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

18 - Greenie day

One year later

"You're insufferable!"

"Well maybe if you stopped jabbing me with the bloody thing!"

"Just sit still and stop wincing, you did this to yourself Newt."

Newt was sitting on one of the beds in the med room while Clara cleaned up a small cut on his cheek, and he was making a huge fuss over it.

"How did you do this again?" She asked, gently tapping the cut with a cotton ball soaked in disinfectant. When he winced and pulled away, for the fifth time, she firmly grabbed his chin and held his face still, continuing to clean the wound.

"Go on Newt, tell her what happened." Minho piped up from the corner of the room where he was standing with his arms folded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Bugger off Minho. Don't you have other people to annoy?" Newt said to the boy, wincing again and Clara rolled her eyes. The runner chuckled to himself before raising his arms in defeat and stepping out the door, closing it behind him.

"So, what did you do?"

"I was getting some fertilizer for Zart, but I tripped over a root and fell flat on my bloody face right in front of Minho. Smug bastard."

"You're a shucking idiot you know that?" Clara snickered quietly, and he scowled at her, pouting like a toddler. She finished cleaning the cut and turned around to throw away the cotton ball, grabbing a small bandage to put on it. Leaning in slightly closer to Newt's face she gently placed the bandage over the cut, taping it down and rubbing her fingers over it to make sure it stuck properly. With her hand still on his cheek, she looked down to meet his eyes, which were focused on her and she noticed his gaze quickly drop to her lips and back up to her eyes. Her heart beat slightly faster as she looked at him, but she cleared her throat, suddenly stepping away from him.

"Right, that's all cleaned up. You can take the bandage off before you go to bed, the cut should be fine by then."

"Clara I –" Newt started but he was interrupted when a loud alarm started blaring signaling the return of the box and the arrival of a new greenie.

"Let's go meet the greenie then." Newt sighed, standing up from the bed and heading towards the center of the glade, Clara walking by his side. They reached the box and pushed their way to the front of the boys as Alby and Gally opened up the doors. Clara leaned forward slightly, trying to get a look at the greenie. He was relatively tall and had short messy brown hair. He was lying on the ground and using one hand to try and block out the sun. Gally jumped down into the box, landing with a hard thud and crouching over the boy,

"Day one greenie. Rise and shine." He said before pulling the boy onto his feet and practically throwing him down on the grass, causing the boys around Clara to burst into laughter.

"Really Gally?" She asked the builder, who shrugged her shoulders at her with a grin on his face. The boys started to gather around the greenie on the ground, shouting remarks at him as he tried to back away from him.

"Looks like a klunk in a shirt!"

"You're the klunk, shuckface!"

"Nah he looks like a slopper to me!"

Suddenly the boy broke out of the crowd and bolted, sprinting away from the rest of the Gladers,

"Hey, we got a runner!" Zart shouted as the other boys cheered, but the greenie tripped and went tumbling over in the grass, causing Clara to wince slightly as the other boys roared in laughter and cheers. The greenie stood up slowly and spun in circles, taking in the sight that surrounded him, with the same look on his face that she saw in every greenie: fear.

After the crowd had finally dissipated Alby had Gally throw the greenie in the pit so he wouldn't try running again, and he asked Clara to come with him to meet the boy since she seemed to have some sort of calming effect on them, despite her slightly terrifying demeanor. They walked to the pit and noticed the boy looking out into the glade, practically falling over as she and Alby stepped in front of the doors,

"Hey there, Greenbean. You're not gonna run again, okay?" Alby said, kneeling down. The boy nodded slightly, and Alby looked up at Clara who unlocked the door with the key Gally gave her, stepping back again.

"My name is Alby, this is Clara. Can you tell me anything about yourself? Who you are? Where you came from? Anything at all."

"No."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"I – I can't remember anything. Why can't I remember anything?"

"Hey, it's okay. Relax, it's normal. It happens to most of the new kids, you'll get your name back in a day or two. It's the one thing they let us keep." Clara chimed in, stepping closer to the pit, and leaning her hands on her knees, looking down at the greenie.

"What is this place?" He asked and Alby stuck his hand down into the pit, offering it to the greenie who took it and pulled himself out of the hole.

"Let me show you."