Night came and everyone started gathering around the bonfire, cheering and laughing. It was a welcoming party for the greenie but also a celebration of our life in the glade and how far we've come.
Drink in hand. I noticed Newt sitting down and talking with our new greenie. I still haven't introduced myself to him, now is probably a good time. I walked up to them. Newt noticed.
"Hey there."
I spoke up as I approached them. "Mind if I sit here?"
The greenie seemed a bit stunned. Can't blame him, in a glade that's mostly full of boys, suddenly a girl appears. Of course he'd be surprised.
"Flora! Lovely of you to come join us."
He said as he gestured me to sit down. The greenie was now in between me and Newt.
"Greenie, this is Flora. Our glade's one and only daisy."
I snorted at the name.
Daisy. A nickname that some of the gladers came up with for me. Everyone had a different version for it. Lazy Daisy. Sleepy Daisy. Grumpy Daisy. You name it.
Since my name was Flora, they assumed that maybe my name meant flower because of how similar it sounds. And they chose daisy because it was the only plant (that isn't vegetables or crops) that grew in our glade.
"Hi." I gave him a small wave.
He gave a nod. Still unsure on what to say to me.
Noticing his silence, I decided to break the ice a bit.
"You landed pretty hard during your little run this morning, you okay now?"
"Uh...Good I guess."
He finally replied. About time, thought I was gonna have to end up being awkward with him for the rest of the night.
"Flora is one of our med-jacks, be warned, she will be pestering you non-stop with questions on your health when needed." Newt added.
I snorted at his comment. "Thanks Newt."
"Anyways, here." I gave him the drink in my hand.
"Put some hair on your chest."
He took it and gave it a sip before ending up almost spitting it out and coughing. Me and Newt just gave each other a look of amusement and laughed a bit.
"Ugh, what is that?"
He said with disgust while handing me back the drink.
"To be honest....We don't even know." Newt said while looking at his own glass of the same liquid.
"It's Gally's recipe." He added while looking towards the group of builders.
"A trade secret." I added
"Yeah, but he's still an asshole." The greenie said.
Me, being Gally's closest friend, I wasn't really surprised by the comment, every greenie that first arrived here felt the same way but eventually warmed up and became mutual with him as time passed. Not close, but to the point where they can have a conversation without having to go at each other's throats.
But of course, that doesn't mean I'm just going to let anyone insult him like that.
"He saved your life today."
I told the greenie as I looked at him.
"Trust me, the maze is a dangerous place."
We both proceeded to explain about the maze and what the Runners do, from what I've noticed while having this conversation. This Greenie asks a lot of questions. But I don't mind, however I do kind of worry that his curiosity is going to get him in trouble some day.
"How long have they been looking?"
Me and Newt were silent for a bit.
".....Three years."
I said slowly. His eyes widened at my answer.
"And they haven't found anything?"
"It's a lot easier said than done."
I sighed before telling him to listen to the rumbling sounds of the maze changing and how it changes every single night. He seemed to understand it a bit now. But his face clearly showed that he wasn't really satisfied with the answer.
"Listen greenie, the truth is, the runners are the only ones that knows what's out there." I added.
"They're the strongest, and the fastest of us all-and that's a good thing too, because if they don't make it back before those doors close, then they're stuck out there for the night."
I explained. And now comes the part I always hated saying the most. But hopefully, this will stop him from asking any more questions. I don't know if I will be able to explain more if he continues.
"And no one, has ever survived a night in the maze."
He looked at me with slight fear, going silent for a moment, part of me is relieved. He probably gets it now.
I was so wrong.
Carefully, and cautiously, he slowly asked me.
"What happens to them?"
I paused. No one has ever asked any more questions once I told them that part. But this greenie, he really is different.
Letting out a shaky breath. I wasn't sure if I was able to continue and explain the details to him.
Newt noticed my sudden silence and decided to take over the last bit, which I'm grateful for, I never really liked explaining this part of the maze.
"Well, we call them Grievers..." He started out.
"Of course, no one has ever...Seen one...Or lived to tell about it......But they're out there."
The greenie only nodded, and finally went silent this time, understanding the situation. We just sat there looking at the walls of the maze for a while.
After a small moment of awkward silence, Newt finally spoke up.
"Alright, well, that's enough questions for one night." He said.
"Flora, why don't we both show our new greenie around?"
"Good idea Newt." I replied.
The greenie however seemed a little nervous and kept saying no and how it wasn't necessary.
