It was finally night time and the Gladers were getting ready to start with the celebration of the new Greenie's arrival. This time they were even more excited seen that the Greenie was a girl.
They lit up a big fire at the center of the area they were all at and cheered. There was food and some drinks going all around, and they even had music played with self-made instruments by some of the Gladers.
(Y/N) sat with a few of the boys as they all ate their food. She was actually enjoying her time talking with them, they were nice.
"Hey, (Y/N), what you think of the jobs? You picked one yet?" a boy named Dave asked as he chewed his food.
"Well, some looked definitely better than others." She said with a small chuckle as she took a sip of water.
That answer made Winston laugh.
"Yeah, you should've seen her face at the Blood House!" Winston joked as the other boys laughed too.
"Oh and here I thought I hid it well." (Y/N) joked as well as they laughed again. "Yeah, I still have to try the jobs out and pick." She added more seriously.
"You're a girl. You're probably better with the cleaning or the cooking jobs." A boy named Stan said, making the others look at him while (Y/N) raised her eyebrows at him.
"Dude." Someone that (Y/N) didn't distinguished said to Stan.
His comment had been unnecessary, but the girl didn't look upset. However, she didn't feel like simply letting a comment like that go unanswered.
"Interesting thought there, Stan." She started to say with a sardonic tone in her voice. "Did your massive experience with girls teach you that?" she asked, making Stan blush with embarrassment as the others laughed loudly at him and teased him.
After a few more seconds of the teasing, Stan raised his arms in defense, a defeated smile on his face.
"Yeah fine, fine, I deserved it." Stan said as he tried to quiet the others down.
(Y/N) shook her head at them, an amused smile on her face too. Then, her expression turned serious again as she watched the other Gladers.
Some were also gathered together and talking, others were eating quietly and others were in a big circle and cheering for something.
That caught the girl's attention. She watched them for a few more seconds and noticed that they were cheering on some wrestling competition. Gally was at the center of the circle, wrestling any Glader that dared to go against him. He was noticeably bigger and wider than the others, and it was obvious he had experience with this kind of thing. No wonder he was defeating all his challengers.
Zart was the next one to offer. (Y/N) chuckled as she saw his shirt had a big brown stain after a small incident the boy had with her earlier.
Before she could see how long Zart would last against Gally, someone stood in front of her. Alby looked down at her with a smile.
The girl smiled back at him as he sat beside her.
"So, Greenbean, I heard from Newt that he told you about the Maze." He said with a sort of disapproving tone.
That tone made (Y/N) curious.
"Why did you try to hide it?" the girl asked, making Alby look at her. "Don't I have the right to know about the Maze, too? I was gonna find out anyway." she added, Alby noticing the displeasure in her tone.
"Of course you're all allowed to know about the Maze, (Y/N). But normally, we try to avoid telling Greenies about it so soon after they arrive here. They have a lot to take in already, and telling them about the Maze only makes them panic even more. So we opt for waiting a few days before telling them and, usually, they comply with that." He explained with a softer expression as he saw the girl understood his point. "But, seen that you're a curious and stubborn one, you gave Newt no choice but to tell you right on your first day here." He said with a chuckle.
(Y/N) chuckled too as she looked at the ground with a bit of embarrassment.
"I still can't believe we're trapped in a place like this. Like some sort of game." She said with a small frown.
"It's never easy to accept it. Especially when you just arrived here." Alby replied, making the girl look at him.
She remembered how Alby was the first person to be put in that place.
"Must have been really hard." (Y/N) commented with a grave look. "Being here by yourself for so long." She added, making Alby take a glance at her. "And then you guys managed to build all this. It's incredible." She said as she looked around again.
Alby nodded quietly.
"They were dark days, dark months." He somberly revealed, the girl's eyes turning to him again, gentler with sympathy. "We lost many friends to fear, panic and despair, but we overcame it. We came a long way. We made peace and established order, we built a home. Now, you're part of it as well. I hope you'll respect that and this place." He said finally and the girl nodded.
