Connected: a Newtxreader

19

TW: eating disorder, throwing up

It's been a two days Teresa gave Alby the injection and he still hasn't woken up. His screams fill the Glade, but the veins have subsided, so hopefully the serum is working.

Newt's better and he's back to working in the Gardens. You joined him, even though it's been established that you are a Runner. But you're too weak to run the Maze right now. You still haven't been able to successfully digest anything. You watch in envy as Thomas and Minho go out and run, and jealousy grows deep inside you.

But something is happening with the Runners. You can tell. They go to the map room for hours, then sneak off to the Deadheads, and they're always talking in huddles, keeping secrets from everyone. They're hiding something.

Newt is started to get suspicious, and a couple times he forced you to eat. Although he meant well, it was still annoying.

Now you and him are working in the Gardens, you silently picking weeds while Newt watered the vegetables.

"You're pretty quiet over there Love", Newt breaks the long lived silence.

"Just tired", and hungry, but you don't say that.

"Too tired to join me in the Deadheads tonight?", he smirks and you look over your shoulder at him with a small smile.

"Of course not"

He gives you a peck on the lips and you continue to dig around in the dirt for hours on end.

The Runners return around 4:00 and you glare at them, full of jealousy and rage, as they jog happily into the Map Room. It's not fair; Thomas got to be a Runner. You would too, but you can't run the Maze all day everyday without nutrients, and you weren't exactly getting them right now. You realize that you never actually spent a night in the Pit, which you weren't upset about. I guess Gally just forgot.

You glance over at Newt who stands, his back facing you as he picks apples off a tree, and then look back to the boys jogging towards the cinder block building, and quickly run after them, ducking so you won't be seen.

The large metal door is slowly sliding shut, and you place your hand in the gap to stop it, then biting your other hand to contain a scream. You grab a stick and place that in the crack, and peek through the small opening to see Minho, Thomas, Teresa, and two other Runners who are familiar, but you haven't bothered to learn their names. Why's Teresa there and not me?? You think, but then you feel a little guilty. You shouldn't be jealous, she's your friend. But you still are.

"So, Thomas and I have been using this thing that Y/N found. It's basically a compass and every time we get near the Cliff it beeps like crazy then just stops", Minho explains, and you press your ear closer to the door.

"And every day the number on the screen changes. We've monitored it for the past week and it makes a pattern. The same pattern that Minho found in the Maze", Thomas continues.
So they've been using your tool and finding important stuff and not telling you? You feel childish, but still upset.

"What's the sequence?", Teresa questions, leaning her hands on the table.

"7, 1, 5, 2, 6, 4, 8,3", Minho says simply.

"What if it's coordinates?", Teresa suggests.

"I've checked that. It's the coordinates for the Cliff", Thomas replies.

"Well clearly the Cliff is special", the random Runner comments.

"That's what I'm saying slinthead", Minho rolls his eyes. They continue to banter and you listen intently, trying to process it. What so special about the Cliff? You've seen it before, back in the Springs, and it's just a Cliff. Nothing special except the head rush you get when looking over the edge.