𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 / the maze runner

𝟎𝟓

the next day was better. the boys still stared, and hit on her, but no one tried to touch her again. she kept a bucket or stick around her at all times, so that might have had something to do with it. after a week, they seemed used to her. she'd started to develop a fragile trust with them. newt especially. chelsea knew she would probably be much worse off without newt or alby, even though the latter wasn't around much. he said he had too much work to do to stick with her all the time, but that was okay. she didn't mind having the opportunity to prove her worth herself.

she'd even started forming tentative friendships with some of them, like minho and a boy named scott. even gally seemed to have warmed up to her a little. they had eaten at the same table several times. once gally got a little more comfortable with her, he'd sometimes sneak her little treats, like a rare bit of sugar from frypan or a pretty feather he'd found on the ground. it was as if he'd completely changed his mind about her since she'd shown up. he became like her older brother. not a close brother, that was sure, but she secretly hoped that was coming.

she'd tried out a few jobs, and finally decided that she was best at gardening. though the labor was difficult, she found it strangely satisfying every time she dumped a stream of water onto a growing plant. nurturing the fragile things became her passion. none of the other track-hoes, as the gardeners were called, ever had to tell her what to do. she threw herself into her work, often ignoring everyone except her precious plants. she could also pretend she was in a large field, with the tall plants around her so she couldn't see the walls, and it made her feel safer, less trapped.

one day, maybe a week after she'd come into the glade, she was trying some vines to supports. she didn't like talking to anyone while she worked, but would sometimes sing while she tended to her plants.

"you've got a nice singing voice," came an accented voice above her. chelsea looked up from her crouching position on the ground and scrutinised newt, searching for any traces of sarcasm in his expression or tone. but she found none.

"thanks," she said shortly, and looked back down, hoping he would go away and let her keep working. but instead of leaving, he stood only a few feet away, working silently.

at first his presence irritated her, but as they began to wordlessly pass each other ties or shovels, she found that it was calming and gave her a sense of companionship. that feeling was rare and she held onto it for as long as she could.

sometimes newt caught her staring listlessly at the opening that led into the maze, oblivious to anything but her own wandering thoughts. every time, he would step in front of her, blocking her gaze. a worried or disapproving expression would be on his face.

"those beans aren't going to plant themselves," he'd say.

she'd give a slight start and change her focus, looking at newt rather than through him.

"oh, yeah," she'd say, jolted back to reality. then she'd turn her back on newt, who ran his fingers through his hair when she couldn't see, one hand on his hip. he was at a loss with chelsea. she seemed determined to break their rules, except the one about doing her fair share. in his opinion, that was the only thing that kept her from breaking the other rules.

a week and a half after the night of her nightmare, another one visited her.

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘷𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘬. 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.