"I will." She replied.
She looked towards the closest wall, staying quiet as she thought about everything. They had to find a way out of there. She wanted to help with that.
But only Runners were allowed in the Maze.
Alby kept his eyes on her. It was as if he could see what she was thinking and his expression turned serious again. He could see that her thoughts were on what was out there. He didn't think she would break the rules and adventure herself out there, but he still felt the need to check.
"(Y/N), do you know the three rules of this place?" he asked her, making her look at him.
"Yeah, Newt told me." She answered normally, although she had a feeling that he was worrying about one rule specifically.
"What are they, then?" He asked and (Y/N) sighed before replying.
"Do your part. Never harm another Glader . . . Never go beyond the walls." She listed, her tone sounding slightly dejected at the last one.
Alby nodded approvingly.
"That's right. Those are the rules you have to follow, (Y/N). You said you would respect the rules and this place. We can only keep this working if we have trust in each other. Understand?" he explained and the girl kept silent for a few seconds before retaliating again.
"I won't be breaking any rules if I'm a Runner, though." She shot back, making him frown with curiosity.
"You'd want to be a Runner?" he asked.
"If that's what it takes to be able to go out there and find a way out, then yes." She answered without a problem and Alby exhaled heavily.
"Being a Runner isn't easy, Greenbean. The Maze is really dangerous. It wouldn't be the first time someone was determined to go out there and then changed their mind after actually having been there." Alby explained.
"Newt said the same thing. That the Maze is dangerous, that no one ever survived a night there. He said he was gonna show me later why that is." She revealed.
"I see. It's good that he's gonna show you. Maybe you'll change your mind about being a Runner, after that. You're sure gonna understand why we have so few Runners." He said, making the girl even more curious. Was what she would see really that bad? "Well, the point is, if you really end up changing your mind, and I think it's best if you do, don't feel bad about it. Like I said, it's not an easy job." He told her next and the girl nodded.
"Ok." She simply replied as her mind filled with more questions.
She didn't voiced them, though. She opted to stay quiet and Alby did the same.
After they stayed like that for a while, Minho stepped in front of them.
"Hey, Alby! What you doing keeping the Shebean all to yourself?" the Keeper of the Runners asked with a smile and Alby smiled as he got up from his seat.
"Nothing much, Minho. You guys have fun, now. See you later, Greenbean." He told them as he walked away to join the other Gladers.
Minho took Alby's previous seat and looked at (Y/N).
"So, Shebean, how was your first day? I still can't believe we actually have a girl here." He said with a small laugh.
Before the girl could answer, another person joined them.
"Hey, you guys." Newt greeted happily as he sat on the ground in front of them, close to Minho. He was holding a cup with a brown liquid inside. "What you talking about? What did you think of your first day, (Y/N)?" he asked the girl and Minho scoffed as he playfully pushed Newt's head.
"I was just asking her that, you Shank! And weren't you with her the whole day?" Minho complained as Newt laughed and used his hand to push Minho's away from his head.
(Y/N) watched the interaction quietly. The way Newt's hand lingered on Minho's and the softer gaze the black haired boy had on his face while looking at the blond, made (Y/N) smile knowingly. Some things in life were easy to see if you payed enough attention.
As the two boys kept their attentions on each other, (Y/N) looked at Minho. He was pleasant and had some kind of cool energy about him. He didn't give the same kind of familiarity Newt did, but his smirk wasn't completely unknown to her. How curious.
She came back from her thoughts with a small exhale and decided to finally answer.
"It was fine, guys. Thanks for the tour by the way, Newt." She answered, grabbing both their attentions again and making them look back at her. "I'm tired, though." She admitted.
"It's normal. It was a lot to take in in just one single day." Newt replied understandingly. Then he looked at Minho and filled him in. "She already knows about the Maze." He said and Minho looked at (Y/N) with an impressed look.
