I pushed forward; my legs carrying me as fast as they could.
I couldn't believe that I had already been in the glade for over a year. It had flown by quicker than I would have ever imagined. Newt and I were still going strong. There were a couple hiccups along the way, but that was always normal, right? I was so unbelievably in love with him. He was infatuating.
The maze walls flew by in a blur as I ran my route.
I stopped for lunch in the spot I always did. There was a nice sized boulder that I was able to comfortably sit on. I pulled out my regular sandwich. I had to admit that even though, Frypan's food was good; it got rather repetitive with the lack of resources. I absentmindedly ate the sandwich as I watched the sky above. There was never any clouds. It almost seemed fake, like a cement wall painted blue.
Once I was finished my sandwich, I guzzled back some water as I walked down the next corridor to the cliff. I looked down into the grey abyss. I grabbed a piece of dead vine and threw it over the edge. It never disappeared just like every other day. I didn't know why I bothered checking every day. Maybe I was just too stubborn of a person to give up. It had to be there for a reason. Why else would the shucking creators have created it?
I took my time going back to the glade. I was running a bit early due to my sprinting so I slowly jogged back. I studied the walls as I passed but nothing was out of the ordinary. Turn after turn, nothing was different. The maze was such a repetitive thing that if anything was different; I would have noticed it right away. If I didn't have the glade as a safe haven, I would literally go insane trapped within these stone walls.
When I got back to the glade, I looked over at the fields and spotted Newt. He was kneeling down beside Zart with his back turned towards me. I couldn't help but smile knowing that he was mine.
I turned my attention back to towards where I was going. I ran into the map room and sucked in a deep breath. My throat burned with dehydration. The stack of paper on the table was slowly diminishing and the box hadn't had any in it the past month when supplies had been sent up. It was weird. Had they stopped spending it for a reason?
I grabbed a piece off of the pile and sketched out my route. I walked to the far corner and put into my trunk. Minho jogged into the room and nodded to me as I left.
"See you at dinner," I called to him as I closed the map room door. I grabbed some water from Frypan's and walked over to the fields. Newt was in the same spot. I slowly started to creep up on him. When I got only a step away from him, I flung myself onto his back and kissed his cheek. I felt Newt stumble slightly but catch himself as I hung onto his back.
"Hey princess," he said as I let myself drop from his back. He turned around and placed a kiss on my lips.
"Hi," I chirped with a smile.
"How was your run?" He asked before bending down and resuming work.
"Same old, some old," Newt didn't worry as much about me anymore now that he knew that I was able to control the grievers. I had been working with Thomas every so often to keep up with it and I was now able to control more than one griever. Not well but I could. "How are the gardens, keeping all them vegetables from dying?" I sat myself down beside him in the dirt.
"Oh yeah, it's been very stressful today. We almost lost one of our potato plants. Zart magically gave it water and it has been improving all day," Newt chuckled, "so tonight, I was thinking we eat dinner at our tree, just us."
"Like a date?" I grinned.
"Like a date," he confirmed.
"I would love to," I crawled towards him and pulled him into a hug, "I'm going to go freshen up!" I hopped up from the ground and jogged away.
"Meet me at our tree in 45 minutes," he called from behind me. I stuck my thumb up in the air to let him know that I heard.
I could barely contain my excitement as I showered. Newt and I never really got any alone time. It was hard living with so many boys in a small area. The only time that we were really alone in the day was when we were in our room but we are always so exhausted from our jobs that we fall asleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows.
Once I got out of the shower, I decided to try to get my hair to dry in a nice way. I split it down the middle and twirled the two chunks of hair together in hopes that it would dry in small curls.
I went up to our room and changed into the cleanest clothes that I had. They weren't incredibly clean, but they were better than the runner clothes that I wore every day. I wanted to look good for Newt.
When I got down to the tree, Newt was already there. He was standing beside a blanket with a basket full of food on top of it. I walked straight to him and kissed his lips before hugging him.
"You look gorgeous," Newt's vocal chords hummed against my head.
"You don't look too bad yourself," I giggled as we pulled away. He had freshened up too. His shaggy blonde hair still slightly damp. His face was scrubbed clean of dirt and he was wearing his clothes that were the least battered.
"Shall we?" Newt gestured to the food. I nodded and we both took a seat beside the basket. He carefully pulled out a bowl of soup and handed it to me. I thanked him and waited for him to take out his as well. He passed me a spoon and dug into his food. I did the same. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. I had had an early lunch and this was kind of a later dinner, so I hadn't eaten for quite some time. We are in silence as we scarfed down our meal.
Newt moved the basket off of the blanket and brought me to his chest. We laid out on that blanket for I don't even know how long. At one point, I had fallen asleep.
