"I think she's dead."

V ~ Alex

Trigger warning- suicide

Disclaimer: all characters apart from Peyton and Alex belong to James Dashner.

Alex sat in the Homestead with Jeff in silence, the only noise coming from Sonya. Alex could tell the Med-jack was nervous about being alone with her, which she was grateful for. At least he wasn't doing a bad attempt at flirting like most of the Gladers.

Outside, Alex heard uneven footsteps approaching the Homestead. Jeff stood up as Chuck, that month's Greenie, appeared at the doorway. Alex couldn't see him too well, but it looked like he was clutching his hand. She heard some groans come from the boy.

"What the shuck did you do to your hand?" Jeff asked, carefully taking the younger boy's hand in his.

"I- I was working with the Slicers." The cracking in Chuck's voice told Alex that he was on the verge of tears. "M- my hand slipped and I-"

He burst into tears.

"Calm down, Greenie." Jeff's voice was surprisingly calm. "It's no big deal. I'll just bandage you up and you'll be all set." He led Chuck further into the Homestead. "Stay here. I gotta go get some bandages from upstairs." He dashed up the rickety stairs, leaving Alex and Chuck alone with an unconscious Sonya, who was still muttering things.

"Hi," Alex heard Chuck say, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Hey."

"So..."

"If you try hitting on me, it'll be the last thing you ever do."

Chuck's ears went red. "I- I wasn't gonna-"

Alex laughed. "Relax, I can tell you're not like the rest of the sticks here."

"'Sticks'?"

"It's our slang. Just like how you guys say things like 'Greenie' and 'shank,' we say things like 'sticks.'"

"Oh." Alex noticed how much Chuck fidgeted.

"So when'd you get here?" She tried a different approach.

"Around noon yesterday. You guys came when Newt was telling me about the bonfire they have for Newbies." He relaxed slightly, but tensed up when Jeff came back in.

"Alright Greenie," the Med-jack told him, "I need you to stay as still as possible. This is gonna sting a little."

He poured water onto Chuck's hand and the boy recoiled, almost pulling his hand away.

Alex knew from experience that wounds like this would only hurt more if he moved so, out of instinct, she grabbed Chuck's good hand and squeezed it. He looked at her, his pleading brown eyes reminding her of someone.

Alex almost let go of Chuck's hand as Peyton's cries rang in her ears.

warning: suicide

"You know, I don't think we'll ever get out of here," Peyton was saying.

"Yes we will, we have to." But Alex didn't sound too sure herself.

"It's funny, we've all wanted to give up at some point but we've been ignoring the obvious options."

Alex looked at her; her best friend; the only one that could calm her down.

"What do you mean?"

Alex watched in confusion as Peyton pulled her knife from its sheath. When she realised what her friend was doing, Alex's look of confusion turned to one of horror.