Quiet is Violent {Newt | The Maze Runner}

10. Rain or Shine

"You go left, Alby and I'll go right." Minho and Alby were leaning over the map, analysing, speculating. It had taken a moment, comparing with her own sketch of the map, but Tasha had pointed out where Ben had gotten stung and they were trying to work out the quickest route to that place, and had aided in the planning of the best route to that spot. However, it didn't answer Tasha's most pressing question.

"Why me?" She was certainly not the best choice to go running, especially if it was only the three of them running that day. Her near-collapse the day before, coupled with her intense attachment to her fellow Runners should put her way down the list. Minho frowned at her, as if he was trying to figure out what was happening in Tasha's head.

"You've gone with me when looking for lost Runners before." Minho told her. Tasha nodded, suddenly understanding, it was not her limited but intense loyalty that drew her to these projects, but her ability to push all feeling from her mind and focus on her task at hand. Her eyes darted to their leader, who had watched the exchange with interest.

"Why Alby?" She flinched internally at her own blunt approach, but it didn't seem to phase Minho or Alby, who drew his attention away from the girl to the equipment against the wall.

"Everything's changing." Alby's voice was dark, and he didn't give any further explanation, but he handed Tasha a pack over the dimly lit map, along with a notepad and water bottle. Tasha took them, nodding and pulling the pack over her head. "Are you OK with this?" Alby asked. Tasha looked at him, steeling herself and nodding quickly. "Good. Let's go." He grabbed a pack for himself and Minho, before heading out of the map room and over to the doors.

What Tasha wasn't expecting was Newt, standing by the Maze doors, face scrunched up as he looked into the Maze, as if willing for Ben, gasping, sweating and terrified, to come around a corner, covered in blood and bruises. However he didn't, and Tasha just felt rather cold. The three boys gathered together, chattering softly about the events of the previous night, before Newt nodded to them and they headed into the maze. His attention turned to Tasha once the other two had rounded the corner.

"You alright, Tash?" He asked, arms crossed over his chest. Tasha nodded once and Newt huffed out a laugh at her automatic response. Tasha let out a small smile, letting herself relax slightly, no, she was not alright, but when was she ever? He rubbed her shoulder in a comforting gesture for a moment, before looking out at the maze. "Good luck." He told her, letting his hand drop, to which she nodded once more and took off into the maze. All emotions were cleared from her head, her only goal being to map the maze as she always did. Alby and Minho were the ones looking to trace Ben's path, not her. She felt safe in that knowledge. Less safe in the knowledge that she might come across the mangled remains of her former runner, but she could easily sidestep that in her current frame of mind.

The maze was endless, and just the same as yesterday, just the same as every other day. There was no way out.

So she ran.

She liked running on her own, there was a sense of isolation that nowhere else could replicate, a deafening silence that she could feel in her bones. It was like she had said to Thomas, running was easy, but it came with a price. There was always the lingering doubt in the back of her mind, the constant overwhelming fear of repetition, but the overpowering need to run, to search, to hope, that overrode everything else.

She had explained it once to Chuck when he had asked, when he first got into the maze and didn't avoid her like most of the others.

"I don't run because Alby's right or because I think there's a way out.." She told him as they walked side by side, her voice was quiet and she was carefully looking over her map for any errors she may have made. Chuck, who had been bringing supplies to the map room, looked up in surprise and Tasha's gaze rose to meet his. "I run because I believe WCKD is wrong and I need to stop them." Chuck seemed confused, but didn't ask any more questions Tasha went back to her map.