Stolen [The Maze Runner Fanfiction]

XXXV. Tick-Tock

It's been almost two months since my sleepover with the grievers, and basically nothing has changed. I'll save you the boredom I've endured and sum it up. I haven't found anymore memories, although occasionally I do try. Jess still avoids me like the plague, no surprise there. We still haven't found a way out of the maze, although we still run it. every. single. Shucking. day. Minho and I are still together, yay! One good thing on this shucking list. Oh, Newt and Mal are the glade's cutest couple. That I can truly say I was happy about, they deserve each other and it's adorable. Kate and Clint still insist on being in a weird 'not quite relationship' thing that no one understands. Seriously are you together or not make up your minds, it's annoying. Hmm what else, oh right we got another greenie.

He's about twelve with curly brown hair, and blue eyes that stand out from his pudgy face. He's incredibly annoying, and coming from me, that's saying something, but mostly he just depresses everyone. No one says it, but secretly we all wonder what kind of world we live in that it's acceptable to send kids that young into a death arena. My gut says not a good one. I mean sure it wasn't exactly great to send the rest of us here, but Chuck-that's his name- is just too young, too happy, too innocent. He deserves a nice home where he can play video games till his mom yells at him to go outside for once. It makes me angry, just like everything else lately.

So ya that's the depressing summary of the last two months I've spent here. If you couldn't tell, I'm a little fed up with it all, and to make it worse, we get another greenie, tomorrow.

"What's wrong?" Minho asks when he finds me repeatedly driving my fist into the stone walls. "Stop it, you're going to hurt yourself." He says grabbing my arms and turning me around to face him.

"I'm tired of being a lab rat, surrounded by a maze with no way out and I'm tired of thinking about a 'world in catastrophe' that sends kids to die in some sick experiment." I say clicking my jaw from side to side.

"Don't think about it, think about me." He says with a smirk. Then his lips find mine, successfully making me forget everything I was upset about. I let him kiss me, letting it drive away my anger and sadness, letting hope rebuild itself inside me. Then I pull away, only to bury my head in his chest, needing him to hold me. He never fails to be able to make me forget, and I love that about him. When I have my bad days, he is strong for me, because that is what we do. We keep each other strong. We've had to do it a lot lately, he'll have a breakdown, then I will, then him again, then me. At least ours usually come out in anger, not sadness. I find that anger is easier to deal with than sadness. Anger, you punch something and feel better, sadness, not so much. We have our bad days, but we make it through. Not everyone is so lucky.

"We have to go, are you going to be ok?" He sighs, we both know running the maze is pointless, but we can't quit. I nod, steeling myself before pulling away. "On second thought, you're running with me today." He says, and I don't even bother to argue, I'm too exhausted to care. I know he is thinking of the maze, and isn't taking any chances that I'll do something stupid, or even that I'll lose focus and make a mistake. A very real possibility, considering today's mental state.

We head to the doors hand in hand. I stopped caring who saw us together weeks ago, you never know which day is your last.

"Hey." Kate says flatly. I hear my own despair reflected in her voice. She is one of the few other runners who knows that there is no exit. One of the only ones we told anyway. How many have figured it out on their own? I don't know.

"Hey." I answer giving her a half-smile. I don't have to pretend with Kate, I never have, she sees straight through any attempts at sugar coating, so there's no point in trying.

"We'll see you later." She sighs jogging off into the maze.

"See ya." I mutter, even though she's already gone. I sigh, before following Minho into our section.

We find nothing, as usual, but head to the map room anyway. I still enjoy going to the map room, a peaceful spot in my day. Minho and I both draw the map, him somehow working around me. We must look ridiculous, him drawing his map with his arms around me, standing behind me, with his head on my shoulder, and me trying to draw my map around him, my arms sometimes crossed over his, but this is our routine. Sometimes it's the only part of the day we get to spend together, and I feel better when he's with me. The other runners stopped staring and trying to figure it out after about the third day. Except Chris, who still hates us both.

Suddenly a head pops through door, and I look up to see Kate standing in the doorway. Judging by the look on her face, something is very, very wrong.

"It's Ben." She says before I can get the questions out of my mouth. Every head in the room snaps up. "He got stung."

We all rush out of the map room running towards the med-jacks. Minho gets there first, Kate and I right behind him. Clint and Jeff stand bent over Ben's trembling body, trying to get him on to the make-shift stretcher.

"Is he gonna be ok?" I ask Minho, bending down to help Clint and Jeff.

"He made it back in time for the serum, so ya he should live, but he'll have to go through the changing." Minho answers as we finally manage to get Ben onto the board. I've only seen one changing and it wasn't pretty, I grimace at the thought. At least he'll live.