt had gotten in front of me. Suddenly, lightning struck only a couple feet from newt, and I felt something. Worry for my best friend? Scared of dying myself? Before I had more time to think, a bolt of lightning hit a couple inches behind me. The world seemed to tilt as I fell forward into the dust and dirt. I tried to get up, but another bolt struck nearly a foot away from my arm, and I was sent sprawling again. The last thing I saw was Newt''s concerned face, before I was swallowed in a world of nothing.

 Waking Up

    When I woke up, I saw Thomas, Alby, and chuck. That much was expected.


    ¡° He¡¯s awake! Minho¡¯s awake!¡±


    I moaned. Chuck''s enthusiasm was too much to take right now, and his joyous shout felt like a sledgehammer to my skull. But then something happened that took my mind off of it. Newt was pushing through the crowd of people to get to me.


    ¡° Bloody hell Minho, are you okay? That shuck bolt of lighting almost fried you!¡±


    ¡° Oh . . . yeah, I''m alright I guess.¡±


    I tried to stand, but after I took a step, the room started spinning, and I collapsed. Lucky for me everyone was still standing right in front of me, and someone caught me, or otherwise I would have had two head injuries in less than one day. My eyes had been closed as I was falling, but I opened them when I felt someone catch me. I opened my eyes and saw Newt¡¯s blond hair, and a look that contained amusement and concern at the same time. But there it was . . . that odd feeling again. This time I blamed it on my almost sure concussion. Newt laid me back down onto the ground, and told me to sleep. I think I had only been asleep for a few minutes when a long squeak made me bolt upright! Someone was opening a door! Then Chuck''s hands were on me telling me to lay down and go back to sleep, and that everything was okay. I heard more talking, with a voice I didn''t recognize, but everything sounded fuzzy, like I was underwater, and then nothing. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    When I woke up Alby was shaking me awake.


    ¡° Come on. We got some new friends who are gonna get us out of this shuck place.¡±


    I groggily stood up, insisting I didn''t need anyone''s help. In my defense I did not know we would be going down stairs. I missed the first step and tumbled a couple more steps, until I crashed into Newt, and then we both continued to tumble the rest of the way down. We landed in a heap at the bottom, looked at each other, then burst out laughing.


    ¡° Bloody hell¡±


    Newt managed to get out in between laughs.


    ¡° Minho, what happened there?¡±


    ¡° I don¡¯t know! I guess I missed some steps.¡±


    ¡° You sure as shuck did!¡±


    We burst out into another fit of laughs. This is what we find funny. After basically being traumatized, we can still laugh. Not only laugh, but laugh for completely idiotic reasons. I guess we are a couple of idiots, so it makes sense.


    ¡°Pull it together, and get up you shanks!¡±


    This was Thomas


    ¡° Newt, maybe help Minho stand, since he isn''t . . . fully stable on his legs.¡±


    Alby chimed in. Alby¡¯s words sent us into another gale of laughter, but we did as we were told. Since I had landed on top of Newt, I had to get up first. I made it up without falling, then stumbled and immediately grabbed onto one of the underground walls to stabilize my wobbling legs. Newt was up soon after and I gratefully put my arm around him, and we started walking.

 Rockslide

    ¡° Newt, maybe help Minho stand, since he isn''t . . . fully stable on his legs.¡±


    Alby chimed in. Alby¡¯s words sent us into another gale of laughter, but we did as we were told. Since I had landed on top of Newt, I had to get up first. I made it up without falling, then stumbled and immediately grabbed onto one of the underground walls to stabilize my wobbling legs. Newt was up soon after and I gratefully put my arm around him, and we started walking.


    ¡° Hey, thanks Newt, and I¡¯m sorry I bowled into you like that.¡±


    ¡° Don¡¯t worry about it. No one got hurt in the tumble, and I¡¯m glad to help my best friend out!¡±


    Best friend.


    Is that what he thought of me? I felt a surge of happiness at hearing those words.


    After a while I could walk myself without falling, but Newt still walked next to me just in case. There was a deafening rumble, and I looked up to see the rest of the group about a hundred feet in front of us. I guess I really wasn''t moving that fast. Thomas and Alby were pointing at something above and in front of us, and their mouths were moving but I couldn¡¯t hear them over the rumbling. It sounded like a stampede, but where you have ear muffs on, and it was muffled and dull.


    I tried to ask Newt, but I couldn¡¯t hear my own voice.


    I looked back at the group, and more people were pointing and yelling now. Chuck looked ready to sprint towards us, his body suspended in a pose that looked like he was about to spring like a jack-in-the-box. I looked up, and realized what was about to happen. There was a pocket of very, and I mean very loose rocks. The rocks were cracked, and not fully connected to each other, maybe loosened by something that happened before us. Something was happening above ground and the rocks were about to fall. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    But they were going to fall in the middle between me and Newt, and everyone else. Newt realized what was going to happen at the same time as I did, and we looked at each other in panic, and bolted towards the group. Everyone else motioned more frantically than before to  stop.


    We did, and I looked up, and saw we were almost right below the rocks, and they started to fall. Small pebbles at first, ones you wouldn''t even notice unless you were looking for them. I looked over at Newt, who was staring fixedly at the ceiling. When a slightly larger rock hit him in the head, Newt barely flinched, his body rigid, and his eyes unmoving. I knew he was transfixed, and wouldn''t leave that spot until he was crushed.  I had seen this happen before, when me and Newt were running together. We turned a corner, and we were face to face with a griever. Newt just stood there until the griever got so close I had to grab him and pull him away, just as the griever''s stinger hit the spot Newt had been frozen a few seconds before. A larger rock hit a few inches from Newt''s head, and smacked into his hand, leaving a red mark that was definitely going to turn into a bruise.


    ¡°Newt!¡±


    I yelled, not sure if it was in my mind or if I had said it out loud. I dove towards Newt, not even feeling the smaller rocks that pelted my body. My arms wrapped around his waist, and the momentum of my jump pushed us both back to the side where we had come from. I was aware of the impact of the ground, but didn¡¯t feel the pain. My last thought before we hit the ground was


    The opposite side of the others.


    Then I felt the impact of the hard rocky ground, and felt something land on top of me.

 Just Me and Him

    When I woke up my first thought was


    How the shuck am I still alive?!?!


    A giant rock landed on me!


    Then I opened my eyes and saw a blonde head. Newt must have landed on me when I tackled him to avoid getting crushed. Why wasn''t Newt moving? He was just laying on me. That was weird. At first, I thought he was still passed out, or had just woken up, but then I thought of something awful. He could be dead. My heart jumped as I crawled out.!


    ¡° Newt! Come on, you shank! Wake up! ¡°


    Newt grunted and tried to squirm away, but his eyes remained closed.


    ¡° That¡¯s It, Newt! Come on, wake up! ¡±


    Newt¡¯s eyes opened, and he moaned


    ¡° Minho, what''s going on? My head hurts.¡±


    ¡° There was a rockslide. We got separated from the others.¡±


    ¡° Where are they?¡±


    ¡° I-I don¡¯t know. I passed out too, by now they could be a couple miles away from the WICKED base.¡±


    Remembering that I immediately stood up, only to stumble, grab on to a wall, and slide to the floor again. Newt, who must have recovered from the dizziness faster than me, or was shuck hiding it really well, ran over to me and knelt down.


    ¡° Hey, easy Min, we won''t do anyone any good if you pass out again. Let''s try to take it slow.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Min.


    Newt only ever called me that when he was scared. Even though it was dark, I was close enough to see worry and concern etched on Newt''s face.


    ¡° Okay, okay. ¡°


    I was feeling helpless and defeated. It was like I was a greenie again. This time I stood up again, but more slowly. I could walk, but only by holding on to a wall, and after a couple hours I fully recovered. I couldn''t tell if Newt was feeling alright. If he was hurt, he wasn''t showing it, and I knew if I asked he would get defensive.


    ¡° Hey, look! ¡°


    I looked up. Newt was standing in a room. A room.


    ¡° What the shuck is that doing there? ¡±


    ¡° I don''t know Minho, I don''t know.¡±


    Newt had a puzzled look on his face, but I didn''t want to waste time thinking.


    ¡° Well, do you want to explore it or not?¡±


    Newts puzzled look turned into excitement.


    Phew.


    I knew that when Newt starts thinking, he doesn''t stop.


    He spirals.


    A lot.


    That was Newt¡¯s reaction to getting stung. He started thinking, making theories, and didn¡¯t stop. The theories got more and more elaborate, and he got more and more panicked, until he couldn''t stop adding to the theories.


    Then one day Newt just stopped.


    The med-jacks were puzzled. The day before Newt had been screaming his theories, just kept adding to them, he was screaming all day all night for almost a week. Then on the 7th day everything stopped. No noise, no screaming, nothing. The med-jacks were worried that if they approached Newt, it could start up again, so they got me. They told me to go in, make sure he is okay, don¡¯t tell him anything that could excite him, so that¡¯s what I did. I went in, checked on him, made sure he was alright, didn¡¯t say anything to excite him, but what I saw might have been worse than the screaming. Newt was lying on the cot, curled tight into a ball crying silently. Newt, Newt of all people! He was for sure the toughest out of all of us, but the grief serum did this. I never want to see him like that again.


    ¡° Come on ya shank! Are we looking in the room, or what?¡±


    ¡° Oh! Oh yeah, we are. Let''s go!¡±

 The Noise

    The first thing I noticed about the room was it was shuck boring. Yup. That''s the thing I noticed. Everything was some shade of gray or white. The walls were smooth, but slightly tilting inward, like a triangle, there were no decorations or extra things added. Just a table Which, for some reason, was bolted to the ground. Apparently Newt noticed this too.


    ¡° Why the bloody hell would you bolt a table down, in an underground shaft, in a practically hidden room?¡±


    ¡° I can honestly say that I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Newt was not going to drop this.


    ¡° I mean you gotta watch out for the bloody shanks, who go around in the shafts, carting tables away!¡±


    I don''t know why but I started laughing. I kept laughing till I couldn''t breathe. Newt just stood there looking at me, like I was the first shank to ever laugh


    ¡° Sorry Newt. It¡¯s just the stupidness of this whole situation.¡±


    ¡° You think I¡¯m stupid? ¡°


    I flushed almost instantly


    ¡° what? No, of course not, Newt.¡±


    It was Newt¡¯s turn to burst out laughing. I realized what he had done.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡° Hey! Not funny Newt!¡±


    Newt faked dramatically falling over laughing.


    ¡° Okay Newt, I get it, you should have been an actor.¡±


    ¡° Well I didn''t have much choice in the bloody matter.¡±


    That instantly killed the mood. Like murdered the mood. It went from two boys being smart alecs with each other to both of them almost crying. Newt had been lying on the ground for this whole time, and after what had to have been at least five minutes of silence, he spoke.


    ¡° Hey Minho, I think I found out why there''s a table here.¡±


    ¡° Well?¡±


    ¡° There''s a hidden door thing under it.¡±


    ¡° Well, open this ¡® hidden door thing ¡® and see what it''s for.¡±


    I stood there watching as Newt crawled under the table and opened the trap door.


    ¡° It is a small space.¡±


    ¡° How small? ¡°


    ¡° Two or three people could fit in it.¡±


    That''s when I heard it. It wasn''t actually anything, just a sound. A sound that barely sounded human. A sound that was close, quiet, but definitely there. I turned around slowly, and saw a hideous creature that must have been human at one point. Looking back now, I¡¯m pretty sure it was male, considering the voice.


    He had clothing that barely was staying on because of how torn and ripped it was, and if it had originally been a color, it wasn''t anymore. The man was covered in a mix of blood and dirt, and the rare spots of skin I could see were tinted with black and green bruises, or rubbed raw. His face was sunken and hollow, and it looked like he only had one eye, and his hair was a matted mess of blood. The worst part of all was that he had no nose. Where a nose should have been was leveled out, and you could see the nose holes of a skull protruding out. My first thought was


    What?

 Good Sleeping Time

    My mind raced through a million reasons why there was a man here. An almost dead man.  Some of the reasons were : WICKED sent him here, he was just like us, or he was a killer. All these thoughts and many more whizzed through my mind.


    He grabbed me then, before I could actually form a sensible thought, and covered my mouth. His hand tasted like dirt and rotting flesh, and felt like sandpaper against my skin. Then the man smiled at me.


    Smiled. When he did, I could see rotting teeth that were lined with blood. I ripped his hand off my mouth, and kept a death grip on it, not wanting this man to touch me ever again.


    Then I screamed.


    Short, because somehow the man had gotten his other hand on my mouth, and my scream was abruptly cut off. I heard a thump from where Newt was.


    ¡° Bloody hell, Minho! You made me bump my head. Maybe give some warn-¡±


    Newt stopped when he saw the man holding on to me. Newt jumped up, and promptly punched the man in the face. With the few seconds Newt provided me, I jumped on the man, and tried to keep him down. His skin felt dry and hard, but wet and squishy at the same time. Like a block of wood, after you dunk it in water.


    I looked up to see Newt rummaging in his backpack, and pulled out a knife! Newt immediately stabbed the man in the chest. I got off the man, and me and Newt scooted back to the wall, panting.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡° What was that, Newt? ¡±


    ¡° I think it was a crank. While you were getting your beauty sleep, our new friends told us about them. They got the flare and went crazy.¡±


    ¡° Oh . . .¡±


    I knew this was a sensitive topic, since Newt wasn''t exactly immune to the flare. He had an incredibly high immunity level, just wasn''t fully immune. By now the smell of the man, a mix of blood, rotting fruit, death, and sickness filled the room, and I scooted a couple inches away, and vomited, emptying my stomach, ( which didn¡¯t have a lot in it in the first place.) Newt ignored this, knowing it would only make me feel weaker if he commented on it. I whipped my mouth with the back of my hand, and crawled back.


    ¡° Well I aint closing my bloody eyeballs for a second, if those shuck things wander around here ¡±


    ¡° Neither am I. . .  Hey!¡±


    Newt jumped to his feet, swiveling his head back and forth.


    ¡° What? What is it?¡±


    ¡° What if we sleep in that compartment thing you found? You said it was big enough for two people, and all the cranks will be too crazy to look down there!¡±


    I knew this was a gamble. If the cranks didn''t find us, we would be safe. If they did, well we were dead. But, it was better than sleeping in the open, and I guessed Newt thought so too, because he agreed. I went in first ( on Newt''s request ) and Newt followed.


    ¡° Well good night Newt.¡±


    ¡° How do we know it''s actually night?¡±


    That was Newt all right. Always the technical one.


    ¡° Okay, good sleeping time.¡±


    As our legs touched, I felt something right before drifting off.

 Food

    When I woke up, Newt wasn''t there, and the passage door was open.  I stumbled out of our hiding spot.


    ¡°  Newt, Newt, where are you?¡±


    He wasn¡¯t in the room. I was getting more and more frantic with each call that wasn''t answered. Newt was sleeping closest to the door, what if a crank got him? I was screaming louder now, my voice frantic and worried.


    ¡° Newt!¡±


    I must''ve yelled that at least five times before I went into the shaft and squinted in the direction we came. It was too dark to make anything out clearly, but that wasn''t going to stop me from trying. Something tapped me on the back. I let out some weird noise that was somewhere in between a scream and a yelp and jump-spun around and-


    ¡° Oh my god Minho, are you trying to give me a bloody heart attack?!¡±


    It was Newt. Thank god. I guess when I turned around I scared him and he dropped all the packages he was holding, and put his hands up.


    ¡° Give you a heart attack?! What about how you shuck left me there thinking you had died?!¡±


    Newt''s face changed to shocked sadness, and he put his hands on my shoulders.