"Already? Nice, Shebean! I see you're full of spunk, huh?" he said with a smirk and the girl smiled at him.
Newt took a sip of his brown drink and then looked at (Y/N) again.
"Hey, (Y/N), have you tried this yet?" he asked as he lifted his cup towards her face, making the girl grimace at the smell of the drink.
"Yeah, I have!" she said as she quickly pushed his hand away. "The guys said to try it and it's disgusting. Thank you, but not again!" she told them and Newt and Minho laughed at her, making her chuckle as well as she remembered how she had spat the drink on Zart's shirt. Not on purpose, of course.
It was a drink invented by Gally. It was brown, smelly and tasted terribly, but the guys seemed to like it anyway.
"Yeah, it's an acquired taste." Newt said as he looked at the drink.
They kept silent for short seconds, before (Y/N) glanced at Minho.
She then turned more towards him. She had the Keeper of the Runners sitting beside her, she had to take the chance.
"Minho." She called, grabbing his attention again. "What's the Maze like? What do you do there?" she asked and Minho raised an eyebrow at her curiosity on the subject.
Before he could reply anything, Newt interrupted.
"No. Don't answer that, Minho." Newt instructed and the girl frowned at him. "That's it for today! Stop asking questions about the Maze, ok?" he told her and got up from his seat. "Come on, Greenie, let's go see the others." He offered and the girl huffed with frustration before she obeyed and got up.
"You guys know I have a name, right?" she complained at the constant nicknames.
Newt only smiled at her complaint as they kept walking.
Minho got up as well and followed when he saw Newt was taking her to see the wrestling matches the other Gladers were having.
The three of them watched as Gally defeated Jeff. The other boys laughed and cheered as Gally looked around for the next challenger.
His green eyes fell on the Greenie, of course. She could never go unnoticed in the middle of so many boys.
"Hey, Greenie!" He called, grabbing the girl's attention and making her look at him, while Newt frowned and Minho rolled his eyes. "Wanna give it a try, see how long you last?" Gally asked with a condescending tone.
"Gally, come on." A boy said with an uneasy tone.
"Take it easy, dude." Another said too, but Gally didn't pay him any mind.
(Y/N) thought about it. After seeing Gally take down so many of the other boys, she was sure the same would happen to her. That should be enough reason for her to refuse, but at the same time, she felt like she wanted to try.
Nobody had given her that much information about the Maze, but based on her conversation with Alby and Newt, and on what she thought being inside a maze would be like, she understood that it was a job that required speed, strength and agility, besides the obvious courage to even go there and the stamina to keep running for so many hours.
If that was the case, then (Y/N) would have to see what and how polished her physical abilities were. She didn't remember them, so she had no choice but to put them to the test. At this point, anything that could help her figure things out about her strengths and weaknesses was very welcome, even if it had to be a wrestling battle.
With that in mind, (Y/N) made a decision.
"Ok." She simply answered, making Gally actually raise an interested eyebrow at her.
The other boys were surprised too, but quickly got excited and started to cheer and clap for her.
"(Y/N), you don't have to do this." Newt told her, wanting to check that she wasn't feeling forced to accept.
"It's fine, Newt. I can give it a try." She answered with a small smile.
"Alright, Shebean!" Minho praised as she made her way towards the circle.
Gally had a smirk on his face, eager to start as the girl just stood there not exactly knowing what to do.
She watched Gally constantly bounce on his feet, always moving one side to the other. He sure had experience with this, (Y/N) could tell.
What (Y/N) could also tell, was how sort of pathetic she was starting to feel about herself. Not because of Gally's arrogance or the laughter of the other Gladers. It was because, now that she had to fight someone while surely not wanting to get hurt, she realized she actually didn't know how to move to protect herself or attack, or even how she could avoid being tackled down besides by running away. Even bouncing on her feet like Gally was doing didn't feel natural or familiar. It was like her body was a stiff wall, not knowing how to move. She didn't remember her past life, but she was figuring that physical activity wasn't a constant in that life, much less fighting. If she had been used to it, the movements would have come naturally to her for sure after sensing the danger of being hit by Gally. It was sad, really.