I woke up the next morning in our room. Newt was right next to me. His right arm underneath my neck. My watch told me that I still had an hour before I needed to get up. I turned over so that my head was resting on Newt's bare chest. I kissed it and pulled myself closer to him. I draped my arm over his torso. He moved underneath me. His arms wrapped around me and hugged me tightly to him. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead then laid back down.
"I love you, Raven," he mumbled in his morning voice. I smiled at his sexy voice. If I wasn't already so deeply in love with him, I think that voice would have made me melt so much more.
"I love you too, Newt. Go back to sleep, we've got another hour before we have to get up," Newt could sleep in longer but he always refused, saying he would rather see me off for the day. I didn't complain. I was able to see him more in the day. He would eat breakfast with the other runners and me, then he would kiss me goodbye as the maze doors opened.
Good morning Raven, Thomas' voice filled my mind as I ran into the maze.
Good morning Thomas, how was your night? I was so used to the way that Thomas and I communicated that it didn't even seem to phase me anymore.
It was fine. I'm so sick of this place, he replied. Thomas was not happy with the way that WICKED was running these trials. He didn't believe it was doing any good. I still didn't know why we were in this trial. Thomas wouldn't tell me. He said it couldn't ruin the whole thing if he told me.
I'm going to find the way out. I promised Newt and I intend on keeping that promise. He also couldn't tell me how to get out. I understood that. It would be too obvious that someone had told us and he would probably be killed.
Please make it out soon, I don't think I can take this much longer. I've got to go. Bye Raven.
Goodbye, Thomas, his presence left my mind. I continued running the maze. I stopped for lunch at the usual spot, threw another vine over the edge of the cliff and then headed back. The repetition that some people liked, I didn't. I wanted a change. I wanted to find a way out.
~
"Gally!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I ran towards the boy's limp body. The griever screeched and spun away. It had come mere metres from the Glade. It had been chasing another runner, Trent. Gally, the stupid shank, ran out to get Trent when he tripped. The Griever's needle came down into Gally's calf. The doors were about to close and the runner, Minho and I were just outside. Minho and Trent picked up Gally as I oversaw the work. Once back in the Glade, I burst into a sprint to get Clint and Jeff. I thumped up the homestead steps and burst into the room that the Med-jacks were playing tic-tac-toe on the wooden wall with a knife.
"Gally has been stung! Hurry! He needs the serum!" The words rushed out of my mouth like vomit. I sucked in a deep breath that I had been deprived of.
"Raven, where is he now?" Worry clouded Clint's eyes. He jumped up from his spot on the ground and shook my shoulders quiet harshly.
"Minho and Trent are bringing him up. They should be here soon." Clint went to the bed and started prepping it for Gally's arrival. I stepped back out into the hall in time to see Minho and Trent start up the stairs. "In this room," I held the door open for them as to took Gally in.
Once Gally was placed on the bed, the three of us were ushered out of the room for the Med-jacks to get to work.
I dragged myself down the steps of the Homestead, feeling the energy drain from me. Newt was on the balls of his feet outside. It was clear he had seen everything but didn't want to get in the way. I threw myself into him. His strong arms wrapped around me. He rested his chin on the top of my head and said nothing. He didn't need to. Just him being with me was soothing enough. I listened to his steady heartbeat as I let out a small whimper. Any hunger that I had felt coming back from the maze was gone. All I wanted to do was go to bed.
I pulled back from Newt and looked into my eyes. As if he knew what I was thinking, he said, "go up to our room, princess, I'll bring up dinner. You should eat."
I nodded and walked back to the homestead. Throwing myself down on the bed, I grabbed my journal.
Day 387
Gally was stung today. He had gone out into the maze to help Trent and he got stung. That's why we have the rule that no one is ever allowed in the maze except runners. The shank got hurt for not obeying the rules. My brother was hurt. I love Gally with all my heart, but he needs to learn a better way of deciding what to do in situations like that. Sometimes you have to ignore your heart and go with what is logical for yourself.
Newt came into the room and placed a plate of bread, a slab of meat which looked like beef and mixed vegetables in front of me. I thanked him and started picking away at the bread. Newt picked up my journal and placed it on the bedside table. He didn't even glance at the words on the page. I wondered if he was curious but wanted to respect my privacy. Maybe he read it when I was not around. I didn't mind if he did though. I had nothing to hide from him. Everything in that journal was things that I was willing to share. I didn't like to write my feelings but I liked to write about the day if something major happened.
Newt took a seat beside me on the bed with his own dinner. "Eat," he commanded before digging himself.
That night I barely slept. A scream that sounded like an animal was being skinned alive erupted from upstairs. I had to cover my ears. Even that didn't help. Gally's screams must have been bouncing off the walls of the Glade.
Newt's arms wrapped around me as if on reflex. I pushed my face into his chest as far as I could. It closed any space that might have been between us before then. It was my safe haven.