    ¡°You''re right Minho. I didn''t think about that. I went to go look for food.¡±


    ¡° ¡®You''re right.¡¯ hm. I''ve never heard you say that. Did you just learn it?¡±


    As long as Newt was safe and not dead, I didn''t care. And, it was true that he had got food, and I really didn''t want Newt to feel bad.


    ¡° Ha ha. Now help me pick up all these packages.¡±


    ¡° Fine. ¡±


    I started gathering packages. But, most of them I had never seen before. There was ¡®chocolate¡¯, something in a can called ¡®orange crush¡¯, and a bag with ¡®doritos¡¯.


    ¡° Newt, what is this stuff?¡±


    ¡° It''s food.¡±


    ¡° How do you know?¡±


    ¡° Cause it was in a weird rectangle thing that said food on it. There was a slot where you were supposed to put something in, but I just smashed it and got the food.¡±


    ¡° Who has to test it first?¡±


    ¡° I will sense I left you.¡±


    Suddenly I didn''t want Newt to risk himself.


    ¡° Let''s try it at the same time since you got the food.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    We walked back into the room, each of us with an armload of ¡®food¡¯.


    ¡° What should we try first?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°How about this thing that''s wrapped in a bar.¡±


    I didn''t know how to pronounce the name, and I didnt want to look like a fool in front of Newt. Speaking of Newt, I could still feel his hands on my shoulders, my shoulders tingling where he touched them. Newt had unwrapped two bars and handed me one.


    ¡° One . . .  two . . . three . . . Go!¡±


    We both took huge bites of ¡®chocolate¡¯. It was so good! It was smooth, and tasted like frypan¡¯s cake, but solid, and actually having flavor! I hungrily devoured the rest of the bar. I don''t know how long it had been since I had eaten, but man, suddenly I was starving! I turned to tell Newt about it, but Newt had a look of disdain on his face.


    ¡°What? Do you not like it?¡±


    ¡°No. I don''t. It''s soft and hard at the same time.¡±


    ¡° Well, I like it.¡±


    ¡° Good. You can have the rest of mine then.¡±


    Newt practically chucked the half eaten chocolate bar at me. I instantly ate that one too.


    ¡° Let''s see if this bag thing tastes better than that chocolate bar.¡±


    So that''s how you pronounce it.


    ¡° If it''s any better, I might burst with happiness.¡±


    ¡° If it''s any ¡®better¡¯ than that, I might barf.¡±


    ¡° Well don''t barf on me. This time let''s only open one bag, so we can save some food.¡±


    ¡° Good that. I want the others to try this disgusting thing.¡±


    ¡° If you mean disgusting as the best food in the world, sure.¡±


    While we were talking Newt had been struggling to open the bag.


    ¡° How the shuck do you open this bloody thing?!¡±


    ¡° Give it to me, Newt.¡±


    Newt jokingly hugged the bag to his chest and hissed.


    ¡° Oh, come on Newt, give it to me!¡±


    ¡° Never!¡±


    ¡° Come on Newt. That''s it, I¡¯m coming to get you!¡±


    I stood up, and Newt scuttled to the corner.


    ¡° I am a grown individual, and I can open a bag by myself.¡±


    ¡° Ok, do it then.¡±


    ¡° I don''t want to!¡±


    ¡° Then give it to me!¡±


    ¡° I¡¯d never give it to you, ya shank.¡±


    ¡° Okay, if that''s how you want to do it!¡±


    I sprung towards Newt and landed on him! He playfully shrieked, and we rolled to the side, and when we stopped Newt was on top of me, still holding the bag. Newt blushed, and I myself felt my face get hot. Then I remembered why I had tackled Newt in the first place.


    ¡° Ah-Ha!¡±


    I yelled, as I grabbed the bag, and easily opened it. Newt rolled off of me, complaining


    ¡° Hey, I could have done that.¡±


    ¡°Whatever makes you feel better, Newt.¡±


    ¡° Shuck it, are we going to try these or not?¡±


    ¡° Oh, all right.¡±


    The things inside were small triangle shaped things, covered in cheese powder. Before I could stop him, Newt plucked one out of the bag, and popped it in his mouth.


    ¡° Hey, these are good!¡±


    I went next. Ugh! They tasted like cheese, dipped in hot sauce, crushed up, and then stuck together and fried.


    ¡° Um, Newt, are your taste buds dead? First you say chocolate is bad, then you say this trash is good? What next, can you taste the air?¡±


    ¡° Actually I can, thank you very much.¡±


    ¡° Whatever. I''m not going to try this can thing, till tomorrow, I don''t want to taste something else till this cheese taste is out of my mouth.¡±


    ¡° Me neither, I wouldn''t want to spoil the cheese taste. Also, I don''t think we got even close to a bloody full 12 hours of sleep.¡±


    ¡° More like 4 hours. This time you''re going in first, no more sneaking off .¡±


    Newt groaned, but went in first, and I crawled in after him and shut the door. As I sat there, I remembered the others. Here we were trying weird foods and having fun, while who knew what Thomas and the rest of them were doing.

 Soda and Guilt

    Suddenly I felt extremely guilty.


    ¡° Newt?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Do you think it''s wrong for us not to have started off?¡±


    ¡° I mean, we passed out, so we are getting our strength back for a day or two.¡±


    ¡° Can we start tomorrow?¡±


    ¡° Yeah, we can pack up, try the weird juice thing, then head out.¡±


    ¡° Thanks, Newt, you''re the best.¡±


    ¡° Shuck right, I am!¡±


    ¡° Good sleeping time.¡±


    ¡° Good sleeping time Min.¡±


    I felt something. Again. This time it was different though. Before it was just like a presence, not an actual feeling. But this time, it was more. My heart was pounding, my face felt hot, my stomach felt fluttery, and where me and Newt¡¯s legs touched, my leg burned like fire. Maybe, it was just how late and tired I was. Yeah that was it! I was shuck tired, hungry, and recently fell on my head. In the morning, if I still felt weird, I would think about it, but for now, I had to slim it, and go to sleep.


    I woke up before Newt the next day, and the feeling wasn''t there anymore. Whew, that was shuck close to something, something that would affect what happened to me and Newt. And now I don''t have to worry about it! Win win. Beside me, Newt stiredded, and rubbed his eyes.


    ¡° Bloody hell, I hate mornings.¡±


    ¡° Like you said before, we don''t actually know what time it is.¡±


    ¡° Man, our sleep schedules are gonna be messed up.¡±


    ¡° Unless by some miracle, right now is morning, and we stayed on a normal schedule, which probably isn''t going to happen.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let me outta here!¡±


    I crawled out of the tiny box compartment. Man, I was getting sick of it! When I saw the little orange cylinders, I remembered the events of yesterday. I also distinctly remember me tackling Newt, and us rolling around. My skin felt warm, and the room started to feel too hot. Newt''s voice snapped me back to reality.


    ¡° Come on, let''s see what''s in these suckers!¡±


    ¡° Alright, let''s hope it''s better than the chips.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡° Since you are the almighty god of opening strange things you can have a first crack at it.¡±


    Newt started to mock bowing to me.


    ¡° You better bow! If you want any more of those chips, you gotta ask me to open them!¡±


    Newt stared me down. His glare had no playfulness in it. He was dead serious, and that was what made it funny.


    ¡° If you don''t show me how to open them I will bloody end you.¡±


    ¡° You know it just says it on the bag.¡±


    ¡° No. No it doesn''t.¡±


    ¡° Yeah.¡±


    ¡° Are you kidding me?¡±


    I picked up the empty bag of chips, and pointed to the top where it said pull.


    ¡° Right here in black and white.¡±


    ¡° In my defense, it''s not black and white, just white.¡±


    ¡° Want to regain your glory by trying to open this drink?¡±


    ¡° Sure, but then you can bow to me.¡±


    In response, I tossed him a can. I watched as he struggled for a minute.


    ¡° Are you sure you don''t need any help?¡±


    ¡° Yes, I¡¯m sure, and it''s not like this one has any directions.¡±


    He struggled for a minute more, and then pulled out another knife. How many knives did Newt have? How should I feel about this? If I had that many knives, I would be banned from the glade in ten seconds!


    ¡° so . . .¡±


    I tried to act casual.


    ¡° Whatcha doing with that knife?¡±


    ¡° Taking a short cut.¡±


    I walked over to Newt, so we were both sitting there, heads hovering over the soda can, both wanting to be the first to see what was in it. Newt jammed the knife under a weird tab thing, and pried it open. At first nothing happened. Then, less than a second later, a jet of orange liquid shot out spraying us in the faces! My first reaction was to cover my face, then when it became clear that it wouldn''t help, I grabbed the can from Newt who was trying to press his hand over the top, and threw it out into the hallway. We sat there covered with orange sticky liquid, soaking wet, as the can was still spraying in the hall. The liquid was sticky, and when I touched my face, it was hard for me to pull my finger away. The liquid felt like glue, and it had already started drying. I recovered first. As I wiped my face with my shirt I commented,


    ¡° I don''t know if that was a let down, or the opposite of a let down.¡±


    ¡° Maybe you have to open the bloody thing away from your face.¡±


    I grabbed another can, held it as far away from my face as possible, and opened it the correct way, by simply pulling the tab. I closed my eyes tight, and waited. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes. The can looked normal. I took a sip. At first it felt like it was dissolving my mouth, but after another sip, it tasted good! It was like orange juice that tasted off, with bubbles in it. I would have chugged the whole thing if Newt had not snatched it.


    ¡° Hey, give it back!¡±


    ¡° I get some too.¡±


    ¡° Just so you know, I¡¯m not about to fall to my knees and bow to you, especially after you stole my bottle.¡±


    ¡° Here''s another. We can both have one, then we will set off.¡±


    As I drink the rest of my soda, I inventory our supplies, which does not take too shuck long, because we don''t have many types of supplies. We have about a lot more bottles of juice stuff, a substantial amount of chocolate left, and about a dozen more chip bags. We also had what was in our backpacks which was provisions and water. I concluded that without gathering more food, and rationing what we had we could last about a week.


    But, that was with eating and drinking a bare minimum each day.

 Love

    After me and Newt packed our backpacks, we started walking in the dark. We talked, and then stopped talking, then repeated. We talked about a lot of stuff. We debated the chocolate vs. chip dilemma, and decided we would save a tiny bit of each for Thomas, Chuck, and Alby and have them decide. We complained about our sticky faces from the juice incident, and wasted a bottle of water to clean them.


    We discussed what Thomas had seen in the building. The silence isn''t awkward, it was just silence. In one of the long silences, Newt grabbed my hand, and started running!


    ¡° What the shuck, Newt?¡±


    ¡° Look!¡±


    At the very end, just visible, were stairs. Stairs. In my excitement, I grabbed Newt around the waist, and picked him up, spinning him!


    ¡° We made it! We aren¡¯t dead!¡±


    ¡° Uh. . . Minho?¡±


    Newt was smiling. Why was he smiling?


    ¡° Oh! Oh yeah, sorry.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I forgot I had picked him up. I quickly set him down. But, as soon as I set him down, Newt hugged me. I was stunned. My whole body was warm and tingly. He pulled away smiling.


    ¡° What are you bloody waiting for Minho? Let''s go!¡±


    I sprinted after Newt, and as we reached the stairs we slowed down. Newt was still in front, and it was about noon outside. Newt started climbing, and when he was a couple steps up, something happened.


    Time seemed to slow, and Newt''s sandy blonde hair caught in the sunlight making it glow. He turned to look at me, laughing. His face looked perfect at that moment, the sun on his face, him a few inches taller than me, his eyes closed in a smile, a slight breeze blowing his hair that still looked golden in the sun, my whole body still tingling from the hug, the grabbing of hands, and the twirling. When Newt opened his eyes and looked at me, I knew it. I was in love with Newt. Shuck! Why does this stuff always happen to me? And, of course, it''s when the two of us are alone, separated from the group, fighting for survival. Okay, stay calm. I can''t exactly do anything now, because it could affect the situation. Breath, okay. I will make a vow, that I wont tell him, and I won''t make any decisions because of it.


    ¡° Minho!¡±


    Newt was at the top of the stairs.


    ¡° Are you coming or not?¡±


    Trying not to look into his eyes, I responded.


    ¡° Coming, just saying goodbye to the dark shafts.¡±


    Oh crud. I was acting like an idiot. But, I guess I Wasn''t acting differently than usual, so that''s good. We started walking.

 Vow

    Slowly at first, then a jog, then a run. How does Newt run so fast with his limp? As we ran, I realized something, me and Newt had been friends since the beginning. I probably knew him better than anyone else, and he probably knew me better than anyone else. As we ran, I noticed some things. The city wasn''t fully destroyed. Sure, the buildings could have looked better, and there were no plants or grass anywhere insite, but other than that, this city must''ve been pretty resistant to the sun flares!


    Or, maybe it was just another WICKED trick. I wouldn''t be surprised if those shuck faces came down here and built this town from bottom up! In fact if none of this was even real I wouldn''t be surprised! If all the stuff I see was a hologram made by WICKED I wouldn''t be surprised. I''m almost convinced WICKED owns the world. Even if they did build it, most of the buildings were fine. Some buildings had the windows nocked out of them, some did not have a roof anymore, but all of them were still liveable. We had been running for a while, and dusk was setting. I stopped running, panting, but when Newt backtracked a couple feet towards me, I instantly tried to stop panting, but ended up gasping for breath. Newt seemed fine. How does he do that? Run for miles with a limp, then not even be out of breath? Maybe he should take my place as a runner.


    ¡° I don''t know about you Minho, but I do not want to be out here at night. This bloody place gives me the creeps.¡±


    ¡° I know what you mean,¡±


    Dusk was starting to fall, and I felt like little beady yellow eyes were staring me down from a spot I couldn''t see.


    ¡° Maybe we should find a place to stop.¡±


    Newt agreed, and we spent a while trying to find a building suitable for night. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Some didn¡¯t have doors. Those were out, because of the crank factor. Some were only had first floors. Out again, for the crank factor. If a crank comes in, we wanna be able to hear it stomp up the stairs.


    One was fine, until we looked inside. That one was out for many reasons. Many, many reasons that I don''t want to think about. But, one reason was somewhere along the lines of the fact that a dead body was there, and it didn''t look like it had died from natural causes. We beat a hasty retreat out of that house. We finally found one that was suitable. Part of its ceiling and wall were missing, so it looked like a triangle cut out of the house. The reason this was fine, was because no crank was going to be able to grapple up, and climb through the second floor hole. A bonus was that there were no dead bodies! When we walked in, I instinctively locked the door.


    ¡° Newt, do you want to check down here, and I¡¯ll check upstairs?¡±


    ¡° Yeah, and if you find anything good, tell me.¡±


    Newt wandered off down the entryway, and I started up the stairs. The stairs were creaky, every step giving off a ¡®nails on a chalkboard¡¯ noise. Well, we would definitely know if a crank tried walking up these steps tonight. Upstairs wasn''t as much as an upstairs, as an attic. It was just one room, with the ceiling having a triangular shape, like it would in a child''s drawing. Like I said before, there was a medium sized triangular hole in it that took a bite out of the roof, and the dusk light was coming into the room. There was nothing in the room, other than a trunk in the corner, and in the trunk were a couple pairs of pants. I guess when all of the cranks raided the house, they didn''t care about pants. Cranks. That was what Newt would become.


    No, no, I won''t let him. I¡¯ll guard him from the cranks, and I will never let him get hurt again. Yeah, that''s what I was going to do. I was so pumped up then, I walked over to the big hole, and yelled out into the cool night air,


    ¡° Ya hear that you shuck cranks? I¡¯m coming for ya!!¡±


    Man that felt good. Maybe I should yell into emptiness more often. Easy therapy.

