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Minho almost doesn’t see the boy, running too fast most of the time to ever look up. He wouldn’t have noticed at all if the ivy wasn’t shaking.
But it is.
He looks up and his heart drops to his stomach. Of course Minho has lost people before, that’s how things work in the Glade. Over time he’s grown a hard exterior to it all, trying to maintain indifference. As a runner, that’s all you can do to keep yourself from losing it. But this is different. This is someone he cannot lose.
“Newt?” Minho shouts.
Newt looks down at him, shaking like a leaf. He’s holding onto the ivy well over halfway up the wall, his leg looking tangled in it. Minho can’t see his face from the ground, but he can imagine it from the way he answers.
“Go, Minho,” Newt says, his voice angrier than he’s ever heard it. If Minho wasn’t looking right at him, he wouldn’t recognize it at all. “Keep running. Leave me alone.”
“I’m not gonna do that,” Minho says, keeping up his volume. His first instinct is to scream at Newt out of fear, but he tries to stay calm—or appear calm, anyway. “Just get down, alright?”
“Why should I?” Newt yells. “This is their fault. The creators—those bastards—they don’t care.”
“Newt, I hate them as much as you do. But this? This won’t solve anything,” Minho says urgently.
“I’m not getting down,” Newt says, his voice cracking at the end.
“Fine,” Minho says, walking up to the wall without actually thinking the plan through. He takes a section of the ivy in his hand and tugs on it to check if it’s sturdy. “Then I’m coming up.”
It takes Newt a moment to respond. “What if I just jump right now?”
Minho’s already on his way up, trying to swallow his nerves. “Then as soon as I got up there, I’d jump too.”
“You don’t mean that,” Newt says quickly.
“I do mean it,” he says, gaining speed. “If you jump, why shouldn’t I?”
Once again, there’s a long pause, Minho over halfway to him now.
“It’s different,” Newt says.
Minho doesn’t respond until he’s finally reached him, trying not to look down. He doesn’t have a problem with heights, but this is different. It suddenly occurs to him that if Newt jumps, he doesn’t even have a possibility of catching him now. He has to rely on his words.
“How’s it different? We’re both stuck in the same situation,” Minho says, fighting to keep his voice level.
“It’s different because I can’t take it anymore,” Newt says. Minho was right about how he looks, there are tears streaking his face and his hair is disheveled, his hands grasping onto the ivy so hard his knuckles are white. “I’m empty, Minho. I have nothing to keep going for.”
“We’re going to find a way out of here,” Minho says, nodding. “I’m going to find a way out of here. For you, for all of us. That’s what you have to keep going for.”
Newt shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. I hope you find your way out.”
“I’m going to, and you’re going to be there. Like I said, if you jump, I jump,” Minho says.
“Why do you care so much, anyway?” Newt asks. “We lose people all the time, I’ll be replaced and you’ll all go on about your bloody lives.”
“Are you kidding me?” Minho asks. “You’re our second in command. There’s no replacing you. We were put here for a reason, and if you do this, you’ll never get your chance to win.”
“They’ve already won, Minho,” Newt says, his voice getting quieter. “Maybe if I do this, it’ll make ’em get the rest of you out.”
“They haven’t won. We’re in a maze, and every maze has an end. You have to help us get there. There’s more than this, and you know it,” Minho says. “If you do this, there’s no chance for it to change. To get better.”
Newt looks down and Minho sees him grip harder onto the vines, before looking back up at him.
“I’m so tired,” Newt says in a broken whisper, Minho’s heart breaking even more than it already was.
“Get down from here with me,” Minho says, his arms shaking.
“Why?” Newt asks, shaking his head.
“Because sooner or later our arms are going to give out. Then there won’t even be a choice,” Minho says. “I’m with you either way, but what difference would it make between now and if you took two seconds to think?”
Newt closes his eyes, fear striking in Minho. But after a few extremely long seconds, he untangles his leg from the ivy and begins to climb down.
Minho sighs in relief at the sight, starting his descent as well as he tries to fight back tears. That was way too close.
When they make it to the bottom, they stand and look at each other for a moment. Minho’s overwhelming relief at the temporary breakthrough floods through him until he’s wrapping his arms around Newt, trying not to squeeze him too hard.
It takes Newt a few moments to hug back, but eventually he does. It’s hesitant at first, then as the seconds go by he holds on tighter, burying his head in Minho’s shoulder. Minho only allows himself to cry when Newt does.
“I’m so scared,” Newt says through a shaky sob.
“We all are,” Minho says. He should be letting Newt go, but it feels like he wants that about as much as Minho does. If he had the option to never let him go, he’d take it.
When Minho thinks back, he can’t believe he didn’t talk to Newt earlier. He’d noticed him getting quieter; doing nothing but working all day and withdrawing from all conversation. At night, he’d hear Newt getting up sometimes, but never stopped to ask where he was going. Obviously none of them are exactly happy, but Minho never thought he’d do something like this.
“I can’t stand not knowing anymore. Not knowing what’s out there, not knowing why we’re here, how we got here, where here even is. If I had a family,” Newt rambles on.
“But you want to know, don’t you?” Minho asks. Newt’s quiet. “You’ll get the chance to find out if you hold on. I promise you. We’re all in this together. Right now, we are family.”
Newt pulls away after a moment, then turns and sits up against the maze wall, shakily dropping to the ground. Minho sits with him.
“You should be running,” Newt says with a sniffle.
“No,” Minho says sternly. “I shouldn’t.”
