BY THE TIME DAPHNE MET HER 10th new Greenie, and her and Trinity gave up hope that they would ever send other girls. For the next two years, it was only boys.
Until now. Newt and Gally opened the doors to the box, Newt hopping in as Daphne and Trinity stood near Gally.
"Newt, what do you see?" Trinity asked.
"It's a girl." Newt spoke and Daphne and Trinity looked at each other immediately.
"No way." Daphne whispered, a smile beginning to show on Trinity's face.
"I think she's dead." Newt said and the other Gladers gasped.
"Okay, wait, let's not make any assumptions till Ms. Med-Jack gets down there." Trinity suggested.
"Yeah, darling," Newt looked at Daphne, offering a hand to help her down.
Daphne jumped into the box, bending down to look at the girl. She was pale, some of her dark brown hair covering her face. Pressing two fingers against the girl's neck, Daphne looked up at Newt, "She has a pulse, she's alive."
"What's in her hand?" Frypan asked.
Newt bent down, opening the note. "She's the last one... ever."
He looked up at everyone, a confused look on his face. "What the hell does that mean?"
Daphne jumped slightly when the girl exhaled, sitting up. "Thomas!"
"Do you still think I'm overreacting?" Gally glanced at Newt and Daphne.
Sighing, Daphne mumbled, "That was really poorly timed."
-
Wiping her forehead, Daphne stood in the Med-Jack hut with Jeff while the girl laid on the bed. Newt, Thomas, Minho, and Trinity walked in, the blond asking his girlfriend, "Daph, what's going on?"
"What's the matter with her? Why won't she wake up?" Trinity questioned, glancing between Jeff and Daphne.
"Hey, we got our jobs the same way you did." Jeff reminded
"It could be for many reasons to be honest," Daphne shrugged. "Dehydration, possible concussion, hyperventilation, blood pressure, her body could still be adjusting from the sudden change in heat—"
Everyone looked at the blue-eyes brunette, who quickly shut up, sighing while Newt smiled at her. "Basically I don't know, which kind of pains me to say."
Newt glanced at Thomas, "Well, do you recognize her?"
"No." Thomas shook his head.
"Really? Because she seemed to recognize you." Trin reminded.
"What about the note?" Thomas asked.
"We'll worry about the note later." Newt replied.
"I think you should worry about it now." Thomas suggested.
"Newt," Daphne called, shrugging. "He's right. We are going to run out of supplies fast if the box doesn't come back up."
"How long can we last?" Jeff questioned
"No one said that. Let's not jump to any conclusions." Newt shook his head and Daphne gave him a look. "We'll just wait until she wakes up and see what she knows. Somebody has gotta have some answers around here."
Thomas nodded, walking out of the hut before Newt called out for him, "Where are you going?"
"Back into the maze." He replied and Newt and Daphne looked at Trinity and Minho, who rolled their eyes before running after Thomas.
"Daph, you can't become a runner." Newt whispered, making the girl turn to him.
"That's not your decision to make." She repeated. "Obviously I wouldn't go on runs everyday Newt, I'm Keeper of the Med-Jacks, but a challenge every once in a while wouldn't hurt."
"Actually, yes, it would." Newt replied. "You could get stung, you could fall and get hurt."
"Newt, I need to go back into the maze anyways." Daphne shrugged. "We have a dead Griever now, I have to observe it. I can figure it how it works, study it."
"I don't want you going in the maze." Newt mumbled.
"Daph, we need you, we're going back into the maze." Minho peeked his head into the hut, looking at the brunette. Newt sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Daphie, come on." Trinity smiled and Daphne looked at Newt.
"Be careful." Newt whispered, kissing her forehead. "Okay?"
She nodded, smiling at him softly.
-
Daphne's eyes widened when she saw the Griever squashed between the walls of the maze. Trinity gagged at the sight, making the younger sister stifle a laugh.
"That's disgusting." Zart mumbled, Winston and Frypan next to him nodding.
"There's something in there." Minho noticed and Daphne took out a small notebook, beginning to write down notes.
"You mean, besides a Griever pancake?" Frypan added.
"Are you really doing a diary entry, right now, shank?" Winston questioned.
"Trin, help me out." Minho said and the two pulled the Griever out of the wall further. As soon as they did, the leg of the creature moved.
"Interesting." Daphne whispered, scribbling something in her notebook.
"I thought you said it was dead." Frypan looked at Thomas.
"Was it a reflex?" Winston asked, everyone looking at Daphne.
"I mean, it very well could be," Daphne nodded. "I'm still trying to understand they work exactly. They're machines, but they can produce spit, they have digestive systems, they might have reflexes, but also an off switch. They're beyond being AI, so—"
"Daphne, English." Trinity cut her off.
"Yes, it could be a reflex." Daphne whispered.
"Let's try and pull it out." Thomas suggested.
"Everyone get a hand on it. Come on. All right, ready? On three. One, two, three!" Minho counted.
"What the hell is that?" Frypan pointed out.
Minho pulled a piece of the Griever, looking at it. "Interesting."
"Minho, stop acting like you know what that is," Trinity snatched the piece out of his hands and handing it to Daphne. "Now tell us what it is."
