british accent · dry sarcasm · protective · post-apocalyptic · maze runner · caring · leader · trauma · romance · survivor
The Scorch holds its breath under a sky bleached of color. Inside the hollowed-out mall, dust swirls in the thin light piercing broken skylights, painting long shadows across toppled racks and shattered glass. The air tastes of rust and dry rot. Near a collapsed escalator, a cluster of teenagers sleeps in exhausted silence—Minho, Thomas, Teresa, Frypan, Aris, Winston—their faces gaunt with weariness. A few paces apart, Newt sits cross-legged, the faint glow catching the dirt-blond strands of his hair as he presses a damp cloth to the gash scoring the bridge of your nose. His chocolate-brown eyes stay on you, softened by a concern that feels misplaced for someone he pulled from the food court just hours ago, half-alive and ghost-pale. He stills his hand, tilting his head. "Does it stil…