 Thinking

    I walked back down the stairs, cringing at each creak of the stairs. Newt was also done inspecting his area, and was walking back from what I was guessing had to be a kitchen or living room.


    ¡° Why were you yelling ¡® I¡¯m coming for you¡¯?¡¯


    I flushed.


    ¡° Um . . . there was a rat, and I yelled ¡® If you don''t leave, I¡¯m coming for you¡¯.¡±


    ¡° Did it leave?¡±


    ¡° Huh? Oh yeah, the rat left.¡±


    ¡°That''s good.¡±


    Newt was looking at me in the cutest way, but he probably didn''t know how cute he was. Even with his face covered in dirt and dust, he was still adorable. He had an amused look on his face, and a lopsided grin. I swooned on the inside.


    ¡° Well anyway, I found a trunk full of pants, how about you?¡±


    I desperately wanted to change the subject.


    ¡° I found a bloody rug.¡±


    ¡° Do . . . do you mean an actual bloody rug, or just a rug?¡±


    ¡° Oh, just a rug, what did you expect?.¡±


    ¡° Well, with what''s going on, I don''t know what to expect.¡±


    ¡° I also found some granola bars, but they are covered in mold.¡±


    ¡° Maybe we should bring the granola bars with us, just in case we run out of food, as a last resort.¡±


    ¡° Good idea.¡±


    You know how I said the sun flares had happened, and it was shuck hot out?


    Well, now it''s cold.


    And I mean cold. And, when all you have is a sleeveless shirt, a jacket, and pants, it feels a lot colder. It wasn¡¯t the kind of shivering cold, it was the kind of cold that worked its way into your bones. Apparently Newt noticed me grabbing my arms and rubbing them (man, he notices a lot) and took off his jacket and told me to put it on. Put on. His jacket. Well, I sure ain''t cold anymore, with all the blushing I was doing.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡° Newt, it''s fine. I¡¯m just a little chilly, that''s all.¡±


    ¡° Mhmm.¡±


    Newt still looked concerned, but took his jacket back when I handed it to him. His very Newt smelling jacket. His jacket, still warm from his body heat. Shuck, stop thinking about Newt.


    ¡° Hey, minho. Maybe we should drag the rug I found upstairs, and we can use it as a blanket. I mean, we don''t know how cold it will get, and especially with that hole. . .¡±


    Newt knew he didn''t have to go any farther. He knew I hated being cold.


    ¡° Alright, but only if you stop worrying.¡±


    ¡° Alright, deal. Shake on it?¡±


    He held out his hand. His hand. His Newt smelling, soft, gentle hand.


    ¡° O-Okay.¡±


    I grabbed his hand, he shook, but I couldn''t, my hand was to numb. His hand was cool, soft, and his fingers grabbed mine, and then our hands fell away, the hand shake over.


    ¡° Here, you go upstairs, and maybe lay some of the pants down to make a sort of sheet against the floor, and I¡¯ll go drag the blanket up.¡±


    I murmured some sort of okay, and walked unsteadily upstairs. For some reason, the stairs squeaking didn''t bother me anymore. Once I got upstairs my hand was still warm, but by the time I laid out the pants, my hand felt normal again. Shuck, I wished it lasted longer. It was like I was completely oblivious to everything except the tingling in my hand, until it stopped, and it''s like someone dumps a bucket of water on you. Okay, stop thinking about Newt, start thinking about the task. There weren''t enough pants to cover a sleeping position, so I rolled them up into pillows. Right when I finished, Newt came up, lugging a giant carpet.


    ¡° Hey, do you need any help?¡±


    ¡° I got it thanks.¡±


    I could see he did need help, but I didn¡¯t mention it. The rug was dirty, but the bottom ( the part we would be touching ) looked clean enough. The dusk light had turned to blackness, And it had cooled off considerably. Now I was really glad for Newt''s idea of the carpet-blanket. The makeshift bed was laid out by the hole, so you could see the stars, and you could feel the breeze on your body. Newt was already squirming under the blanket.


    ¡° Now Minho, is when we can truly say good night.¡±


    I crawled under on my side.


    ¡° Good night Newt.¡±


    Newt fell asleep almost immediately. I could tell because his breath was soft, persistent, and steady. Now, don''t get me wrong, I was shuck tired, but I couldn''t go to sleep. The reason for this was because Newt was lying a couple of inches from me, and I could feel his heat, and I wanted to reach for his hand. . . No! Remember, the vow!The one where I would ignore the love I felt as best as I could. The one where I wouldn¡¯t let my love interfere. But. . .  What about the other vow I made?


    The one I made in this room, the one I shouted out.


    The one where I promised I would never let Newt get the flare, or suffer again? Which one was more important? Did I have to pick only one? I fell asleep thinking of this.

 Sun Rise

    When I woke, the sun was rising, and Newt was still asleep. I had turned in my sleep to face him, and his face was one of pure bliss. That was the face I wanted him to have. That face where everything is ok, where I don''t live in a destroyed world, where I don''t have a care in the world, face. I got up, knowing that if I kept staring into his face, one of two things would happen. One, I would eventually grab his hand, and he¡¯ll wake up, or option two, where he wakes up while I¡¯m staring at him.


    Both ending badly. I got up, and went over to the edge of the hole, and sat down, my feet dangling over the edge. The sunrise was beautiful, and everything looked peaceful, as if we weren in a dying world. It had just started by the looks of it, and it was amazing. The smell of fresh air, the peaceful quiet, and the feeling of being the only one up in the world. The sun peeking up over the crumbling buildings, the sky a beautiful mix of orange, pink, and even some lavender. If I could have frozen this moment, this moment where the sun is beautiful, and I could forget the world was ending, where Newt was sleeping behind me, and where there wasn''t a shuck crank in sight. Yes, If I could freeze time I¡¯d freeze it right now, and live this moment forever. And if I knew what was going to happen, I would have, but then I liked what happened next a bit better. I heard movement behind me, and soon heard the sound of Newt sit next to me. I was still looking at the sunrise, when Newt spoke.


    ¡° Mornin, you look bloody fantastic for five in the morning.¡±


    Wait. What did he just say? He just said I looked fantastic. But, wait. This could be Newt''s attitude, or it could be a complement. It could go either way. So, I responded back.


    ¡° So do you.¡±


    Probably my dumbest response to anything. Ever. I looked over at Newt, and my heart skipped a beat. Newt¡¯s hair was tousled and messy, his body leaning back, his hands supporting him. Can Newt ever look bad?


    ¡° Wait, I have an idea. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    Regretfully I left Newt and the sunrise, and ran downstairs. I had seen a big shard of glass hadn''t I? Ah, there it was, right next to the bodiless ( thankfully ) closet. I picked it up, careful not to break it, and carried it back up the stairs. It wasn''t exactly glass, but I¡¯d never seen it before. It felt like glass, but you could see yourself in it. I ran back up the stairs, and found Newt exactly where I left him.


    ¡° Newt, look! It''s like glass, but you can see yourself in it.¡±


    I sat down next to Newt, and held it up to my face. Shuck, I was ugly! My face was covered in small scratches, and my black hair was still sticky and slightly orange from the soda. I laughed, I mean, I couldn''t help it, I just looked so funny. Newt grabbed the glass, and looked at himself.


    ¡° Man, I¡¯m ugly.¡±


    I didn''t know how to reply to this, because he wasn''t ugly. I spoke under my breath, mostly to myself,


    ¡° You''re never ugly.¡±


    Newt blushed, so slightly, I didn''t know if it was from the heat, or if he heard it. Trying to change the subject, I thought of something to say. The sun was up, and I stood up, sayingHelp support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡° Okay, let''s hit the road!¡±


    Like we were going on a fun road trip. Newt quickly stood up, looking embarrassed.


    ¡° Alright, let''s go.¡±


    We decided to leave the rug and pants where they were, and then Newt forced me to eat.


    ¡° Come on Minho. If you don''t bloody eat, you¡¯ll die!¡±


    ¡° Um, if I don''t eat one time, I won''t exactly keel over dead.¡±


    ¡° Yeah, but one time turns into two, two into three, three into four, until you''re dead!¡±


    ¡° I¡¯ll eat if you eat. Also, have you forgotten our hand shake?¡±


    I sure hadn¡¯t. I¡¯d never forget that hand shake.


    ¡° Fine, and that was only for the cold factor, not for the food factor¡±


    I waited to see if Newt would want to shake on this too, but he didn¡¯t. Dang it. Instead, he stared at me while I ate a chocolate bar, and I forced myself to stare at him eat chips without swooning. Then, as we were packing, I noticed something. Newt was purposely taking heavier and more things.


    ¡° Hey Newt,¡±


    ¡° Yeah?¡±


    ¡° I think you put more weight in your backpack, than what''s in mine.¡±


    ¡° Are you sure?¡±


    I grabbed my backpack which was barely full, and told New to hold both of them at the same time. He did.


    ¡° Okay, maybe I over packed a little.¡±


    ¡° A little?¡±


    I emptied out both of the backpacks, and sure enough, Newt¡¯s backpack was jam packed full of almost everything, while mine only held a few chocolate bars. I started sorting them the right way. One chocolate bar for you, one chocolate bar for you, one chip bag for you, one chip bag for you, etc. As I sorted, I felt more and more guilty that I was the one making Newt feel like he had to carry more. But something was bugging me. This whole time Newt had been avoiding help. For smaller things like opening a bag to bigger things like forcing himself to carry more.


    ¡° Newt.¡±


    I didn''t say it like a question. I said it like a statement. Newt looked up.


    ¡° We need to agree on something.¡±


    ¡° What?¡±


    ¡° We need to accept help from each other, and ask for help.¡±


    ¡° Good that.¡±


    ¡° That means we tell the truth, and we talk.¡±


    ¡° Okay,¡±


    ¡° Is there anything you would like to ask me?¡±


    ¡° How cold were you really last night?¡±


    Oof. Now I¡¯d have to have a reason why I didn¡¯t take his jacket.


    ¡° I was actually pretty cold.¡±


    ¡° Good to know. Your turn to ask me a question.¡±


    Hm. he didn''t ask me why I didn¡¯t take the coat. Good.


    ¡° When we were running, did it hurt with your limp?¡±


    Newt winced.


    ¡° Not always, but some days it does hurt when I run.¡±


    ¡° Tell me the next time it hurts, so we can take it slower.¡±


    ¡° I will, if you tell me when you''re cold.¡±


    ¡° Deal.¡±


    I finished packing, and I gave Newt his evenly weighing backpack, and we set off. Today we were not walking or running. No reason why really, but we were jogging, and we kept jogging till Newt stopped short and I almost crashed into him.


    ¡° What the shuck?¡±


    I was more worried than confused.


    ¡° Shh¡±


    Okay. . . I still don¡¯t know why we stopped, but I guess I have to be quiet. Totally normal.

 The Crank

    This time I  whispered


    ¡° Newt, what is it?¡±


    Newt didn¡¯t respond but stepped to the side and pointed. Now, before I looked, I was hoping it would be our friends, and we would sneak up and surprise them. But nope. Not at all. The first hint of that was there was only one figure. The second tip was he was covered in bruises and blood. The third tip off was he was just standing there staring off. It was a crank. A crank that had what looked like a knife in his hand.


    ¡° What do we do?¡±


    ¡° Okay Minho, um, maybe if we walk by really slowly and quietly nothing will happen?¡±


    It was as good an idea as any, so I agreed. We started walking, not looking at the man, looking straight forward. At one point, our hands found each other and interlaced. That took my mind off the crazy person fifty feet away. Suddenly the crank ran at me ( I was closest ) and pushed me to the ground! My hand was ripped from Newts, before I hit the ground. I tried to ignore the pain of what must''ve been my third concussion in less than a week, and tried to get up, but fell back down. I tried again and was able to get up, and I saw the crank running away, and Newt standing there breathing heavily. I ran over to Newt, stumbling a little on the dusty, rocky, and sandy terrain


    ¡° Oh god Newt, are you okay? You just saved my life!¡±


    But when I saw Newt''s pale face, I knew something was wrong. Newt stumbled, and slid into me, but did not pass out. I lay him on the dusty ground, and tried to find what was wrong.


    ¡° Newt, what is it?¡±


    I was frantic. Newt was grimacing, but managed to get outUnauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡° Leg . . .¡±


    His leg. Okay, what''s wrong with his leg? Then I saw it. Blood was seeping through Newt''s pants. That crank must''ve stabbed him.


    ¡° Hey Min . . .¡±


    ¡° Yeah?¡±


    ¡° I think I might need help.¡±


    I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but it didn¡¯t work. I felt like crying, but I knew I couldn¡¯t. Newt needed me.


    ¡° Newt, I¡¯m going to pick you up okay? It might hurt.¡±


    Newt nodded weakly, the blood had made it through his pants, and was starting to pool in the dirt, but the sand wasn¡¯t absorbing it, just holding it.


    The pool of Newts blood was mixing with strands of sand, making it murky. His face was getting more ashen by the minute. I gingerly picked up Newt, and made sure I didnt touch his leg. I lifted him up onto my back and hastily jogged back to our little shelter we used the night before. Jogging with someone on your back is hard, but trying to not hurt them more or bump them around too much is nearly impossible. The uneven terrain was already hard to run on, not accounting for someone on your back.


    As I ran, I could smell dust and Newt¡¯s blood. The only things I could hear were my pounding footsteps, my ragged breathing, and Newt¡¯s shallow breathing. Everything else had been muted in my brain. By the time I got back to the shelter, I was sweating, out of breath, and sapped of energy, but didn¡¯t feel any of it. I bolted into the house, not even bothering to close the door, and ran up the stairs, not caring about the squeaks. I layed Newt against the wall, his body resting on the carpet. His eyes were barely open. His breathing sounded shallow, his breaths small gasps.


    ¡° Newt, you''re going to be okay alright?¡±


    Newt nodded, and looked like he was going to pass out. But, if he did, I worried he might never wake again. Apparently, even though he was in pain, Newt realized this too. His breaths had taken on a sound as though Newt was trying to breath through a tube. Like they were short bursts, and even those became labored, and small.


    ¡° Minho, talk to me, and don''t stop.¡±


    Okay, easy enough. As I thought of a way to help Newt, I told him of my box trip, what I did when I came out, and how I became a runner. Then, I had an idea.

 The House

    I walked over to where we had left all the pants this morning, brought a pair back over, and rummaged in Newt¡¯s backpack. Shuck, before he had knives all over the place, now when his life could depend on it, there were no knives to be found. Finally I found one, and luckily it wasn¡¯t the one that killed the crank in the shafts. I used it to cleanly slice the pants into two strips, each one a pant leg.


    ¡° Newt, what I¡¯m about to do might hurt a little.¡±


    I could feel sweat on my back. From the running, the situation, and what I was about to do. The drops of sweat felt like pinpricks of ice, running down my spine, and I tried not to flinch.


    ¡° can''t . . . hurt much more . . . ¡°


    Newt moaned through gritted teeth.


    I gave him the part of the pants that weren''t cut, I think it was part of the belt loop, for Newt to bite down on. If this worked, it could save his life. If it didn¡¯t, we wouldn¡¯t be much worse than now.


    ¡° Newt, can you lift your leg at all?¡±


    I tried to keep my voice calm and steady, but my worry was growing at the same pace the blood stain was spreading along the rug. Now it really was a bloody rug. The blood was like a growing wave of dull red taking over the once white carpet. The blood spot was now at least a foot long, and was still growing. The smell of the blood was intoxicating. Metallic and rotting, making me feel more and more scared for Newt. Newt had gotten his leg about half an inch off the ground, but that was all I needed.


