The Girl

Chapter Nineteen

 "WAKE UP!" I'm shaken awake by someone. I open my eyes quickly.

"What the shuck do you want?" I say, panting from my unexpected wake up call.

"You to get up. We've got a big day today," Minho says enthusiastically. I roll my eyes and haul myself up.

"What's so special about today? I've already gone out to the maze," I remind him, pulling my combat boots on.

"That was a practice run, today's the real thing." He holds his hand out to me. I take it.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"The weapons," He replies. I look at him, confused.

"You'll see," He laughs. He leads me to a small wooden shack. "Ta-da," He says sarcastically as he pulls a key out of his pocket. He unlocks the door and pulls it open. By the flick of a lightswitch, the walls are illuminated and I see hundreds of weapons. Swords, saws, bows, knives. You name it. They're all glimmering underneath the low lights. I swallow dryly and slowly walk forward.

"What exactly are we here for?" I ask.

"You need something to defend yourself with in the maze. If worst comes to worst. Pick anything you'd like," He tells me. I walk around, eyeing each weapon carefully. I stop in front of the rack of bows and arrows. I search around until one catches my eye.

It's a brown bow, carved from wood. There's a perfect bend in the center of it with a black handle. I pick it up carefully. It feels perfect. I grab a quiver of arrows and sling it over my back.

"I'm ready," I grin at Minho. His eyes shift to see the bow and quiver slung across my back. He smirks.

"I see you're an archery girl. But you better take a knife with you as well, just in case you can't get to the quiver fast enough," He informs. I shrug and wander over to the knife racks. I gaze over them all before settling on a small silver knife with a black handle. I slip it into my belt at my side.

"Okay, now I'm ready-" I turn back around to tell Minho but he's gone. I frown and glance around in all directions. I carefully walk towards the exit, alert. I hear voices outside.

"You better make sure nothing bloody happens to her, alright?" I hear someone warn. Newt.

"Don't worry, she's safe with me. You should know more than anyone. I promise she'll return fine," Minho tries to calm Newt, but he won't listen.

"If anything happens to her I don't know what I'll-"

"I won't let anything happen. Last time we were out later than usual, that was different. I'll even bring her back early today. I promise, Newt. I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I care about her too much-" His voice falters. "We all care about her too much. I wouldn't let anything happen."

Newt huffs in frustration. "One scratch on her and I'll end you, ya hear?"

"Don't worry about it," Minho pleads.

"Like that's a possibility." I hear Newt walk away. I quickly run over and look at the knives before Minho walks in again. I pretend to be engrossed in the collection.

"This one's my favorite," He says, pulling a huge silver blade off the shelf with a brown handle wrapped in leather.

"Oh my God, you're telling me you've never killed a griever before? Even with this? My excitement to go back just builds and builds," I say sarcastically, admiring the blade. Minho laughs.

"It's not like we couldn't, we just haven't been able to get closer enough without being stung," He tells me, placing the blade back on the shelf.

"Why don't you take it with you?" I frown.

"It's too big for a normal run, it would slow me down. We only use those types of weapons for emergencies in the glade," He says. I open my mouth to ask him about these emergencies but his look of concern warns me to keep my mouth shut. I quickly change the subject.

"I'm, um, I'm ready," I tell him, turning so he can see the knife hanging at my side. He grins.

"Let's get going then, princess."