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

07 - Different

6 months later

And that became life in the maze. Every month the box bought more supplies and a new greenie up, Alby would give them a tour and they'd spend a few days trying each job until the keepers decided where they would stay. Every day Clara would wake up, run in the maze with Newt, eat dinner with their friends, and sleep, and she loved it. She loved running, she felt like it was what she was born to do, it was the one thing that bought her the most joy in the maze, the feeling of freedom was priceless, and she wouldn't trade it for anything. She even managed to tolerate being with Newt almost every day, even though he always managed to find a way to piss her off, and he enjoyed doing it. Everything seemed almost perfect.

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The familiar blaring alarm sounded throughout the glade, signaling the arrival of a brand-new greenie and all the Gladers ran towards the box, eager to see their newest arrival. Clara and Alby were the first to arrive, peering over the edge as they waited for the box to reach the top. After a few minutes of waiting the large metal container had arrived, Alby and Clara jumped down and opened up its doors. 

The greenie was standing in one of the corners, he looked far less scared than any of the others that had arrived. He was extremely tall – maybe even taller than Gally – very muscular and his dark black hair was tied into a small bun behind his head. His eyes scanned over all of the boys, stopping at Clara for a brief second before moving on, none of what was happening seemed to phase him in the least. Gally jumped down into the box, offering a hand to the boy and together they climbed out the box, Alby greeted him with the usual "Welcome to the glade greenie" and started with the tour while the rest of the boys went back to their jobs. Clara watched the new boy, there was something different about him.

The day passed by as normal, the greenie learned about the different jobs and rules in the glade, he greeted Clara, Clint, and Jeff in the med tent, and she learned that his name was Freddy. And he seemed friendly at least, she was grateful for that – most of the greenies that came up certainly had a lot to say about her being a girl, but this one didn't seem to care at all.

That night they had their special greenie bonfire, all the boys in the glade were gathered around the fire, laughing and drinking. Clara stood with Minho and Newt in the crowd, watching while Gally threw one of the other Gladers to the ground, causing the crowd to cheer for the boy. 

For a while Clara thought the fights were ridiculous, she didn't understand where the fun in them was, until she watched Newt get his ass handed to him, since then the fights became her favourite thing. She noticed the greenie standing at the edge of the circle next to Alby, a curious look on his face as he watched the fight unfold, and she knew that look, it was the look every Glader had before they jumped into the ring and ultimately got a face full of dirt. She nudged Minho and pointed at Freddy,

"Look at the greenie Minho, you think he's gonna fight?"

"He sure as hell looks like he wants to."

And as if the boy had read their minds he stepped forward into the circle as the previous Glader was shamefully walking out,

"I wanna try." He asked, causing a few gasps and whistles to escape from the crowd. The greenies never usually fought, most of them were either too scared of Gally or too tired from the box.

"You sure greenie?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright, the greenie wants to fight!" Gally yelled and a cheer emerged from the crowd before he turned and explained the rules to the greenie, "Only rules are: try to stay in the circle as long as you can and no cheap shots, ready?"

Freddy nodded and stepped further into the circle, he looked completely confident as he and Gally circled for a few seconds. Gally lunged at him, aiming for his waist, but the greenie quickly jumped to the side, causing the builder to stumble a little bit. He turned back around and stared at the greenie, a surprised look covering his face, but he recovered quickly. He lunged a second time, it was quicker this time and he managed to get his arms around the boy's waist, knocking him onto the floor,

"Nice try greenie but being quick doesn-" Gally was cut off as Freddy jumped back onto his feet and jumped at him, he wrapped his arms around Gally's waist and pushed him to the edge of the circle before spinning around and shoving the builder into the ground outside the ring, where he landed with a loud thud.

"Holy shit" Clara whispered, leaning forward slightly as all the boys in the circle went silent. Gally lay on his stomach for a few seconds before rolling over onto his back and staring at Freddy, then he started laughing and reached out a hand which the greenie grabbed and pulled him to his feet. Gally pulled him in for a quick hug and pat him on the back, congratulating him before turning to the rest of the boys,

"The greenie wins!" Cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd, and they all gathered around Freddy, impressed by the show he put on. Clara and Minho were in the same spot, both stuck in surprise at what the boy had just pulled off, nobody had ever beaten Gally before, let alone a greenie, and an idea was making its way into Clara's mind.

"Minho, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I might be."

"Let's go get Alby."