The Forgotten || The Maze Runner

PART 9

Newt woke with a start at the sound of Alby's screams, having been in a deep sleep. It was very rare it happened but he'd been working harder than usual. The builders had been work on a new homestead, mostly for the Medjacks so he'd usually end up distracting himself with helping them.

''C'mon. Time to get up.'' he told to himself, groaning and smacking his palm to his forehead.

He hated feeling so tired but today was a very different day. He'd been counting the days and today was day 30. The day a new Greenie would arrive.

"Great. 'Another bloody boy for Gally to push around." he thought to himself.

Moments passed before he finally pulled himself up from his hammock, his dirty blonde hair sticking up in all directions. He slipped on his shoes, yawned, scratched at the back of his head; then proceeded toward the kitchen where Frypan was already serving breakfast. Bacon and eggs. The smell alone made Newt's stomach growl with hunger.

Greeting his fellow Gladers, Newt sat himself at a nearby table with his plate in front of him. He was looking forward to chowing down and it was only a matter of seconds before his plate was empty, yet, he wasn't satisfied. Scrunching up his nose, he climbed onto his feet, plate in his hands before a loud sound filled the air. An alarm. His head turned over his shoulder with a confused frown. It was early. Dropping his plate to the floor, he began to half limp in pursuit of his accomplices, who were slowly gathering around the grate embedded in the concrete floor. Newt joined two of the builders who took a handle of the grate and tugged it open, the mechanical doors underneath opening automatically.

The top of the box suddenly got opened and a bright light hurt my eyes. I hid in the farthest corner, not knowing of what to expect. I tried to protect my eyes with my arms, putting them in the front of my face. It took me a couple of seconds before I got used with the light and took my hands away. The box seemed filled with cages and bags, leaving just a bit of space for me to move. I then looked up at the ceiling, seeing a bunch of boys looking down at me with questionable looks on their faces; my friends. My eyes widened as I realized they were so many; and how I missed them! Among them, Thomas-my brother. I didn't dare to stand up though, so I pulled my knees to my chest and my hands around them, trying to make myself as small as possible; trying to look like any frighten Greenie.

As the box opened, Newt's eyes turned toward Thomas with yet another confused frown.

''Well don't just stand there like a shank. Help her up.'' Newt ordered him. He was talking funny, in a way that melted my heart hearing it.

Thomas blinked; then sprung into action, hopping down into the box. He crouched in front of me, studying me as though I was some kind of strange being. His eyes roamed across my features, the fear in my eyes one he recognized. He showed me a warm smile before looking up out of the box at Newt. ''Something doesn't seem right.'' He stated.

I heard Minho huff, the well-built boy hopping down into the box and shoving Thomas aside before holding his hand out to me. Thomas scowled at the boy and got to his feet, taking a step back. A girl. Something definitely didn't add up here.

"I'm Minho", the new boy said. " What's your name?"

I opened my mouth ready to respond, but then I realized I wasn't supposed to remember my own name. "I...can't remember."

I looked at Minho again, then at Newt with teary eyes. "I can't remember anything."

Newt rubbed at his bottom lip while watching me. He wouldn't change his mind. This didn't feel right. They'd never had a girl arrive in the two, almost three years he'd been in the Glade. Maybe he was overthinking it and the Creators just wanted to test them. He looked to Minho and shoved the Runner aside with a tut of annoyance.

''You're scarin' her, ya slinthead.'' He growled, turning to face me again. He reached down and gently helped me onto my feet before gesturing for two others, Gally and Winston, to help me out of the box, Thomas and Minho following soon after.

''Don't worry. None of us remembered much when we got here. You will soon. Buggin' good job too, we need to call you somethin'.'' Newt chirped, remembering the crowd of boys. He scowled at the murmurs, some making 'dibs' on me.

''Guys, c'mon.'' Newt gestured toward the boys and he dismissed them, the crowd instantly dispersing to give me some room to breathe.

As I was pulled out of the box by two other boys, Newt approached me:

"Don't worry about the name, you will remember it eventually. We all did. It's the only thing they let us remember."

"They?", I asked. I was pretty familiar with all the questions a Greenie would have asked, so my role to play didn't seem that hard. Harder was to see Newt after such a long time and not being able to hug and kiss him, because he was not even remembering me.

"The Creators. The ones who put us in this shukin' place. This is The Glade. And we call ourselves The Gladers."

Newt squinted against the sun that scorched down from the morning sky, already causing a sweat to break across his back and forehead.

"And don't worry, Greenie. We'll keep these other shanks under control. Never had a girl before. You're the first.'' He added. "I will give you the tour. You're doing well so far. Most of us end up klunking our pants or going nuts in the first hour.'' He grinned, facing me with a boyish smile and gestured for me to follow as he began walking toward the Homestead.