I do not own The Maze Runner or any of its characters.
Alby: *talking to Newt* And they were ROOMMATES!
Lauren: *walking past* Oh my gosh they were roommates.
Lauren
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I was being shaken awake. Again. I was asleep, peacefully, and I was being shaken awake.
"Lauren, get up." It was Newt. Poor, poor Newt.
"Let. Me. Sleep. Or I will punch you in the nose." I turned over.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Come on, get up."
I pulled the blankets up over my head. "Newt, my hair isn't even brushed and I have dragon breath. Leave, let me freshen up, and I'll meet you outside."
"No, you won't. Stand up and then I'll leave." Newt saw through me. Finch.
I slowly stood up and faced Newt. "You are the worst human being in the entire Glade. The sun isn't even awake and you decided I needed to be? Why?" I had a headache too, and this early morning wake-up was doing nothing for it.
"Every Greenie goes through this. Come on, let's go."
Newt let me brush my hair, and then he led me to a Maze door.
"Is this against the rules?" I whispered, thinking that I was going to get in trouble for our outing.
"Hush. Look." He parted the ivy that covered the grey walls. Underneath it, there was a window that showed a view into the maze.
I stood there waiting for a least 10 minutes shivering before whatever we were here for showed up. It was hideous. It had a pulsating body, covered with goo. It was a little larger than a cow and looked like it could take about 500 hundred of them. The long metal legs looked deadly, and it made a whirr, click sound as it moved past. I stumbled back a few steps. But for some reason, I thought I could take it on.
"Is- it- is it real?" I stuttered.
"Yup." Newt looked slightly scared at the sight, but he didn't walk back.
"Oh wow. That's a Greiver, right?"
Newt looked at me. "Yeah. How do you know that?"
"I-I just heard someone talk about them." I lied. How did I know that?
We stayed there for a bit, Newt giving me pointless warnings as to not go in there, then we walked back. I went back to my room, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. But, for the first time, I didn't. I was too shaken by my first encounter with a Greiver. Or was it my first encounter? I didn't know, and it scared me.
By sunrise, I knew I wasn't getting any more sleep. I got up, packed my bathroom stuff in my backpack, and slipped into the quiet Glade. Heading to the bathrooms, I checked to make sure no one was in there. Then I hurriedly got ready for the day, still not wanting to lock the singular door.
Alby was waiting for me when I got out.
"Is the Tour starting now?"
"No. Get some breakfast then meet me at the Box." Alby walked off.
I did not get his hatred of me. I made one not-so-great impression, and he writes me off. I intended to do my best at the Tour to make him see that I wasn't a bad person. I didn't need to get on the wrong side of the leader.
So, after getting breakfast, I headed to what I assumed was "the Box."
"Tour starts now. No questions till the end." Alby stated. I just nodded. "This is the Box. Once a month a Greenie comes up, and every week supplies come up. Always has been, always will be. Never fails. And it's always a guy. Until you. Ain't needin' a whole lot of supplies. We make most of it ourselves."
"Nice."
He just looked at me. I cleared my throat and looked around.
"Glade's split into 4 sections. Gardens, Blood House, Homestead, Deadheads." Alby counted them off on his fingers. "Got it?"
After my initial shock that he seemed to be opening the floor up for questions, I took the offer.
"Could you elaborate? Please?" I wanted to get as much information as possible during this Tour. This was my one time to get information, and I was not going to let it slip through my fingers.
He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but changed his mind.
"Gardens--" He pointed to the Northeast corner. "where we grow the crops. Water's pumped in through pipes in the ground. Never rains here. Ever. Blood House--" Alby pointed to the southeast corner, "where we raise and slaughter animals." He looked at the house I stayed in last night. "That's the-"
"Homestead. Builders keep adding on to it because they have to make it bigger. After all, you're getting more boys every month. It's terrible looking by the way." I finished for him. I knew that the comment was risky, but it tumbled out before I could stop it.
"Something we can agree on, Greenie." He nodded.