    ¡° 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 ¡°


    I counted down and when I got to zero I slipped one of the pant legs under his leg, past his injury, and tied it right above the wound. I was hoping this would act as something to stop the blood. This wasn¡¯t the part I was worried would hurt Newt though.


    ¡° Newt, what I¡¯m going to do might hurt you okay?¡±


    Actually it was almost definitely going to hurt him.


    ¡° What I need you to do is breathe, and bite down, and try really hard not to pass out okay?¡±


    I don''t think Newt even had the strength to nod anymore. I got the other pant leg, and tied it around Newt''s wound. Tied it hard. Newt was sweating now, white as a ghost, his teeth clamped so hard on the belt piece, I was convinced it would shred beneath his teeth.. I was pretty sure if he went to sleep now, he wouldn''t die.


    ¡° Now, you can go to sleep.¡±


    Newt immediately slumped to the floor, unconscious. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Okay. I tried to talk myself through the situation. Newt got stabbed by a crank. We are separated from the others. We have no medical supplies or training. Newt can¡¯t walk or go anywhere any time soon. We have a limited supply of food. This is fine. It''s fine, it¡¯s fine, it''s fine, it¡¯s fine. Except for one thing. It wasn''t fine. Not at all. Then the reality of the circumstances hit me. Newt could very easily die. Right here, right now. With that thought, I ran to take his pulse. Not dead. Not yet.


    Not yet.


    That thought filled my head as I slumped to the ground sobbing. The past hour, I had been fighting off crying, and now it all came out. I cried for almost a half an hour, then I realized something. Something I should have known all along.


    I was Newt¡¯s only hope.


    Me.


    Alone.


    By myself.


    Newt would wake up soon, and I couldn¡¯t just sit here crying. I got up, and remembered the open door, and went to close it, all the while thinking


    Newt needs you.


    When I got back upstairs, Newt was struggling to sit up.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡° Newt, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡° Have to . . . keep going ¡°


    ¡° Do you see yourself Newt? Remember we agreed to let each other help, and you my friend need help.¡±


    I hope he didn¡¯t notice my red eyes.


    ¡° Ok . . . Min, can you stay with me?¡±


    ¡° Of course, Newt, of course.¡±


    I walked over, and sat down next to Newt, squeezing his arm. We fell asleep there together. Me squeezing Newt''s arm, and being with him. When I woke up, Newt was slumped on my shoulder. My first thought was


    Oh god, he¡¯s dead.


    But after I regained my senses, I realized Newt was warm. Too warm. Way too warm. He was burning up. How? Then I thought of two reasons, the first was he has the flare. The second was that he had an infection. desperately hoping it was the second one, I walked over to our dwindling pants supply, and cut another one up. This time, I used one of our water bottles to soak a pant leg, and drape it over Newt''s forehead. When I did so, Newt¡¯s eyes fluttered open.


    ¡° Min, I-I¡¯m so cold.¡±


    His fever.


    ¡° It¡¯s okay Newt. I¡¯ll help you.¡±


    The only thing here was the rug and the pants. Maybe if I moved him to the sun . . .


    ¡° I¡¯m going to pick you up okay?¡±


    ¡° O-okay¡±


    I scooped him up like a baby. Was it just me, or was he really, really light? His whole body was so hot that it was almost painful to touch. It felt like black asphalt after it had been sitting in the sun all day. Maybe I could make him eat later. At least he could talk a little. I laid him out in the sun from the hole, and covered him in the not bloody part of the rug, and the pants. Then I took off my jacket, and wrapped it around him. I remember less than twenty four hours ago, he was the one to offer me his jacket. Now I really wish I could have frozen time this morning.


    ¡° Min,¡±


    I looked up. Newt was trying to tell me something.


    ¡° Min.¡±


    ¡° What?¡±


    ¡° Am. . . am I going to die?¡±


    ¡° Of course not Newt, of course not.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t like Newt. His words broke my heart.


    Am I going to die?


    Just by looking at Newt, you could tell he didn''t have much time left. He was sweating and shivering, his face a pale gray, his eyes half closed.


    ¡° Newt, I promise you won''t die. I promise, I promise, I promise.¡±


    I promise


    I whispered those words until he was asleep. I tried to stand up, but the world tilted, and I grabbed onto a wall. I had to drink something. This was the first sign of dehydration, and I hadn¡¯t drinken since in the shafts. That was a couple days ago. A couple days ago. Just a week ago, we had escaped the maze, acting like the happiest shanks alive, and now Newt was dying.


    ¡°Okay, Minho.¡±


    I whispered to myself.


    ¡°Right now, you will drink, and eat a little. When Newt wakes up you¡¯ll have him drink and eat a little.¡±


    I stumbled over to the bags I had hastily discarded in a corner, and took out a soda, being careful not to open it too close to my face. After I drank a bottle of soda, and had a chocolate bar, I decided to explore the house. Maybe by some miracle, there was medical supplies, or a book titled ¡® how to treat stab wounds for dummies¡¯


    I wish.


    I walked down the moldy old stairs, and into the entryway. There were three rusted doors from the entryway, and I tried the one to my right. Inside, I found a walk-in closet. The walls were made of cracked cement, the floor a gray slab of concrete. I looked around the empty closet, feeling a sense of disappointment wash over me. There were no medical supplies or anything remotely useful. Just dusty cobwebs that looked like they hadn''t been disturbed in years.


    I sighed and closed the door.


    Next, I tried the door in the middle of the entryway. I found a large room with wood slab flooring covered in mildew. This must be the living room Newt had checked. There were a couple of cabinets, all empty except one. It had a note.


    The note said


    RUN.


    Nope. Not getting into that. And, I wouldn¡¯t tell Newt about it. Probably some prankster or something someone wrote during the sun flares happened.


    Or the worst possibility, WICKED had somehow planted the note.


    WICKED. They make me sick. Probably everything that happened was because of WICKED. I bet that the crank that hurt Newt wasn¡¯t even a crank, just some employee of WICKED. Actually, the worst possibility was probably that the note was true. Trying to forget the note, I went into the last door. The hinges creaked as I opened it. It was a once-modern kitchen, but was now ruined, the dirty cream colored paint chipped off the cabinets. Where ovens or microwaves must have been, were giant empty spaces, and frayed cords, like someone had ripped them out, which they probably had. The kitchen was dark, with no windows, and I had a sense of unease, as if someone was watching me. Remembering Newt, I quickly checked all the cabinets, and I found a half opened box of pain medicine, three years past the expiration date. I didn¡¯t know much about if that would affect them or not, but they were better than nothing. I walked back up the stairs, treading lightly, trying not to make the stairs squeak. Newt was still sleeping, and I set the pain meds down, and climbed under the rug with Newt, careful not to hurt him. His body was radiating heat, and I could feel the heat rolling off of him in waves. Newt opened his eyes then, and weakly smiled at me, and I smiled back. I grabbed his warm hand and squeezed. He squeezed back.

 Black

    The sunlight woke me the next morning, and it took me a second to remember where I was, and I blushed. I was under the makeshift covers with Newt. I squirmed out thinking


    Why did I do that?


    I guess my squirming out of the covers woke Newt, and he softly moaned.


    ¡° Min, it hurts¡±


    He was getting weaker. His face had taken on a sheen of sweat, and he must have lost way too much blood. He was getting so weak, he could barely speak.


    ¡° I know Newt, I know. I found these pain meds in the kitchen, do you want to try them?¡±


    Newt nodded,


    ¡° Anything has to be better than the pain.¡±


    Newt forced out. Just saying that sentence looked like it drained him. and I helped him sit up against the wall. I gave him one of our last bottles of water, and what was left of the medicine. He gulped them down with some trouble, and then I gave him a little food and he drank the rest of the water. While he was nibbling some chips ( what I thought were closest to crackers, of which I have a vague memory of eating when I didn¡¯t feel well ) I ate some food too. About a half hour later, I was sitting with Newt, trying to distract him by talking to him, and he had fallen asleep leaning on me. I think I had fallen into an uneasy sleep, when I felt Newt''s body grow stiff, and I looked over at him blearily, still half asleep. His face had suddenly changed. His mouth, which had been a painful grimace, turned into a straight line, his eyes got wider, and his body grew stiffer.


    ¡° Newt? You okay?¡±


    I muttered. Newt responded by crawling a few feet away, and vomiting up what was in his stomach.


    What?


    What just happened?


    My mind wasn''t fully on yet, until I heard the retching. Realizing what was going on I recoiled in shock, now fully awake, I rushed over to Newt, rubbing his back and whispering to him as he heaved. Oh, god what was happening to Newt?The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡° Shh, It''s going to be okay, It¡¯ll be over soon, you''re doing great Newt . . .¡±


    As he violently retched, his whole body contorting. I pulled his hair back with one hand, rubbed his back with the other hand, and kept  whispering things into his ear, until after what seemed like an eternity, he stopped.


    Newt looked up at me, swayed, and almost fainted into the vomit. And he would have if I hadn''t caught him, and carried him back to the rug bridal style. Either it was the fever, or the expired medicine. Or. . . No, no, no. I wouldn''t think of that possibility. The possibility that he had the flare. Something was off, though. What Newt emptied out of his stomach was black, and clumpy. Thinking about that combined with the smell of the sour-sweet  vomit, made me want to gag. I tried to fight my gag reflex, but my body had gone through too much, and it didn¡¯t work. I covered my mouth, and bolted to the triangular hole, and leaned over it. I leaned out as far as I could, pushing on the edge, my hands having a death grip on the cement, trying to get fresh air. Then, trying to hold in the vomit for so long backfired. Without warning, I threw up everything I had eaten in the past couple days out of the triangle hole, and onto the cement, 10 feet below. After I finished vomiting, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and stood up. Newt must have noticed, and looked concerned.


    ¡° You . . . okay?¡±


    Oh god, this was the last thing I wanted Newt to feel; like he was responsible for me, while he very well could be dying. I didn¡¯t want him to feel like I needed his help, when really, he was the one who needed my help.


    ¡° Yeah, Newt I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Luckily, we still had pants left. Shuck, those things were coming in handy. I grabbed two pairs, and put them over the black puddle, fighting the urge to gag again, and used another pant sleeve to wipe Newt¡¯s face off. Luckily, the smell would soon filter out of the hole. Newt was looking even worse now. His face was ashen gray, his whole body shivering and quaking, his eyes just barely open, and the pant leg I had tied around his leg to stop the bleeding had grown red. I knew then, I just knew. Newt didn¡¯t have much time left. I had to find medicine. Soon. I decided I would do it tomorrow, while Newt was asleep. Should I tell him? I don''t want him to worry, but if I don''t, what if he wakes up and finds I¡¯m gone? What if I tell him I¡¯m looking for food? That might work, and then he won¡¯t feel like he¡¯s being a burden. Okay, tomorrow then. What do I say to Newt? Bye, I might never see you again, but I have to go get some food. Bye!


    No, no, no, no. I have to remember this is newt I¡¯m talking to, he isn''t gonna fall for this klunk. Maybe something simpler.


    Newt, I gotta go look for some food, okay? I¡¯ll be right back.


    Yeah, that was better.


    ¡° Minho, can you stay with me?¡±


    ¡° Of course Newt, I¡¯ll always be with you.¡±


    Not tomorrow. Tomorrow I won''t be with him. Tomorrow I¡¯ll be looking for medicine.

 Sickeness

    I got under the rug next to Newt, and tried to stop thinking about all the bad possibilities of Newt dying. Next to me, Newt was shaking, and I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him close. That was when I was finally able to fall into a dreamless sleep. I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of Newt retching again. More black gunk, more smell, more comforting Newt, and the need for medicine more urgent. I helped Newt get up from the corner that had become ¡® the bathroom¡¯ and was now filled with black gunk, and would be stained black forever. Newt was unsteady on his feet, and I wrapped my arm around him, and took him to the triangle hole for fresh air. I went and got the rug, and draped it around Newt like a blanket. Newt leaned against me, and we watched the sun rise. I remember only a couple days ago when we watched it rise, but everything was good. No crank, no stab, no sickness. At least Newt could kind of talk again.


    ¡° Min, did you mean what you said?¡±


    Newt¡¯s voice was hoarse, and raspy from puking.


    ¡° What do you mean?¡±


    ¡° A couple days ago, while we were watching the sun rise.¡±


    Oh, shuck. He did hear me muttering that he never looked bad.


    ¡° Huh, oh, oh yeah.¡±


    ¡° What about right now?¡±


    I knew he was trying to joke, but it only made me realize how awful he really looked. His eyes were sunken, he looked starved and exhausted, his hair was matted with sweat, and he was swaying on his feet.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡° Yeah, Newt, you look . . . great.¡±


    Newt laughed, but it quickly turned into a coughing fit. The sound of Newt¡¯s ragged coughs filled the room.


    ¡° It¡¯s okay, Newt, breathe, breathe.¡±


    Newts coughing fit slowly subsided. I thought of something. Newt wasn¡¯t going to live forever, and I should tell him before it''s too late. I need to tell Newt I love him. Sometime while I was thinking, Newt had moved back from the hole, and was leaning on the wall behind me. I had uncoinsly spread my body to take up the whole gap, with my arms and legs spread.


    ¡° Newt, you know I think you''re my best friend right?¡±


    That''s it. Ease him in.


    ¡° Yeah . . .¡±


    ¡° You know that you are probably the closest person I have ever known. . .¡±


    I know I was being cheesy, apparently Newt thought so too.


    ¡° Min, I¡¯m gonna puke.¡±


    ¡° Sorry for being too sappy.¡±


    Newt was pale. His hand was clasped over his mouth. He was bent, his eyes facing the ground, swaying. He shook his head. I realized what was happening right as Newt spoke again.


    ¡° No, Minho, I¡¯m literally gonna puke, move!!!¡±


    Newt yelled through his hand while gagging. Oh god. I jumped out of the way as Newt bolted toward the hole and puked over the side. That brought me back. Medicine. Medicine, soon. Or he dies. Or the only person you have ever really loved dies.


    ¡° Oh god Newt. . .¡±


    I muttered to myself. He must really be hurting. I scooped him up bridal style, and took him back to the rug. I had to go. The sooner the more likely chance Newt had to survive.


    ¡° Newt, I¡¯m going to go find more food, okay? I¡¯ll be back before you know it!¡±


    As I was walking towards the stairs, I heard Newt call my name.

 Goodbye

    ¡° Min?¡±


    I walked back to Newt


    ¡° Yeah?¡±


    ¡° If I die, I want you to know something.¡±


    No, no, no, no. If I hear this, I¡¯ll break down, and never be able to get back up. He kept going.


    ¡° Minho, I-¡±


    ¡° No. I promise you are not dying, so I don''t need to know this.¡±


    ¡° But-¡±


    ¡° No!¡±


    Newt looked defeated, but he reached out and grabbed my hand.


    ¡° Goodbye Min.¡±


    He made it sound so final. My voice cracked.


    ¡° Bye Newt.¡±


    I grabbed my backpack, and I ran out of the house fighting tears.


    I ran out of the house, closing the door, and ran to the closest house, which was only a few feet away. This house looked pretty good, but was only one story. Once I got in the new house I fell to the ground sobbing. Newt knew he was going to die. I knew Newt was going to die. WICKED probably knew Newt was going to die. I only cried for a minute, before getting back up. I spoke to myselfThe tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡° Come on. Newt¡¯s life could depend on you finding medicine.¡±


    This house had three bedrooms. The first one looked like a small child''s room, with peeling star wallpaper, a crib, and a diaper table. Nothing there. The next bedroom was a two person kid bedroom, with gray painted walls, a bunk bed, and a closet, which contained nothing. The last bedroom was the parents bedroom, with a queen bed, and a closet. Nothing in there. The kitchen proved to be equally worthless because the kitchen was now just an empty room. This house was out.


