Ten | newtmas

thirty nine

Run while you can.

Thomas and Gally. Those were the first two people I saw here. But the last time I saw Gally, he was pushing Thomas in the street.

Now here he is, sitting at the table poking at a plate of food. I notice there's a nurse standing awfully close to him. He must be considered high risk to be with the rest of us, but apparently it's safe today.

I'm at the table now, so I have to snap out of my trance. But I can still feel Gally's eyes on me, making it difficult to concentrate on the Normals.

"Newt! Get up here," Chuck says, bouncing in his seat as Vince comes around to help me up.

When I finally get up to the bench, I finish my ten steps while everyone asks me a bunch of questions I can't distinguish between. Thankfully, Chuck waits for me to finish snapping my fingers to hug me as best as he can from my right.

"Um," I start, looking out to everyone else as I wrap an arm around Chuck. "What's new?"

"What kind of question is that?" Minho asks. "You're the man of the hour over here."

What would Thomas say? "So catch me up quick."

"Actually, there are a few things," Aris says. I'm surprised it's him that speaks up.

"What's that, then?" I ask. Anything to postpone giving them explanations I don't have.

"Fry's got his discharge day," Aris says, with a small smile.

"Really? When is it?" I ask. Hearing the news relieves some of the darkness in my mind. Someone's getting out of here.

"November fifteenth," Aris says.

I start to get uncomfortable after doing the math. That's eleven days away. I tap my foot in tens under the table, but I know it won't balance it out. Now I want to sleep until tomorrow even more than I did before.

"That's amazing," I say, trying to let all of the enthusiasm I have shine through. I'm excited for him, absolutely. But it's not easy to show in my state of pure exhaustion.

"I'm leaving too," Zart says, grinning.

"Sure," Minho says.

My plate is placed down in front of me, and I look up. "Fry, I'm so happy for you. You worked really hard for this," I say.

Frypan gives me a nod. "Yeah. Thanks, Newt."

He walks away, and now I'm uneasy. That wasn't exactly the warm response I was expecting. Did I say something wrong?

"Is he alright?" I ask, turning to the rest of the group.

Those of them that care or hear me begin to look uncomfortable. "Yeah, he's fine," Minho says. "He's just not a big fan of people not working the program."

Any appetite I may have had is lost. "Is he mad at me?" I ask.

"No," Chuck says, shaking his head.

"Just disappointed," I say, as more of a statement than a question. The momentary lack of a response is all the confirmation I need.

"Fry likes you. He wants you to get better," Minho says.

"Well, what do the rest of you think? Are you upset with me too?" I ask. My tone sounds slightly harsher than intended. The real emotion there is sadness—the last thing I needed was my only other allies here hating me.

"We don't even know what happened," Minho says.

"I didn't leave to try to escape working the program, if that's what you guys thought," I say. I left because Thomas told me I was in danger. If they were me, they would have done the same thing. "What do you guys know?"