It had been a few days. In those few days, Minho underestimated the damage that could be done to a person, especially himself.

Y/N was brought into one of the labs a few times a day to have blood taken. Each time, she passed the room Minho and a few other boys were being held in. Every single time she passed by, he banged on the door relentlessly and screamed at the top of his lungs. But, she never heard him. Each day, he watched as she became weaker and more defenceless. He knew he looked the same, but he didn't care. He could be seconds away from death and all he'd still care about would be her.

The procedures Minho was put into were nothing like the one's Y/N had. His were psychological. Each day, multiple times a day, he was thrown into a simulation. They were so vivd that Minho could never be sure what was reality and what wasn't. The simulation he was just about to be thrown into was seemingly stronger and more realistic than the rest.

"Y/N..." He whispered carefully, walking down an empty, echoey hallway. A whisp of hair caught his attention and he chased after it. Corner after corner he rounded, just like back in the maze until the figure he was chasing stopped dead in their tracks. Without a doubt, it was Y/N. But her shoulders were hunched and breathing was hitched. Minho approached carefully, the flickering incandescent lights overhead distorting his vision.

"It's ok, it's me..." He sounded again, reaching his hand out.

The next thing he knew, his hand was in Y/N's grasp, being tugged violently. Her face was distorted, eyes cloudy and dark. She had no voice, only cackled screeches and the gnashing of barred teeth. Her hair was a mangled mess and the veins under her skin were black and swollen.

"Y/N!!" Minho screamed, tears falling from his eyes. He tried to run but her grasp was too tight. With time, her nails began to dig into his skin, drawing blood. She slashed at him with a piece of glass in her other hand and kicked at him with her feet. Despite everything, Minho couldn't force himself to fight back. He just couldn't fight her. So, he let the girl slash and cut at him while her screaming face was just inches from his.

Very few things scared Minho. But this simulation made his heart stop beating. Never in his life, if he survived long enough to get out, would he be able to sleep without seeing her face like this. He'd never forget the pain of glass slicing his skin or the sting in his veins of true horror and heartbreak.

Luckily for Minho, this was indeed a simulation because he jolted awake. The simulation made him become sick on the spot, but it hardly mattered because there were doctors all around him to clean up the area before they threw him into a different simulation.

By this point, Minho had completely lost himself. In the simulations, he was healthy and seeming like himself. But, once they were shut down, he felt like death. He could hardly move or think on his own, confined to his bed between tests. He'd nearly forgotten about Y/N, and would have if it weren't for the simulations to remind him.

In his room, Minho stared at the ceiling without a single thought in his mind because he was too exhausted. What rattled him, though, was the sound of guns. Firearms were prohibited on this level of the building because 'no subjects lives could bet at risk.' Yet, the firing got louder and glass shattered outside of his door. Sirens began to wail and Minho knew something wasn't right.

Thomas and Newt fired their weapons at anything that moved, pushing back guards while Gally went off on his own to search the endless maze of rooms for familiar faces.

"MINHO!" Thomas shouted out desperately.

Minho heard it. He knew he wasn't in a simulation because nothing was trying to kill him yet. He was being rescued.

It didn't help that he was laying on a bed and the doctor at his side was preparing a second sedative since the first had failed. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, but Newt's voice pulled him back to reality. Never once did he think he'd hear the blondes voice again. Being separated for so long, he'd nearly forgotten what his friends voices sounded like.

The former runner shouted and screamed, plunging a needle into the neck of one of the doctors and breaking free from his restraints.

"HEY!" He screamed as he burst through the door before him and into the hall. Just like the maze again, he ran as fast as he could until he found his friends. Out of sheer anger, he cried and shoved the guard threatening Thomas straight through a pane of glass. Both of his friends looked to him in disbelief. Minho looked mad, not just angry, but deranged. They had done terrible things to him here and it was painfully obvious to Thomas and Newt. It made the blonde want to throw up. If this was what Minho looked like, he could only imagine what condition Y/N was in. Was she still alive? He didn't want to doubt her, but a person can only take so much, and Minho himself looked just hours from death.

The three boys fell into an embrace before Thomas broke away with frantic eyes and heavy breath. "Where's Y/N? We need to get her out!"

Minho's heart paused for a quick second. Maybe they were getting out of here.