As she lost herself in those thoughts, the inevitable happened and Gally tackled her down with so much force, the fall took the breath out of her.
As (Y/N) was on the ground, some of the Gladers laughed, others cheered and others lectured Gally for being unnecessarily rough.
When she got her breath back, (Y/N) sat up and looked at a laughing Gally.
"Nice one, Greenie. You lasted less than a minute." Gally joked, making the onlookers laugh again.
"Yeah, yeah." (Y/N) said as she got up.
"Wanna go again, Greenie?" Gally asked and (Y/N) shook her head as she had her hand on her stomach.
"No, thanks. That was enough for today. Maybe next time, Gally." She replied honestly.
She had discovered what she wanted already, there was no need to get herself more hurt. Of course, she wouldn't tell them that had been her reason to accept in the first place.
Gally actually raised an interested eyebrow again. She didn't react the way he thought she would, being a girl and all. But what would he know about that, huh?
"Anytime you feel like eating dust, Greenie." He quickly retorted and smiled at the others as they high-fived each other.
Newt grabbed (Y/N)'s arm and pulled her out of there. They took a few steps away from the others before he looked at her up and down.
"You alright there?" Newt asked with concern.
"I'm fine, don't worry." She answered normally.
"What were you thinking agreeing to fight Gally?! You have a death wish or something? He's rough, he could have really hurt you!" Newt lectured and the girl shrugged her shoulders.
"I was actually just trying to figure out how I'd do in a fight." She replied honestly, surprising herself with how easily she revealed that information to the blond boy.
Talking and admitting things to Newt came easily to her, she noted.
Newt just watched her quietly for a few seconds before he sighed.
"You're bloody weird, you know that?" he said.
The girl chuckled slightly at his exasperation. One day with her and he sounded like a tired older brother already.
"So, you gonna show me now?" (Y/N) suddenly asked, grabbing his attention again. His confused look told her he didn't know what she meant, so she explained. "You said you were gonna show me why the Maze is dangerous at night." She said and Newt's eyes widened.
"Shit, I was hoping you'd forget about that." He complained.
"I didn't. Are you gonna show me or what? Alby even said it was a good thing that you'd do it." she insisted.
"Just leave it, ok? Maybe tomorrow." He tried, but the girl frowned.
"No. You said you'd show me now, I don't wanna wait until tomorrow." She insisted and Newt groaned with exasperation.
"Will you just stop being stubborn?" Newt lectured and she looked to the side pensively, making him feel like she would finally put it to rest.
"No." she replied quickly, her eyes coming back up to his.
"Good- what? Oh, bloody hell!" Newt sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Newt, what's even the big deal? If you want me to stop insisting then just get on with it." She argued and Newt sighed.
It was no use, she would keep pestering him. Newt rubbed his face in defeat before starting to walk towards the closest wall.
"You know what? You're right, let's get this out of the way. Come on, you stubborn Shank." He said as she went after him.
After a few steps, she looked back up at him.
"What does that word mean, by the way? Shank. Is that slang?" she asked as they walked, she had noted that the boys used that word to address each other quite often.
"Yeah, we use it anytime someone is an idiot or asshole." He explained, making the girl frown with indignation for the fact he used that word on her. She was aware she annoyed him, but that wasn't a reason for name calling. Seeing her reaction, Newt snorted and continued explaining. "But at this point I think we use it in any situation just because." He said and the girl nodded with a small huff.
When they reached the wall, they stopped. (Y/N) watched as Newt walked along it before stopping again. He pointed to the wall with his head, signaling her to get closer.
(Y/N) did that and looked to see what was there. She grew curious as she noticed there was a sort of small squared window hidden in the ivy on the wall. That window was closed, but the transparent material allowed them to see inside the Maze.
