Before Her

Newt 23

Chapter dedication: @lloseyourself thank you so much for all the voting and the lovely comments!! 😊😊😊

Newt
The sight of my room in the morning was most peaceful. The blinds were closed, though light seemed to seep through it slightly, sending a very soft glow through the room. The sleeping bag was once again half off of me. My hand was warm, the way it was most day when I woke up now, her fingers interlocking with mine. I tilt my head and looked up. She was still sleeping, her honey coloured hair covering her face.

I hated morning like this. The ones where everyone was still sleeping and looked so peaceful. I hated it when they were so relaxed, it's not right, especially after Pete. But the gladers were used to it now. We lost people, that was the plain old truth. When we first lost someone, the whole glade had set up a big funeral, everyone grieved, it was just too hard. It was a long time ago, I barely remembered anything. Overtime, people had gotten lazier, slacking, the order of the glade unravelling, gladers got into hysterics even though they barely talked to glader who had passed. That was when Alby drew the line. No more grieving. No more days to get over the shock, it was just a small funeral and then get back to work.

That was why we all only had half a day to grieve. That's why no one shed a tear after the funeral. We had become lifeless bodies, uncaring on the outside, covering up the depression with hard work and jokes and shouting. That was us. We still are.

~~~

The sun was still hidden behind a few clouds, a few rays peaking out, the way it always did in the morning. Sleeping gladers sprawled across the glade, covering almost every inch of the glade. Somehow, I managed to get through the crowd of gladers without stepping on anyone.
I made my way over to the map room, yanking open the iron door before entering. I walked over to the cabinets and unlocked them with the special key that only I had and started pulling out the spare backpacks and a few small knives. Soon enough, the runners started entering.
'Morning shanks.'
'Is today experience day?'
'Yep.'
'So as you all know, on experience day, each runner will take a runner-in-training and take them into the maze and back here safely. At the end of the day you will all report back to me on their day out in the maze. I want every single detail, how much they sweat, how much they eat, even if they take a klunk, I want to know. They will also have to map out the route they took, I will be comparing their maps to yours. Some of you may not get to look after a runner in training today, because there are only six of them but I still expect all of you to be on your best behaviour. Got it?'
The boys nodded.
'Good that.'

I assigned five runners to five runner-in-training, giving them each a spare water bottle and backpack filled with snacks and food. The rest of the runners who weren't assigned a runner-and-training went out into the maze. The five runners and I waited outside for the runners-in-training. Soon enough, one by one, they started appearing. By the time they were lined up in front of us and we're assigned a runner, most gladers were up and running around.
'Morning shanks. Today is experience day, you will all go into the maze with your assigned runner. Pay attention to the passages you take, because you will be mapping out the route you took. You each get a backpack full of food, a water bottle and a few knives, if you make it as a runner, you get to keep it. If you don't then I'll be taking them back, so make sure you take good care of them.'
After I finish my speech, Minho pitches in with a few sarcastic remarks and jokes before we head out into the maze.

The runner-in-training that I had assigned to myself was Tony, the track-hoe, a fast, skinny, 15 year old, black haired boy. We run into the maze, rounding corner after corner.
After a few minutes or so, I pull out the notepad I had in my pocket and free a line down to help my remember which direction we had come from, while I was still running.
'Being a runner, we map out the routes we take each day, so you have to have a good memory as well as being able to physically make it in and out. After a few minutes or so, we jot down a few symbols or write down something, whatever helps you remember, to help us when we go back and sketch the out the maze. We also cut the ivy off the walls.' I jogged over to the right side of the wall and cut off a big chunk of ivy and chuck it on the ground before continuing.'
'Bread crumbs?'
'Bread crumbs.' I nod.

I pull my watch out of my pocket, a simple digital watch with a black strap, nothing fancy and check the time. It helped me tell the time when I was in the maze. Most runners wear it all the time, although I didn't since mine gave me a bad rash whenever I wore it too long.

I decide it's time to have a snack and we both sit down and rest for a while, munching on apples. Tony was covered in sweat already though most runners I had trained were the same. I could feel a few beads of sweat on my forehead and reach up to wipe them.
'So how long have you been a runner?'
'First one.'
'Oh.' I actually remember Tony, he had come a year ago. I recall how scared he had been although the memory was a little fuzzy.

After the apples were cleared we kept running until we reached the end of the maze.
WORLD IN CATASTROPHE
KILLZONE EXPERIMENT DEPARTMENT
The walls at end of the maze all had the same plaques on them, they all said the same thing. Most were covered in ivy now.
We ate our lunches before heading back.