But we insisted.
"Come on, you're supposed to be the guest of honor! Let us show you around!"
We both dragged him up from his seat and went towards to where the other gladers were.
_________________________________________
"Those are the builders."
I pointed out to them for the greenie.
"Good with their hands but not a lot going upstairs."
I shook my head with a chuckle at Newt's comment as he continued and pointed at another group boys.
"That's Winston, Keeper of the Slicers."
"And we have two more med-jacks, Clint and Jeff!"
I introduced them to the greenie as they walked past us, giving me a high five in the process.
"We three usually spend most of our time bandaging up the slicers."
"What if I want to be a runner?" The greenie asked out of the blue.
Now it was my turn to be stunned. He really is a curious one, isn't he? I looked at Newt, he was just equally surprised as I am.
"Haven't you heard a word I said? No one wants to be a runner. Besides, you gotta get chosen."
"By who-whoa!"
Before we could answer his question, another glader crashed into the the greenie, almost knocking him down if Newt wasn't there to help. Looking at the source of where the glader came from, I let out a scoff.
Gally is being rough with the wrestling again. Not surprised. He's always competitive when it comes to things like this.
"What do you say greenie? Wanna see what you're made of?" He challenged.
The greenie wasn't sure of his answer but the gladers were already chanting 'Greenie! Greenie!' over and over. He gave a small nod.
We cheered for him as he accepted the challenge and walked into the ring.
"The rules are simple." Gally explained.
"I try to push you out of the circle. Try to last more than five seconds."
Everyone laughed when he finished his sentence. I rolled my eyes with a laugh.
"Easy on the greenie Gally!" I yelled out from the crowd.
"Ready?"
And with that, the wrestling started.
Gally was leading. He pushed the new guy into the ground like it was nothing.
"Come on greenie, we're not done yet."
"Stop calling me greenie!" He said, voice filling up with offense.
"Stop calling you that? What do you want to be called? Shank?"
Gally taunted as the crowd snickered at the name.
"What do you think guys? Does he look like a shank?"
He shoved the guy down to the ground again.
Typical Gally, being a show-off when needed to be. The wrestling went on for a bit before the greenie (for once) was finally able to push Gally to the ground. Leaving him stunned for a moment in the sand.
Everyone let out a cheer, even Minho looked impressed. The new guy himself also seemed surprised with his own skill, letting out a small smile.
"Not bad for a greenie huh?"
The moment he said that, Gally got up and slide kicked both of his legs, causing him to fall down to the ground head first. Hard.
That looked painful.
Me being a med-jack, I got slightly concerned and was close to running up to him to ask if he was alright.
The new guy seemed to be in a daze a bit from the impact before mumbling something.
"Thomas..."
He stood up from the ground and looked around with a small smile on his face. As if he's finally realized something.
"Thomas!"
He said more loudly this time.
Everyone was silent. Did he finally know...His name?
"I remember my name! I'm Thomas!!"
We all stood quietly for a moment before everyone started yelling and cheering. He finally remembered his name. And I couldn't be any more happy for him as well.
The gladers started gathering and crowding around Thomas, giving him pats on the back and a congratulations along with a 'Welcome home' from Frypan.
Gally walked up to Thomas and held out his hand to him.
"Good job...Thomas." He grinned a bit.
There's the soft Gally I've been waiting to see. Despite his overconfidence, he's always played fair and respected his opponents. I let out a smile.
Suddenly a loud inhuman screech was heard. Everyone turned to the source of the sound, it came from beyond the walls.
"What the hell was that?" Thomas asked.
"That, my friend."
Gally spoke up.
"Was a griever."
For a moment I felt like Gally was looking at me, as if to see if I was okay, before returning his attention back to Thomas.
"Don't worry, you're safe here with us. Nothing gets through those walls."
Before we knew it, Alby called it a night, the celebration finally came to an end and it was time for us to go to bed. We still have our parts to do like always tomorrow morning after all.
I looked up at the night sky on my hammock. Waiting for my eyelids to grow heavy, my thoughts started taking over again.
The fact that we've been here for two years just makes me question again. How long can we keep up with this? Continue living like this? Will we ever find a way out? How much longer will we be able to stay safe? The creators wouldn't just send us here to just live out our whole life within these walls.
I shook my head vigorously. Trying to shake my thoughts off the topic. I changed my sleeping position and closed my eyes tightly.
You're just overthinking again Flora.