The Boy With The Limp || TMR Fanfic || DISCONTINUED

Chapter 25; The Dead Griever

    Hazel was assigned to help Jeff with the sick Gladers the next morning. After her incident in the Maze, Newt had begged Hazel to change her job, but she refused. She said that she would continue helping Jeff and Clint with the sick Gladers until she felt better to run in the Maze again, which was totally fine with Alby and the Med-Jacks. After a hearty breakfast with Thomas and Newt, Hazel immediately left for the Med-Jack's hut. She was currently helping Nathan with yet another injury.
    "So what do you think of Thomas?" asked Hazel as she cleaned the dried blood off Nathan's arm with a rag.

    "He's alright, I guess. Why do you ask?" said Nathan.
    "It's just, well, Gally doesn't seem to like him very much. And I don't know why." said Hazel, sighing.
    Maybe it's because you seem to like him, Nathan wanted to say, but he settled with, "I wouldn't worry too much, it's Gally we're talkin' about, he isn't really known for liking many people."
    "Yeah, you're probably right." said Hazal as she threw the dirty rag in the bin.
    At that very moment Hazel heard someone shouting outside the hut.

    "And who do you think that is?" asked Nathan, looking at her knowingly.
    "My money's on Thomas." said Hazel, standing up.
    "Go check on him," said Nathan, jerking his head towards the door. "It's not like I'd die or somethin' if you leave me for a few minutes."
    "Thanks, Nathan, I'll tell you what the commotion's about when I get back." said Hazel as she walked out the door.

    Hazel glanced towards the yelling and saw Thomas (big surprise) with none other than Minho. Hazel scrunched up her face in confusion, Minho wasn't supposed to be back for a couple more hours.
    "Minho, what are you doing back?" asked Hazel, running towards him.
The two boys jerked their head towards Hazel's voice.
    "Like I said to the Greenie, wait for Alby to get back."
    Alby walked over a few moments later with a plastic cup full of water and handed it to Minho, who chugged down the whole thing in a matter of seconds.

    "Okay," said Alby, "Out with it, what happened in there?"
    Minho raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Thoams.
    "He's fine," replied Alby. "I don't give a flying shuck what this shank hears. Just talk!"
    Thomas sat quietly in anticipation as Minho struggled to stand up, wincing with every move. The runner then balanced himself against the wall and gave the three of them a cold look.

****

    "He found a dead Griever!" exclaimed Hazel.
    "What? How the hell did that happen?" wondered Nathan.
    "That's the thing, no one knows." said Hazel, groaning in frustration. If there was anything that Hazel hated more than the Maze, it's puzzles, she always needed to know the answer.
After a few moments of silence Nathan looked up at Hazel and said, "Did you hear the news?"

    "What news?" asked Hazel, turning to face him.
    "Ben's alive." said Nathan.
    "Really?! How?"
    "And that's not all," said Nathan, gravely. "He's being banished, tonight, for trying to kill Thomas."

****

    That night, Newt and Alby gathered all the Gladers at the east door about half an hour before it closed. The other Gladers murmured their conversations in hushed tones, their mood matching the atmosphere.
    "Have you ever witnessed one?" asked Thomas.
    "Hmmm?"
    "A banishment." said Thomas.

    "No, I haven't, but Newt has." replied Hazel, glancing at Newt, who stood with the other Keepers.
    "Bring him out!" yelled Alby, startling the two siblings.
    Hazel turned around to the sound of Alby's voice, looking for any sign of Ben. From the far side of the Homestead, three bigger boys appeared, literally dragging Ben along with them. His clothes were tattered and a thick, bloody bandage covered half his face. But only one thing caught Hazel's attention, his eyes, they were wide open with terror. At the corner of her eye, Hazel saw Alby whisper something inaudible to Newt.
     Newt nodded, then headed towards the small tool shed used for the Gardens; he was clearly waiting for Alby to say something to him.
    "You brought this on yourself, Ben." said Alby, shaking his head as he looked towards the shack which Newt had walked into.
    Hazel followed his gaze just in time to see Newt walk out of the door, holding several poles. He was connecting the ends together to make a shaft that was about six meters long.

