⫸ Connection: The Maze Runner ⫷
「 Chapter 1: Greenie Day 」
Three years. That's how long most people have spent their lives in the Glade. Surrounded by the concrete walls that separated them from the maze and the world outside.
Lia considered herself lucky that she had only suffered a year living inside the walls but still, she knew the situation wasn't pleasant—she loved The Glade nonetheless. The people around her made living a little better.
Lia leaned against one of the trees in The Homestead with arms crossed and her eyes watching the Gladers do their jobs. Some sending a smile her way to which made her poker expression shift into a timid smile. She wasn't in the best of moods, after waking up from another nightmare.
The same shucking nightmare she kept having.
That day, a new Glader would come up from The Box that sent them all there. A new person who would be trapped with them. Another human who would experience fear and be unable to remember anything at all.
"Morning, Lia." Chuck, a short pudgy boy she had grown to love appeared from beside her. He had come up from The Box just a month ago. The twelve-thirteen year old was beyond frightened and Lia was one of the people that he felt comfortable to be around
Like an older sister—a mother even.
"Morning, Chuckie." Lia smiled at the youngest Glader. She took notice of his wide grin and impatient look in his expression. With a laugh, she said. "Guess someone's excited to meet the new greenie."
"You bet!" Chuck exclaimed. "I won't be the greenie anymore!"
Lia chuckled under her breath, she spotted Newt coming towards her with a hoe in hand. Her eyes glanced at the dirty blonde's limp before quickly looking away.
"Chuck. Lia." Newt greeted. Newt had a foreign accent that stood out from most of the boys. Lia had often made fun of his vocabulary at times but the dirty blonde didn't seem to mind.
"Enjoying your day off, I see." He pointed at Lia's grey long sleeved shirt and black jeans. Her light blonde hair untied, curls resting on her shoulders. This wasn't her usual outfit on most days. Usually she'd have on her dark purple shirt and black shorts along with her running gear.
Lia was a Runner and often she would run with either Minho or Ben at times but Minho wanted all the runners to have a day off at least once every few weeks to rest and relax. The girl appreciated it but she'd always be worried about other runners going inside the maze.
"Exuberantly, my friend." Lia attempted to mock his accent. Newt only laughed at her failed attempt and ruffled her hair.
"Honestly, if anyone needs a day off it should be Alby." Lia said pointing to their dark skinned leader. She was sad over the fact that he often stressed himself with things around The Glade but that was his job.
Alby was the first person who ever stepped foot where they were. He was alone for a whole month and had no memories to recall that might have helped him. That was why Lia had always respected him. Often she'd try to help him with anything he needed. She always cared for people that way.
"You know Alby." Newt started, crossing his arms as he looked at the leader. "Stubborn as always."
"There's gonna be a new greenie, Newt!" Chuck told him with the same grin he had given Lia, interrupting their conversation. Newt patted him on the shoulder, smiling in return. "Yes, there is, Chuck."
A loud ringing of an alarm sounded off from The Box, the noise resonating around The Glade. They all one by one hurriedly ran over to see the new Greenie. Everyone had been waiting a while for new supplies as well.
"Come on, guys! Let's go!" Chuck yelled out to the two. The older teens watched the curly headed boy jump in delight following everyone else towards The Box. He was a jolly little kid that the others may have found slightly annoying but Lia treated him differently. He was just a young boy after all.
"One day that kid's gonna hurt himself real bad." Lia uttered, eyes still watching Chuck.
"Maybe." Newt laughed, turning towards her "But you'll always be there to patch him up."
He held his hand out for her and the girl instantly took it despite not really wishing to leave her spot. Newt led her towards where the others were and they all watched as Gally and some of the others open the metal doors of the box.
Lia secretly wished it was a girl. It wasn't easy being the only girl living with almost fifty boys. She had experienced quite a lot of prejudice at first but later on they all knew Lia could handle herself well and knew how to throw a good punch.
Everyone, including Lia, stepped towards the box examining the new greenie. Some mockingly laughed at the frightened boy. He was tall and muscular with dark brown hair, around her age maybe. He wore a faded blue long sleeve similar to hers along with pants and shoes.
She noticed the new Greenie look around before landing his eyes on her. For a moment, it seemed like this had happened before. Lia felt a sense of familiarity with how the boy's eyes stared into hers but that soon was broken by the sound of the other boys and made her look away.
"Okay, go get him." Someone instructed Gally, who was quick to hop down into the metal cage like box and pulled the new kid out. He lands onto the ground face first and rolls over.
