RECKLESS [The Maze Runner || Newt || Book 1]

20 - Thomas

Clara cleaned up the supplies she'd used during the day in the med-room, throwing away old cotton balls and changing the sheets on the beds, making sure they were clean and neat. She felt the tiredness gnawing at her eyes, begging her to close them and she checked her watch, she still had some time before the bonfire, so she decided to lie down on one of the beds and close her eyes just for a little while.

She was woken up a few hours later by someone gently shaking her shoulders, she opened her eyes and saw Chuck standing next to her, a big smile on his face.

"Hey, Chuck, what's going on?" She asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"We're gonna light the fire soon, Frypan asked me to get you."

"Oh okay." She responded, looking down at her watch and realizing she slept for a lot longer than she meant to. She climbed off the bed, straightening the sheets underneath her before walking with Chuck towards the crowd of boys outside, they walked in just as the other keepers threw their flaming sticks into the fire pit, lighting it. Clara spotted Frypan in his usual spot by his kitchen stuff standing next to Zart and Winston and walked up to them,

"Hey Fry." She said giggling he pulled her into a hug and handed her one of Gally's drinks – she wasn't 100% convinced that it wasn't Gally's pee, but she drank it anyway.

"Hey, where were you? You disappeared after the greenie's little temper tantrum, Newt was looking for you. Said he wanted to talk to you about something."

"He was? That's weird. I was just in the med-room, I fell asleep on one of the beds." She said, leaning her head on Frypan's shoulder and taking a sip of the alcohol in the jar, wincing slightly at the harsh taste. 

She looked over at one of the logs and spotted Newt and the greenie sitting together. She nudged Frypan's shoulder and nodded over at the log, both of them laughing as they saw the greenie spit out Gally's special drink. She smiled to herself as she saw Newt laughing at the boy, it was the first time she'd seen him look genuinely happy since what he'd done in the maze, that small sparkle in his eyes finally seemed to return. 

After a few minutes Newt stood up, pulling the greenie up with him and they started walking around as Newt gave him the rundown of everyone in the Glade. Eventually, they made it to where she and Frypan were standing.

"Greenie, this is Frypan keeper of the cooks, and you've met Clara, she's the keeper of the med-jacks."

"Why is she the only girl?" He asked, staring at her with a curious look on his face,

"More questions greenie? You should try a statement sometime, it might do you some good." She responded, smirking slightly.

"Fry, why don't you show my friend here what bacon tastes like?" Newt said and the cook tossed a small piece of meat at the boy. She and the boys laughed when he practically shoved the entire thing in his mouth.

"Eat up greenie, you're gonna need your strength to work in those fields tomorrow," Clara said as Newt lead the boy away from the group, she chuckled as she noticed the blonde boy stumbling slightly, apparently he'd had a bit too much of Gally's drink.

"See the greenie likes the pork," Frypan remarked, smiling widely,

"He doesn't even know what real food is." Winston shot back,

"Yo man my pork is ALWAYS tender alright?"

Clara laughed at the argument the pair was having. Although Frypan's food wasn't always the best, she certainly never said anything about it since he was the only one in the glade who could cook anything. As they started a conversation about which job they thought the new Glader would be best at she suddenly noticed as he was almost knocked over by another boy that Gally had pushed out of the circle,

"What do you say Greenie? Wanna see what you're made of?" Gally asked, rolling up his sleeves.

"Guys check it out." Clara said, pointing at the circle forming around the builder and the greenie, she quickly hopped over the table and joined the circle, taking a spot next to Alby who had a concerned look on his face, 

"Loosen up Al, the greenie will be fine." She said, nudging the boy with her shoulder. A few feet away from her Jeff started chanting,

"Greenie, greenie, greenie..." And she smiled as she joined in, a few of the boys around her pumping their fists in the air as they cheered and clapped, forming a bigger circle around the two boys in the ring. The greenie looked uncertain, but he stepped forward anyway,

"Alright, the rules are simple greenie. I try to push you out of the circle, you try to last more than 5 seconds." Gally said as he circled the boy, "Ready?"

The greenie nodded and Gally moved toward him, wasting no time, and shoving his shoulders with both hands, sending him flying backward into Zart and a few other boys, who pushed him back up into the circle. As he got back in Gally grabbed his back and threw him down to the floor, Clara winced as he landed face first, getting a mouthful of dirt. Alby stepped to intervene, but she put her hand in front of him, telling him to wait a second.

"Come on greenie, we're not done yet," Gally said, hopping from foot to foot. The greenie stood up slowly, dusting himself off and wiping his hands on his shirt,

"Stop calling me greenie."

"Stop calling you that?" Gally responded, circling around him once again, "What do you wanna be called? Shank?"

The boys around Clara laughed and cheered as Gally continued, "What do we think boys, does he look like a shank?" The greenie ran forward at the taller boy, who didn't hesitate to defend himself, grabbing the greenie's collar and twisting him around before shoving him back down onto the ground.

"You know what? I think I've settled on shank." Gally laughed as the greenie scrambled back to his feet. 

The boy lunged at the Gally, tackling him around the waist but the builder was stronger than him. He walked forwards, pushing the greenie towards the edge of the circle, but suddenly the greenie swung around, and using Gally's momentum he ducked out of his arms and pushed the builder down to the ground. 

Clara's jaw dropped as she watched it happen and she looked at Alby who had the same expression of shock on his face. But her expression changed quickly as she was reminded of the first greenie who did this to Gally: Freddy. She felt a pang of guilt in her heart as she remembered the boy, but her focus was bought back to the fight as the greenie spoke again,

"Not bad for a greenie huh?" The boy spoke, standing up straight, but his glory was short-lived as Gally swung his leg out, knocking the greenie's legs out from under him. He fell to the floor and his head hit the ground with a loud thud, Clara stepped forward, her med-jack instincts taking over but she stopped as the boy mumbled something. He scrambled up to his feet shouting,

"Hey, Thomas! I remember my name. I'm Thomas!"

The boys all cheered and clapped as they surrounded the boy, handing him another glass of Gally's drink and celebrating with him.

"Good job, Thomas." Gally said, shaking the boy's hand. A loud screech from the Glade sent a wave of silence over the boys,

"What the hell is that?" Thomas asked,

"That, my friend, was a griever. Don't worry, you're safe here with us. Nothing gets through those walls." Gally responded before walking off, patting the boy on his shoulder.

"Alright guys, lets tuck it in for tonight." Alby announced and the crowd dissipated as the boys walked to their hammocks, Clara turned as she walked away, looking at the greenie who seemed to be staring right back at her.