Tired of Running

9|| a day off

   // one thing i can tell you
is you got to be free;
come together, right now \\

•
Harper, Newt and Minho were gathered in the map room.  Harper was sitting on top of the table, legs hanging off lazily. Newt was leaning against the table beside her.  Minho was talking them through the running plans for the upcoming week.  Harper listened intently; mapping the maze was the only thing that kept her hopeful.  Section three should be open tomorrow... Which means that—"
"Hey." Winston stuck his head in the door, catching his breath. "Winston?" Harper looked at him nervously, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." The boy cracked a smile, "It's just, you may want to see this..." Harper looked to Newt and Minho, before following Winston back to the homestead. Minho and Newt jogged behind her, their curiosity being alerted.

Gally and Alby were in the middle of the glade, wrestling. Harper smiled, rolling her eyes. Boys. Winston had an amused smile as he way watched and even Minho got into it.
"Come on, Alby!" Newt encouraged, watching with amusement. The other boys shouted their encouragement to opposite boys as the fight went on.  Neither Gally and Alby were playing easy, but had it been an actual fight, someone would have been hurt by now. 
"Get him, Gally!" Alby got pushed into the circle that the gladers had now made. Jumping to his feet, he tackled Gally to the ground, flat on his stomach. He pulled his arms back and held his wrists together with one hand. Gally, defeated, "Alright, alright..." Alby stood up, releasing him. The boys shook hands, smiling at each other, "Well done..."

Harper shook her head; these were the best ways to pass the time, according to the boys.  The next pair of boys were pushed into the circle, somewhat unwillingly. 
"Get him, George!"
"Come on, Chris!"
The fight was over quickly, as George ended up falling out of the circle. The boys laughed as Chris and George shook hands, neither were too enthusiastic about the fight in the first place. Before any other boys could step up— none were too eager— Harper pushed Winston into the middle, followed by Newt.  Both boys turned and looked at the girl, giving her an unamused look. Harper just laughed in response.  Newt looked to Winston, sighing.
The boys turned in a slow circle before Winston made the first move.  Newt was tackled to the ground under Winston, before he pushed him off and jumped to his feet.
The boys were cheering; this fight was more enthusiastic than the last.  Harper watched in amusement but stayed quiet, she didn't have a side this time.  They were fairly evenly matched, though Newt had a slight advantage.
The pair went on much longer than the other two fights until both boys looked quite out of breath.  Finally, with one final effort, Newt triumphed over Winston just barely.
Harper clapped and smiled at the boys as they rejoined the circle. Newt looked at Harper, shaking his head, "You..." Harper laughed and pulled him back in next to her.

Several more matches had played through; the previous one making Carlos the winner and leaving Luke with a dislocated shoulder. 
"Come on, Minho!" Gally called out, looking at the proud runner.  Minho smirked, shaking his head.  A group of boys grabbed his arms and pushed him in.  Minho glared at them, before turning in the circle to see who his opponent was.  None of the boys stepped forward; they knew too well that Minho had always been a firey one- no one was too keen on meeting him in a fight.  After a few moments, a pair of feet stepped forward.  A few of the boys gasped. Newt smirked.  Harper looked to Minho with a small smirk on her lips.  Alby nodded, looking smug, "You go, girl..." "Minho, you're gonna get the klunk beat out of you..." Jeff smiled, looking mischievous.

Minho shook his head, amusement written across his face, "I don't lose to girls."
Harper laughed, stepping forward,
"Then it'll be a short fight."
Newt shook his head, laughing as well.
He knew better than anyone that Minho never lost a fight, and occasionally played dirty, but wouldn't hurt her.  Minho ran towards Harper, she ducked, jumping sideways to avoid him. He dove headfirst into Newt, sending him flying backwards.  Scrunching his eyebrows up, he turned back to Harper.  She smirked at him, "You're not supposed to fall out of the circle, Minho..." Minho rolled his eyes, "Yeah. Hilarious." She jumped toward him this time. Minho grabbed her around the waist and flipped her up, over his shoulder, sending Harper into a stream of laughter.
"That's not what you're supposed to do!"
She kicked her legs, causing Minho to go off balance and face plant.  Harper laughed hysterically as Minho landed on top of her.
Most of the boys were beside themselves with laughter, Winston was on the ground, and Newt was doubled over holding his stomach.

Harper looked up at Minho, who now had her pinned down, straddling her. Harper was still laughing as she tried to wiggle free of his hold on her.
"I told you I don't lose to girls." He smirked.
He stayed there for a moment, looking down at her in amusement. He looked into her eyes, watching her laugh.  This girl really was something else... A blaring alarm broke everyone's thoughts.  Alby looked over to the source of the noise. The box.  Minho stood up, pulling Harper up by the arm.  He ran to everyone's side as the box stopped.  Harper skidded to a stop next to Newt. 

Alby and Newt pulled the box's doors open.
Everyone peered down; a small boy was laying on the ground, not quite awake from the anesthetics yet.  Gally jumped down inside the box.  He shook the boy roughly. 
"Gally!" Harper frowned at him.  Gally sighed, ceasing to shake him, "Hey... Wake up..."
The boy's eyes fluttered open, slowly.  He looked around sleepily, registering his surroundings.  His eyes widened and he sat up, scooting to the very back of the metal cage.
"Easy..." Gally stretched his arms out,
"It's alright." 
"Gally, move!" Harper shoved him aside.
He had never been good at being gentle, especially when it came to greenies.  Harper looked at the boy, she smiled sadly,
"It's alright... We aren't going to hurt you.."
She stuck her hand out to the boy,
"I'm Harper."
He had light brown hair and brown eyes, he looked to be about twelve. 
"He's just a kid..." Minho mumbled; he was sick. "So were we..." Newt looked at him sadly.

The boy reluctantly took Harper's hand, stood to his feet, and shook it. "I can't remember anything..." The boy looked terrified, "Why can't I remember anything? Where am I?"
His eyes started filling with tears. Harper's heart broke for this boy; she was scared when she came up, and here was this kid— not even a teenager yet. "I know... None of us remember anything... Just our names—"  "Stephen."
Harper smiled, "Stephen... Okay. Well.. Welcome to the glade."

Everyone sat at the fire that night, talking and laughing as usual. Harper kept glancing at Stephen, who she deemed herself responsible for. Minho sat next to her, watching her, "Hey.." Harper looked at him, "Good job with him today..." He motioned to Stephen, "You did much better than Gally." Harper smiled, "I didn't really do anything... I just remember how i felt..."  Winston was sitting next to Stephen, pointing at different gladers, presumably telling him their names.  He leaned down next to him and Stephen started laughing.  Harper drew her attention back to the fire, confident; Stephen was actually laughing.

Harper looked around the fire, taking in all the gladers. There were twenty. Stephen made twenty. Twenty of them for the time span of two years and one month. Already the glade had grown by seven since Harper arrived. They'd definitely seen their losses; lost friends, learned from the mistakes, grown, moved on.