Before Her

Newt 19

A/N
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Newt
I lean against the iron door of the map room, enjoying the shade the building gave me as the boys in front of me stood in the sun. My eyes scan the six boys in front of me, each nominated by their keepers. Barely anyone survives my intense training along with Minho's sarcasm and ridiculous sense of humour. Those two go hand in hand, no matter how hard you try to separate them.

My eyes trail over each boy, my arms crossed, a frown probably already pasted on my face. A cook, a track-hoe, two builders, a slicer, a med-jack. All of them tall, strong with sleeves rolled up, displaying the strong muscles.

'The next few days will be the worst days of your bloody life. You will suffer, those of you who make it through the first stage, will go through hell in the next. Barely anyone makes it through the first, let alone the second. First stage will be physical, you'll be working on your running of course, and cardio especially. The main thing in the bloody maze, get in, get out, as fast as your body allows you.'
'As long as you make it back alive that is.' I whip my head to see Minho and Jane appear beside me.
'Minho, you're gonna scare them away before they even start training.'
'Just trying to help them clear up any second thoughts and regrets before they start training. Once they start, there is no going back, most of the time. So I don't want any of these shuck faces wasting my time if they are having second thoughts.'
'Okay, thank you, Minho for clearing that up for us, anyone here deciding to quit? No? Okay then, we shall get started. Everyone drop and give me 100 push ups!' I shout at them. 'NOW!' Immediately, all six boys drop onto their knees till they're in push up positions and start doing them, each trying to go faster than the others. Idiots, at the rate they're going, they'll most likely be puffed out by thirty.

I turn to Minho and Jane, Minho was already starting to try and cover up his usual chuckles. I could tell by the way he was fidgeting that he was trying hard not to point at some of them. I puff out a sigh and set my eyes on Jane. Her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail today. A bright smile plastered on her face, showing off her pearly white, slightly crooked teeth, though her eyes were distant. She wore a long sleeved t-shirt that fitted her a little too well. The jumper I had given her was tied securely around her waist, making her waist look tiny. She was eating a sandwich with something green inside it. Immediately my stomach growls involuntarily, I hadn't realised how hungry I was. I'd gotten the boys to help Frypan and the track-hoes transport bags of vegetables and fruits all morning and noon.

'How many have they done?' I ask Minho quietly.
'About 62,' he whispers back to me. I could tell some of these guys weren't going to make it, a lot of them were breathing heavily and had slowed down their pace a lot. They needed support, they needed encouragement.
'Come on shanks, you're not really that bloody slow at push ups are you? Minho here can do double your aim in that time you're wasting. This isn't really the way you want to give your first impression is it? I mean I hope not, Jane's standing right next to me. The only girl in the whole glade.'
Jane's smile disappears, her eyes snap towards me, growing wider and wider, before turning into a glare, she looks like she's about to slap the klunk out of me. I keep my eyes on the boys, not daring to look her in the eye. Sure enough, the slint-heads had sped up a lot. I watched them each do a few more, before getting to their feet and walking over to get their water bottles. Most of them pour the water over their heads. I catch a few of them looking at Jane, searching for a reaction from her. One of them even walks up to her. I stare as she smiles sweetly and laughs at something the blonde said. Over his shoulder, she catches me watching them and raises an eyebrow before returning her gaze to him.
'She got you buddy,' Minho laughs as he slaps his hand over my shoulder.
'What?' Minho laughs again and points at Jane, before taking a swig from his bottle.
'Don't be ridiculous.' I say as shrug his hand off my shoulder. 'All right shanks, I want a few laps around the glade, just constant running at your normal pace until you can't go anymore.' The runners-in-training sprinted off to the walls of the glade.
'So, are you hungry? Lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwich on the menu today.'
'Have you eaten yet?' I ask Minho.
'Nope. I'm starving.'

~~~

'How long exactly have they been running?'
'About an hour,' I answer. These shanks weren't bad, weren't bad at all. They'd been running for the past hour while I ate and did some work for Alby. I'd checked up on them every few minutes. My eyes followed them as they curved around another corner. The runners should be back soon.
'Shanks!' I shout. Immediately they stopped and jogged over to me. 'You guys aren't bad. The runners should be back soon so you can all go eat and have some time to yourself, most hit the showers. You did pretty well for your first day. Oh, and make sure you stretch before you go. I can tell you I've experienced it personally and it did not end well for me. Your muscles go through hell the next day.'
I walked off to the map room as they stretched their muscles and waited for the runners to arrive. Soon enough, runners bombarded through the door, grabbing pencils and paper, sketching out the paths of the maze.

'So, how'd the runners-in-training go today?'
'Not bad, they were pretty good actually. Better than you lot on your first days.'
'Remember when we first became runners? Man, those days were the worst days of my life.'
'Are we talking about the good old days,' boasted Minho as he walked in.
'Yep. It was always worst when you were around.'
'Hey!'
'You made me drop those bricks, on my foot!'
'It's not my fault you were so weak back then!'
'I remember when you recruited me, gosh I was so thin. I think the only reason why I became a runner was because I was the only one to make it through stage two. If someone else had, I'd probably be scraping guts and veins out of a pig right now. I can still here the shrieks the pigs gave when we—'
'Alright, alright, we get the idea.'
We all laugh as they finish mapping the maze and head out for dinner, sharing stories about when we first became runners.