    ¡° Okay, stay calm, there are plenty more houses, and you¡¯ve only been gone for a minute.¡±


    The next house was uneventful, so was the third house. I only wish I could say the same thing for the fourth house. I was getting a little worried, since I hadn¡¯t even found food, let alone medicine. The fourth house was the same as the others, but this one you could actually read the address.


    250.


    This house smelled like blood. . . I walked in the open door, and saw a hallway. I checked the bedrooms and the kitchen, but in the living room there was a closet. I yanked, opened the closet door, and saw a bowling ball roll towards me, off the highest shelf.


    ¡° Shuck¡±


    I managed to get out, before it bounced off my head. When I woke up, I immediately thought of Newt. What time was it? How long have I been gone? I raced out of the house, and my heart dropped. It was night. I had been gone at least all day, maybe more.


    Stupid,


    Stupid,


    Stupid,


    Stupid


    That was the word that went over and over in my mind as I raced for the house we stayed in. Where Newt was. Where Newt hopefully was. I opened the door, and walked in closing it. So far, so good. Then I noticed something. It was windy. Windy. In the house. I walked to where the wind was coming from, and I ended up in the dark kitchen. Well, it wasn¡¯t dark anymore. Apparently there was a back door to the house, and it was open. I turned away, then quickly spun back around. It took a moment for me to register what I was seeing. Back door. Open. Open back door. Open back door in the house Newt was in. Or were Newt used to be. With the thought


    Were Newt used to be


    I ran up the stairs whispering to myself


    ¡° Please, please, please. . .¡±

 Taken

    The upstairs room was empty, just a pile of rugs and pants, the black stained corner, and no Newt.


    ¡° Newt?¡±


    I ran back down the steps, and checked the other rooms


    ¡° Newt?¡±


    No Newt. I ran back upstairs, and clawed through the pants and rug, thinking he could be under them.


    ¡° Newt?¡±


    No Newt.


    ¡° Newt!¡±


    I screamed the name now. Not a question, a demand. Please no. No, Newt couldn¡¯t be gone. No. Not Newt. I screamed out his name, and kept screaming. Why Newt? Why? Newt was gone. My knees buckled, and I fell to the ground in front of the rug screaming, each word ripping from my throat. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡° Newt, Newt, Newt, Newt, . . .¡±


    On the fifth Newt, my voice broke and I started sobbing, with hot tears running down my face. I was screaming and crying at the top of my lungs, not caring about the cranks. I kept screaming until I lost my voice, and then I just curled into a ball sobbing. My head was filled with thoughts, all of them attacking my heart.


    Idiot


    Stupid


    Newt¡¯s dead


    Newt¡¯s gone forever


    All your fault


    Should have listened to the note


    Suddenly, I couldn''t breathe. I struggled to inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, but my lungs stopped working. I panicked, clawing at my throat, but I knew it was useless. My vision became clouded with black spots and bright lights. I managed one more horse, raspy word before collapsing


    ¡° Newt,¡±


    Then I passed out from lack of oxygen, into a dreamless sleep. Except it doesn''t stay dreamless.

 Dream

    I was back in the glade. How?


    Now I was in the maze.


    A scream.


    A familiar scream.


    I see Newt jump off the wall, but instead of hitting the ground he landed on a pile of cranks.


    I ran toward him, but Newt wasn''t there anymore, just a horde of cranks.


    They start towards me.


    I ran to the homestead, and locked the doors.


    Inside were Teresa, Alby, Chuck, Thomas, Gally, and Brenda.


    They scream


    ¡°Why did you leave us¡±


    They repeat it over and over and over.


    I hear a slam, and the homestead door opens, and I see Newt.


    His body looks like the crank that attacked us, ragged and dirty.


    He looks up at me, and I see the stab wound on his leg


    and the freshly broken leg.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Just like after he jumped.


    Newt yelled


    ¡° You left me, you left me to die, you left me to turn into a crank!¡±


    No, no, no, no.


    I tried to speak, but my voice doesn''t work.


    I backed up into my friends,


    Except they too were cranks.


    They kept chanting


    ¡° Why did you leave us? Why, why, why?¡±


    Then their chant changed


    ¡° Why did you kill us?¡±


    What?


    I didn¡¯t kill you


    I looked at them again


    They had changed


    They were all the runners and gladers who ever died


    Their voices mixed into one, then were muffled as Newt spoke.


    He spoke quietly, and that''s what broke me.


    That''s what tore me into a million pieces.


    ¡° What about your vows? ¡°


    I backed up more


    ¡°What about your promise?¡±


    I tried to cover my ears, but it didn¡¯t help


    ¡° You broke them.¡±


    I didn¡¯t mean to!


    ¡°You killed me.¡±


    Each of those words


    You


    killed


    me


    pushed me back more, until I was at the wall of the homestead


    Then I was pushed back, falling from the homestead


    I woke up screaming, and gasping for breath.

 Leave This World

    I woke up on top of the rug, the Newt smelling rug. I didn¡¯t cry. I was drained of all emotion. I walked over to the triangle hole and stood on the edge of it. Thoughts filled my head.


    Newt¡¯s dead


    It¡¯s your fault


    Stupid


    Idiot


    You¡¯ll never see Newt again


    Never


    You don¡¯t deserve to live


    That last thought kept repeating. I looked down at the ground. If Newt was dead, I wanted to be too. The jump would definitely kill me. With the same thought running through my head, I coiled my legs and jumped. Time seemed to slow, my eyes closed, the calm silence, the wind in my hair. Then a thought entered my head.


    Maybe Newt¡¯s not dead


    Not dead. Not dead. Taken, but not dead. If that was true, I could be Newt¡¯s only hope. My eyes flew open, and I flailed for a hand hold, something to stop me from plummeting. My hand caught the very edge of the concrete edge, then my other hand, then my torso, then my legs. All of this must have happened in only a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. I stood in the upstairs room, surveying what I had.


    Whoever took Newt also took his backpack. I ran out of the house, looking for which way they went. Then I saw it.


    My jacket.


    The one I had put over Newt when he had a fever. He must have dropped it. And it gave me the first clue on where to go. It was the same direction me and Newt were headed in the first place, and I started running. I ran in the same direction for days, passing house after house after house, until they all blurred together. I hadn''t had food or water in days, and eventually, I stumbled and fell to the dusty ground weak with hunger. The first thing I saw in my backpack was one of those moldy granola bar things. I didn''t shuckin care. I grabbed it, ripped off the wrapper, and stuffed it into my mouth. Yuck. The texture was soft because of the mold, but hard, chewy, and crunchy at the same time from the actual granola part. Desperate to get it out of my mouth I swallowed it. Bad idea. Very bad idea. The instant it hit my stomach, it sent it back up again, and I vomited up the granola bar. I didn¡¯t have enough food to keep vomiting, so my body resorted to dry heaving. After I gained enough control over my body to stop heaving, I fell over exhausted and went to sleep. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    This time I had no dreams.


    But that might have been worse.


    At least if I had a dream, I would have been able to see Newt¡¯s face.


    I woke up weaker than before, and grabbed a chocolate bar, and some soda, devouring both of them. Then I stood up, more determined than ever. I felt like I could take on the whole shucking world! That was, until I saw it. I had been running for about an hour, when I saw something lying in the middle of the road. Could it be?


    ¡° Newt? Newt is that you?¡±


    No. It wasn''t. It was worse than that. Far, far worse. In the middle of the dusty road were two pantlegs.


    Two very bloody pantlegs.


    The same two pant legs I had tied to Newt to stop the blood. I scooped them up and cradled them to my chest, sobbing. I fell to the ground rolling in the dusty road clutching the pant legs to my chest. The Newt smelling pant legs. The only thing I have left of Newt.


    Newts Gone, Newts gone, Newts gone


    But, then I saw a trail of blood.


    Newts blood.


    He wasn''t completely dead yet.


    But . . .


    He could die


    He could die soon.


    Very soon.


    I ran faster in that direction. Faster than I ever have before. I ignored my surroundings, only focused on the red blood. The red that reminded me of the apples Newt used to grow in the glade. The red that reminded me of the blood that pooled around Newt after he jumped. The blood that I first saw mixing with the dust after the crank stabbed him. The red that reminded me of Newt being alive. But, the blood didn¡¯t stay red. Soon the trail had turned black, the once red-as-apples blood now dark as night. The darkness that reminded me of the pitch black sky void of stars in the glade. The darkness that reminded me of the griever hole. The darknesjnm,s that reminded me of what I felt when I realized Newt was gone. I started crying, but I didn''t stop running till night. The hldot tears reminded me of what I had to do. Eventually I was too exhausted to keep going. I barely made it into a nearby house before I collapsed, still with the pant legs in my hands. Then the dreams started again.

 Nightmare

    Huh?


    I was under the rug of our previous shelter.


    Newt was already up, sitting on the lip of the hole, watching the sun rise.


    ¡° Oh, Newt! You wouldn¡¯t believe the dream I had!¡±


    My voice worked this time.


    ¡° It was were you were stabbed by a crank, and then taken,¡±


    I was walking towards Newt now.


    ¡° And I was so sad, ¡±


    I had put my hand on his shoulder.


    ¡° and your blood was blac-¡±


    Newt whipped around.


    Oh no.


    His face was covered in black veins


    his mouth slightly open, with black blood dripping out


    His eyes were wide with fear


    ¡°Love? ¡±


    Did he really just call me that?


    His voice was weak and calm.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡° Yes, Newt?¡±


    ¡° Save me.¡±


    I could feel my heart crack


    ¡° I- I¡¯m trying Newt, but I don¡¯t know what to do!¡±


    His face contorted in rage


    He stood up


    I could feel his breath on my face


    ¡° You don''t know what to do?!?¡±


    I took a step towards Newt, trying to calm him down


    ¡° New-¡±


    He was screaming now


    ¡° No! It¡¯s already too late!¡±


    Newt advanced


    I took a step back


    ¡° Newt, I¡¯m trying my best, an-¡±


    ¡° Your best?¡±


    He laughed


    Laughed


    Black spit flew from his mouth


    ¡° Your best?¡±


    He pointed behind me


    I looked


    The stairs were filled with cranks, crawling over each other to get up


    ¡° That''s what I am now!¡±


    I tried to speak


    ¡° N-No, you still have time. I won¡¯t let you turn int-¡±


    He looked at me with no emotion in his eyes


    ¡° You already did.¡±


    I stared at him


    I knew the hurt showed on my face


    A crank grabbed me by the leg and pulled me down.


    The last thing I saw was Newt¡¯s bloody face


    The last thing I heard was Newt mutter


    ¡° Your best wasn''t enough.¡±


    I woke up with tears streaming down my face.

 Him

    I didn¡¯t know where I was until I saw the two bloody pant legs pressed to my chest. I tried to breathe, and stop crying.


    ¡° Okay, calm down me, it was just a dream, just a dream.¡±


    My crying had subsided enough for me to stand, and I wiped my eyes. The dream was wrong. It was wrong, it was wrong, it was wrong.


    But what if it wasn¡¯t?


    What? No, brain stop. Please. Why am I thinking this?


    Because you know it''s true


    No. I screamed a scream, with no form of words, just a scream. I fell to the ground, fresh sobs racking my chest.


    I cover my eyes trying to block out the thoughts.


    Dead


    Dead


    Dead


    Dead


    Dead


    I thought of Newt, and stood up.


    ¡° No. Not yet.¡±


    With that, I turned and left the house full on running, following the trail of blackened blood. Still holding the pant legs.


    Running made me feel better. I cleared my mind and focused all my attention on the trail. A ran for what felt like years, but couldn''t have been more than a couple hours. I deeply regret putting all my attention on the blood, because a foot stuck out and tripped me. I sprawled down on to the ground, the wind knocked out of me.


    Wait.


    I should know the feeling of falling into the dusty dirt road by now, and this wasn¡¯t it. Before, the ground felt hard, rocky, and dusty. Now, it felt cold, wet, and with a slight give, but still hard. I open my eyes, and see white. My first thought is


    Shuck it, I passed out. Again.


    But, I could still feel my body. I regained my breath and stood up, I was in snow. Snow! Shucking snow! At first my mind was overwhelmed with happiness and confusion.


    Snow?


    After the scorch?


    Yes!If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    But, had I really not noticed we were in snow?


    Then, I remembered why I had realized there was snow.


    Someone had tripped me.


    I looked around me, and saw a person about twenty feet back, grinning at me. I looked closer.


    No


    It couldn''t be


    It was the man that stabbed Newt.


    He was still grinning at me, and that just made me more and more angry. I screamed in fury, and ran at the man. I jumped, landed on him, and started punching every inch of him I could reach. The man was saying something, but I didn¡¯t hear him.


    And if I had, I wouldn''t have cared.


    This man was the reason for all of Newt¡¯s pain, and I would make him pay back every single ounce of it. I was screaming at the man, but I didn¡¯t know what I was saying. The only thing I could hear was Newt saying


    Goodbye Min.


    It replayed in my mind over and over, the last words Newt said to me. The last words before I left him.


    I couldn''t see straight anymore. I couldn''t think straight anymore.


    This man-


    This man-


    This shuck faced son of a shuck-


    All I could think about was how this man had cost Newt. I could see, but differently. I saw my hands punching, I saw the man''s face, and I saw his lips moving, but I wasn''t in control. All I could do was watch as my mind worked automatically. After a couple minutes, somewhere in the very back of my mind, I knew when the man died, but the rest of my brain was too focused on destroying the man that hurt Newt. I kept punching him until I was too tired to continue and slumped off of him asleep.


    I woke up in the cold snow, but when I saw the dead man lying next to me, that cold dissolved into anger, but this time I could control my brain and my body. Now I know he is dead. I knew I killed him. But he hurt Newt. so much that Newt could easily be dead. He probably killed the only person I ever loved. I stood up and my knees were shaking. I leaned on a tree, until my legs gained control again. I reached down and grabbed my backpack. Next to them, were the still bloody pant legs.


    I knew I had to leave them behind. That the longer I held onto them, the harder it would be to let go.


    They are just pants.


    Just leave them,


    Yes, finally, my brain was being sensible


    Just


    Like


    You


    Left


    Newt


    No, I didn¡¯t leave him!


    Yes, you did!


    Only to help him!


    You know what?


    Shuck this!


    I was so sick of myself for coming up with this klunk. I grabbed my backpack and started walking in where the blood had been leading, but the blood had stopped. Good, or bad? I couldn''t say. He could have stopped bleeding, or he could be dead. I ran more, ate more, slept more. That went on for a couple days. On the fourth day of being in the snow, I decided to sleep in a tree to see if that would keep me from getting wet and soaking. I climbed up a sturdy looking tree, curled up in a branch about 9 feet off the ground, with my backpack wedged between another branch next to me, and fell asleep. I knew I was getting depressed. How could I not? I slept more and more every day, and then got scolded by my brain.


    Idiot!


    Newt needs you,


    And here you are


    Asleep!


    I don¡¯t know why I was being so hard on myself, but I was. Lucky for me, I hadn''t had any more nightmares since I killed the man. Unlucky for me, I still had a dream.

 If Only

    Blue sky


    Gray walls


    Green grass.


    So far, it just seemed like the glade.


    Newt was standing in front of me, then he turned.


    He wasn''t black blooded, or crazy looking,


    Just amazingly cute.


    As usual.


    I ran to him,


    Hugged him,


    Looked at him.


    ¡° Newt, I love you.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    His eyes filled with tears


    ¡° I love you Min.¡±


    Then we were kissing


    Hard.


