Redamancy (Minho | The Maze Runner)

十八 : Tension

AN: Happy New Year guys! :D Here's an update as a NY's gift to thank you all for the support and love you've given me and my fanfiction in 2015 xD I hope that y'all will continue to read Redamancy, and enjoy the story even in 2016! (:

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Qiufeng woke up the next morning feeling like she hadn't slept at all, and when she tried to get up it felt as if her whole body turned into a rusty machine during the night before. Everything ached, from her muscles to her bones and it felt as if she needed to literally oil her joints to even get the day going. Briefly she wondered if it was too late to tell Minho she didn't want to run anymore, but decided to shove the thought aside and forced herself to stand up.

She stretched before giving the area a quick once over. Gentle snores filled Homestead, with most of the boys still asleep at this timing, and everything seemed normal – except that Newt was missing from his hammock.

Qiufeng frowned, before turning towards the open glade. Her eyes fell onto two shadowy figures further away, walking towards the west wall, and she relaxed when she recognized Newt's lean silhouette. She figured without much effort that he was probably taking Thomas to meet their good ol' neighbours.

Without a second thought she reached for her shoes and quickly laced them up, eager to watch Thomas's reaction to the grievers. Just as she was about to leave Homestead however, someone caught her by the shoulder.

Instinctively, she smacked the hand away hastily and twisted around to see who it was.

Her eyes widened.

"And where do you think you're going?" Minho stood there, with an unamused look on his face. "Not thinking of taking off when we're running in a bit are you?"

Qiufeng almost couldn't comprehend the meaning of his words above the tone of his voice. She was startled. He had never spoken to her like that before.

"No?" She somehow managed a reply, even if her voice sounded more confused than it should've been.

Minho made a disgruntled noise and threw something at her. She just barely caught it before it hit her face and by the familiar feel of rough cloth on her hand, realized it was her bag. Glancing up at the other with a mixture of confusion and growing annoyance, she tipped her head in a silent question.

"Start packing," he answered as he turned and started down the hill. "Don't get distracted, you're starting to get sloppy."

Her annoyance level peaked, mind clicking together in a split second with the perfect comeback. However just as she opened her mouth, a loud shriek echoed across the glade. She jumped, temporarily distracted from putting Minho in his place, and turned towards the sound. Qiufeng ended up sighing when she realized it was just Thomas meeting their "neighbours" for the first time.

She glanced back to speak, however the other had already made his way too far down the hill. It would seem stupid if she tried to defend herself by then. So instead she sucked in a deep breath of air sharply and started shoving whatever necessities she required in her bag – so roughly that the boys around her were startled awake by the noise.

--

Half an hour later all fed and packed, she stood in the middle of the glade whilst waiting for the other runners to gather. Qiufeng was still perplexed as to Minho's earlier change in attitude towards her, and was trying to determine the cause of it. "Honestly, what is with that shank?" she hissed out loud, her growing frustration no longer containable within her mind. Any sort of conclusion was still far out of her reach and she was getting more irritable by the second.

"What is with which shank?" someone echoed her words and she glanced around to see Newt standing there with his arms folded.

"Oh it's just you," she mumbled without thinking, still lost in other thoughts.

"Ouch," he laughed awkwardly and Qiufeng realized what she had said.

"Sorry! I was just thinking about... Later!" She smiled a little too brightly and quickly changed the topic before he could probe further. "Wonder if the runners are going to be sticking to the same arrangement today, or a different one?"

"Minho mentioned that there would be something different today," Newt replied as the rest of runners started to gather around them, "he didn't specify what though."

"Anyway, just wanted to check in on you because you were making such a fuss yesterday about the muscle ache," he laughed as she made a face. "You seem alright so I'll leave you guys to it," he nodded in the direction behind her, "Minho's here already anyway."

She smiled warmly at Newt, but then once she turned to face the other direction it quickly became a frown. Qiufeng still couldn't quite put a hand on Minho's weird ass attitude to her this morning, she was pretty sure she didn't commit anything to make him angry... Right? As the other neared, she tried to get a read on his mood or feelings, anything honestly, but his face was close to a blank except for the determined glint in his eyes.

"Today, we'll be running in pairs," Minho started as the rest of the runners acknowledged his arrival. "While y'all shuck-faces are still inexperienced, we need you to start being independent in the maze – and fast. So let's take baby steps and go in pairs today so that if one of you by any shuck chance forgot what you've learnt yesterday, you can ask your partner. If both of you forget – which honestly shouldn't be the case – then good shucking luck to you."

As he ended off, Qiufeng did a quick run through of what she remembered learning yesterday. Pace yourselves, don't finish your water right away, take notes of the maze changes if you're not up to memory work yet, always remember to mark after completing a route... She was pretty sure there was a bit more, but that would probably come back to her as she ran. For now it seemed like she was prepared enough.

"...Tim will go with Dave, Ben with Samuel..." Minho briskly listed the pairing off, and she wondered if she was going to be paired with Lester again since she had requested to run with his group yesterday.

"Lester with Stan," he continued and she looked up quickly in realization to meet his unreadable gaze.

"And Qiufeng with me."