The next morning, Minho and Thomas left to run the Maze with the device that they had found in the dead Griever. They were gone before Mae woke up, which she was slightly disappointed for because she had wanted to talk to Thomas, but she brushed it off and headed off for the Med-Jack hut. She was happy that Newt had decided to make her a full time Med-jack in training, and she spent most of her work learning from Jeff and Clint.
"Usually, when they come in overheating, the first thing we do is sit them down. Can't have em' walking around with their heads shucked up. Ask Frypan for some ice water, he'll have some always. Wet cloth on their forehead until they've calmed down and have them rest for a bit."
Jeff was explaining some more procedures, waiting for Mae to nod before he continued. He was a great teacher, and when they weren't working, he would joke around to make her laugh. She was beginning to really like him, and she was grateful for his company.
"Alright, that sounds easy enough. Do they overheat a lot?" She questioned, trying to do her best as a new Med-jack and soak in as much information as she could.
"Oh for sure, especially those head strong Builders," Jeff chuckled, placing a glass of fresh water on Alby's night stand as he slept peacefully.
"He looks a lot better. I guess Thomas and Teresa had the right idea," Mae noticed, peering over at the considerably healed leader. Jeff nodded, taking a seat next to Mae and patting her back.
"You better grab some lunch. I'll need your help when he wakes up though," The girl nodded, shooting her Med-jack mentor a bright smile before standing up and walking outside, closing the door softly behind her as not to wake Alby.
Mae strode across the field, squinting through the bright sun and greeting every boy she came across. She was in a great mood today. Her sister was here, Alby was better, Thomas and Minho were looking for a way out, and she was working in an area she really loved.
Mae spotted Chuck, Newt and Teresa at a table by Frypan's kitchen, digging into their lunch. Chuck waved at her enthusiastically, and she smiled softly at his joy. She quickly grabbed a plate, thanking the kind Cook, and sat down swiftly.
Teresa looked pretty comfortable, despite having only been in the Glade for two or so days. They had agreed to keep their family relationship secret, at least until they were ready to dive more into it themselves. Mae was pleasantly surprised as her sister welcomed her with a bright smile, and she greeted Chuck by ruffling his hair.
"Good afternoon," She chirped, stabbing her fork into a piece of potato.
"Hi," Newt responded, his voice muffled through his chewing. Chuck elbowed Mae in her side, startling her as she turned her head to look at him.
"Hey! What was that for?" She exclaimed. Chuck smiled, his chubby cheeks glowing red as apples as he nervously pulled something out of his pocket. Mae watched as he revealed a little string of dandelions woven together to create a bracelet. Mae's heart swelled with delight, and she lowered her fork as she took the delicate work of art.
"Is this for me?" She beamed.
"Of course it's for you. You're so nice and pretty- and so are these flowers. So I thought: Why not combine the two!" Chuck rambled on, blushing wildly. Newt was grinning, knowing how hard being in the Glade had been on the small boy, and happy that he had been feeling better lately. He watched with admiration as Mae lifted her wrist, allowing Chuck to tie the bracelet around it.
"I love it, thank you Chuck." The girl gushed, holding her arm up toward Newt and Teresa. "Look at this kid! An artist in training, I swear." Teresa nodded, giving Chuck a warm smile, and Newt took gentle hold of Mae's wrist gently to further inspect the boy's work.
"Very talented indeed, Chuck." The blonde agreed, making eye contact with Mae from across the table.
"I wonder how Minho and Thomas are out in the Maze," Teresa commented once the praise over Mae's new bracelet died down. Newt shrugged, placing his silverware down on the table and leaning back.
"Minho's a professional and Tommy's... Well, he's Tommy. I'm sure they're fine." He explained. Mae glanced behind her to the Maze doors, which were open as usual.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," She agreed, before turning her attention back to her potatoes, carrots and beef.
__
A few hours later, Mae, and most of the other boys were standing outside the doors awaiting Minho and Thomas's return. Mae was hoping that it wouldn't be a repeat of the last time they were in this situation. They had been hearing some strange unsettling sounds from the maze, and everyone was expecting the worse.
However, they didn't have to wait anxiously for long, because Thomas and Minho came jogging through the doors much before the doors closed. They were out of breath and covered in dirt.
"What have you done now Thomas?" Gally was the first to speak, but Thomas simply ignored him and pushed past the group with purpose. Everyone followed, bombarding the runner duo with questions.
"What is it?" Newt asked, walking alongside them.
"We found something, a passage way. We think it could be a way out," He explained in between breaths.
"Wait, really?" Mae questioned, her voice laced with hope as she struggled to catch up.
"It's true. We opened a door, something I've never seen before," Minho confirmed. "Think it must be where the Grievers go during the day."
"Wait- woah woah." Chuck interrupted, catching up finally and inserting him between the two. "You're saying you found the Grievers home? And you want us to go in?" The young boy questioned.
"Their way in could be our way out, Chuck." Thomas reasoned, shifting slightly to face him as everyone continued walking furiously.
"Or-" A voice piped up from behind. "There could be a dozen Grievers on the other side," Gally was speaking, ridiculing their plan. "The truth is: Thomas doesn't know what he's done as usual." He sneered, causing Thomas to finally loose his temper.
The boy, fuming, turned on his heel to face Gally. Mae paused, as did everyone else, hoping that this argument wouldn't break into a fight that all parties involved would regret.
"Yeah? Well at least I did something, Gally. What have you done? Besides hide behind these walls all the time." Thomas retaliated, gesturing to the Glade in an insulting manner. Mae could visibly see the rage flowing through his veins, fueling his argument. She took a step forward, but quickly froze when she saw Newt throw her a look that said leave them be.
"Listen here Greenie, I've been here three years. You've been here three days-"
"Yeah you've been here three years you're still here, Gally! And what does that tell you? Maybe you should start doing things a little different," The vein in his neck bulged, an indication that he had really snapped. Newt, Minho and Mae stood helplessly, watching them throw random insults at each other as they spoke.
"Hey!" Teresa's voice gained Mae's attention, but everyone else was too busy watching the fight unfold to notice her standing there. She hurried over to her sisters side, explained to her what had happened, and asked her what was going on.
"Alby's awake," Teresa informed her, and Mae nodded quickly, glancing back at the rising action that was collecting between the two boys. "I'll deal with them. You go back to Alby, we'll see you there." She ordered. Teresa agreed with the plan, and headed back toward the Med-jack hut.
"Thomas," Mae started, in a normal tone. No one acknowledged her.
"You're not in charge here Thomas,"
"We could be getting out! Who cares about who's in charge?"
"Thomas!" Mae rose the volume in her voice, earning a few glances from the other Gladers.
"I care! It's not like all this happens over night. We worked for it."
"A real life is out there Gally. We can't sacrifice that for some stone-"
"WOULD YOU LISTEN TO ME?" Mae boiled past her breaking point, her tone startling everyone, including Thomas and Gally. He slowly shifted his attention from Gally to her, his brown eyes wide. In the short time that she'd been there, no one had heard her this serious before.
"It's Alby," She huffed exasperatedly.
Shits doing down. Please comment yall, I'm begging you PFFT. It's fine if you don't, I'm grateful anyones even reading this :) RAISE YOUR HAND IF CHUCK IS TOO SHUCKING CUTE.