My body relaxed, and I fought the urge not to correct him. My name was Lauren. Why was that so hard to remember?
"Lastly, Deadheads." Alby indicated the forest. "Graveyard's in the way back, out in the thick woods."
I tried hard not to ask why they needed a graveyard. But then I remembered talking to Peter and learning that they had tried out stupid ways to leave the Glade. His comment still unsettled me.
Alby was still talking. "-hang out, don't matter. You'll spend the next two weeks every day working with each Keeper to figure out what job you're best at. Builder, Runner, Track-hoe, Slopper, something will stick, always does. Follow me."
He started walking towards a different Door than I went to with Newt, me right behind him. With a quick look at the sun, I deducted it was the South Door. On the way, I looked at an old barn surrounded by animals. A boy was standing in the middle of them, watching the two of us. He had an odd look about him like he knew more about the world and all of its workings than all of us combined.
"Back there's where the Slicers and Tenders work. You like blood, you can be a Slicer. You like animals, you can work with Abra."
"Is Abra ok?" The guy had not stopped watching us.
"He'd rather be with animals than humans. Never said a sentence we can understand since he's been here." Alby looked over at Abra. I waved, and he just looked away.
Alby went through the rest of the Tour, me asking small questions here and there. I absorbed all the information. For the most part, I thought I did an excellent job of acting like a model Glader. I guess tomorrow I would see if Alby thought so too.
|~^_^~|
Waking up early in the morning was not my favorite thing in the world, especially if Newt did it.
"Lauren, I swear on Frypan's bacon you are the worst morning person in the world. And I once had to wake up Gally." I knew Newt didn't like my antics.
"Newt, if you don't want to wake me up, you don't have to. You shouldn't do anything you don't want to do." I rolled over and took the blankets with me.
"Lauren, are you bleeding?"
That one sentence was enough to wake me up.
"Finch!" I got up, grabbed my backpack, and turned towards Newt. "Newt, you do not even breathe a word of this to the other Gladers." I ran out of the room and headed straight for the bathrooms, cursing myself the entire time.
"How did you not prepare for this? I knew that you had your memory wiped, but you should always have this in the back of your mind. Or at least until we've had a cycle. Did we not see the signs?" I paused. Thinking about the last couple of days, I hadn't been moody at all. I had no cramps; nothing was leading up to this. I checked my backside. There was a small cut on the side of my leg. Exhaling, I went back to the Homestead to get a bandage.
Newt was on the stairs. "Well, are you?"
"It's just a small cut. Not what I thought it was. Still, not a word."
He just chuckled. I made my way to the makeshift hospital.
"Hey!" There was a short guy in the room, looking much older than he appeared, as he had actual grey hair mixed in with the black hair on his head.
"Hi! I'm Lauren."
"Clint. Whatcha need?"
"Not much. Do you have bandages and," I fumbled with the words, "antiseptic cream?"
"Over in that cabinet over there. There are also wipes too. You're the Greenie, right?" Clint asked.
"Yeah. I'm supposed to start working with Keepers today. I'm a little scared, to be honest." I cleaned my cut and covered it with a bandage.
"Don't be. Just try your best. But, I think you have a pretty good shot at being a Med-Jack." With that, he left me.
I sighed, put on a smile, and started my day.
|~^_^~|
"You ready to start, Greenie?" Peter asked at breakfast.
"It's Lauren. And No. Yes. I don't know. I want to see what I'm good at, but I don't want to fail at the same time. You get it?"
He laughed. "You're going to be alright. I know a couple of people are going to keep their eye on you. Including me."
"You know that does nothing for me. I'm already nervous." I put my head down on the table.
"If you're nervous, can I have your bacon?" Gally sat down at our table.
"No!" I slapped his hand away. "I'm finishing my food."
We stayed there and chatted for a bit. When I got done, I headed to see Alby.
"Greenie, you'll be starting with the Slicers. Tomorrow'll be Tenders, then go from there." Alby informed me.
