control ⇢ the maze runner / thomas [1] ✓

Chapter Twenty-Five

Frypan laughed a little too. He'd stopped by her training session briefly too, but he didn't stay long. He needed to use the rest of his strength to help make lunch and dinner. Not that Ruby was complaining. She loved Frypan's food. "Ain't no horse meat on the menu — not that we've got horses to begin with", the boy chuckled. "I can get you a couple of sandwiches, will that do?"

"You're a lifesaver, Siggy", Ruby grinned. Frypan shook his head, handing over the sandwiches. "Thank you!"

Ruby and Leo took a seat beneath a tree, where they pretty much just chatted and got to know each other.

Eventually though, Newt came over with Thomas. This was about an hour later, when the sandwiches had been choked down and the two of them were basically just relaxing. The atmosphere was a bit awkward considering her situation with Thomas. "Hello, boys. What can I do for you?"

"Have you seen Gally?", Thomas asked.

Ruby bit her cheek, tilting her head. After a minute or two of racking her brain, Ruby came up short. "Not since about an hour ago, why?"

Previously, the two boys had been talking about Alby. He was the only person who'd ever tried to repeat what he saw during the Changing. Newt's guess was that the Creators had done something to them all to keep them from talking, but he wasn't sure. He didn't wanna say that. Instead, he was trying to focus on things he could change. He didn't wanna worry about his best friend, dying upstairs in the Homestead. "He's run off and hid somewhere. We need to find him. We need to find him so I can throw his ass in jail."

"What?", Ruby squeaked. She looked to Thomas for an answer, but he refused to meet her gaze.

Newt looked disappointed. He also looked like he'd rather be anywhere but talking to her about this. "He threatened to kill Thomas, Ruby. We need to make sure something like that never happens again. That shuck-face needs to pay the price for acting like that. He should be glad we don't Banish him."

"It's just Gally!", Ruby defended. "He would never actually hurt anyone!"

Newt sighed, doing that thing where he rubbed his lip again. "Things work around here because we have order, Ruby. Gally crossed a line. He needs to be punished for that, just like you and Thomas."

Ruby didn't like it, but she didn't argue again. Newt made a decision in this time. "Alright, here's how this is gonna go. You and Thomas will be with me for the rest of the day. I need to figure things out, and you two are my best chances with Alby still out. Tomorrow you'll be in the Slammer as your punishment. Leo, see to it that they get food and water." The curly haired boy nodded. "Then you're Minho's after that. I need you to stay away from the rest of these shanks for a while. Got that?"

Ruby tsked. "Yeah. Got it. Minho is gonna train us. I gotta go back to jail. Blah, blah, blah."

Newt tried to hide his amusement. "Because you're Runners now, Minho'll teach you about the Maze and the Maps and everything else. You've got a lot to learn. I expect you both to work your asses off."

"Yes, sir", Ruby said, giving him a salute.

Newt leaned over and whispered something to Thomas. Well, it wasn't exactly whispering. They were just talking too low for Ruby and Leo to hear. All she heard was 'things were going to change' and 'there's somethin rotten enough about ya'. Those snippets were enough to make Ruby sure that she didn't want to hear whatever it was they were discussing. So, she and Leo played rock, paper, scissors. Not for any particular reason, just for fun.

She did look up when Newt seemed to get agitated. "...don't ever say it again. None of us remember anything, and we're bloody sick of you reminding us. The point is, there's something different about you, and it's time we figured it out."