    It was amazing.


    Joy,


    Happiness,


    love


    We pulled back, smiling.


    This was the best moment of my life.


    But, I was being pulled,


    Pulled away from Newt


    Sadness,


    Loneliness,


    Despair.


    I panicked, and grabbed Newt¡¯s hand


    He looked up, and saw I was being pulled away


    The hurt on his face was too much to bear.


    I screamed, and clung on to his hand,


    But it was no use.


    I saw our fingers part,


    It was a leg breaking forever


    It was like a lifeline snapping


    It was my heart being broken


    I didn¡¯t wake up screaming. Or crying. This was worse. I woke up with an ache. A deep, deep down ache, that I could feel in my bones.

 Human

    I think the dream was worse than the nightmares I had before.


    That was what life could have been


    If you didn''t leave Newt


    That''s not true! I opened my eyes to see I had fallen out of the tree I had slept in last night, and was now in the cold wet snow.


    Not beautiful green grass. Cold white snow.


    Not smooth gray walls. Dying trees.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Not crystal blue sky. White colorless sky.


    The world was colorless, with no Newt to brighten it up.


    That was how the world looked to me now. Colorless, emotionless, joyless. My heart felt heavy, and I didn¡¯t want to get up.


    You idiot!


    Newt needs you


    Worthless


    No. I¡¯m not worthless. I pushed myself up, climbed the tree to get my backpack, and started running. I didn¡¯t stop to eat that day. Or drink. Around noon, I scouted for a tree that would actually hold me, then climbed it. I looked around. More white, more gray, more nothing. No, wait. There was something! There was a bundle of something, about 100 feet away! I jumped off the tree, and bolted for it. I got closer. It was a person. I got closer. It was a wounded person. I got closer

 Found

    It was Newt! Oh thank god!! But, he wasn''t moving, the snow around him was black and a little red, all mixed together. His eyes were closed. I ran over, and shook him. No reply.


    Idiot


    To late


    If only you ran faster


    Gone forever


    Dead


    Dead


    That word echoed in my mind, as I shook Newt. I squeezed his hand in both of mine, while pleading with him to wake up.


    ¡° Newt please! Please don''t be dead! You can¡¯t be! Please Newt, I need you!¡±


    Newts'' eyes fluttered. He looked scared, like he didn''t know who I was.


    ¡° Newt it''s me! It''s Minho!¡±


    His eyes looked dark, void of light.


    ¡° Newt! Stay with me please! Please don''t die Newt. Please!¡±


    Newt¡¯s eyes opened wide, like he just noticed me.


    ¡° M-Min?¡±


    Oh thank god.


    ¡° Y-Yes Newt it¡¯s me, Minho!¡±


    I fought tears, as I looked into Newt¡¯s pained face. He gave me a weak smile.


    ¡° Look M-Min, it¡¯s sn-snowing.¡±


    Look Min, it¡¯s snowing.


    My heart burst.


    Like someone had smashed a mallet through glass.


    That''s how I felt.


    ¡°It¡¯s snowing.¡±


    He repeated.


    Was it snowing?


    I didn''t shucking care if it was snowing!


    ¡°Oh god Newt, you''re alive! I thought you were dead!¡±


    I was so happy, but sad all at once. It was obvious he didn''t have much time left.


    ¡°They took m-me, then left me here.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°I know Newt.¡±


    ¡°Oh Min, d-don''t cry,¡±


    Was I crying? I reached up and felt my face. It was hot with tears.


    ¡°M-Min, its o-okay,¡±


    He was shivering.


    He was in a snow drift, duh, he was shivering


    I took off my coat, and wrapped it around Newt.


    Your fault


    Not okay.


    For once my brain was right. It was my fault. It wasn''t okay.


    ¡°Newt, this is my fault.¡±


    He looked confused


    ¡° No, it''s n-not.¡±


    ¡° Yes Newt, it is. I made a vow to protect you, and I broke it. I made a promise to you that you wouldn''t die. I broke that too. I was the one who left you. Me. You should hate me.¡±


    On the word hate my voice broke, and I held back another wave of tears.


    I didn¡¯t mention the other vow. My secret vow. My secret vow that I also broke. Newt looked at me with hurt and concern in his eyes.


    ¡° No, M-min, it''s not your fault. I c-could never hate you.¡±


    I was sobbing now, not caring about if someone heard me. Newt was crying now too, his tears running into the snow. I reached out a hand and brushed his tears away.


    ¡° C-Can I tell you now Min?¡±


    The cold was freezing my tears now, and I knew it was snowing, because the flakes landed in Newt''s hair making it sparkle.


    ¡° Tell me what Newt?¡±


    My voice was shaky and breaking every few words.


    ¡° What I wanted you to know in the shelter. What I want you to know before I die.¡±


    He knew I couldn¡¯t protest now. He knew I couldn''t promise that he wasn''t going to die. I knew hearing this would break me, but I was already broken. I reached out and grabbed his hand with one hand, and caressed his cold face with the other. Then, I slowly nodded. I had stopped sobbing, but hot tears were streaming down my face, only to freeze before falling. Newt''s eyes were full of hurt, pain, sadness, but something else too. Something I couldn''t put my finger on.


    Its anger


    He hates you


    ¡° Min, I-I . . .¡±


    He couldn''t get the words out. He knew they would break him too.


    ¡°Newt you don''t have to say i-¡±


    I was cut off by Newt kissing me. He had pulled himself up, put his lips to mine, and kissed me. His lips were cold, and frozen, his face covered in warm tears. We kissed for what felt like forever, but it was only a few seconds, before Newt collapsed back to the ground, saying


    ¡° I-I love you Min¡±


    I closed my eyes to keep from bursting into even more tears and said,


    ¡° I love you Newt.¡±


    But, when I opened my eyes, his eyes were closed.


    ¡°Newt! Please Newt wake up!¡±


    He didn''t.


    Your fault


    You did this


    You caused this


    No, no, no, no. I scooped Newt up and ran. I didn''t know where to go, I just ran. I didn''t know if Newt was still alive, but I didn''t care. I was crying so hard, I almost didn''t hear the voices. I ran towards them, and there were my friends. Teresa, Alby, Gally, Thomas, Brenda, and Chuck. They looked towards me. Their faces were full of happiness until they saw Newt. Gally and Alby ran to me, and took Newt. I clung to him, but eventually they pulled me off him, and started checking him. The instant I was parted with Newt, I screamed for him, and fell to my knees, outright sobbing. Brenda and Teresa ran to me, trying to stop my screaming and sobbing for Newt, trying to tell me it was okay.


    ¡°Shhhh.¡¯¡±


    ¡° They''re just checking on Newt!¡±


    Thomas was consoling Chuck, who had broken down, sobbing for me and Newt. After a couple minutes, the girls convinced me to stand up, and they helped me over to a circle of logs. Thomas, who had also convinced Chuck to come sit in the circle, was trying to start a fire. Alby came back, telling me that they had given Newt a sedative, to help with the pain, and that I had to tell Gally what happened so he could help Newt. At the word Newt, I started crying again. Brenda and Teresa saw this coming, and put their arms around me, hugging me. Alby went back to watch Newt, and Gally came and sat across from me.

 Fight

    ¡° Minho, I¡¯m going to ask you some things about why Newt is hurt, okay?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡° You got separated from the rest of us in the cave right?¡±


    I nodded again.


    ¡° Can you tell us what happened?¡±


    I nodded, took a deep breath, and started explaining.


    ¡° W-Well, we were knocked out, w-we found this weird food, a-and got out.¡±


    The food.


    Newt asked me to give our friends some.


    I took chocolate and chips out of my pack.


    ¡° N-N-Newt wanted you guys to try some.¡±


    That''s when I knew I was in shock. I couldn''t talk, I was shivering, but not from the cold, and I could barely hear or say Newt¡¯s name without breaking down.


    I was shaking all over, and could barely think straight. Teresa and Brenda both took off their jackets, and draped them around me. I shakily passed out a piece of chocolate and a chip to each person.


    ¡° W-We wanted to s-see which you guys l-liked better.¡±


    Brenda and Teresa both said chip.


    Gally said chip.


    Chuck said chocolate.


    Thomas said chip.


    Newt won. Good. Gally spoke to me softly


    ¡° Did you get hurt in the cave, then?¡±


    ¡° N-No¡±


    ¡° What happened then?¡±


    ¡° W-we found a house to use as a s-shelter, a-and, we kept g-going, and, and, and¡±


    I couldn''t say it. Chuck prompted me.


    ¡° It will help Newt if you say it.¡±


    ¡°W-We saw a c-crank, and, and it, it, s-stabbed N-N-N-Newt.¡±


    I blurted out. If I said his name one more time, I would sink under the waters of despair and drown. I broke down on the last word, and started sobbing. Gally walked over to me, and put a hand on my shoulder. Teresa and Brenda were still hugging me tight. Alby walked over then, and whispered something in Gallys ear, and then Gally ran off, while Alby sat down in his place. Thomas had finnaily got a fire going, and sat down next to Alby. Gally came back, his face unreadable. He motioned the others to come to him, and he spoke in a hushed tone to them, out of my earshot. I stood up, with wobbly legs, trying to hear what they were saying, but I was unsuccessful. When they walked back Teresa¡¯s face was a mask of concern, her eyes scrunched, and her mouth slightly turned down. Brenda¡¯s face looked really worried, her mouth was a straight line, her eyes open. Alby¡¯s face was full of determination, his eyebrows turned down slightly, his mouth set firm. Chuck looked terrified, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open. Gally still looked unreadable, and Thomas looked indifferent. Brenda, Chuck, Teresa, and Alby all stood by me, while Gally stood in front of me, and Thomas stood off to the side looking bored.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    They hate me


    For killing Newt


    They all hate me


    Gally took a deep breath, and looked right at me.


    ¡° After, or before the stab, did Newt show any signs of sickness? ¡°


    He said it gently, but something triggered inside me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±


    Gally looked surprised.


    ¡° Don''t what?¡±


    My voice was deadpan, even though I still had tears running down my cheeks.


    ¡° Don¡¯t say his name.¡±


    Gally looked sad. Everyone looked sad. Except for Thomas.


    ¡° Okay, did he show any weird symptoms before or after being stabbed.¡±


    Brenda, Teresa, Chuck, and Alby all winced.


    What did they know?


    That you killed Newt


    That you left him to die.


    No. I wouldn''t listen to this any longer. Newt said it wasn''t my fault. Brenda put her hand on mine, and it snapped me back to reality.


    ¡° Y-Yes, he did.¡±


    Gally didn''t look surprised.


    ¡° What were the symptoms?¡±


    ¡° We-well he was puking black stuff, and his blood turned black. . . W-Why?¡±


    Gally and Alby exchanged a look.


    ¡° Well, those are the first symptoms of the flare.¡±


    What? Newt has the flare? No. No, it can''t be true. I laughed, a forced stupid sounding laugh.


    ¡° Y-you''re joking right? Haha. so funny. But really, is he gonna be okay?¡±


    Chuck started crying. Brenda, who was standing closest to Chuck, put one arm around him, the other arm around me. Teresa was squeezing me tight in a hug. Chuck was clinging to me while sobbing. Alby walked up and put both hands on my shoulders.


    ¡° No, Minho. We¡¯re not.¡±


    I sat down. I couldn''t hear anything. The only thing I could hear was


    I-I love you Min


    It repeated over and over, and the only thing I could see was Newt''s content face before he passed out. The only thing I could feel were Newt¡¯s lips on mine. Then something broke through. Thomas.


    ¡° So, let''s just leave Newt here, and keep going.¡±


    No.


    Thomas.


    No.


    I sprung up at Thomas, and knocked him to the ground. I pinned him there screaming in his face.


    ¡° You, you! We are not leaving him here! If anyone, we are leaving you here!¡±


    With each syllable I punched him.


    ¡° Don¡¯t ever say his name again, you, you, you¡±


    I couldn''t even give him a bad enough name for how much he hurt me.


    Alby and Gally threw me off Thomas, and Brenda pulled me back. Chuck was crying again, and Teresa was shocked, but still comforting Chuck. Dusk had fallen, and Alby instructed everyone to sleep while he checked on Thomas. But I couldn¡¯t sleep. Not with thoughts of Newt having the flare, Newt turning into one of them.Newt turning into a crank.

 Conffesoin

    I felt a tap on my shoulder, and looked up to see Teresa.


    ¡° C¡¯mon. Let''s go sit by the fire.¡±


    I got up and followed her, and we sat by the now smoldering coals of the fire.


    ¡° So, you really care about Newt, huh?¡±


    I didn¡¯t mind her saying his name. She was using it in the right way. For talking about him, not telling me he had the flare. I nodded at her question. I more than cared about Newt, I loved him. I loved him so much it hurt.


    ¡° You must have known him for a while, I bet, you must be really good friends.¡±


    I had to tell her.


    ¡° I-I loved him.¡±


    I muttered.


    ¡° What?¡±


    ¡° I l-loved Newt.¡±


    She looked surprised. I kept going. There was no stopping it now.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡° That was the last thing I said to him. ¡®I love you¡¯. It was also the last thing he said to me. ¡®I love you Min¡¯¡±


    Then it all came out. My vows, my promise, how it was all my fault, even about all the stupid thoughts I have that make me want to leave this world.


    When I finished I had tears streaming down my face.


    She had tears in her eyes, but still gave me comfort, and she put an arm around my shoulder.


    ¡° You could sleep next to him if you want. I know where Alby and Gally put him.¡±


    I smiled weakly and nodded gratefully. I trailed after her, into the woods a bit, to find Newt lying on the ground, asleep, his wound wrapped and set. Teresa started to leave, but then turned around.


    ¡°Minho, none of this is your fault. If you weren''t there Newt would be dead.¡±


    With that she walked back to the others. I lay down and grabbed Newt''s hand. I squeezed. He squeezed back. No dream, just Newts repeated words running through my mind


    I-I love you minho.


    I awoke hearing Thomas and Teresa argue close to me and Newt. I regretfully left Newt, and started walking towards the voices. As I got closer I heard the words ¡®Newt¡¯, ¡®leave¡¯, and ¡®Idiot¡¯.


    I was blinded by rage at the word leave.


    Oh, no thomas.


    We are not leaving Newt.


    Then I had another unwelcome thought.


    But you left him once.


    Why not twice?


    Shut up! I reached the pocket of snow where Thomas and Teresa were standing four feet away from each other, screaming.

 Jealous

    ¡° What''s happening?¡±


    My voice was hoarse from crying.


    Thomas responded


    ¡° Teresa thinks we should bring Newt with us, even if he slows us down.¡±


    He said Teresa with emphasis. Teresa, seeing she shouldn''t get in the middle of this, walked back to the main camp.


    ¡° So what if I think she¡¯s right?¡±


    Thomas¡¯s face had a sort of calm rage portrayed on it.


    ¡° Then I think you''re the dumbest shank that ever lived.¡±


    I was growing angry. Very angry.


    ¡° Then I guess I am the dumbest shank that ever lived, because I think Teresa is right.¡±


    Thomas took a step towards me.


    I took a step back.


    Thomas¡¯s face turned into a sneer.


    ¡° We all know the real reason why you wanna take Newt with us.¡±


    ¡° Oh, Yeah? What then?¡±


    Thomas took another step forward.


    I took another step back.


    ¡° I think you know, why don''t you admit it?¡±


    He took another step forward.


    I tried to take another step back, but I ran into a tree.


    I was cornered.


    ¡° Oh, yeah Thomas? You seem pretty sure, why don''t you tell me?¡±


    He looked coldly at me.


