Into the Maze

Chapter 11

(I'm done with my flashback ideas for now, so we will be spending a lot of time in the Glade. This next chapter takes place about two weeks after the last chapter in the Glade (chapter 9))
"Ya know, Greenie, it's almost been a month since you got here," James said one evening as they walked towards the Homestead for a well-deserved night's sleep.
Her eyes opened wide in shock. It felt as if she had just gotten here, but yet, it felt as if she had been here forever. "We'll be getting a new Greenie any day now," James continued.
"Poor him."
James laughed dryly. "It's funny to some, Greenie. Watching how they're so confused..." his voice faded away. "I don't think it's funny."
"Neither do I," said Jackie.
"We should probably go to bed." James stretched.
"I'm not tired," she replied, head splitting with fatigue. Ever since the day in the maze where she had gotten the scratch that was now only a thin line on her arm, she had been afraid to sleep due to the dreams which haunted her. Dreams in which Grievers chased her but there was no way out, of the maze or her nightmares. "You go ahead, I'll go to bed when I'm tired."
"Nightmares, huh?"
She gave him a sharp look. "How do you know?!"
"Every Runner has nightmares after they meet their first Griever." James shrugged. "Some are worse than others." He slumped down with his back against a tree. "Well, if you're not going to bed, I'm not going to bed."
"Don't be stupid." She felt more annoyed than grateful. "You're a Slopper, what nightmares do you have?"
"Oh, please, you're talking to the one who bunked with Minho and Newt for the first four months here. I have my fair share of dreams, but I didn't have to have runners' nightmares to realize what they're like. Those two waking up screaming in the middle of the night... that's enough for me."
She sat down next to him. "Fine, but go to bed when you're tired."
He sat next to her all through that long night, and when she slipped into sleep, it was free of dreams.
It wasn't Minho who woke her, pushing her to another day in the maze, pursued by terrifying memories. It was a loud noise that finally made her wake up. It was somewhat like a siren sound, and she couldn't remember ever hearing a sound quite like it before, though it seemed to ring a bell. James was gone from her side, and there were boys milling around in front of her.
"Jackie!" It was Newt, jogging across the Glade towards her, a huge smile on his face. "Hurry up, Sleepy head! You don't want to miss the fun, a new Greenie just got here!"
A cold feeling invaded her stomach, but before she could react Newt was pulling her to her feet and dragging her across the Glade in a swarm of boys.
Just as she got to the crowd, the siren stopped and she heard that metallic grinding sound of the roof of the Box sliding open.
She jumped on her tiptoes to see over the crowd in spite of herself, longing to get a glimpse of the chosen and unlucky candidate. She had the minor drawback of being stuck behind a human giraffe at the back of the crowd, and Newt had vanished from her side. James, too, was nowhere to be found, and she could hear Minho's voice at the front of the crowd, calling for order and reprimanding those who got too close.
She heard laughter as the poor confused boy was dragged out of the box and dropped (literally) into his new life.
Suddenly, the crowd parted, pushed away by a boy charging through, a terrified look on his face. She realized he was the Greenie a second before he hit her. She had failed to move in time and took the brunt of his power. She sprawled onto her back on the ground and the boy, hindered by her block, tripped over her and fell too.
Before she realized she was on the ground she felt Minho grab her arms and begin to drag her away from the boy, pulling her to her feet and shoving her behind himself.
Jackie beat his arm lightly and ordered, "let me go!"
"Not a chance, you'd kill everyone near you like you always do when I'm not around to protect you."
"I haven't killed anyone since my arrival, thank you very much." She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and got a good look at the boy on he ground.
He was talk and muscular, with blond hair somewhat like Newt's. his blue eyes were snapping warily from one Glader to the next as they surrounded him.
Jackie pushed between the boys before Minho could roast her again, dropping on her knees beside the boy. She saw something in his eyes, and she recognized it: fear. The raw, cold fear which crept up her spine and deep into her brain whenever she heard a Griever's scream or visited the burial yard behind the woods.
