1Prologue
Thomas stood in front of the memorial rock, eyes distant as they glanced over the names.
Time had certainly passed since his first night here, when he'd carved Teresa's name into the stone. Other names had been added during the course of their stay at the safe haven. Vince. Jorge. Abigail. Emily. But only one name stood out in the growing light of day.
Newt. It had been a while since Thomas had thought of Newt and felt sad. The boy had been right, after all. As time passed, Thomas found that he didn't regret a single choice he'd made when he was younger, and he had a family now. His brilliant son, Sam. And most importantly, he was happy. He'd honored Newt's last wishes for him. But now, standing at the spot where they'd buried the boy so long ago—and his heart twisted as he thought of Newt as a boy, for he himself was no longer a boy but a grown man—and staring at his name in the stone, Thomas wished for one more chance. A chance to go back and do it right and save Newt. He yearned for it so desperately in that moment that he could feel his body tremble.
A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and a voice penetrated his thoughts.
"Hey, shuck-face, we got to get a move on," Minho said.
Thomas sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's just…we're leaving so much behind."
Minho knew what Thomas was leaving unsaid. He always had. "We're leaving him behind."
"Yeah."
"He'd be proud of you, you know."
Thomas did know. "Doesn't make it any easier."
Minho didn't have a reply for that one.
"Goodbye, Newt," Thomas whispered. He took a step forward and traced his finger over the name. He saw Newt's face again for a moment, clearer than he had in years. He pulled his finger away from the rock harshly and stepped out of the circle. Minho was right. The longer he stayed, the harder it would be to leave. It was time to go.
"Thomas?"
"Let's go," Thomas said. He turned away from the memorial rock and jogged over to the ship, where everyone else was waiting.
Minho followed closely behind. The two stepped up onto the ship together.
"We good?" Gally asked, spotting them.
"Yeah," said Minho. "Good to go."
Gally nodded and disappeared to the engine room.
Shortly after, the ship rumbled to life and peeled slowly away from the dock.
Minho stood next to Thomas, who had picked up Sam in his arms, and together the two friends watched as the safe haven faded into the distance.
"Why are we leaving home?" Sam asked, his face full of curiosity as he stared up at his father.
Thomas bit his lip, not quite sure how explain things to Sam. He was still too young, he thought. "Well, Sam," he answered slowly, "we're going to a different home now. One with more people, and more space."
"A different home?"
"Yeah, buddy. A different home."
Sam was quiet for a minute, considering this answer. Finally, he asked, "Will we…stay there?"
Minho laughed. "We sure will, Sam, we sure will."
Sam grinned, seeming content with this information. He turned back to watch the ocean.
Minho and Thomas exchanged a glance. The safe haven had been home for so long, they'd almost forgotten they would have to leave. It seemed they were always leaving. This time, though, maybe this beginning would also be the start of a very good end.
A/N: Okay so I wrote this drabble on my main blog on Tumblr for Newt Day, and people seemed to enjoy it, so I decided to run with it and go with my curiosity to develop the drabble into a full-blown fanfic, so here's this thing now.
I have no idea where the plot is going to go, and I have no idea how long this is going to be. I can tell you, however, that it will be mostly unedited. It will also not be very high on my priority list, what with Return to Your Roots and Chasing Immortality and like, real life. This is a love project that I have no idea what to do with, frankly, so as inspiration comes, so will updates.
Anyways, that's that, and after this point, the characters we know and love from the Maze Runner will no longer be an active part of this story! This is a future fic. Also, I know that this story is under the books category, but that's because there's no Maze Runner trilogy section in movies. I checked. So just know that this is influenced by the movies, not the books, and is categorized under books because it was my only choice.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo, WolfMist