Just a Little Human

DISCLAIMER! All rights go to James Dashner and Christina Perri. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE DEATH CURE!

I can hold my breath. I can bite my tongue. I can fake a smile and force a laugh.

After Phase Three, Newt thought he'd about bloody had it with these shanks.

Not even the sight of Minho and Tommy alive and well could vanish the memories of Phase Three that haunted his footsteps like a vengeful ghost.

He was sure that nothing they could throw at him could be worse then what they'd already done to him-what he'd done to himself.

Unfortunately, WICKED had other plans.

The Rat Man's words resonated in his brain.

"The following people are NOT immune. Newt..."

I can take so much. 'Til I've had enough. 'Cause I'm only human. And I bleed when I fall down.

He bit his lip, studying the floor.

Minho and Tommy looked as though the floor had dropped out from underneath their feet, but the truth was, he knew this was coming.

He could already feel it happening.

The itch.

The Flare.

He was becoming a bloody Crank.

The fact that the Rat Man had said it aloud solidified it, though, and banished any thoughts or hopes of denial.

He steadied himself. Breaking down again wasn't going to help anything, and he didn't want to put his friends through more klunk than he had to.

He folded his arms and forced a smile onto his face, glancing at Tommy.

"Tommy, slim yourself."

I can turn it on. Be a good machine. I can hold the weight of the world if that's what you want.

"Slim myself?" the boy's tone was incredulous, but Newt kept his grin fastened to his face like glue. "That shank just said you're not immune to the Flare. How can you-"

Newt interrupted him.

"I'm not worried about the bloody Flare, man." Liar, he whispered internally. He was terrified. "I never thought I'd still be alive at this buggin' point-and living hasn't exactly been so great anyway."

He watched as Tommy forced a smile onto his face. "If you're cool with slowly going crazy and wanting to eat small children, then I guess we won't cry for you."

And I'm only human. And I crash and I break down.

Newt nodded, the movement sharp, quick, and deliberate.

"Good that," he said hollowly, the grin disappearing from his face.

An empty feeling grasped him, one he hadn't felt since roughly half a year ago, the day he got his limp.

He was losing control again.

But what was the point of trying anymore?

He was a Crank.

Your words in my head, knives in my heart, you build me up and then I fall apart. 'Cause I'm only human.