Safe Place // TMR|TWD

3 | The Runners

For the past week, my time was spent mostly at the Med-Tents with Clint and Jeff. I found myself there early every morning, not knowing why. But Clint took that time to help me improve my medical knowledge. I learned a lot, and apparently I was qualified to be a Medjack. So much so, that Clint even let me help with small tasks.
It was morning of a new week, and I was organizing the medicine cabinet with Jeff before I heard people talking. I look around the side of the tent that was covering my view to see the Runners all geared up and ready for today's run. MinHo was amongst them, talking and laughing with his fellow Runners.

I always seemed to be in The Med-Tents when it's time for the Runners to leave. So that meant I've watched them depart for their run everyday; for the past four days.
The Baggers opened the gates and all the Runners rushed to the exit. Once they were out of sight, I went back to helping Jeff.
"Hey Jeff... Who's the Keeper of The Runners? MinHo never told me."
Jeff seemed to find it amusing,
"MinHo never told you?"

"Well, in his defense, I never asked. But he told me all the other Keepers except for the one in charge of The Runners."
Jeff laughs and shakes his head in amusement,
"MinHo is the Keeper of The Runners. I don't know why that Klunkhead didn't tell you."

I didn't know why, either. It wasn't that big of a deal that MinHo was a Keeper, but it just came as a shock that he never told me. Whatever his reason was, I plan to find out later.

"How did he become a Keeper?"
"Well, MinHo knew we wouldn't last here long if we ran out of supplies. We would need a continuous restock of supplies to keep a place this big running."
Jeff closed the doors to the medicine cabinet once we were done. We started walking out of the Med-Tents,
"MinHo told Alby about their situation, and everyone soon realized just how badly the problem would affect us. We needed people to go beyond the walls to search for supplies to bring back. That's when the Runners became an official job."

The story came to a close, but I found myself wanting to know more about MinHo. Maybe what it really takes to be a Runner. It would be weird asking around The Glade about MinHo's past; good thing I know the only person I would have to ask.

~~~~~

Newt was more than amused when I told him my situation. My first choice was MinHo himself, but not only was he on a run, but I just thought that it'd be strange to ask so suddenly. Although he wasn't my first choice, Newt was a reliable person that I could turn to; plus he knew more than anyone else.

"Things weren't like they are now. It was rough times for everyone when we started building the walls. We lost a lot of people; friends, family, loved ones. When The Glade was finished being built, no one really wanted to leave..."

Newt continued to harvest tomatoes that were ready to pick. I started to help by picking some and putting them in the basket. Newt continued,
"There were too many Gladers who were haunted by their losses. We couldn't afford to lose anyone else. But in order to keep surviving in these walls, someone had to go out there and get supplies for everyone else."

Newt picked up the full basket of tomatoes and headed towards the food storage,
"We could plant our own food, build with the wood from trees within The Glade, and pump water from the ground; but that's about it. In terms of medical needs, defense, and clothes, we were lacking. So MinHo suggested that a few people would go out and run around to find supplies nearby. When they got back, they had enough for us to last two weeks."

Newt placed the basket down on a table and turned to me,
"It was a system that worked, but only few Gladers were qualified for the job. Runners are the strongest, fastest, and best of the Gladers, because if they're not, they won't make it back inside these walls."