A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chapter 8

Cally's pov

I entered the Med-Room to be greeted by Clint and Jeff, who were sitting on one of the empty beds. No one else was in the room.
     "I see you escaped Minho's revenge?" Clint spoke in a mocking voice. Jeff chuckled, but I couldn't quite make out if it was meant as a joke or not.
     "Yeah, kinda..." I started, rubbing the back of my neck. "He got me, but Newt made him let me go. Can Bark come in with me? Or is that not hygienic enough?" The two Med-Jacks exchanged a quick look before Jeff shrugged.
     "Let her in. It's not like the hygiene in this place is that great anyway." After one last look with Clint, wanting confirmation from the Keeper, I opened the door again and let Bark come in, her nails softly scrapping against the wooden floor.
     I plopped down on the bed opposite from the two, Bark joining me. "So, what's my first lesson?"
     "We're gonna show you where to find stuff in here, and then we'll practice. See if you've got it in you."
     "Okay, well, show me." I wasn't really feeling up to it, but knowing I would have to get through this day as smoothly as possible, I didn't let them notice.
     Showing me around didn't take very long in the one room. There were a few desks with supplies sorted into every drawer. Different kinds of bandages, adhesive tape, wound dressings, sponges, special stuff for burn care, and even needles and wire to stitch people up. There was one drawer specially reserved for some weird looking syringes. Every single one of them already filled with a liquid substance I'd never seen before. "What's in those?"
     "That's the Grieve serum. We get it by the weekly suplies." Clint answered while taking one out of the drawer, showing it to me.
     "What does it do?"
     "When someone's stung by a Griever, we inject it, and it cures them."
     Oh yeah... I forgot, people who get stung by those things freak out and almost die. Or, die, there really wasn't a third option.... Yet another reason to want to leave this place.... how the hell did I get myself in this situation? How do I get back home... I need to find a way home.... how am I going to do that if everyone else here is also trapped? -my trail of thoughts went downhill very fast, and I could feel the tears starting to well in my eyes. Quickly, I squeezed my eyes, forcing the tears back and shaking my head. Just shut up, you can't just start crying out of nowhere in front of them. Stop thinking about it. Focus.
     I shook my head again to stop the thoughts from coming. "So, you guys actually just sit here until there's someone who needs you?"
     Clint and Jeff looked at each other for a moment before they nodded at the same time. "Yeah, basically." Cliff answered. "Most of the Med-jacks do other jobs until they're needed. We're here all the time for emergencies. We make sure there's always someone in this place. Most of the time, it's us. I because I'm the Keeper and, well-, Jeff just sucks at everything else."
     "Hey!" Jeff exclaimed, clearly insulted. Clint just laughed at his own joke, "That's not true. I could've been a builder, but this job was more appealing to me. Especially since Gally can't seem to stand me."
     "I don't think that Shank likes anyone, except for some of his own people." Clint remarked.
     This peaked my interest, sure I hadn't really interacted with him much. But I didn't think he was that bad. Was he? "Really? Is he really that bad? He didn't seem that awful to me."
     Clint frowned as he took in my words. "He voted for banishing you, remember?"
     "Yeah, okay, but so did Winston and that dude from the Sloppers. Now I'm thinking about it... I haven't even talked to Gally yet."
     And with that, the topic of Gally was done. The rest of the day was filled with Clint and Jeff explaining me stuff. I already knew most of it because of Health and Biology classes at school. And I had taken some First Aid curses in my free time. You never know when you're going to need it. I just couldn't tell them, so I paid attention and asked questions as if I didn't know shit.
     The whole time, Bark was just lying in a corner of the room, following me with her eyes or sleeping.
     With lunch, Jeff went down to get some food, and we ate it in the Med room. It was fun with the two of them. We were talking and joking. During the conversations, I got to hear a lot about the Gladers and all the stupid things they did that made them end up by the Med-jacks.
     When the end of the day came closer, Jeff left the room. He was going for 'a walk', I don't think that was really what he was going to do, but I didn't really care enough to see what he really was up to.
     All day, there was not a single Glader who needed medical assistance until then.
     Our peaceful day got disturbed when two Builders I hadn't met, came bursting into the room, carrying a body. One was holding his arms, and the other was holding his legs.
     When they lay the body on the bed, I froze. I could see who it was now. It was Gally. He was freaking out, screaming his lungs out while his body jerked in every direction, but that wasn't what scared me.
     His veins were green, standing out on his pale skin, and it looked like it all emerged from one big wound on his arm.
     Clint immediately reacted, and he jumped up and rushed to Gally's side. "What happened?"
     "He got stung, Slinthead! What do you think happened" One of the two answered, he was tall with red hair and clearly didn't have a lot of patience.
     "I can see that. But how? Grievers don't get in the Glade." Clint still sounded calm, even though someone could be dying.
     "Can't this wait?" The other guy snapped while he was trying to keep Gally on the bed.
     "Keep him down." Clint commanded, realizing the questions, in fact, should come later. The Keeper grabbed a syringe with Grieve serum from the drawer. The moment Clint tried to inject the serum, Gally freaked out even more. He pushed the red-headed boy off him and slammed his head against Clint's. Clint lost his balance and fell back, bashing his head against a small tabel in the process.
     "Clint, are you okay?" The red head said while still trying to hold Gally back. Clint didn't react. He was knocked unconscious. "Clint!'
     I snapped out of my frozen state. "Hold him down! Clint will come next, first Gally." I ordered the two.
     "What do you think we're doing?" The redhead snapped to me this time. I ignored him while I snatched the syringe from the ground and rushed towards the bed.
     The two Builders had regained their grip on the dark haired boy. Having no time to think too much about it, I injected the serum into one of Gally's veins. "Please work..." I whispered to myself, not knowing if it really had to be injected there or how long it would take to work. Or how I'd be able to see that it was working or not.
     Luckily, Gally's body seemed to relax within two minutes. He stopped struggling and twitching, then his body started to drift off in what seemed like a deep sleep. Once the two were confident Gally was out, they let go of him.
     The moment I noticed it had worked, I turned to Clint, who was still lying on the floor. I knelt beside him and shook him a little, having no idea how to handle this."Clint. Clint wake up." Weird enough, it worked. He opened his eyes and stared at me with confusion written all over his face. I made him sit up, leaning against a bed. "How're you feeling, Clint?" I asked.
     He seemed to think for a second. "My head hurt, but I'm fine." His eyes became wide, and he jumped up. When he looked at Gally, he relaxed again. "Did he get the serum?"
     "Yep," I answered with a smile. I took Clint's hand and sat him down on a bed so I'd be able to look at the back of his head. He didn't have long hair like Newt, so it was easy to see the little cut in his skin. Some blood was smudged around it, so I took a towel and started to clean it carefully.
     "Did you inject it?"
     "Yeah, in a vain. That's where it's supposed to be injected? Right?" Clint nodded. "Okay, good, I was afraid that I did it wrong... what will happen to him next?" My eyes moved over to Gally,  Even though he seemed calm, looking at him still made my stomach turn.
     "He'll be calm for now. In a few hours, he'll start screaming. That always happens. Then, there's the Changing he'll go through. When that's over, he'll wake up, but he'll keep passing out for a week or so."
     "That sounds horrible..." I really couldn't help but feel bad for him.
     "It is. But what happened? How did he get stung?" The question was asked to the two Builders who were still with us in the room. The one with the red hair answered.
     "We don't know, he wasn't even that far in, but a Griever showed up and stung him anyway."
     "Yeah, but why was he inside the Maze?" Clint started to lose his patience, but the two looked at each other for a moment, and then both said they didn't know. After that short conversation, the two left, leaving Clint and me with Gally.
     I slowly walked towards the bed to look at him. I wanted to take it in a little better. His veins were still green. They even seemed greener than before, and his body was shaking again. "It'll get worse." Clint said, making me look at him.
     "How much?"
     "Like I said, screaming and sweating. His eyes will get red and fall in. It ain't pretty, that's for sure."
     "Ow..." I said, not really knowing what else to say.
     "But you did good, Greenie. Maybe one day you could be a Med-Jack."
     "Thanks, Clint." I didn't know if I wanted that, not after what I just witnessed, but what else was I supposed to say?