They all crowded around the newbie, The Greenie's whiskey eyes showed confusion and fear as he looked around the people he didn't recognize above him. Lia stayed beside Newt, but he had also wanted to see the Greenie causing her to join into the circle they created around the new boy.
"Kid looks like a slopper to me." Someone behind her commented.
"I could use some help in the kitchen." Frypan jokes to which made some of them laugh.
Lia felt a slight feeling of guilt seeing how afraid the Greenie was. She was once in his position as well and it wasn't pretty. As she contemplated, she didn't notice how quickly the Greenie stood up and pushed his way out of the crowd and bolted. The boys had cheered and laughed while Zart yelled out.
"We got a runner!"
The Greenie was headed towards the only entrance to the Maze causing Lia to bite her lip, nervously. Everyone else around her didn't seem as afraid for him. Her eyes followed as he kept running only to wince at the sight of him tripping and tumbling down the ground. The boys let out hollers and continued to laugh at his state. Lia shook her head in disapproval before walking off back into the Homestead once she saw Gally and Zart take the boy by the collar and shoved into the Slammer.
✜✜✜
Lia relaxed in her hammock, Chuck sitting on the ground beside her as he told her a few stories he had heard from the other boys and how excited he was for the bonfire.
Her hand plays with the necklace that laid on her chest. The end had a metal disk with two letters engraved on one side "L+T" She didn't know what it meant, whether or not it had come from a family member or a close friend—maybe even a lover. All she ever wanted was answers but it seems the people who had them were too far to reach.
"Hey Chuck!" Newt walked towards the two and made the younger boy perk up to his name. "Alby's looking for you. Said he needed your assistance with the Greenie."
"Sure thing!" He happily replied, getting off the floor and waved Lia goodbye.
"They'll be back soon." Newt said, referring to Minho and Ben who were still out running in the maze. "Care to walk with me by the gardens or do you want to keep your lazy ass in here."
"Could've just said you wanted to be with me, Newt." Lia joked, getting off her hammock.
The dirty blonde shook his head, keeping his hand on the girl's back as they made their way towards the gardens. Lia waved at a few of the boys who greeted her. It still felt weird for her knowing some of them had a bit of a crush on the girl but that was expected being the only one there was.
"I saw that, you know." Newt began as they walked across the glade.
"Saw what?" Lia asked in confusion.
"The way you looked at him this morning." He explained. "The Greenie."
With a small shake of her head, Lia kept her eyes to the ground. "I was just curious, Newt. I always am with greenies." Lia was known to keep her secrets. To her, it didn't matter whether or not they need to be revealed. They were hers and hers only until she finds the right time to reveal them. It took Chuck a few weeks to get her to explain about The Maze and Lia hadn't even told him half of it.
Newt nodded but deep inside he knew she was hiding something but didn't question her further.
"I gotta go, Minho and Ben are coming back any time now." Lia told him giving him a small peck on his cheek before she ran off. No one noticed how the second in command's cheeks tinted a slight shade of crimson.
Meanwhile, the Greenie leaned his back against the tree Chuck had tied his hammock on. He blocked out the twelve-thirteen year old's chatter. He wanted to know what was beyond those walls that surrounded the place. If there was a way out.
As he stared at the openings of the wall, his face scrunched in confusion seeing the girl he locked eyes with this morning. Noticing how her light blonde curly hair swayed as she jogged towards what he was previously staring at. He pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on and followed after her.
Meanwhile, Lia took a quick glance at her watch, halting her movements just as she reached a few feet by the entrance to the Maze. The girl always did this on her day off. She'd always wait for the other runners to come back.
"What's through there?"
"I don't know. I just know what I'm told and we're not supposed to leave."
A few voices spoke behind her catching her attention. She saw Chuck with the new Greenie as they walked over to where she was. Lia tilted her head in confusion, meeting them half way.
"Hey Chuck." She greeted, her head motioning towards the newbie. "Guess you made a new friend?"
"uhh, yeah!" Chuck turned towards the brunette and gave him the same smile. "Greenie, this is Lia. The first and only girl in the Glade."
Thomas gave her a shy look, remembering their moment once more. He noticed now that her eyes were a striking blue. Like the ocean or what he imagined would be the ocean.
"Lia, this is the new Greenie." Chuck turned back to her.
The blonde sent the Greenie a small smile, tucking her hands inside her jean pockets. Her eyes connected with his whiskey colored ones once more and she swore it felt familiar. Somehow there was something that made her want to get closer to this new addition and she didn't know why.
