12 months later
Since I arrived at the Glade it's been 12 months. There are a total of 14 Gladers now. Alby, Newt and I, and others, have all been working together to create a set of rules, so our Glade can stay nice and organized. We even assigned jobs, to keep everyone busy.
Newt and I have become especially close. I guess you could say he's my best friend. We do everything together every chance we get and, since that first day, tell each other pretty much everything.
I have made some other friends here too, though. Like this kid named Minho. He came up in the box just a month after me. He's so funny and smart (and sometimes an idiot), and Newt really likes him as well. He's grown to be one of my closest friends, and is like a brother to me in some ways.
Some Gladers are the opposite though. Like Gally. He acts like such a tough and ruthless guy, but really I know he's soft inside. A week after he arrived Newt and I heard him crying in his hammock when he thought everyone was asleep. I felt so bad for him in that moment, but then Newt reminded me how he had chased me around the Glade with a knife "as a joke" the day earlier, so then I felt a little less sorry for him.
These days there's not much to keep me occupied. I mostly clean up around the Glade or tend the animals. There's not quite a job that I've been decent at, so I help around wherever I can or wherever I'm needed.
Luckily though, the creators sent up some books in the box. I read in all my free time, if I'm not with Newt of course.
~~~
I woke up this morning feeling drowsy and I didn't wanna get out of my cot. (Yes, cot. I built it myself actually. Along with my little shed that I sleep inside every night). I slept awful last night, tossing and turning, i kept having dreams of the Maze. It made me feel as if everything that we are doing to try and escape the Glade, wasn't working. That we'd be trapped here like animals in zoo for the rest of our lives. Sometimes I think back to the first day I met Newt and how he tried to end his life, and I wonder if I did that would anyone really miss me? I know I'm probably just overthinking. Right? I shut my eyes trying to let sleep fulfill me.
I heard my door creak open and footsteps coming towards me.
"Go away," I whined without even checking who it was.
"It's just me," Newt said.
"Go away," I repeat while turning onto my side.
He scoffed.
"Fry wanted me to give you your books back." Frypan is our Cook, and a very good one if I do say so myself. And I happened to have books about cooking so I was more than happy to lend them to him. He set them down onto my tiny table and sat at the end of my bed.
I groaned, pulling the blanket over my head. "You're gonna have to get up sometime, Teddy," he says.
I pull down the blanket to reveal my face. "What's the point?"
"The point is you have a Glade full of shanks who love you and want you to clean up their klunk!" He sighed and said sarcastically.
I giggled and sat up, rubbing my eyes. "Just let me sleep!" I yawned.
Newt left me to get dressed and then we headed to get breakfast together. It was still pretty early because the corridors were closed, but that meant we had time to visit with Minho. Most of the Glader's weren't even awake yet.
"Thanks Fry," I say while heading towards our usual spot with my omelet.
My droopy eyes locked with Minho's when I caught him looking at me. "What?" I say annoyed.
"Rough night?" He scoffed while playing with his fork.
"Oh slim it, slinthead," I said.
~~~
Soon breakfast had come to end and Newt and I followed Minho and the runners to the corridors.
"Be careful out there," Newt warns them as the doors open. The noise it makes gives me chills.
Minho gives us a thumbs up and smiles, while running in.
"I'm going back to bed," I whine.
Newt grabs my arm before I can run off. "Teddy, what's going on?" Newt says seriously. Sometimes I'm astounded at how good he can read me. He can see right through me.
"Why does something have to be going on? I just wanna go back to bed that's all," I lie.
"You're lying," he states.
"No-"
"Teddy," he cuts me off and glares into my eyes. "Let's just take a walk."
I follow him and we walk up the Watch tower. You have to admit, the view is stunning. We lean over the railing and silence falls over us until I finally speak.
"What's going on with you," he says gently, nudging his elbow into mine.
I send him a glare before opening up. "I just—We're never getting out of here, are we?" I said without the slightest bit of hope.
"Come on, Teddy. Don't think like that," he says trying to reassure me. I notice him fidgeting with his hands, him knowing I'm probably right.
I look across the Glade. I study the few people and my surroundings. I remember again when Newt and I first met. Two kids finding their way out of the Maze. We protected each other at all costs. We still do. We're all each other has.
I inch closer to him and pull him into a big hug, holding onto him with all my might. Never wanting to let go.
"You to lovebirds gonna keep huggin' or are ya gonna get to work?"
I release my grip around Newt and look down over the edge at the ground. I see Zart, with a boy named Winston standing next to him. I immediately feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment.
"Shut it you shank!" I yell down, embarrassed. Though the amount of times I tell these boys to shut up is immaculate.
They then run off laughing wildly. I turn trying to avoid eye contact with Newt.
But when I finally do look at him, he's smiling at me. I smile softly in relief and finally feel the red in my cheeks die down.
I make sure nobody is looking before embracing him into another hug.
"We've got each other, that's all that matters," he whispers to me, reassuringly.
And with that I squeeze harder.