"Right. Thanks." I walked towards the barn.
I liked Winston. He looked normal. Well, he looked like a teenager would generally look. He was an acne-covered, short, muscular kid. He enjoyed his job. He showed me around and let me watch what he was doing. I had to hand it to the kid. He was pretty good at what he did for a living. I tried to help Winston, but I couldn't handle the smell.
My favorite part of the day? When a black Lab named Bark took a shine to me. I played with Bark and, despite his name, he wasn't loud at all.
When the sun went down, it was time for supper. I washed my hands, said goodbye to Bark and Winston, and went to eat.
"How was Winston?" Gally asked that night.
"He's way too good at his job. But I think Bark was my favorite part."
"So, you think you'll be a Slicer?" He asked hesitantly.
"Finch no! The smell was awful." I fanned in front of my face to emphasize my point.
Gally was confused for a second. Then he just shook his head and said goodnight.
|~^_^~|
Sleep, wake up, repeat.
This time I was with the Tenders. Abra showed me around, and it was weird. Every animal had a name. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Patrick, Manny, Eva, and many more. The strangest name of all? Probably Wall-E. We walked inside the barn; I was amazed. Buckets were lining the wall, all the same. But Abra took each one down, fed the contents to a specific animal, and put it back the same. This was the reason Abra didn't have any helpers. No one could do the things he could. Then I wondered why he showed Greenies around.
While he worked, he dropped the odd gem. Abra said them softly, but loud enough so that I could hear him.
"Aliens."
"Passwords. Are. Everything."
"Don't miss the large buttons."
I was confused. So I just nodded my head and said "Mhm" at the right times.
|~^_^~|
Sleep, wake up, repeat.
Day 3: Track-hoes. I truly understood today what Peter said when I first met him. After lunch, I was still working, having learned very quickly what I had to do, one guy had the audacity to catcall me. Incidentally, it was Shorty, from my first day in the Glade. Standing by two guys, he said this:
"Whoo! Looking nice there, Greenie! Keep it up!"
I stabbed my shovel in the ground and started to walk over to him. Newt stopped me.
"Don't. You'll get yourself in loads of trouble. Remember the rule?" His voice was quiet. He knew what I was about ready to do.
Never injure another Glader. "Yes. But does that really apply here?" I fumed.
"There are other ways. I'll talk to Alby. He'll get in trouble. Those rules are here for a reason. Everyone obeys them, and we got order."
I nodded my head like a good little Glader and waited until Newt wasn't looking at me.
"Hey!" I walked over to Shorty.
Shorty laughed. "Come here to show off for me?" He tried to grab my arm and pull me closer.
I stepped back. This guy. "No. I'm here to do this." I punched him right in the nose. I was getting pretty good at doing that.
Shorty landed on his butt. He cupped his nose, and I noticed his eyes were watering. Satisfied, I turned to walk back to the Gardens.
"Oh, you little-" Shorty was back on his feet. Around us, a crowd was forming.
I turned around too slow, and he nailed me right in the shoulder.
It stung a little bit, but I wasn't giving Shorty the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. "Oh boy, did you learn nothing from the bonfire?"
"OHHHHH!" The crowd was getting bigger.
Shorty got close to me. "When I win-"
"Stop kidding yourself." I threw a punch that hit him square in the stomach. He stumbled back, looking ready to dump his breakfast.
"Zeus! Get this chick!" One of his cronies yelled.
Oho. This guy's name was Zeus. How fitting.
He swept my legs, and I fell hard, my head taking most of the hit. Ouch. Zeus grabbed my ponytail and pulled me up, making sure I was close enough to hear his words.
"You're going to be mine. And there's nothing you can do about it." Zeus said coldly. There was just pure viciousness in his voice. His brown eyes clouded over in rage to where they looked more black than anything. I shuddered down to my core.
I opened my mouth to reply, but someone knocked his lights out.
Gally. Standing above me, panting heavily, he pulled me up to my feet. I brushed myself off and turned to him.
