Count On Me ➵ Newt [1]

ONE | the maze

"It's a maze!" Someone gasped with realization from ahead.

The word 'maze' started spreading around like wildfire―why were we in a maze? And more importantly, where was the exit?

―

The dark-skinned boy, whose name I learned was Alby, seemed to have taken charge over the situation with another boy named Nick. It was now nighttime, and the doors had all closed. Alby and Nick came to a conclusion that the doors might open every day and close every night, and this sent a wave of confusion over everyone. 

I couldn't blame them. I was already sick and tired at the days' events. I wanted to go home, I wanted to see a familiar face, and most of all, I wanted my memories back. Why on earth could I not remember anything?

I let out a soft sigh as Alby and Nick started issuing out orders to people. A group of boys were assigned to retrieve the food and drinks they had found in 'The Box'. They handed out food in equal portions to everyone, and no one refused it. I munched on my bread and sipped on water―both tasted bland and boring, but I supposed it was better than nothing. When I'd finished eating, I slumped back to my tree and wondered what other interesting events would happen the next day.

―

Rosalind. That was my name.

I wanted to slap myself for not remembering it earlier―it was such a simple name, yet it took me two weeks to figure out!

I was in a corner of the 'Glade', as the others kept calling it, helping some of the boys farm. Alby and Nick, whom everyone had accepted to be our leaders, didn't really know what to do with me, so they put me with the farmers. Neither left room for arguments. Everyone else refused to speak to me; I could tell most of them were suspicious, even after two weeks, but I tried my best to be friendly and polite to them all.

"Hey, Rosa," a boy next to me said.

"It's Rosalind," I said.

"Whatever. Pass me that fertilizer."

I rolled my eyes and set down my shovel so that I could hand him a bag of the stinky stuff. I hated working in the farm―I'd much rather be doing something else, like exploring the maze that surrounded us in this hellhole, or build buildings and shelters. It didn't really helped that a few of the meaner boys started calling me a 'Track-hoe', making me want to punch them in the face. 

I hadn't earned any friends yet―all the boys avoided me like I was the plague, which I found funny and ironic. So I sat by myself during breakfast, lunch and dinner under the tree I'd first sat under on my first day in the Glade. The branches stretched out far enough so that the leaves created shade.

I leaned against the side of the tree that faced away from the other Gladers. When I had finished my bowl of rice and chicken, I gulped from my water bottle, relishing the cool liquid. I heard a twig snapped behind me and I whirled around immediately, eyes wide with alert.

"Who's there?" I demanded.

A boy with messy blond hair stepped into view. He was tall and lanky, though his arms were muscular. I relaxed instantly―I recognized the boy as Newt. He had always been nice to me, though we never talked much.

"Sorry I startled you," he said. He nodded towards the Glade. "We're havin' a meeting right now. Everyone is expected to join. Includin' you."

I frowned. "But why?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"You'll have to find out in the meeting then."

I sighed, but followed Newt out of the forest. We crossed the field over to the Homestead, where gatherings were usually held. The room was packed by the time Newt and I got there, and I had to stand at the edge of the crowd with the rest of the Gladers. Nick, Alby, Minho, Gally, George, and several others were at the front of the room. Newt parted away from the crowd and joined the boys up front.

"Alright, everyone, quiet down," Alby said. He didn't need to shout―people tended to listen whenever he spoke.

Sure enough, the Gladers stopped their mutterings at once and turned their attention to the nine people in front.

"Okay, I've called you all here today to inform you about our recent updates," Alby said. He gestured to each of the boys beside him. "As you all know, everyone up front here―includin' me―are the people who usually take charge around the Glade. If you didn't already know, this is Minho, Gally, Zart, Frederick, Nick, Frypan, Winston, and Newt."

As he rattled off the names, the respective Glader waved or smiled at the crowd.

"So what?" Someone from the crowd called out. "We already know these shanks, damnit!"

"Calm your tits, Eddie," Alby rolled his eyes. "As I was about to say, these seven people and I are now your offical leaders."

A ripple of mutterings broke out among the crowd, but no one seemed angry or jealous. They all looked quite pleased in fact.

"Minho here is gonna be the Keeper of the Runners," Alby continued. "He and the Runners will be responsible for navigating around the maze and finding us a shucking exit."

The crowd roared and applauded at that.

"Gally is going to be the Keeper of the Builders, and he will be responsible for... ya know, buildin' stuff and expanding the infrastructure we currently have available."

"We're also planning on building a Slammer," Gally said smugly, as if it was something to be proud of.

"What's that?" Someone asked.

"You'll see," Gally said, flashing a very unnerving smile at the boy who had asked.

"And there's Zart, Keeper of the Farmers, or Track-hoes, whatever, and they will be responsible for keeping the farms working and providing food for the Cooks..."

Alby listed off the rest: to summarise things up, Winston was the Keeper of the Slicers, Frederick the Keeper of the Med-jacks, and Frypan the Keeper of the Cooks. Nick was first in command with Alby.

"...and last but not least," Alby said, "we have Newt. He's not a Keeper for anythin' but you had better not get on his bad side cause you'll be damn sure he'll report any bad or sloppy behaviour to me."

The crowd laughed at that, and Newt managed a nervous smile.

"Now, I know some of you are unsatisfied with the jobs you have been assigned," Alby said, "so I'm gonna give you all a chance to start a new job. Now, hold up!"

He shouted the last past, for the Gladers had stood up and started clambering to their chosen Keepers.

"EVERYBODY, SIT DOWN!" Alby shouted. It took a while for the crowd to calm down, and when it finally did, Alby did not looked happy.

"Now, listen here, shanks," he said, sounding angry. "When I say 'Give you all a chance to start a new job', I didn't mean you can choose it yourself!"

The crowd groaned simultaneously.

"I will be splitting you all into seven groups," Alby said. "One for each of the Keepers. Starting from today until the end of this week, you will swap around, experiencing each job you've been assigned to, and when the trials are over, the Keepers and I are gonna compare the results to see who should take the job. Got it?"

The Gladers all nodded excitedly. I leaned forward, suddenly interested. Even though I wouldn't get to choose myself, I was still looking forward to experience the other jobs to see which one I liked best.

The next few minutes were utter chaos; Alby split us all into seven groups and assigned us to a Keeper. I was in Group 7, so I would be working with Winston on my first day. When everyone has gotten into their groups and the meeting was declared over, I exited the Homestead and was surprised to find that the sky was already darkening.

I went to my usual tree spot and sat down, being careful to conceal myself from the other Gladers, and leaned against the tree trunk.

Starting from tomorrow, I would see which job I liked most and hopefully get assigned a good one.

[ END OF CHAPTER ONE ]

sorry for such a boring chapter lmao the next ones are going to be better :)