Bailey
➳
After a couple minutes, we arrived at the homestead. I groaned quietly as Thomas dragged me behind one of the wooden pillars. He was quick to shush me before he whispered, "Ok, he's inside."
"What am I going to say?" I asked quietly.
He licked his lips as he took a second to think, "Hey, Newt. I'm so in love with you! Can Thomas and I go check out the griever corpse real quick? Pretty please?"
I slapped his arm and scowled, "I'm serious, Thomas."
He rolled his eyes playfully and snickered, "Fine, just tell him something happened in the woods and you need him to go look at it real quick."
I bit my lip, "What if he doesn't go?"
"Trust me, he will."
I nodded solemnly and took a deep breath in. Thomas smiled weakly, "Hey, don't worry about it. You've got this."
"Ok, I got this."
I turned around and walked into the tent. Newt immediately glanced up and smiled.
His brown eyes suddenly narrowed as he noticed the worried look on my face. It was obviously fake but he couldn't tell the difference.
"What happened?" He asked, standing up and walking over to me.
"Something is in the woods," I stuttered, making my hands shake, "I don't know what it is."
He frowned, "Don't worry, I'll get somebody to check it out."
I grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze, "No!" I paused, realizing how loud I had just shouted, "Could you go look? I'd feel more comfortable if you did it, Newt."
He sighed through his nose and nodded, "Sure, anything for you love."
My heart fluttered slightly at the name. I had heard it hundred times before but for some reason this one felt different. I smiled warmly and hugged him, "Thank you."
He let go of me after a moment, "You're welcome."
After one last hug, he walked out of the homestead. I watched as his figure slowly disappeared, the feeling of guilt building up in my stomach.
Thomas ran up to me from behind the pillar, he pumped his fists into the air happily. "You did it! Good work!"
I sighed, "Yea, I guess."
"What's the matter?"
"I feel really bad about it." I stated, gesturing toward the exit in which Newt had just left through.
Thomas nodded and shrugged, "You shouldn't, he'll understand. We have to get going now if we want to make it before sundown."
I nodded quickly, "Yea, of course. Sorry."
"Don't be."
➳
We headed over to the South gate. Thomas led me through the maze quickly as we ran to the griever corpse. Left, Right, Left, Left, Right, Left, Right.
I was surprised that he still remembered the exact route.
After awhile, we eventually stumbled upon it.
It smelled of rottening fish and left over vegetables. I plugged my nose with my fingers as I stared at the griever leg. It was enclosed in two neighboring walls. Blood like goop dripped down the metal, allowing it's true metallic silver to shine through.
I gagged at the sight, "That's disgusting."
Thomas squinted as he grew closer, "There's something in there." He whispered, kneeling down to get a better look.
"You mean besides your griever pancake?" I retorted.
The tall glader rolled his eyes as he neared the leg. He reached his arm in between the stone, moving around and feeling out the metal parts.
The long limb suddenly swung upwards as it tried to attack him. We both jumped back in surprise. "I thought you said it was dead!" I shouted, pointing at the large heap of metal.
"Maybe it was just a reflex?" Thomas assumed, taking a couple steps closer.
"You shucking hope." I growled, crossing my arms across my chest.
The boy returned to the leg's side, as he gave it a quick look over, "Come on, help me get it out."
My eyes widened in shock, "No way! I'm not touching that thing."
He glanced over his shoulder at me, "Please?"
My eyes narrowed as I walked over. We wrapped our hands around the limb and pulled. The leg eventually popped off with a loud crack, which sent me stumbling backwards.
Thomas' eyes slowly moved across it's surface as he studied the parts. He reached his arm in between the walls once more and grabbed something. Once he pulled it out, I could finally get a better look at what he was taking about. It was cylinder shaped, most likely made out of the same metal. There was a little screen in the corner which was lit with a small red 7, and a large cord that hung out from the opposite side. "What the hell is that?" I asked, taking a step closer to him.
He shrugged, "I don't know but, it's interesting."
I scoffed in return, "Can we go back, now? I really don't want to meet his friends," I snickered, "and I bet they won't be too happy when we tell them you killed their buddy."
He laughed, "Yea, we can go now."
➳
Thomas and I entered the homestead slowly as we returned. Newt stood in the center of the tent with Gally and Minho, while Frypan and Zart sat off to the side. The five boys glared at us as we walked in. Thomas and I sighed in unison, already knowing what was about to happen.
"Where the bloody hell have you two been?" Newt growled.
I put my hands into the pockets of my shorts, "We went into the maze." I stated firmly.
The gears in Newt's head turned silently as he tried to process what I had just said, "Excuse me?"
Thomas wrapped his arm over my shoulders, which didn't help the situation. Newt's glare hardened. "It's not her fault, I convinced her to lie to you and help me." He replied calmly.
"That doesn't mean she didn't break the rules too." Newt snarled.
I had never seen him so upset before.
"I know, Newt. I'm sorry." Thomas said sadly, letting his arm fall to his side.
Newt sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to calm himself down. "What did you find?" He asked, pointing to the metal cylinder in Thomas's hand.
I watched quietly as Thomas handed it to him, "We found this inside the griever."
Newt squinted at the small writing, "These are the same letters we get on our supplies."
The Greenie nodded in agreement, "Yea, whoever put us here obviously made the grievers." He paused, looking over at the asian boy, "plus, this is the first thing you've found in over three years, right Minho?"
Minho nodded, "Right."
I sighed and grabbed Newt's free hand, giving him a small smile, "We gotta go back out there, Newt."
Gally grimaced, throwing his arms up in anger, "You see what they're trying to do right? First they break our rules, then they try to convince us to abandon them totally, and finally all the doors are open! That doesn't worry anybody? The rules are the only thing that have ever held us together, why now are we questioning that? They need to be punished." He shouted.
The second in command sighed calmly, "You're right. They broke the rules. One night in the pit, no food."
The tan glader scoffed, "Oh come on Newt! One night in the pit? You think that's going to stop them from running into the maze?"
"No, and we can't have non-runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it." Newt paused, frowning a little before he spoke again, "So Thomas, let's just make this official. Starting tomorrow, you're a runner."