RECKLESS [The Maze Runner || Newt || Book 1]

02 - Exploring

Clara heard a few of the boys muttering to themselves around her, not quite catching what any of them were saying.

"Bloody hell." The blonde boy spoke up again, his strange accent peeking through, Clara felt like she recognized his voice, but nothing came up in her brain, there was just an itch deep down somewhere inside it – like a memory aching to be let out.

"Alright let's get everybody out, we need to sit down somewhere and figure out what the hell is going on here." The stern-faced boy spoke up again, an authoritative tone taking over his voice, Clara realized quite quickly that he was likely to take charge of everyone, considering he seemed to be the least scared – or he was just hiding his fear really damn well. A mumble of agreement answered his statement, and the small group followed him outside.

Within a few minutes, they were all sitting in a circle around what looked like some sort of bonfire ring, of course, none of them knew how to start a fire so instead they just sat around the few pieces of wood. On Clara's right sat the skinny blonde with the accent and on her left sat the first boy, who she later learned was named Alby.

"Okay, we're going to go around the circle I want all of you to tell me anything – and I mean anything – you can remember, I don't care if it's your name or favorite colour, I want to hear it. We'll start with you." Alby said, nodding over at Clara. She cleared her throat, looking around before she spoke,

"I don't remember much, I know my name, I know how old I am, and I know basic things. You know like –like math and science and stuff. I remember feeling like I was drowning, the feeling of water in my lungs. That's uh, that's about it..." she trailed off and heard a few mumbles of agreement coming from some of the boys, a few heads nodding. The blonde boy spoke up next,

"I remember the same, my name at least, and that drowning thing. No bloody idea how old I am though." He chuckled as he finished speaking, getting a few giggles from the boys.

Each boy took a turn saying what they remembered, a few of them knew their names – Clara learned that the blonde one was Newt, the eyebrows boy was Gally and another boy with dark skin and a gentle face was called Siggy, but he wanted everyone to call him Frypan, he smiled at Clara when he spoke, a friendly, warm smile and she had immediately got the feeling that they would get along.

After a few minutes of just talking about the things everyone remembered Alby decided to let them explore the place – he decided to call it the Glade, and he told everyone not to go into the maze, worried that there was something dangerous inside of it – nobody argued with that.

Clara decided to walk over to the large wooden structure near the center of the glade. It was a large double-story building with a few out of place windows sticking out of some of the walls. It looked like it could topple over at any moment, but when she went to open the door, it held up pretty well. She pushed it open and stepped inside.

To her left was a room, basically completely empty except for the wooden pillars scattered around, supporting the roof. She walked into the room, her hand brushing over one of the pillars. She pulled it away, examining her fingers and expecting them to have some sort of dust or dirt on them, but there was nothing, the place was pretty much squeaky clean. She quickly made her way around the rest of the building, finding a few more empty rooms and what seemed like some sort of kitchen, as well as a room that had 2 beds covered in white sheets – A hospital room she assumed.

She walked back down the stairs, which creaked with each step, and towards the door. She jumped back as she opened it, an unfamiliar face standing directly in front of her. He was quite short compared to the other boys, but still taller than Clara. He had short black hair and his face was covered in acne, he was wearing a creepy sort of smile that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He was one of the boys who remembered his name around the bonfire, Sam, she recalled.

"Oh, hi." She said, a small part of her hoping he would just turn around and leave, but he stood still, not bothering to back away from her.

"Hey." He responded, the smile on his face growing slightly. Clara tried to ignore the fear rising in her throat and she stood up straight, her back pressing against the door.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked, forcing a polite smile.

"Well, that depends really..." He trailed off, lifting his hand, and placing it on the side of her shoulder, trailing his finger down her side as. Clara's fear grew, her breath catching in her throat. Suddenly he moved his hand down, grabbing her waist and placing his other hand on her ass, trying to pull her closer to him.

"HEY!" She yelled, reacting quickly, and pushing him back with all her strength, before she could do anything else a voice yelled from behind him,

"Hey! What the hell are you doing to her?"

The boy turned around to face the voice that Clara recognized belonged to the blonde boy, Newt, and she took advantage of the distraction. She reached around, grabbing the hand he was resting on her ass and twisting it around and upwards, pushing him forward with her knee and pressing his hand against his back. He screamed in pain, falling onto his knees, and struggling under her grip. Clara smiled to herself suddenly realizing she was a lot stronger than she realized and pressed his arm further into his back, twisting it even more. She leaned down towards his ear, whispering in a dangerously low voice,

"Touch me again and you'll lose an arm." She released her grip on the boy's arm and he scrambled to his feet, sprinting away. She chuckled to herself as she watched him push Newt out of his way. She and the blonde stood still for a second, their eyes following the boy before he walked closer to her.

"Bloody idiot, are you alright?" He asked, taking a few steps towards her. Clara watched him carefully, analyzing his face as he stared back at her. She scoffed before answering him,

"Look blondie, I get that you think you need to look after me or something because I'm a girl, but I don't need your protection."

"Yeah, I can see that. But don't flatter yourself sunshine, I wasn't trying to protect you, I was just being nice."

"Yeah, well next time do me a favor and don't. Thanks." She said before walking past him, knocking his shoulder with hers as she passed him, pushing him out of her way slightly. She smiled to herself as she walked away, feeling his eyes burning holes in the back of her head.