Deleted Memories (The Maze Runner, Newt)

Chapter 15

Newt had found me a little later and had told me that I should have woke him. I had rolled my eyes at him and told him that I was with Minho for most of the time, which wasn't a lie. I had hung out with him, Gally, and a few other Gladers while they ate breakfast, but then Newt had gone out to help Zart with a few things, and I had followed Gally over to where they were fixing a wall of a hut at the Bloodhouse that some cattle had kicked in.

He had told me there wasn't much for me to do with them, as the Builders were running out of things to fix and there was no other plan yet. So I ended up just sitting on a stack of boards next to the Slicer's hut. The wretched smell of blood seeped through the walls and despite my attempts to ignore it, it kept filling my nostrils with intoxicating death.

"Do you think the Greenie is going to make a good Builder?" one of the Builders asked. His orange hair was cut long, ended at his shoulders. And there were a few visible freckles on his face. I hadn't learned his name, though I'm sure I had been told it before. I didn't know most of the Glader's names; there was no way I could remember that many.

Gally held up a board against the wall and gestured for another builder to start nailing it into place. He glanced over at me, then shrugged. "We will see when he tries out. He's only been here a day. Give him some time," Gally grunted as he let go of the board. There were enough nails in it now that it would stay up on its own. He pulled a hammer from his tool belt and fished in his pocket for some nails. "Besides, I can't say that he seems like the most chipper guy here," he shrugged before slamming his hammer down onto a nail that his other hand was holding against the wall.

After lunch, I had gotten bored by the dumb chatter of the Builders and headed off in the direction of the fields to find either Leo or Newt. Either one would be a more interesting company than the hammer-wielding boys.

Leo and a few other Trackhoes were busy uprooting old crops. They had several wheelbarrows around them and were throwing dirt-covered roots into them. A few had hoes, racking away at the soil while others were reaching down into the loosened soil and pulling out large handfuls of roots.

"What's up, boys?" I asked, leaning against one of the wheelbarrows and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Raven, how are you awake?" Leo asked sceptically.

"So you heard about that?" I muttered, getting sick of having to discuss the thing that I still had no idea about with every Glader I spoke to.

"Every Glader did. Minho came into the Glade screaming his head off like a child and you were hanging limply over his shoulder," Leo replied, shoving his hands deep into the dirt. "It was hard to miss."

"Great, as if I wasn't already the abnormal one out of the group," I sighed in defeat. I was never going to be just a Glader.

Leo pulled up a bunch of roots and nodded at me to get out of the way. I pushed myself off the wheelbarrow and stepped to the side. He dropped it all into the bucket of the wheelbarrow and gave me a sympathetic look. "At least you aren't the Greenie anymore," he offered. "Hey, make yourself useful and go dump that one, would ya?"

I groaned but walked over to the full wheelbarrow, "where?"

"Just at the edge of the deadheads, near the wall," Leo explained.

I nodded and picked up the handles, pushing the wheelbarrow along the uneven ground. It had been heavier than expected, but manageable. I was almost to the pile of dirt and culled crops when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I jumped at the closeness and spun around, dropping the wheelbarrow which tipped to the side, spilling half the contents on the ground. My hand raised in the air, as if on reflex, ready to hurt an intruder that came too close.