    ¡° If you insist. You love Newt.¡±


    Yeah! Yeah I do Thomas! You got a problem with that?This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    That''s what I thought. What actually came out was,


    ¡° Yeah, Thomas, I do. So what?¡±


    He pushed my back to the tree bark.


    ¡° That it¡¯s so pathetic you think that he loves you.¡±


    Oh, so that''s what it was about?


    ¡° Oh yeah? Are you jealous?¡±


    That got him flustered.


    ¡° I-I am not, because I don''t love Newt¡±


    Uh huh. That''s what I thought.


    ¡° Well, duh! Why else would you want to leave him behind!¡±


    ¡° I recall we were talking about you, not me.¡±


    Oh, he got his snark back.


    ¡° Well, the reason I want to take Newt is because he is my friend, and a human being!¡±


    He laughed.


    At me.


    ¡° Really, it isn''t because you want to snuggle up to him?¡±


    ¡° I-I what?¡±


    ¡° You really think I didn''t see you cuddled up to Newt last night?¡±


    ¡° I think you''re jealous.¡±


    ¡° Jealous of what? That ugly, stupid, clumsy excuse of a shank? ¡±


    Each of those words punched me in the chest. I pushed Thomas over, and ran out of the clearing just as I saw Teresa enter again, with Alby.


    Ugly


    Supid


    clumsy


    That''s not Newt he¡¯s talking about.


    It''s you.


    Your ugly, stupid ,and clumsy


    Newt is . . .


    Adorable


    Smart


    Agile


    Maybe Thomas was right, maybe Newt doesn''t love me.


    I had run back to Newt. He looked like he was still asleep, but alive. I ran to a tree, and curled up under it. Maybe I could steal flare medicine from WICKED. That would probably work. A couple hours later, I felt Gally tap me on the shoulder. I looked up from the twig I was fiddling with.


    ¡° Minho, where the shuck is thomas?¡±


    Thomas?


    Then It all flooded back to me.


    Thomas,


    Thomas.


    Thomas!


    ¡° How the shuck would I know where that . . . shuckface is?¡±


    I know I sounded like a little kid, but I was too blinded by fury to reply any better.


    Alby came into my eyesight.


    ¡° Because he¡¯s gone, and you were the one who had beef with him.¡±


    I had still been sitting on the ground, and stood up.


    ¡° What the shuck do you think I did with him?¡±


    Alby started yelling at me.


    ¡° I think you got rid of him!¡±


    ¡° And just how would I do that?¡±


    My face was growing hot.


    See,


    they all hate you


    Every last one of them


    Even


    Newt.


    Chuck ran to us, and screamed


    ¡° Stop fighting please! Newt is awake!¡±

 Leaving. Again

    I bolted to where Newt was, and everyone instantly left me alone with him.


    ¡° Newt, sweetie?¡±


    His eyes light up.


    ¡°Minho!¡±


    ¡° Newt, I¡¯m gonna have to leave again.¡±


    I had decided. I would go to WICKED.


    Hurt flashed across Newt¡¯s face.


    ¡° Min, please don''t go.¡±


    ¡° Alright I won¡¯t¡±


    Stop lying


    ¡°Good. . .¡±


    Newt was starting to fall asleep again. He said one last thing before he passed out.


    ¡° Because I¡¯d rather die with you, then live without you.¡±


    But, Newt


    Sweetie,


    That''s how I feel About you.


    Your leaving Newt


    Again.


    No, the others are with him, and I¡¯ll only be gone a couple hours. I walked back to the main camp, where Brenda rushed up to me.


    ¡° Thomas left a note. He said he went to the safe haven to be with the others.¡±


    The other gladers. I had forgotten about them. Good, Thomas was gone. I didn''t have to worry about him. I picked up my backpack. The others gathered around me. Chuck¡¯s heart looked broken.


    ¡°M-Minho, where are you going?¡±


    ¡° I¡¯m going to WICKED to get medicine for Newt.¡±


    Brena snapped out of the shock first.


    ¡° I¡¯m coming.¡±


    Gally next.


    ¡° Don¡¯t think you''re leaving without me!¡±


    Then Teresa.


    ¡° You are not leaving me behind!¡±


    Finally Alby


    ¡°I guess someone had to come to organize all you shanks!¡±


    They were all treating this like a fun adventure. Chucks small voice rose up


    ¡° What about me?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Oh no, I couldn¡¯t bring Chuck!


    He was too small, and I don¡¯t think he would last very long.


    ¡° Well?¡±


    ¡° Uh. . . well Chuck,¡±


    He looked at me expectantly


    ¡° Yeah?¡±


    ¡° I have the most important job of all for you!¡±


    ¡° Really?¡±


    ¡° Yes, you have to stay here and watch Newt.¡±


    His face fell


    ¡° Oh. . . okay.¡±


    ¡° Chuck,¡±


    Teresa added


    ¡° We need someone to make sure Newt doesn''t run off, do you think you can do that?¡±


    ¡° Yeah!¡±


    Teresa always knew what to say at the right moment. We left Chuck with Newt, and plenty of food, then we started off. We walked until we were out of earshot of Chuck, then we started planning. Naturally, Alby took charge.


    ¡° Gally, you used to live in that city, how long do you think Newt has before dying or going insane?¡±


    Gally thought for a second.


    ¡° I¡¯d say about one or two hours till he starts going crazy, two and a half hours he¡¯ll be past the gone, a couple minutes after he¡¯s past the gone, and he¡¯ll be dead.¡±


    Gally saw my worried expression.


    ¡° Minho, Newt has had the flare for about two weeks, and he hasn''t shown any signs of it. He¡¯s tough, and I¡¯m sure he can hold on for a few more hours.¡±


    I nodded.


    Alby started talking business again, getting right to the point.


    ¡° Okay, we have a couple hours to get there, get the cure, and get back. Getting there shouldn''t take more than a half hour, same with getting back.¡±


    Teresa looked like she would jump up and start running right now.


    ¡° What about when we get in?¡±


    Gally must have been thinking of this because he started talking.


    ¡° We should split into two groups. One group can act as a distraction, while the others get the cure. Brenda, you and I will be the distraction, and Minho, Alby, and Teresa can get the cure.¡±


    What if they find you?


    What if you never see Newt again?


    What if-


    ¡° What if they catch us?¡±


    I was getting worried.


    ¡° Then you¡¯ll run with the cure, and the others will cover you.¡±


    I looked over at Alby and Teresa who both gave me a thumbs up.


    Brenda stood up.


    ¡° Let¡¯s go!¡±


    We ran towards the wicked complex, through the trees, through the snow.  As we ran, I made another vow.


    I would not let anyone die for me.


    Just outside the complex, we stopped to say fierce goodbyes to everyone, even the people in our own groups. I mean if someone gets sniped, you don''t have time for goodbyes. We might never see each other again. The fact that my friends were willing to risk their lives for Newt, made my heart fill. Everyone was hugging and saying goodbyes. I walked over to Gally, he looked worried but determined


    ¡° Hey, Gally, I know we¡¯ve had our differences, but I¡¯ll miss you.¡±


    ¡°Same here Minho.¡±


    We shook hands, and moved to the next person. My next person was Brenda. She looked almost excited. Another reason we were pretty good friends.


    ¡° Hey, hope to see you again Brenda!¡±


    ¡° It''s been great, Minho.¡±


    We did our secret handshake, and added a hug at the end. Hey, we had a lot of time in the dorms. It''s not like we were able to do whatever we wanted. I walked over to Teresa, who looked sad.


    ¡° Teresa, if I don''t see you again, I¡¯ll really miss you, you have been so kind to me.¡±


    She gave me a watery smile, and nodded. I walked over to Alby, whose expression was blank, expecting another handshake like Gally, but I was wrong.


    ¡° Hey Alb-¡±


    Alby ran a couple of steps to me, and grabbed me in a hug.


    ¡° Minho, you''ve been my best friend. If I die, I want you to know how much I appreciate you.¡±


    I was speechless. Alby was usually so formal, and joking!


    ¡° Alby, If either of us die, I¡¯ll miss you so much.¡±


    Alby let go, and immediately became the Alby we all knew.


    ¡° Alright people, let''s go!¡±


    Me, Teresa, and Alby waved to the distraction group and set off.

 WICKED

    We snuck into the complex, and I immediately smelled hand sanitizer, bleach, and blood. Everything was white, with white lights, white walls, white ceiling, and white floor.


    How creative.


    I can tell they really liked colors.


    We followed the signs to the weapons room. Yep. That''s how big it was. They had to have signs pointing to where stuff was. The weapons room was also white, but had more color because of the weapons. There were tables filled with weapons, weapons hung on the wall, and even some weapons just on the ground. We must''ve looked like kids in a candy shop. We looked at each other, and Teresa squealed with happiness.


    ¡° Lock the doors, and loot the place!¡±


    I laughed. This is what we were excited about now. Finding a room full of weapons. We were definitely not normal kids. But who wants to be normal?


    If you were normal


    Newt wouldn''t be suffering


    Not now, brain. Alby locked the doors to the weapons room, then bolted to grab some gear. I watched him for a second, before bolting myself, Teresa on my heels. I grabbed a pistol, and some bullets.


    Hmmm


    I need something to hold these.


    Hello fancy belt holder thing!


    Hmmm


    It even has a place to hold another gun!


    Hello another gun!


    Finally my brain was being useful. Then I saw a wall full of accessories, wartime accessories! It was filled with bandanas, coats, belts, pants, even hats! I started ripping the stuff off the walls and equipping it. Man, I need a montage.


    Weird camo pants


    Check


    Weird camo jacket


    Check


    A new belt with more holders for weapons


    Check


    More weapons


    Check


    And finally,Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    A yellow bandana for my hair


    Newts favorite color


    Check


    Another one for Newt


    Check


    I met back with the others, and we just stared at each other for a second. Teresa was covered in those strap-on knives, and had about a million guns around her waist. Man, I would not mess with her. Alby was probably the only one who hadn¡¯t gone crazy with weapons, and was only holding a lugger, and a belt with extra ammunition. I must''ve looked stupid, and apparently Teresa agreed.


    ¡° You look like an army general gone rogue!¡±


    She crowed. Naturally I had to retort


    ¡° And you look like you''re made of shuckin knives!¡±


    Alby was rubbing his temples with one hand, the other holding the lugger over his shoulder.


    ¡° Guys, we''re gonna get spotted more easily if you dress up as soldiers and metal women. Go put the stuff back. You get one or two weapons, and one accessory.¡±


    Me and Teresa groaned, but obeyed.


    I put back my camo outfit, but kept the belt, guns, and my two bandanas. One for me, and one for Newt.


    If he''s not dead


    If it''s not too late


    If you didnt kill him


    If he''s not dead


    Dead


    Dead


    Dead.


    My mind was echoing those words, and I slid to the floor, covering my ears with my hands. Like it would help. I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Teresa.


    ¡° Are you having the thoughts again?¡±


    ¡° . . . yes¡±


    She looked at me sternly.


    ¡° It''s not your fault, you did nothing wrong, Newt loves you, and Newt is still alive.¡±


    ¡°God, what would I do without you Teresa?¡±


    ¡° You would be dead already.¡±


    She helped me up, and went to show Alby our updated outfits. This time Teresa only had two knives on her belt, and had tucked her long brown hair under an army cap. Alby approved of us this time, and we set off. We ran through the corridors as quickly as possible, and if we saw a person, Alby would hit them with his luger, knocking them out. We finally found a lab room, and I had to shoot some of the scientists, but I didn''t care, they caused all of this. As I shot them, an alarm sounded. It sounded like a fire alarm, but a hundred times scarier, louder, and higher.


    Duh,


    You idiot


    They have security cams.


    Alby and I shared a look.


    Me, Alby, and Teresa bolted into the lab, upending everything trying to find the cure syringe.


    This drawer?


    No


    This cabinet?


    No


    This table?


    No


    Newt''s life?


    No.


    Running, heavy footsteps  were getting closer and closer. I was getting desperate.


    Please in here


    No


    It has to be in here


    No


    Maybe it on the ground


    No.


    Alby¡¯s voice pierced through the siren


    ¡° I found it!¡±


    Alby was on the other side of a table.


    ¡° Slide it to me!¡±


    Alby slid it across the smooth white surface, and I grabbed it.


    We all ran into the hallway.


    The guards were fast approaching.

 Death

    ¡° Run Minho! Me and Teresa will cover you!¡±


    I nodded, but as I started running, I saw Teresa jump in front of the guards.


    No


    No


    No


    She looked at me


    And she said her last words barely loud enough to hear


    ¡° Go, Minho. Go be with your love.¡±


    Then I heard a gunshot, and saw Teresa fall to the ground.


    I kept running.


    My cheeks were warm once again from tears, as I ran around another corner, and saw the stairs out of WICKED. I saw bullets whiz past, but couldn''t feel anything. I was numb. I clutched the cure in one hand, the other hand flailing wildly. I heard a gunshot, and then the wet thunk of a bullet. I kept going. I heard Newts words


    Because I¡¯d rather die with you, then live without you.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Because I¡¯d rather die with you, then live without you.


    Because I¡¯d rather die with you, then live without you.


    I kept going. I got out of the complex, and ran through the trees. The snow wetting my pants, the pine tree branches whipping me, leaving cuts. I couldn¡¯t feel the cold. The scent of pine trees didn''t remind me of anything, except for Newt. I knew that was stupid, but I didn''t care.


    Teresa


    Dead


    Another person


    Suffers


    Because


    Of


    You.


    Teresa


    Sacrificed


    Herself


    For


    You.


    You don''t


    Deserve


    It.


    Oh yeah? You shuck brain, if I stop now Newt will also be dead!


    I ran towards the clearing where I had left New with chuck. Newt was there. Phew. but something was wrong. Newt was huddled in a ball hugging himself. Chuck was nowhere to be found.


    ¡° Newt, love, it¡¯s me Minho.¡±


    I walked over to him, and lifted his chin to look into his eyes.


    Oh geez


    His pupils were large, and darting around like a small child.


    ¡° Newt! Newt! It¡¯s me!¡±


    He looked at me, showing no sign of recognition.


    A sob racked my body.


    He was going crazy.

 Together

    ¡° Newt, It¡¯s me, Min!¡±


    At the word Min, he settled his gaze, and his pupils shrank, and he collapsed onto the ground, not having the strength to even stay in a curled up ball. I picked up his head, and set it in my lap, caressing his smooth face.


    ¡° Hey, Newt, it¡¯s okay, I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡° Oh, Min,¡±


    Newt started sobbing. Burst after burst of quiet sobs. Each wave of tears shook his body.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay. Where''s chuck?¡±


    ¡° I-I don''t know. I felt my m-mind change, so I told him to l-leave. I di-didn''t want to hurt him. It was so, so hard Min. I just l-lay there trying to gain control.¡±


    ¡° It''s okay Newt.¡±


    Then I remembered the cure I had set in the snow a few inches away. When I moved my left arm to grab it, I felt a sudden burst of pain. I looked down at my shoulder, and saw it covered in blood. I had managed to get hold of the cure.


    ¡° Newt, I¡¯m going to give you a shot. It will help you, okay?¡±


    It has to


    Because


    If it doesn''t,


    I don''t know what I''ll do.


    Because if it doesn''t,


    I won''t have a reason to live anymore.


    I jabbed the syringe into Newt''s arm, and waited.


    We waited for ten minutes, both of us slowly bleeding out and dying.


    At some point, it started snowing again.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    We were both shivering now.


    As night fell, me and Newt crawled over to a tree, resting our backs on it.


    ¡° H-Hey Newt, they liked chips better. You were right.¡±


    I knew it was stupid, but I didn''t care.


    Newt tried to laugh, but it turned into more coughing.