The girl looked through the window, but all she could see was a dark empty stone path. She then looked at Newt confused, she didn't understand what she was supposed to see.
"What am I supposed to see?" she asked and Newt kept his serious face as he kept watching the dark corridor.
After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke.
"That." He replied, making the girl quickly look back through the window.
At the end of the large corridor, she could see some kind of creature turning the corner. It was far away so she couldn't see very well, but she could tell it was big.
Newt tapped a knuckle hard twice on the window and (Y/N) gasped sharply as the creature immediately turned towards their way and aggressively started running in their direction, looking for the source of the noise it had slightly heard. It stopped at half way, looking around and waiting to hear the noise again.
(Y/N) could see it well now. It was a really big creature, it looked terrifying and unnatural. She saw how its head and torso were kind of animalistic, but its big and numerous legs were mechanical.
A monster made of the mixture of animal and machine.
When it didn't find what it was looking for, the creature let out a loud and terrifying screech that made (Y/N) jump in fright.
She stepped away from the wall with a scared look, Newt watching her every reaction.
"What is that thing?" she asked, unable to hide the fear and disbelief at what she saw.
"A Griever." Newt replied, making her look confused. "It's what we call them. They're the monsters that patrol the Maze at night. Terribly mean and violent. If they catch you, you are dead." He explained gravely.
(Y/N)'s eyes widened. So that was the reason Newt said no one had ever survived a night in the Maze. That was the reason Alby said most of the Gladers were afraid of being Runners.
She thought about it a bit more, new questions making their way in her mind.
"But then . . . it's safe during the day, right?" she asked hopefully and Newt shook his head.
"Life's never that simple, is it?" he asked with a tired sigh. "There have been times where our Runners met a Griever during the day time while they ran the Maze. Some were lucky enough to escape from them, but not completely." He said.
"What do you mean?" the girl asked worriedly.
"The Grievers have this kind of sting that they attack you with, at the times they don't get to rip you to shreds of course. If a Griever manages to sting you with it, you get sick. And you go through the Changing. All the Gladers that have been stung by a Griever have died." He explained.
"What's that? The Changing, I mean?" the girl asked.
"A sort of transformation, so to say. The sickness makes them mumble about things we never really understand, although we think it's the memories from the past getting back. But we never get to find that out for sure, or anything more than that, because the sickness makes you change, makes you violent. Soon enough, you become a monster and start to attack everyone. And of course, we have no choice but to protect ourselves from a Glader that is going through that. There's no way to save them either, so what we do is banish them. We throw them into the Maze at nightfall . . . and they die there." Newt explained with a hard frown, it was evident he felt guilty when they had to banish a sick Glader. "We haven't had a case of a Runner encountering a Griever during the day for a long while now. If we're lucky, it'll keep that way. But the chance is always there, (Y/N). We never know when a Griever is gonna show up. That's why it's still such a dangerous job." He finished.
They kept quiet for a while after that. (Y/N) sighed in defeat.
"Ok, I understand." She said softly.
It was easy for her to see now why Newt was never eager to show her the Grievers or talk about the Maze.
The girl bit her bottom lip. Everything just got more complicated. They were trapped; the only way out was through a gigantic maze; and they still had to risk their lives against strange monsters. How would they ever be able to make it? They have been trying for years and they still didn't get anywhere.
Newt put a hand on her shoulder, making her look back at him.
"Come on. It's enough for today. I'm sure you're exhausted after all this, so give your busy mind some rest, ok? Forget the Maze, for now." he told her gently and she showed him a resigned smile.
Newt then led the girl towards her hammock. Some Gladers were already sleeping on theirs while others were still having fun by the fire.
(Y/N) thanked the blond for everything and sat down as he walked away to his own bed.
The girl stayed awake for a few more minutes, reminiscing on everything she had learned and found out that day. Soon enough, her exhausted body and mind shut down and she finally fell asleep.
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Thank you for reading!