Her || The Maze Runner

Forty One

She ran, turning corners as she approached them. For some reason, she knew the way back to the Glade. It felt like she had run that very path more times than she could remember; she knew exactly when to turn and which way to go.

The hallucinations hadn't stopped, everywhere she looked those words were there, following her every move. Every word stood out, shining in the dimly lit light of the Maze, illuminated by the grey ceiling above her. It's colour glowed in darkness, only allowing Mara to see a few inches ahead of her as she ran.

Mara knew Newt was behind her, on her tail as she ran, but she wasn't going to stop. Something had snapped inside of her, and she had to get away from everything. She had to stop herself before she stopped others. Permanently.

With one last turn she could see the open area in front of her, and she knew what she had to do. She sped up, entering the Glade once again. Alby was standing near the Homestead and realised Mara had returned almost immediately, heading for her at once.

Before Alby could reach her she was on her way to her next destination; the Slammer. If she couldn't control what she was doing she had to be locked up until it stopped, she couldn't risk hurting anyone.

Once she got to the Slammer she paused outside the wooden door, which was locked with a rusty metal latch. Mara turned back to face the direction she came, watching as Alby marched towards her with Newt slowly hobbling not too far behind him, trying to go as fast as he could with his slight limp.

"Open the door." She demanded, calming her breathing as she leaned against the door, banging on it with her bare fists.

"M, what are you doing, love?" Newt approached the insane girl, trying to calm her down. She shook her head intensely which increased the exploding pain inside her head.

"Something's wrong with me. Open the door, I don't care who does it, just do it." Mara pleaded. "Please, I don't want to hurt anyone."

"You won't hurt anyone, you know that. Just because you nearly accidentally slipped off the Cliff..."

"It wasn't a slip. I was going to jump, I know I was." She lowered her pitch, her heavy breathing overthrowing the sound of her own voice. "Please, Newt, just open the door. Alby, please. One of you, just open the door."

Alby stepped forward but Newt held his hand out in front of the boy's chest to stop him from walking any closer. He turned to Alby and mumbled something so quietly only he could hear. Then, Alby nodded, after whispering something back, and stepped backwards, retreating into the open zone of the Glade.

After a brief moment of silence, Newt turned to Mara, sighing as he reached into his pocket and felt around what sounded like his keys. A ghost smile crept onto Mara's face in thanks. She knew she was doing the right thing; she had to keep telling herself that to make her feel better. Mara mumbled her thanks when Newt walked past her and slotted the key into the door.

The door popped open, and Newt stepped out of the way for Mara to enter the building. She turned back to the boy, smiling again and luckily, this time he smiled back.

"I'm going to be right out here, waiting for you, okay?" He asked. Mara nodded, she was glad Newt was always there for her, glad he was always so patient with her. She needed him, but she hated that she was so dependent on him. He cheered her up when she needed it, and he helped her through the rough times. But this time, he couldn't do anything, and Mara couldn't let him persuade her that he could help. Because he couldn't. "Call me if you need anything. And just tell me when you're ready to come back out, okay love?"

She nodded. Newt looked at her one more time before her reached over to the door and gripped onto its side. He pushed and it slammed shut, concealing Mara inside of her temporary home.

Her only company was an old, rickety wooden chair with one leg obviously shorter than the others. It was left bare, nothing comfortable like a pillow on top of it. But that was probably on purpose, why would they allow Gladers who had done terrible things to be comfortable?

Almost immediately the hallucinations began again; sheets of paper layered the floor and the words of that one same phrase were etched across each wall and the ceiling of the room.

"How ya doin' M?"

"The same as a few seconds ago." Mara lied; she didn't want Newt to know that in just those few seconds the hallucinations had started up again. She slotted herself in the corner that was positioned the closest to the small glass-less window and curled up into a ball, resting her head on her knees, which were pulled into her body. Her hands hung around her legs and her eyes closed, all she wanted was for it all to end.

-

The first hour past, and Mara could feel the boredom seeping through her, but she wasn't going to give up. Hour after hour went past, and every so often Mara would look up to see if everything had gone back to normal, but it hadn't. Newt would speak occasionally, just to let Mara know that he was still there. She really appreciated him staying by her side but she didn't want him to waste his time. They were so close to finding an exit to the Maze, Newt needed as much time as he got. Mara told him to leave and do something else, but he wasn't going anywhere.

Minho came to visit Mara later that day, along with Thomas. He poked his head the through the glass-less hole, peering down at the girl who sat in fear. She stared back up at him through blurred vision. Mara waited for him to say anything, she had expected him to tell her the same as every other time; they found nothing.

"Turns out we've found the rabbit hole, Alice. If you jumped, your butt woulda flown right through it." He told her, a large smile spread across his face. "The Griever Hole."

The Griever Hole; home to the Grievers. It made sense; the Grievers wouldn't have just rolled off the Cliff to their death. But how had she been close to falling through it? That couldn't just be a coincidence, could it? Maybe, in the part of her brain that was starting to remember bits of her old life, it was coming back to her.

Thomas' face was the next thing Mara saw, and soon after his hand poked through the hole holding a sandwich on a plate. Gladly, Mara took it, but she realised almost at once that it only held one sandwich. Why was there only one sandwich? Frypan always made two sandwiches for lunch.

"Only one today." Newt told her, duplicating her confusion in his sad voice. "The supplies didn't come up today. Gotta start rationing food."

"What?" Mara asked, scrambling to her feet. She did her best to avoid looking at the notes that surrounded her. That piece of information was the worst thing she had heard all day. "But if the supplies didn't come up..."

"Then we have a few days to live off what we have." Newt interrupted, his eyes lit with fear.

"We're all shucked." Minho whispered, his seriousness portraying how grave this situation really was. There was no incoming food, and they didn't have the sunlight to grow crops. If they didn't find the exit to the Maze soon, they would all starve to death. The desperation levels were increased yet again, and they were the highest they had ever been.

"She's awake!"  The three boys turned towards the direction of the voice, and Mara craned her head through the gap in the wall to look for the voice's source.

"What's goin' on?" Mara yelled, she could hear the boys talking but none of the words they were saying could process in her mind. Newt came running up to the window, a mixture of all emotions shone on his glistening face.

"The girl, she's awake."