They’re quiet, but Minho can’t take his eyes off of Newt. He has no intention of doing so. Newt’s eyes are bloodshot, and Minho hates how afraid he looks. Does he know how loved he is by all of the Gladers? How much they all look up to him?
“I’m sorry,” Newt says quietly. Minho starts to get nervous again until Newt continues. “You shouldn’t be worrying about me.”
“Of course I’m going to worry about you, Newt, and apologizing is the second dumbest thing you’ve done today. The only way you can apologize is by never thinking about doing something like that again,” Minho says. “It’s hard. Believe me, I know. But can I tell you what I do?”
“What?” Newt asks. He’s looking down at the floor of the maze. Minho has to just pray that something he says will get through to him.
“I think about getting out. Showing the creators that those sons of bitches messed with the wrong people,” Minho says. That earns a hint of a smile from Newt, and even if it’s gone as fast as it came, Minho considers it a small win. “Maybe reuniting with my parents, if I’ve got them. I know we can do it. But not without you. You’re the best of us, Newt.”
“Obviously not,” Newt says.
“Being scared doesn’t mean you’re weak. You’ve got the biggest heart, and more sense or smarts than all the builders put together. You’re strong. Which is why the two of us are going to get out of here, get back in the Glade, and let the creators know who’s boss here,” Minho says.
He holds his breath in the moments that Newt doesn’t respond. There is no way he’s going to let anything happen to him. He’ll lock the shank up for a week if he has to. But no matter what, Newt isn’t going anywhere. Regardless of the fact that the Gladers need him, he’s the greatest person Minho’s ever known. He doesn’t deserve to feel like this, and he should live for the chance to see that better life. It makes Minho hate the creators even more.
“Alright,” Newt says, with a nod.
“Alright?” Minho asks, the relief apparent in his tone.
“I feel like there’s something missing in me, and it’s been eating at me since I got here. But I want to find whatever it is,” Newt says, finally looking up at Minho. “So you’re right. If we’re going to get out of here, we’ll have to do it together.”
Minho doesn’t know if he should smile or burst into tears again. “You’ve got all of us, and you’ve got my promise. I’ll keep mine if you keep yours.”
“My what?” Newt asks.
“You’re going to promise me that you’ll never…” Minho trails off. “You won’t do this again.”
Newt’s quiet for a few seconds. He opens his mouth, then closes it. Then, he takes a shaky deep breath. “I promise.”
Minho sighs. “Okay. Good. If you break your promise, I’ll kill you,” he says, only hearing what he actually said a moment after.
Luckily, Newt gives him what Minho can imagine is the best smile he can muster right now. “Deal.”
Minho nods, then looks around. “Just to be safe, we should probably head back sooner than later.” Truth be told, Minho just really doesn’t want Newt in here for one more moment.
Newt agrees, then gets up, Minho following and watching Newt carefully. He looks up at the maze wall, then behind Minho, before finally looking at him. “Can you do something for me?”
“Anything,” Minho says.
“Never tell anyone about this,” Newt says. “Last thing I need is someone else getting any stupid ideas, or lookin’ at me funny. Not even Alby. This is between us.”
“Of course,” Minho says.
They start walking, and Minho can’t believe just how grateful he is to have Newt by his side. His mind tries to wander to what would have happened if he didn’t find him, but he shuts the thought down quickly. He doesn’t even want to consider it.
Right before they get to the doors, Newt stops. “Minho?”
Minho stops with him. “Yeah?”
Newt looks choked up again, but Minho watches as he clears his throat, blinking a few times and nodding. “Thank you.”
Minho nods back, then Newt keeps walking, wiping at his eyes. Newt takes a few audible breaths, then walks back into the Glade. His face noticeably changes, and it’s almost scary to Minho. He knows that he’ll be putting on an act now, and he’ll be able to see right through it.
Nobody seems to be awake still, and halfway across the Glade, Newt turns to him.
“What’re you doing?” Newt asks.
“What do you mean?” Minho asks.
“Get back in there, you’ve got a job to do,” Newt says, nodding to the maze.
Minho looks at him incredulously. “Are you kidding me? There’s no way I’m—”
“I don’t need a bloody babysitter. I’m going to go find Alby and wake them all up so we can get on with the day. You get back to the maze,” Newt says. Minho honestly can’t believe him. “I’ll be angry if you don’t.”
“Fine,” Minho says. “But I’m staying with you until you find Alby.”
Newt huffs, but Minho knows that deep down he must appreciate the gesture. “If that’s the only way you’ll go back, then okay.”
They set off, and when they find a half asleep Alby, he asks why Minho isn’t running. He tells Alby he forgot something in the maps room, and since he’s not at his sharpest, he doesn’t question it.
Newt gives him a look before he turns to leave for the maze. Minho can’t exactly place it, but he can tell that there was a hint of gratitude in there. It’s the only thing that makes him comfortable enough to go.
That being said, Minho doesn’t get further than the first turn into the maze before he stops, sitting up against the wall. He winces when he looks up at the ivy. He’s been running on pure adrenaline since he spotted Newt, but now that it’s over, he’s undeniably shaken up.
Minho doesn’t move for hours, just sitting there and watching. Nobody could enter the maze without him seeing them now. He trusts Newt, but taking this risk wouldn’t be worth it.
The reason he’s alright with not running today, is that he’s almost positive he knows the pattern of the maze’s changes. The same sections opening on the same days, and nothing new to be found in any of them. But he can’t tell the Gladers that, and definitely not Newt.
But no matter what, he’s going to keep his promise. Newt, the boy he admires more than anyone—now especially—will get out of here. Minho will make sure of it. Even if it’s the last thing he does.