artemis, MAZE RUNNER¹

¹ 𝒔𝒊𝒙.

The water was heaven; it unblocked her throat and soothed the burn. She drank deeply — for a while there was nothing but the sound of her swallowing heavily. She drained it, asked for a refill; finished one, then two, then three cups.

As she drained the last cup, Chuck blew a low whistle. "Not trying to drown yourself, are you?"

She chuckled. "No." She answered, voice hoarse as she set the tin down in the bucket sink. "But that's an idea. I'll keep it in mind."

He grinned wide, "Any chance of a refill?"

"I don't really want to risk internal drowning, just yet." She said, smiling. "I think I'll pass this time."

"Good choice," he said, drying the rinsed cup and stashing it back haphazardly into its shelf. "C'mon," he wiped his hands on his shirt. "Let's go. Lights Up in a half hour."

"Lights Up?" She followed him to the edge of the Village. Sand was kicked around, logs flat on the grass and rolled over, spread out in a ring that circled a huge pile of dead wood, broken logs and snapped twigs scattered into a messy bonfire.

Chuck laughed. "Yeah. It's the best, it's like a party. We welcome the new Greenie, Fry cooks good food. Gally leads a couple fights," he sat down on a slump of mossy wood. "It's the most fun we have for a whole month."

She sat down next to him, dragging her hands over her trousers again. The heat from the scorching sunset was uncomfortable and stuffy. She rolled her sleeves up. "So," she said, "A new Greenie comes up every month?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You come up, Alby gives you the tour, and then you're assigned to a job."

"Right. Everyone does their part."

"Exactly. Like me, I'm a Slopper. Probably the worst job you can get," he laughed dryly. Emis nudged him, sympathetic. She had always felt bad for Chuck. He was just a kid — and a good portion of his childhood had been ripped away from him. From all of us, she thought, because who can remember their own childhood now? "I don't mind, though." He continued, "I get to do mostly kitchen work. It's Mitch who's the unlucky one — he has to clean the toilets." Chuck shuddered, and Emis smiled. He sighed. "I bet my ass you're going to be a Runner, though."

"What? How can you tell that?" Emis shoved his shoulder with her own. "I bet my ass I'll be dumped into Mitch's job. He'll have a field day, I promise you."

"No, I'm serious." Chuck shook his head. "I'm not the only one who saw how fast you were running back there — pretty sure Alby clocked it too. I saw you. You weren't even out of breath."

She didn't answer. He laughed. "You're even faster that Minho. But don't tell him I said that." He added as a second thought. She laughed — at least tried to. She settled on a grin.

"There's that smile again," she glanced up, Newt hovering in front of her. He smiled back, coming to sit at her side. "How you feeling?" His voice was gentle. She glanced away.

"Fine." She lied. She tried to appear unbothered, afraid that he'd see through her. There was a pause.

"That's good." He said finally, eyes raking over her. She watched his gaze linger on her throat, drag up to hover on her lips. She swallowed, and he seemed to snap out of it, clearing his throat. "Uh, you're doing a lot better after the scream." He decided that was the safest option, "I don't know. Maybe it gets easier the more you do it?"

"Yeah, well." She laughed sarcastically, "I'd rather it didn't happen. Ever."

"No, I get it. Well I don't, but —" he cut himself off. "But I think you're bloody amazing. For not going out of your mind, that is." He chuckled dryly, "If I went past a third point, I'd struggle to see if there's an end to it all."