Betrayed | the maze runner, Newt

chapter 31

Tears streamed down her cheeks. Little gasps escaped her lips through the suppressed sound of hiccups. She squeezed the capsule in her hand and pressed it to her chest, shaky. The tears she'd been trying so hard to hold back finally flowed down her face as she covered her face in her hands and sobbed.

''How's your leg?'' Jorge asked, staring at Zara's way of walking.

She was limping, but more from the muscle in her leg that had to strengthen than from the actual pain. ''Pretty good, I guess. Haven't seen the inside yet. Prefer not to.''

Jorge snorted. ''Well, amiga, you've had luck.''

Zara glanced down at her leg. It was still covered by a bandage.

''That's for sure.''

They continued walking down the path, passing new huts, gardens and tents as every day, everyone was doing something useful. Most of the homes were done, everyone had a place to sleep. The kids older than fifteen and adults had been assigned work. Such as cook, gardener, builder, doctor or what Zara liked to call: Med-Jacks. There were mostly teens whose job was helping older people who couldn't do certain things anymore like bringing them food or helping with little tasks at home. Little children got schooled by two adults. An older woman and a grown man. The rest of the time they didn't got schooled; the kids played outside. It was a society like most people hadn't see in a while. And some, like Zara, had never seen before.

And so, Zara had been given a job. Second-in-command, Vince'd made her. Vince was first-in-command, the leader, actually. Zara's job was checking up on people and making sure jobs and tasks were done. She was allowed to give directions and decide what had to happen. When Vince wasn't around, she was in charge. And that was exactly the case right now. He and two other men flew with the Berg to the Last City two days ago with the intention of finding another Berg to take with them. Somewhere between today and tomorrow, they would come back home. And besides that Zara was really good at her job, it was also special to her. Special because Newt used to be the Second-in-Command in his Maze too.

Vince and Zara were the heads of the council, consisting of them, the keepers of the jobs, Thomas and Jorge. Yes, the idea of the council was suggested by the teens from Maze A and Maze B.

Minho, keeper of the trackers and guards. His team consisted of seven other people including Thomas. Their job meant making sure everyone was safe. But when their guard shift was over, they became trackers: exploring the island, tracking and searching for places that could be useful. Both Minho and Thomas were also part of the council.

Gally, member of the Builders team consisting of fifteen people. Their keeper was an older man who was practically the grown version of Gally. As they said: ''There's always something to build.''

Frypan, keeper of the Cooks. He found his place back in the kitchen as it should be. But the genius recently came up with something new: the 'Food Pick Up'. It was a hut where you could get your own ingredients. The Collectors refilled it every day, so that people could make their own food at home. Only older people and the medical tent with the injured ones couldn't go without Frypan's meals.

Teresa had found work as a Med-Jack. The knowledge she had was found useful by the keeper of the Med-Jacks, Max. A man from Asia. He'd been a doctor earlier in life but had to quit due to the outbreak of the Flare. Now that he was here, he could continue his dream job.

Brenda and Harriet took care of the weapons. They made sure the blacksmiths made the right weapons. Brenda and Harriet tested the weapons on the other side of the island, accompanied by the Trackers.