"Hey, Chuck. Hey, Lia." A grin instantly formed on Lia's lips as she was snapped out of her daze. She quickly did a short run towards Minho and engulfed the Keeper of the Runners in a hug. Minho hugged her back instantly, wrapping his larger hands around the petite girl's body.
"You're late, Min." Lia reprimands him yet she was still happy.
"I missed you too, Li." He smiled, pulling away from her to let her hug Ben.
"You good?" She asked the other blonde, stepping back to check him.
"Now that you're here." Ben was quick to flirt. The comment made both Lia and Minho roll their eyes. From the side, The Greenie felt a slight twist in his stomach at the scene yet couldn't understand as to why.
"New Greenie, huh?" Ben exclaimed, nodding his head toward the Greenie. He shifted over to Chuck. "How does it feel to be promoted?"
"Feels great, Ben." Chuck gave him a thumbs up. Minho and Ben nodded their heads at Lia, a silent understanding that they were headed to the Map Room. Lia waved them farewell before turning back towards Chuck and the Greenie.
"I thought no one was allowed to leave." The Greenie said, referring to the runners.
"I said we're not allowed to leave." Chuck told him. "They're different, They're runners. They know more about The Maze than anyone."
"Wait, what?" The Greenie interjected.
Lia's eyes widened at Chuck. They were told not to say anything about The Maze to the Greenies as to not spook them on their first couple of days.
"What? You just said Maze."
"I did?"
"Yeah."
"Even if he did—" Lia finally spoke up, taking a step towards the brunette. "You're not allowed in there, alright? It's not safe for you. Especially at this time."
Despite it only being his first day, Lia wanted to keep him safe. He was part of their group now. Their family. Taking a quick glance at her watch, it would only take a few minutes before the doors would close and being trapped in that place again wasn't on her itinerary.
"I told you, you can't" Chuck said, trying to grab a hold of him.
"Okay. Okay." The Greenie raises his hands not wishing to make Lia mad. "I just want to take a look."
"Greenie—" Lia shook her head, walking behind him as he was close to entering the Maze. The way he stared curiously and wondrously at the inside didn't go unnoticed. It was the same way Lia looked at it at first too. She almost had a grip on his back before he would walk too far but she heard a loud voice from beside her.
"Hey!" The big built belonging to Gally appeared before her and saw him aggressively push the Greenie to the ground, away from the doors. The shorter boy grunted in pain at the impact. Gally bends his knees over him, intimidatingly. "We gotta stop meeting like this, Greenie."
"Gally!" Lia scolds, coming over to his side. She hated it when Gally became too aggressive on the new guys. The six footer only sent her a softened glance. "Take it easy."
She kneeled down to help the Greenie up but was quickly shoved to the side, her help rejected. "Get off me!"
Lia groaned at the rough contact of her side against the ground, her cheek slightly grazing over a rock.
"All right! Calm, calm, calm." Gally held his hands up in defence as the Greenie began to panic.
From the corner of her eye, Lia saw the other boys rush towards them at the commotion. The Greenie ignored him continuing his outburst at the rest of the Gladers.
"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" He exclaimed.
"Just calm down, all right?" Newt holds his hand out before him, his accent almost made the statement soothing. This wasn't an odd occurrence. There were others who were confused at first too. He spotted that Lia on the ground and made his way over to her to help her up, letting Alby take care of the Greenie.
"You alright?" Newt asked, pulling her up. Lia nodded, eyes furrowed in annoyance at the new Greenie and the whole situation. She felt Newt's hand on her cheek, wincing at the feeling of his finger tip on a small cut she received from the fall.
"No, okay? Why won't you tell me what's out there?" The Greenie fumed, pointing at the walls. The veins in his neck popping out from his anger.
"We're just trying to protect you. It's for your own good." Alby tried to explain, his hand out as well to show he wasn't of any harm.
"You guys can't just keep me here." The Greenie continued to protest.
"I can't let you leave."
"Why not?"
As if on cue, the doors to the Maze began to close. The whirring sounds of the stone scraping against each other as they moved at a slow pace. A large gust of wind coming from the inside blew towards them causing most of them to turn away from the dirt it brought along. The clicking noises and moving gears filled everyone's ears as they all watched the large doors finally close with a loud boom.
"Next time, I'm gonna let you leave." Gally turned towards the brunette once more before walking away with the rest of the boys.
Lia quietly thanked Newt for helping her and her eyes connected with the Greenie's again. His chest felt heavy at the sight of the small cut on her cheek, just under cheek bone. With a grit of her teeth, Lia scoffed.
"Welcome to the Glade."
⚖
⫸ Connection: The Maze Runner ⫷
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