"I think I know, c'mon!" Minho found some strength deep within himself and took a deep breath. With that, the trio ran down the corridors, Minho looking into each and every room. He grunted in frustration at each empty lab, but then he stopped dead in his tracks. There she was, sprawled out on her hands and knees fighting for breath. The doctor at her side was knocked out cold. But, there was blood soaking the floor.

"Shit, Y/N! What happened?" Thomas asked as he ran towards her.

"He was gonna kill me?" She said like it was obvious. Minho was at least glad to know the real Y/N was still inside.

"Like they haven't already," Newt said sadly.

Minho slowly seemed to regain his sanity. Hurriedly, he gathered some medical supplies and worked to patch up the gaping wound on Y/N's arm as quickly as he could. Newt stood standing in the doorway with a cold and numb heart. Minho looked different, and he could tell just how horribly everyone here had been treated. But, Y/N looked even worse. She was sickly, beaten and bruised, had tired eyes and messy hair. While he and the others were planning their rescue, she and Minho were in here, being torn to pieces. It may had only been a few days, but for Y/N and Minho it probably felt like years.

"Newt, c'mon! Help her up!" Thomas ordered, raising his gun and breaking for the door. They were so close and just needed a way out.

Surely enough, they found it. The four Gladers were flying out of the skyscraper into a pool of water down below. Surrounded by guards when they resurfaced, their hopes fell, all until Gally, who was hiding in the midst open fired and gave them a way out.

"Holy shuck...shebean!" Gally shouted as he raced towards the girl and hugged her tight.

"Y-You're dead..." Y/N gaped. "I-I killed you."

"Well, not anymore! I'll explain later." He broke away with a light laugh and patter her back. "No hard feelings, by the way."

Following Gally's lead, the group took refuge for a while in the secluded, quiet areas of the city. They needed to count supplies, and most importantly, make a plan. Something they didn't seem to have. Minho and Y/N didn't have much of a role in this planning since they were still in a complete daze, so they moved to the side and sat beside one another. Y/N shook from the cold, even though to Minho the night seemed unbearably hot.

"What the shuck did they do to you..." Minho asked, his voice laced with anger as he reached forward and pushed a portion of hair behind Y/N's ear. For a quick second he had to look away, images of Y/N as a crank from the simulation flickering in his mind.

"Lots. Same as you. But it doesn't matter now. Thanks for getting me out." She tried to send a smile, but Minho could see right past it. Her body was tense, probably aching in pain and her eyes were constantly darting around like her mind was scrambled.

A few seconds later, she spoke again. "Simulations were the worst, though."

"You had them too? I thought they just took blood?" Minho's voice broke at the unbearable thought. If she'd had all the simulations as he had, but with the roles reversed, he could't even begin to imagine how badly those had scarred her.

Y/N pursed her lips. "They'd run the same thing over and over again."

"What were yours about?"

"Mostly you." She lowered her head shamefully. "Every time, I'd start in the Glade that morning you—" She topped.

Minho didn't bother asking because he already knew. It was the day he ran into the maze in a fit because he was angry about her becoming a runner. How WICKED had twisted that memory to become something so awful, though, he wasn't sure.

"The morning you ran out there, mad at me for becoming a runner. But, instead of how things really went, I'd chase after you. My calls out after you were too loud and I'd always draw grievers in, and then I was never fast enough to warn you. The moment I'd nearly catch you a griever would drop from overhead and it would—"

Minho knew. He'd had the same simulation. He'd run out into the maze after Y/N, but be too slow, unable to stop the griever from getting to her first.

The boy shushed her before she tried to continue to explain. "Try to forget it. It wasn't real."

Y/N furrowed her brows painfully and tilted her head. It might not have been real, but those scientists made it feel all too real. The sounds, the feelings, the sights and the smells were nothing but real. To make a simulation, the creator needs bits of reality to create it. Y/N knew Minho's scream and knew it was somehow recorded to be used in the simulation. They'd hurt him in order to make a false reality used to horrify Y/N. But, she also knew the same was done to her for his simulations.

"They dragged you down to hell," He loathed, a tear skimming down the side of his face. He found himself holding the girl in his arms as he knew their time was likely running short. The city was up in flames, bombs were being set off everywhere and Newt sat struggling to hold onto his sanity as the flare invaded his systems. This nightmare was real, not a simulation.

After six months, this was the closest they'd ever been to free. There was something about that thought which made Minho promise to himself that he would stop at nothing to escape tonight.