"I totally had that guy."
"You alright?"
I took a deep breath and looked down at Zeus's limp body. "Yeah. I'm alright." I lied. I knew I wasn't getting any sleep tonight.
Clint pushed through the crowd, flanked by Alby. He started checking my wounds while Alby surveyed the situation.
"What happened here?" He questioned, not sounding too mad at the moment.
"Zeus catcalled me and I retaliated. We got into a fight and Gally ended it." I realized then that I threw the first punch. This interrogation wasn't going well for me.
"Are you alright?" Alby asked. That threw me off guard.
"Minor bruising on your shoulder. It'll be sore." Clint stated. "I'm not noticing any signs of a concussion, but you'll probably wake up with a major headache tomorrow. Go to the Homestead and get some ice. You'll be alright."
"Thanks, Clint." I turned to Alby. "You heard it from the man himself. I'll be alright. Thanks, though."
"I'll go with you." Gally started parting the crowd.
"No, I'm fine. Really." I tried to protest. All I wanted to do was get some ice, disappear into the Deadheads, and get away from everyone.
"No, Lauren. You don't need to be alone right now." His voice was firm.
Did he not listen to Clint? I was going to be ok.
We got to the Homestead, where Jeff saw us, and he went to grab some ice. I sat down on an empty bed and closed my eyes. But every time I did, I just saw Zeus's face. I turned to look at Gally. He was looking at his knuckle, which was bleeding slightly.
"Thank you for your help," I said softly.
He looked up. "I've never liked that shank all that much. He's got too much of an ego. You sure you're alright though?"
So he saw through my lie. "Not really. What he said to me, it was really scary. I looked in his eyes, and it's terrifying in there. I don't think I'll ever shake it off." I rubbed my arms, attempting to get some warmth in them.
"Hey. It's-" Gally stopped when Jeff walked in with the ice.
"Thanks, Jeff."
He just nodded and walked out.
I sat it on my head and became drowsy. Maybe I would go to sleep tonight. I rolled over and fell asleep, with the sun still up.
Day 4: Bricknicks
I woke up before dawn and realized I was still in the Homestead. I had a killer headache and didn't move for a solid half-hour. When I finally did, I noticed someone had pulled the blankets around me, and my shoes were beside my bed.
I sat up, and the room swam. I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to right myself. When the room was stable, I went down to my room. Grabbing what I needed for the day, I headed to the showers.
Spending the day with Jonathan, Keeper of the Bricknicks was pretty uneventful. Bricknicks had the task of repairing buildings and such, and Jonathan just asked me questions on what ideas I had for the Glade. I didn't run into Zeus, and it was alright with me.
Day 5: Baggers
I was horrified by what the Baggers had to do. They had to bag bodies, and I was very relieved to find out that I didn't have to do that for my training. Needless to say, I wasn't going to do that.
Day 6: Sloppers
The Sloppers' smell alone told me that I was not going to do that job. Lee, Keeper of the Sloppers, informed me that only the people who can't do anything else become a Slopper. So that meant that I most likely wasn't going to become one. Clint said it himself that I had a good chance of becoming a Med-Jack. I prayed that night that his words were right.
The only ones I was looking forward to were Med-Jacks, Builders, and Runners. But those were the ones I had last.
Tomorrow I was working with the Cooks. Tomorrow was going to be a good day working with Frypan. He's a fun guy to be around.
As I changed and crawled in bed, I got hit with a fact.
I had been in the Glade for over a week.
I thought about it more and realized I didn't know how I felt about that.
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Well, that was FULL.
At 3,000+ words, not including this author's note and the thing at the top, this chapter is the longest one I've ever written.
I'll try to keep this author's note short, as my fingers are currently screaming at me.
Questions!
-What do you think Lauren's going to end up as?
-Opinions on Zeus?
-Questions, comments, constructive criticism?
(IF YOU GUYS GET THE TITLE REFERENCE, YOU'RE REALLY COOL ^_^)