At the end of the day, we went to get dinner. Jeff staid with Gally. From now on, there always had to be someone with him to make sure he's alright. I hoped I could get my mind off it during dinner, but Alby wanted to know what had happened. After we told him everything we knew, we finally got to eat.
     Clint and Alby took their food and sat down on a table with Minho and Newt. I really didn't feel like talking to anyone, so I took my food and my Bark and went outside. I sat down on an empty table the furthest away from the Homestead as possible, where I started eating.
     It didn't take long for Gally to start screaming. Clint was right, It was awful. I crimped in every time I heard his voice cutting through the air. Does he really have to scream so loud?
      A slap on my shoulder almost made me jump up from the bench I was sitting on. "Jeez, Minho. You really had to do that?"
     "Calm down, Greenie, it's just me. A little on edge, aren't ya?" Minho sat down beside me as Newt sat down on the bench in front of me.
     "Sorry..." I mumbled, looking down at my plate, poking my fork in some peas.
     "So, you saved Gally's bud today, Greenbean? Good job." Minho said, trying to change the subject.
     "I guess so." Another scream from the Med room made me crimp in again.
     "The screaming is horrible, but ya did a good job, Cals. You're allowed to be proud of y'self." Newt chimed in. I looked up at him, he was smiling at me. He really is a nice person.
     "Thanks, Newt. It's just... Gally... he looked so.... and now the screaming... I don't really feel good about any of it."
     "Clint was happy with you today." Minho started, but I didn't want to hear it.
     "Can we just shut up about it for now? Please?"
     "I just tried to give ya a compliment." Minho scoffed. "You could've just thanked me. You thanked that shank," he gestured to Newt. "Why not me?"
     "Because he's nice, and you're a pain in the ass." I responded, only half joking.
     "Really? What did I do to you?"
     "This morning, you chased me and then dropped me to the ground!"
     "You asked for it when you stole my food." Minho said simply.
     "It was my revenge, Prettyboy, I didn't ask for anything."
     Our discussion went on for some time, irritating  Newt when we got him involved; making him decide who was right. It was over when he decided that we were both Slintheads. After that, we talked some more, but I didn't feel like hanging around much longer and went to bed. Knowing I had to try yet another job then, and if it was gonna be like today, I would need all the rest I could get.