"It's okay, Greenie." She tried to make her voice comforting, and when the boy's head snapped around to look at her, the expression in his eyes softened just a little. "It feels strange, but you'll get over it soon. Trust us."
Alby and Minho, trailed by Newt, pushed through the crowd. Minho and Alby both grabbed one of the boy's arms. He twisted away and looked at her.
"Trust us. Go with them. You'll be okay," she said soothingly.
A dead, empty look in his eyes, the Greenie nodded.
"You heard her. Up you get," said Alby impatiently.
The boy got up, and he went with them.
Jackie found James sitting on the slab of stone marking the threshold of the Slicers' shack, sharpening a knife. She sat down in the shade near him. "You missed the party."
He looked up, saw it was her, and snorted. "Some party. I saw that Greenie walk past with Minho and Alby not ten minutes ago, calm and quiet as anything. He's crazy, Jackie. Any normal Greenie would be howling and shrieking and dragging their heels about going to the Slammer."
She shrugged.
"Besides, I thought you hated seeing the new Greenies as much as I do."
She shrugged again. "I dunno. I guess it kinda grew on me as it went on, you know?"
"No, I don't." James finished sharpening the knife and examined the blade. "And if you had a shred of common sense you wouldn't let it 'grow on you.' It's not normal, Jackie. It's not how things get run in the real world."
"How do you know? You don't remember the real world."
"I just... know." James stood up abruptly and walked into the Slicers' shack, signifying that their conversation was over.
"Green- I mean, Jackie!" It was Minho, jogging over to her. She shot him a gloating look.
"Not the Greenie anymore, am I?"
He grinned. "Nope, but you're still a lazy shank and I'm still stronger than you so I can beat you up if you don't do your work. We're running today, Greenie or no Greenie."
She groaned, but didn't object much. She needed to clear her head, and a run was he best way to do that.
The campfire was underway when she and Minho got back to camp that evening, and once Frypan had loaded their plates with some strange concoction of his own, she wandered off in search of the Greenie.
It didn't take her long to find him. He was sitting on a log next to Newt, who was talking animatedly. Must be explaining the ropes to him, she thought, and had turned around to walk away when she heard someone shout, "Wait!"
She turned to see the Greenie jump to his feet and hurry over to her. "Who are you and why did I listen to you!?" He demanded.
"I... I what?" She hadn't expected his personality to be so forceful.
"What's your name!?"
"J-Jackie!"
"Why did you tell me to trust them!? They locked me up all day!" He towered over her, intimidating.
"It's the best thing for a Greenie!"
"Didn't feel so good!"
"Listen." She sighed. "When I got here, I started out with a concussion. If you'd like to, too, I can arrange that."
He stopped for a second, puzzled, then burst out laughing. He laughed for so long that she began to worry that there had been a little bit of truth in what James had said about being crazy.
When he finally stopped, he barely gasped out, "playing it tough, huh?"
She shrugged. "I try not to. Sorry if I scared you, though."
"Why are you a girl?" He asked.
She was taken aback for a second.  It had been so long since anyone had actually referenced her as a girl that she had to question her own gender for a second before replying, "I dunno."
"Smart answer."
"Shut up."
He grinned at her and drifted back over toward Newt. You're not so bad, Greenie, she thought, smiling to herself.
"Jackie! Jackie!" Someone was pushing her, rolling her over, but it wasn't Minho's demanding shove or Newt's gentle pokes.
When she decided that she couldn't take anymore prodding, she grunted to show that she was awake. "Jackie?"
"Whaaat!?" She asked, annoyed.
"I know my name!!" She cracked an eyelid open, and saw that it was the Greenie. But not like any version of the Greenie she had seen the night before.
His face was stretched into a smile so huge you couldn't see his eyes, and he looked like a six-year-old on Christmas morning.
"Good for you," she groaned sarcastically.
"If you have that attitude, I just won't tell you."
"Fine." She rolled over in an attempt to get five more minutes of sleep before Minho came to drag her into the maze again.
A pause. "Jackie?"
"Hm?"
"My name's Ben."