the analyst - (NEWT)

(unedited)

—

it was finally dinner, and minho had called her over gingerly, by the looks on his fellow runners' faces, they did not expect the new runner to be the greenie. newt seemed to pick up on their skepticism and laughed lightly, also encouraging the girl to sit. when yn finally complies and sits across from her friends, leaving some space between her and ben (who she hadn't really gotten to know, but she figured that his lack of disbelief at her arrival would make him a fine companion). 

"well, now that we addressed the elephant in the room, this is yn; she'll start tomorrow", minho introduced, floating his hand out towards her. she smiled awkwardly at the gesture, finding it a little obnoxious, but in her time of being around minho in the glade, she figured this was the norm.

"we'll have a small debrief at the map room after this, so if you don't attend, i'll let frypan know not to fill your water bottles full tomorrow." yn smiles as laughs rung out around the table, still awkwardly fidgeting with her fingers. when she looks up to gaze at the smiles of her new acquaintances, she locks eyes with newt; who was already looking at her with an proud grin.

she tilts her head in confusion, refusing to let the smile plastered on her face slip, and newt only shrugs, nodding his head towards minho, who started going off on a tangent about who knows what.

her attention is quickly stolen by another one of the runners, sitting beside ben. "has minho said anything about the shuck maze yet, greenie?" he pipes, a mischievous smile plastered upon his lips. yn raises a brow curiously and shakes her head, prompting the boy to continue.

"oh, you're in for a ride, greenie. are you sure you're brave enough to hear this?" he eggs. yn, starting to get impatient rolls her eyes, nodding. "get on with it already..."

the boy laughs in amusement before collecting himself, "alright, there's these things; we call 'em grievers. they must be monsters that not even our nightmares could even dream about constructing because everyone who's ever seen 'em..."

yn by this point, is at the edge of her seat, bubbling with interest. so much so, she fails to realize minho has stopped talking (newt is impressed, considering it takes a lot to shut that boy's mouth). the rest of the boys tune into their conversation (excluding ben, who was forced to listen awkwardly since the beginning of their interaction as the two decided to talk around him).

"never leave the maze alive..." yn's eyes widened once he finishes and her mouth is left gaped open in shock; the boy must have sensed her disappointment at the ending as he teasingly laughs at her expression.

"you're telling me that what's out there is not just a maze... but a death trap?" she exclaims, knocking her fist on the wood of the table light enough to make a light knocking sound, but brash enough that their cutlery jolts at the action. 

"sorry greenie, but did you really think the shuck creators were just gonna send us up here with a maze to solve and that's it? if they wanted us to get out as fast as possible, we wouldn't still be here after 3 years of navigating the maze..." the mood at the table suddenly turns solemn. "three years?" she mutters, her mind racing back to the thought of the only family she could remember.

three years is a long time, yn pained. situations plaguing her mind, all with unfortunate endings. she thought back to her dream; her sister looked so young, and she figured her dream was a memory or a recreation of an event from at least a decade ago. or at least she hoped it was that long ago, she couldn't even begin to explain the pain she would feel if her sister was so many years younger and had to be abandoned when her godforsaken creators forced her here.