~~~
As usual we got to work, but the day dragged on. Though by the end of the day, before supper, Alby and I were waiting by the Corridors. Minho and the "runners" were supposed to be back 10 minutes ago and we were getting worried. They were never late. And if they didn't come back before the doors closed, they were stuck out there for the night.
Biting my nails with anticipation, all of the sudden we see 3 boys carrying another boy turn around the corner. George? I think. Are they holding George?
I never really got to know George but I knew he was a nice guy. And I know he's good friends with Nick, another Glader. And a pretty good runner, from what Minho has told me. So when I see him being held up by the three other runners, I just feel confused.
When they arrived they set down George onto the ground. "Bloody hell Minho what happened!?" Newt exclaimed. By now other Gladers have began to gather around. Minho just stared at George, out of breath and out of words. I try to comprehend the situation but it felt too unreal.
George was a mess. He squirmed on the ground, his muscles clenched as if they'd been permanently locked that way, cramped up and tight. His eyes bulged; his lips pressed together in a pale line; the skin of his face looked as if it had been ripped off, boiled, then stapled back on.
"Minho!" Newt shouted this time, panic taking over him, "What is wrong with him?!"
Nick went over and knelt beside him, trying not to get to close. "George?" He said softly.
"It was a griever," Minho managed to say in shock.
We knew there were monsters in the Maze, because at night we could hear them. We called them Grievers, even though we didn't know anything about them. And since we've managed to keep to ourselves for the past 14 months, we were hoping to keep it that way.
"What!?" Alby said in pure shock. "A griever? What the hell even happened? How did you come in contact with a griever?"
"I- I don't even know! We were running and spotted a dead one laying on the ground. At least we thought it was dead," Minho informed us. "All's he did was poke it with his shoe! It snatched him right up and stung him or somthin. So we all took our knives and sliced that shuckin monster!"
"You saw a griever...?" I question in disbelief.
Alby and Minho nod their heads.
"Holy shit..." I whisper.
"Well what are we gonna do with him?!" Nick said sadly.
Nobody spoke.
"We can't let him die!" My heart sank. Poor Nick.
I started to think of all the supplies we had, and what the Creators have given us. I said the first thing that came to mind.
"The Syringe!" I said out loud. It had been given to us through the box. A vial with glowy, blue liquid inside. None of us had any idea if there was any use for it, but now... could it work? Could it be medicine for when you get "stung" by a griever?
"The what—," Newt started, "The Syringe! You're bloody right! That could work!"
"We don't even know what's in there!" Alby said, throwing his hand up.
"For all we know it could kill him even more," Gally inputs.
"But what if it works!" Minho said as the others nodded. "Teddy, do you know where it is?"
I nodded while sprinting towards homestead, where we had stashed it.
When I arrived I quickly poked around the drawers, trying to find it. I noticed it immediately when I opened a cabinet. I dashed back to the Corridors where the group was. Nick and Zart were knelt beside George so I handed them the vial.
"Inject it into his arm," Alby ordered to Nick.
Nick waited for the perfect moment and went right for it.
George started screaming in pain, it was unbearable to watch. All of the sudden his stood up and walked to the closed corridors. Before I could react chaos broke out and he started smashing his head against it.
Over, and over.
"GEORGE!" I heard someone scream bringing me back to reality.
Blood was dripping everywhere.
I held my hand up to my mouth. My body was frozen. So were my eyes.
George walked over to Zart and shoved him to the ground, then began looking for his next victim.
"STOP!" Winston, Jeff and Nick screamed at the top of their lungs.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Alby yelled, his feet thundering across the dusty ground with a shovel in his hand.
He swung it like a baseball bat and knocked him in the head. George fell to the ground.
"NOOOO!" Nick screamed to his best friend.
George twitched and moaned, then went still.
Alby dropped the shovel to the ground and turned to face us. Tears were shedding down his dark skin. It occurred to me that I've never seen him cry.
Nick was on the ground sobbing, with Zart kneeling next to him with a hand on his friend's shoulder crying silently.
Some of the boys had wandered off alone. Alby was on his knees, leaning against the shovel he'd used to kill George, staring at the ground completely still. Newt was near him, sitting cross-legged in the dirt, head in hands, eyes closed, as miserable as a person can look. He wasn't crying, but sorrow was written on his face like a book.
When I started to walk over to him, he glanced up and noticed me crying then stood up too. Immediately he wrapped his left arm around my back, and his right hand held onto the back of my head.
There weren't any words exchanged between me or Newt, and none between any other Gladers either. It became a silent night.
Witnessing something like that... it did something to us. We knew now, that something like this could've happened to any of us. So somehow, it drew us closer.
~~~
Later that night we had a small memorial for George. We buried him, and Frypan made a special dinner. It was all quite sad. I felt so bad for Nick especially, seeing them around the Glade together they were like brothers. I gave him a big hug and that I think he appreciated.
The night ended as it normally does, but in a way that didn't feel normal at all.
I cried myself to sleep, knowing I shouldn't have mentioned the syringe.