"I don't exactly specify in robotics." Daphne mumbled, studying the part. "So I can't tell you— Yet! But I can soon."
"Okay, can you do soon back at the Glade? Because I don't want to meet this guy's friends."
-
Running besides Trinity with the Griever part in her hands, Daphne made it back to the Glade with other runners.
"Guys, guys," Chuck stopped them just as they arrived. "Gally found out you guys left, he called a meeting of the Keepers."
"How? The only keeper left was Gally." Daphne shook her head.
"He has Jeff and Clint there." Chuck replied and Daphne's eyes widened, her hands tightening around her notebook and the Griever part.
"I know he did not—" Daphne mumbled, running towards the Council Hall.
"Honestly, I don't know why we're talking about this, we don't have a choice—" Gally spoke as Daphne entered the Council Hall. Newt's eyes widened when he saw the anger on her face.
"Don't have a choice about what? You better not be talking about Alby, because you shouldn't even be discussing his fate till the Keeper of the Med-Jacks say that there is no saving him. That's the rule, and it's been the rule for three years." Daphne cut him off. "If you want to stick to the rules Gally, be my guest, but stick to all of them, don't pick and choose."
"Daphne, he's not getting any better." Jeff spoke up.
"How bad?" Daphne questioned.
"Worst than before you left." Clint answered. "It's a sting."
"Exactly, it's a sting, and we have rules for dealing with people who are stung—" Gally began.
"Alright, just keep an eye on him, yeah?" Newt sighed, glancing at Daphne. "Daph, as soon as we're done here, I want you there with him, see what you can do, okay?"
"Yeah." Daphne nodded as Trinity, Minho, Thomas, Winston, Frypan, and Zart walked in.
"Well, it's nice of the rest of you to join us, you boys enjoy your little field trip?" Gally stood up and Trinity rolled her eyes.
"You are just asking for a punch in the face, aren't you?" Trinity smirked.
"What the hell, Gally? You think you can call a keeper meeting without us?" Minho yelled.
"Last time I check, the Greenie wasn't a keeper, you mind waiting outside?" Gally looked at Thomas.
"He stays." Minho defended. "What's the point of this?"
"We got two hours until sundown, we got to figure out what to do with Alby." Newt explained.
"You want to banish him?" Winston questioned.
"No, nobody wants to banish anyone, but he's stung." Gally shook his head.
"Daph?" Trinity whispered, looking at her sister.
"Clint and Jeff said he's getting worst, and I've been working on this cure for two years and I'm not gonna figure it out in two hours, Trinity." Daphne mumbled, ashamed. "No matter how badly I want to."
"Hey, you've gotten farther with a cure than any of us have, Nene." Newt reminded, placing a hand on her shoulder and Daphne gave him a small smile.
"We don't have a choice." Gally shrugged.
"Yes, we do." Thomas spoke up.
"You say something, newbie?" Gally looked at him.
"Obviously, Gally. What? Is being an asshole affecting your hearing now too?" Trinity questioned.
"We don't have to banish Alby." Thomas repeated.
"Right, and how's that?"
"Daphne." Thomas called and Daphne held up the Griever piece in her hands, handing it to Newt. "We found this on our field trip, it was inside a Griever."
Newt glanced at his girlfriend before looking at the piece. "These are the same letters we get in our supplies."
"Well, yeah, but it's not a code or anything, at least one that I'm not aware of." Daphne shrugged. "It's a brand, so the creators made the Grievers and send us supplies."
"Okay, we'll let Daphne study it and go from there." Newt said and Daphne nodded. "You have an hour."
"Gonna have to think fast." Daphne mumbled.
"Really? Daphne, I want you with Alby, see what you can do. Daphne, I want to develop a cure for the stings. Daphne, study this thing," Gally mocked, rolling his eyes. "Don't you think you're putting a little too much trust in Einstein here, Newt?"
"I'm surprised you even know who Einstein is." Daphne smirked.
"I'm just saying," Gally said. "She acts all smart and used big words, we don't even know if she actually knows what she's doing."
"Sorry that you don't understand my big words." Daphne replied.
"Gally, shuck off," Newt looked at him. "I trust her more than anyone here, I trust her judgement. And just because you don't always understand what's she saying doesn't mean it's not true. It just means she's smarter than you. She's smarter than us all."
"My point is this is the first real clue, the first anything, you've found in over 3 years. Right, Minho?" Thomas questioned and Minho nodded. "Newt, we gotta go back out there. Who knows where this might lead us."
"You see what he's trying to do, right? First he breaks our rules... and then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally." Gally spoke again. "The rules are the only thing that have ever held us together. Why now are we questioning that? If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me. This shank needs to be punished."
"Picking fights with everyone today, aren't you, Gally?" Trinity questioned.
"Gally's right. Thomas broke the rules. One night in the pit, and no food." Newt declared and Daphne smiled.
"Come on, Newt! One night in the pit? Do you think that's gonna stop him from going into the maze?" Gally shouted.
"No. And we can't just have non-runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it. So let's just make this official. Starting from tomorrow, you're a runner." Newt looked at Thomas before turning to Daphne. "When it's necessary, you're a runner."
Daphne smiled, nodding and Newt whispered. "Just don't get hurt love, please."