    When he was done, he grabbed a the collar from one of the ends and dragged the whole thing towards the group of Gladers. The poles made a metallic scraping sound as it was dragged along the ground.
    Finally, Newt stepped up to Alby and handed him the end of the pole that he was holding. Hazel watched as Alby unbuttoned the collar and wrap it around Ben's neck. Ben finally looked up as the collar was attached to his neck. Tears were spilling out of his eyes and mucus oozed out of his nostrils.

    "Please, Alby," begged Ben, crying. "I swear I was just sick in the head from the Changing. I never would've killed him. Please, Alby, please."
    Alby ignored Ben as he walked past him and turned to face the crowd, he then spoke out loud, looking at no one and everyone at the same time. "Ben of the Builders, you've been sentenced to Banishment for the attempted murder of Thomas the Newbie. The Keepers have spoken, and you ain't comin' back. Ever." A long pause. "Keepers, take your places on the Banishment Pole."

    One by one, the boys stepped out of the crowd, walking over to the long pole and grabbing it. Once they were all in place, the air grew silent and still. The only sounds that could be heard were the muffled sobs of Ben. Hazel looked away as Ben made his last feeble attempt to change the Keepers' minds. Ben screamed as the Keepers proceeded to push him in the Maze. When it was finally over, Hazel wasn't surprised to feel tears streaming down her face. She felt someone's hand in hers and realised that she had grabbed her brother's hand during the banishment.

****

    Hazel woke up to the sound of Newt getting off the bed. Yawning, Hazel slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, trying to shake the grogginess from her sleep.
    "Good morning, Newt." said Hazel, smiling.
    "G'morning, love."
    God, his morning voice is so sexy, thought Hazel, sighing internally.
    "Sexy, huh?" replied Newt, smirking.
    "Oh shuck, did I say that out loud?" asked Hazel, feeling her face heat up.

    "Yes, you did. Are you blushing, love?" teased Newt.
    "No, I'm not." said Hazel, covering her cheeks with her hands.
    "Yes, you are. And don't you hide that blush from me, it's bloody adorable." said Newt, removing her hands from her face.
    Hazel laughed and pecked Newt on the lips playfully. Giggling, she began to get off the bed, but Newt stopped her halfway.
    "And where do ya think your going, love? You can't just leave me hangin' after kissing me like that." said Newt, grabbing her waist.

    Before Hazel could protest, Newt pulled her back onto the bed and climbed on top of her, straddling her.
    "Newt, come on, I need to help Jeff and Clint with-" said Hazel, trying to push him off her.
    But Newt cut her off by kissing her on the lips. Soon, their kissing turned into a full blown make-out session. Hazel wrapped her arms around Newt's neck and Newt had intertwined his hand in her hair and had his other hand around her waist.
    "Newt," whispered Hazel, letting go of him. "We should stop now, before we do something we'll regret."

    "Okay, love." said Newt, getting off Hazel.
    Hazel kissed Newt on the cheek as she got off the bed.
    "Oh, and Hazel?"
    "Yeah?" said Hazel, turning around to face him.
    "I just want you to know that I would never make you do anything you don't wanna do."
    "I know, Newt. That's one of the reasons why I love you." replied Hazel, smiling as she walked out the door.

****

    Hazel strolled towards the picnic tables, looking for any sign of Newt. She felt her face heat up as she recalled what happened between the two of them eariler in the morning. She spotted Chuck, sitting on a table eating breakfast alone.
    "Good morning, Chuckie." said Hazel, ruffling up his hair as she sat down next to him.
    "Mornin', Hazel. Look who's headed here." said Chuck, nodding towards the two boys who were walking towards them.

    "Hey guys, what's going on?" asked Thomas, sitting next to Hazel.
    Newt shrugged as he dug into his eggs. "Just seein' Minho and Alby off, they're going to look at the buggin' dead Griever."
    "Hey," said Chuck. A small piece of food flew out of his mouth as he spoke. "I've got a question about that."
    "Yeah Chuckie?" asked Newt, sounding somewhat sarcastic. "And what's your bloody question?"
    "Well, they found a dead Griever, right?"
    "Yeah," replied Newt. "Thanks for that bit of news."
    "Well, then who killed the stupid thing?"

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