When The Darkness Comes // Newt

Part eight, "I need friends"

"Well, off to the Gardens."

Gally leads the way to where Zart is working, instructs you to dig little holes in the soil and plant seeds, then stalks off to where the other Builders are working on something that looks like another place like the building Alby was in. Speaking of Alby, you haven't seen him since your stiff introduction the day before. Come to think of it, he wasn't even at the bonfire.

You shrug and devote the first half of the day to planting seeds, watering tiny trees, and picking tomatoes. Doing everything the not-so-talkative Zart tells you. By lunchtime, you're sweating, "like shuck", as the Gladers would say. You suppose you would say that too, since you're now one of them. You go into the kitchen, which is so confusing compared to the rest of the place that you can't even start to describe it. Frypan gives you a bowl of soup that smells like potatoes but looks like klunk. It tastes good, though.

You walk outside and sit on the same log you sat on last night. Everybody else is talking to someone, and you feel rather left out. Like the newbie you are.

"I need friends," you sigh out loud.

"So do I."

You glance up at the voice and see Gally grinning at you from his place on the same log.

"Surprising," you say smugly. "I wouldv'e thought you were the king of this place."

"Nah, that's Newt. Or at least he acts like it." responds Gally. You laugh, but don't recall Newt seeming tha self-centered.

"Then I guess Minho's the queen?"

"Bingo."

You turn to him with a smirk on your face. "Tell me, why does his hair look so perfect after running a whole day in the Maze?"

Gally smiles sheepishly and looks around.

"Any day now," you say with an impatient air.

"We send notes down the Box. Each one of us have our own, and they remain anonymous, ever since Nick requested the Creators to send him a shuck telephone."

"Did he get it?" you exclaim.

"Nah, Newt saw the note and said it was, "A bloody useless thing to ask for"," says Gally grimly, mimicking Newt's accent. "He said we didn't want the Creators getting mad or annoyed at us, since they already give us a bunch of the klunk we ask for. Newt's so buggin' controlling all the time. Anyway, a couple months ago, I saw what Minho sent down there. He requested hair gel. Has been ever since. Everyone knows it, but he doesn't know we do."

"Wow," is all you say. Then, after frowning for several seconds, you ask, "Why are you being so- nice- to me? Everybody is looking at me like I know something about the Creators while really I don't know klunk."

"Why? They should at least be hoping all the next Greenies who come up are girls. No offense."

"None taken," you reply. "Although I do admit, another girl around here would be nice, though."

"That makes two of us."

You laugh, but you're confused. Usually you would be furious at the things Gally said, but he said them in such a way that doesn't anger you at all. You're beginning to like him more and more, happy to finally have a friend.

"When do the Runners usually get back?" you ask, but really, your mind is concentrated on how you got up to the treehouse.

"Around sundown. Half hour before the doors cl-"

"How did I get up in that treehouse?" you burst out, interrupting him. Gally stares at you for several seconds before looking away. From what you can see, he's smiling. This confuses you more than ever.

"Well?" you demand impatiently.

"You must've been really tired then," he says. "You almost fell while climbing up there."

You search what's left of your memory and vaguely recall going up the ladder in the dark. Before you know it, the Gladers are going back to work, and Gally stands up reluctantly.

"Well, see ya later, shank," he says.

"See you... shank." You still aren't used to the strange slang they use.

You keep an eye out on the door you stood at the day before. Something inside you feels as if something is wrong with the Runners. It bugs you all day. When the sun starts to set, your eyes are glued to the gap that enters the Maze. When the last bit of sunlight vanishes over the tall walls, panic grips your heart.

Newt and Minho haven't come back yet.