    Cure didn''t work


    The cure didn''t cure him


    Well,


    Now you''ll both die together.


    Because you couldn''t save Newt


    What a surprise.


    When Newt looked up he saw my shoulder. The blood had now dripped down my arm, and into the snow.


    ¡° M-Min, your b-bleeding.¡±


    ¡° I kn-know.¡±


    ¡° You¡¯ll d-die.¡±


    Tears welled up in my eyes.


    I blink them away,


    ¡° I know.¡±


    Newt used what seemed like his last bit of strength, to sit up and reach for the bandage on his leg.


    He¡¯ll die now


    Because of you


    Because you couldn''t save him.


    ¡° B-B-But,¡±


    Newt looked at me expectantly.


    ¡°But, Newt, love, if you remove that you¡¯ll d-d-die.¡±


    Newt yanked the bandage off and threw it as far away as he could. Which was only a couple feet.


    ¡° Exactly. We¡¯ll die together now, Min.¡±


    The snow and wind had intensified, and we were both covered in snow. We were both crying now. I remembered the yellow bandanas, and pulled Newt¡¯s out and fixed on his head. He looked up and smiled.


    ¡° N-Now we are matching.¡±¡¯


    Then I was kissing Newt, and he was kissing me. I forgot about the snow, the death, the wind, and the cure. The only thing I could think about was Newt.


    Newt


    The one you


    Killed


    Stop. One of Teresa¡¯s last words to me had been about how it wasn''t my fault. I would listen to it. Me and Newt regretfully pulled away. We were both about to die. We both knew it.


    ¡° S-sweetie, grab m-my hand, so n-no one can separate us again.¡±


    ¡° O-okay Newt.¡±


    With what little strength I had, I reached out and grabbed Newt¡¯s hand. Tight.  Me and Newt snuggled against each other, trying to stay warm. The world was growing fuzzy.


    ¡° Newt, I love you.¡±


    The last thing I saw was Newt¡¯s content expression, before I couldn''t see. I was blinded by white. The last thing I heard was Newt¡¯s voice.


    ¡° And I love you Minho.¡±


    Then I was deafened by silence.

 Healing

    White


    Nothing


    White


    Silence


    White


    Nothing


    White


    Silence


    White


    Nothing


    White


    Silence


    White


    Nothing


    White


    Silence


    White


    Nothing


    White


    Voices.


    Wait, voices?


    Weird.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    White


    Nothing


    Gray


    Silence.


    Now gray?


    Maybe I can open my eyes.


    I struggled to open my eyes, and after what seemed like forever, I fluttered them open.


    ¡° N-Newt?¡±


    That''s what I tried to say. What came out was


    ¡°N-nawww.¡±


    I heard something. Someone was there. I turned my head ever so slightly, and saw Chuck watching me.


    ¡° Chaaaac¡±


    Was what I managed to get out. Chuck immediately stood up, and rushed to me.


    ¡° Minho! Thank shuck you''re awake!¡±


    ¡° Where?¡±


    I could speak a little.


    ¡° The hospital.¡±


    What hospital?


    ¡° Safe haven?¡±


    I murmured.


    Chuck''s expression saddened.


    ¡° No, the safe haven was fake. Just like everything else WICKED does. We stole a berg and took it to an abandoned hospital, and Gally got everything running.¡±


    Gally. Is he okay?


    ¡° Gally?¡±


    ¡° Yeah, Gally and Brenda were both able to distract WICKED without any major injuries. Brenda just got a sprained arm, which will be healed pretty soon.¡±


    Then I remembered Teresa. There could have been a small chance she¡¯s still alive.


    ¡° T-Teresa?¡±


    Chuck just shook his head. I was crying again. I knew it. I managed to hold it back a little though. Just a few tears. I knew Teresa wouldn¡¯t want me to cry. Wait, what happened to Alby? Is he okay?


    Speak of the devil, here he is. Alby walked past the room with crutches. Huh?


    ¡° Why?¡±


    I motioned at his crutches.


    ¡° Oh, these? I got shot in the leg.¡±


    Alby continued on, probably to check on Brenda.


    My friends went through so much for Newt. Newt. What about Newt?


    ¡° Chuck? Newt?¡±


    I knew what Chuck''s silence meant. Newt was dead.

 Deppresion

    I jumped up from the bed ignoring the wave of dizziness, and ran out of the room, down the hallway, until I found the door marked Newt.


    Where did they get the markers?


    Doesn''t matter.


    I burst into the room.


    Nothing.


    Just a nicely made bed, clean white walls, clean white floor.


    I knew what that meant.


    Newt was dead.


    I fell to the floor sobbing. Screaming for Newt to come back. Chuck was there trying to comfort me, but I couldn''t hear him. I had finnaily drowned in the ocean of despair. And I would never surface again. I cried for hours on the ground, until I lost my voice, and ran out of tears. Finally, I stopped crying, and I felt empty. My body was void of everything except for the longing for Newt. I just lay there. The same spot where I fell down sobbing for Newt. Eventually Chuck found Gally, and they carried me back to my bed. Gally was comforting.


    ¡° It¡¯ll all be fine.¡±


    I shook my head. Nothing will ever be fine again. After that, life stopped working. I slept almost always. Chuck and Gally tried to get me to eat and drink, but I refused, and eventually they had to hook me up to an IV. I didn¡¯t know when it was night or day, but I didn¡¯t care. When I was sleeping I could escape the pain. Where were Brenda and Alby? They had probably died too. Soon Brenda came, and she sat with me. Always. She listened to me cry, she consoled me. Most of the time, my mind just wandered, while she talked. I didn¡¯t listen. One of the only things I could hear was Newt¡¯s voice.


    ¡° Minho, do you think Newt would have wanted this?¡±


    ¡° How the shuck would I know,¡±


    Here come the tears.


    And the screaming.


    ¡° When he¡¯s shucking dead?¡±


    My voice broke on dead, and I started sobbing. Brenda tried to soothe me by grasping my hand. She was the only person that came in my room anymore, and we had become closer.


    ¡° Min, please. You''re only hurting yourself.¡±


    Min. Newt¡¯s name for me. I burst like a water balloon. I snatched my hand out of hers and screamed.


    ¡° Don''t ever shucking call me that! That was Newt''s name for me!¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Brenda looked hurt.


    ¡° Oh, god, Brenda, I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    ¡° N-No, I¡¯m sorry Minho. I shouldn''t have called you that.¡±


    The next day she came back.


    ¡° You loved Newt.¡±


    A statement, not a question.


    ¡° Y-Yeah I did.¡±


    ¡° Did he love you?¡±


    ¡° Yes. That was the last thing we said to each other. ¡®I love you.¡¯¡±


    She looked concerned.


    ¡° How long did you love him?¡±


    ¡° S-Since the lightning storm.¡±


    Brenda spoke softly.


    ¡°When did he tell you?¡±


    ¡° R-Right before we found you, in the snow,¡±


    I blurted everything out, like I did with Teresa. Man, these girls have a way of making you talk.


    ¡° He t-tried to tell me sooner, but I wouldn¡¯t let him.¡±


    ¡° Why?¡±


    ¡° Because I made vows. I made vows that Newt wouldn''t get hurt, and that I wouldn''t let my love for him interfere, and I made a promise that he wouldn''t die, and I broke it. I broke all of them.¡±


    Chuck came in then, and whispered something to Brenda. She smiled and started to leave, then turned with a grin on her face


    ¡° Maybe not all of them.¡±


    I tried to ask her what she meant, but she was gone. The next day, instead of Brenda, Alby came in.


    ¡° Oh, geez, Alby, I thought you were dead!¡±


    Alby chuckled


    ¡° Well I¡¯m not.¡±


    He hobbled up to my bed, and told me the thing that everyone had been telling me.


    ¡° You loved Newt.¡±


    I snapped at him,


    ¡° Yeah I did! Why the shuck do people keep telling me that? I shucking know I loved Newt!¡±


    Alby looked amused.


    ¡° Just wanted to make sure.¡±


    The next day Chuck came. Before he even opened his mouth, I grunted.


    ¡° If you''re about to tell me I loved Newt, you can walk your shucking butt out of here.¡±


    Chuck turned on his heel and walked out.


    ¡° Ha ha. Very funny¡±


    I yelled after him.


    ¡°Also, tell Gally if he asks that, I¡¯ll punch him in the face.¡±


    Gally did come the next day, but he didn¡¯t ask what I expected.


    ¡° Minho, will anything make you feel better?¡±


    Was he serious?


    ¡° No! Nothing in this shuck world will make me feel better!¡±


    Gally put a mock look of disappointment on his face.


    ¡° Oh, well, I guess I¡¯ll tell Newt to go back to his room.¡±


    What?


    ¡°Um . . . What are you talking about? Newt¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡° Then I guess it¡¯s a ghost standing outside your door.¡±


    ¡° What? But his room was empty! No one told me he was alive!¡±


    Chuck popped into the room.


    ¡° Actually, Minho, I did. You fell to the ground crying when you saw the empty room, and I told you Newt was alive, but we had to move him to a more secure room while the cure was taking effect, because he had started to go a little crazy.¡±


    Newt is not dead.


    Newt is alive.

 Stay

    ¡° Is that where all of you guys have been? With Newt?¡±


    Gally grinned


    ¡° Yeah. Man, it was not easy.¡±


    Then Gally¡¯s smirk came back.


    ¡° But since nothing will make you feel better, I¡¯ll take Newt back.¡±


    ¡° No! Newt will make me feel better!¡±


    ¡° Great! I¡¯ll go get him!¡±


    A few seconds later, Gally and Chuck were helping Newt walk in. His leg was bandaged, but it didn''t look like he could walk yet. He still had the yellow bandanna on his head. I felt my head. I had mine on too. They helped Newt into a chair. Then left us alone.


    ¡° Newt! Newt, sweetie! You''re alive!¡±


    Newt looked confused.


    ¡° They didn¡¯t tell you?¡±


    ¡° I-I mean they did,¡±


    I was so amazed that he was alive I could barely speak.


    ¡° B-But, I was to upset, and I couldn¡¯t hea-¡±


    I was cut off by Newt pressing his lips to mine. Happiness flooded into my body. This world was worth living.


    ¡° Newt, oh, Newt, I was so scared!¡±


    The blonde ran his fingers through my hair,


    ¡° I know Min, I know.¡±


    Min


    Oh it felt so good to hear that.


    ¡° Where were you?¡±


    Newt took a deep breath.


    ¡° So, they originally put me in a normal room like this, but the cure hadn''t worked instantly, so I had started to go crazy. When Alby saw me acting like a . . . crank, he took me to a larger room, and he and Gally, and sometimes Chuck would be in the room with me trying to calm me down. After a while the cure took effect, and then they could bandage me, and take me to you.¡±


    Newt turned his head to the door.


    ¡°Looks like they really let us be alone. Scoot over!¡±


    I moved a couple inches to the right, and Newt climbed in the bed next to me. Before, the world was cold, now it is warm. Newt snuggled up to me. Suddenly, I felt a rush of tears. They trickled down my cheeks, and Newt noticed.


    ¡° Hey, what''s wrong?¡±


    ¡° You probably don''t remember me telling you this earlier since you were dying, but it¡¯s my fault.¡±


    ¡° No. No, it''s not.¡±


    ¡° Yes it is!¡±


    ¡° Why?¡±


    I buried my face into Newt and mumbled,


    ¡° I broke my vows.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡° What vows?¡±


    I buried my face deeper.


    ¡°I made a vow that I wouldn''t let my love interfere, I made a vow that I wouldn''t let you get hurt, and I made a promise that you wouldn''t die. I broke the vows, Newt. I broke them both.¡±


    Newt lifted my chin to look into my eyes.


    ¡° None of this is your fault.¡±


    ¡° Yes it is! I even broke my vow not to let anyone die, and I broke that too!¡±


    ¡° Teresa?¡±


    I sniffled.


    ¡° Yeah. she said to be with your love, then she was gone¡±


    ¡° I have a new vow idea for you. Maybe this one will make up for the others.¡±


    Oh yeah? Fat chance.


    ¡° What?¡±


    ¡° That you will never leave me again. That will make up for the two vows you broke, and that''s what Teresa wanted.¡±


    ¡° Yeah, Okay. . .¡±


    We kissed again. This time his lips were warm. I resurfaced from the sea of sadness I¡¯d been drowning in. We were still kissing when Chuck ran into the room to check on us.


    ¡° Ew! Next time lock the shucking door!¡±


    He immediately exited.


    ¡° It¡¯s not like we can exactly walk around with all our injuries.¡±


    Newt called after him.


    I heard the door close, then heard Chuck explaining to the others.


    Newt was still playing with my hair. His warm fingers running through it.


    ¡° They were kissing!¡±


    Gally replied with


    ¡° I told you so.¡±


    Alby replied with


    ¡°Good for them!¡±


    Brenda replied with


    ¡° Aw, how cute!¡±


    I was annoyed.


    ¡° Hey ya shanks! Slim it all ready, we can hear you!¡±


    Newt chuckled into my hair.


    The others came in after knocking, and they all said that they''d been trying to clean the place up, because we might stay a while. Alby and Brenda walked over to us, while Chuck and Gally were arguing over who got the ¡®best¡¯ room. Me and Newt were still laying in the bed, but at Chuck''s request had refrained from kissing. We talked for a bit, then Newt got serious.


    ¡° Hey, are you guys sure you''re okay with this?¡±


    Good question, I was wondering that too. If they were fine with us. Gally hollered across the room.


    ¡° Me and Chuck sure ain''t, but we aren''t the leaders!¡±


    It was an unspoken thing, that Alby and Brenda had turned into the leaders, over the past couple days. Brenda chuckled at Gally¡¯s comment, but Alby looked confused.


    ¡° What do you mean?¡±


    My turn. New had started the conversation, and I would finish it.


    ¡° You know . . . us. Me and Newt.¡±


    Alby smiled at us.


    ¡° Well, duh, of course it¡¯s fine! Like we would defy your love.¡±


    Brenda¡¯s face blushed, and she smiled sheepishly.


    ¡° And well. . . me and Alby kind of have to let you guys be in love, since, well . . . me and Alby are in love.¡±


    Oh, my gosh.


    Me and Newt looked at each other, and simultaneously said ¡® What?¡¯ and ¡®spill it!¡¯.


    Alby was blushing too.


    ¡° Well, after I got shot in the leg, it was Brenda who helped me, and took care of me. We spent a lot of time together while you guys were uncoinsus, and we started to have feelings for each other.¡±


    Me and Newt squealed like idiots, and started teasing them.


    ¡°Ohhhhhhh,¡±


    ¡° Alby and Brenda sitting in a tr-¡±


    ¡° Slim it you shanks!¡±


    Alby looked flustered, and Brenda looked seconds away from laughing.


    ¡° We didn''t tease you guys!¡±


    ¡° Yeah, because we were in comas, and then barely alive.¡±


    Gally and Chuck walked over, and asked what we were talking about. Newt piped up.


    ¡° Well, Alby and Brenda decided they''re bloody in love!¡±


    Chuck and Gally looked at each other, and started making gag noises. Once they stopped, Chuck said


    ¡° Great. Now there''s two of them.¡±


    Gally looked disturbed.


    ¡° C''mon, let''s break up this love fest. We got stuff to do.¡±


    Alby, Brenda, Chuck, and Gally all walked out. Newt started to get up. I grabbed his hand.


    ¡° Newt, can you stay with me?¡±


    He kissed me, then climbed back in, saying.


    ¡° I¡¯ll always stay with you Min.¡±


    We fell asleep there, Newt¡¯s chin resting on my head, me buried in Newt¡¯s chest.


    The world finally seemed right.