The sound of feet hitting the pavement echoed through the towering concrete walls. Heaving breathing filled the empty space and I continued to forge my way towards way home, only slowing down as I rounded a turn. I raised a hand up to brush a stray piece of fawn hair out of my face. My hazel eyes lite up as I approached the opening of the maze, relieved to have made it back on time. It wasn't the first time that I had been out in the Maze, but I much preferred to stay in my Soother hut. But ever since Sonya had collapsed after returning from the Maze, Harriet and Ximena had assigned me to run the Maze until she was better. I jogged through the doors to the Glen, pausing to take a breath, only to be tackled by my best friend, Rosa.
"Lee!" Rosa exclaimed as I brushed myself off.
"Hey, Ros," I replied slowly.
Rosa placed her hands on her hips, brown eyes scanning me carefully. "You've been pushing yourself too hard."
I shook my head and continued forward. I was extremely tired, and I needed to get my mapping done so that I could get a nap in before the dinner that Cass would be cooking up. I made my way to the Mapper's hut, breathing deeply as I concentrated on remembering the turns I had taken that day. Not noticing the dip in my pathway, I fell forward, my hands scraping against the ground.
I gritted my teeth, growling out a low, "Finch."
My palms stung as I got up, wincing when I looked at my palm. I must have hit an extremely sharp rock, I thought, as there was a slash in my palm. It didn't look all that deep, but instinct told me to go get it checked out. So I did.
~~~~~~~
When I walked into the familiar Soother hut, I noticed that Sonya was sitting up on the cot. Lisa, one of the other Soothers, was examining Sonya. Sonya's gaze drifted towards me, and when it did a smile lite up the Runner's face.
"Hey, Sony, Lisa," I said.
Lisa turned to me, and I was holding my palm up so the blood wouldn't stain the floor. Lisa was very picky about the cleanliness of her hut. Lisa's dark eyebrow was raised as she scanned me with a skeptical look on her face.
"If it's because you were clumsy, I'm making sure you have a pad with you. Heaven knows we need more things to deal with." Lisa groaned.
"Calm down. I just need to clean and disinfect this and then I'll be on my way. And, yes, it was because I was clumsy." I responded.
Sonya rolled her eyes at her fellow Glenners, "Look. Can we just focus on the matter at hand?"
"Sure," I replied, walking over to the makeshift sink, where I cleaned and disinfected the cut. "How are you?"
"Good." Sonya said as Lisa checked her temperature again.
I placed a bandage on the cut, and then made my way back to the Mapper's hut. I grabbed a piece of paper and started sketching. It didn't take long for me to remember the all-too-familiar twists and turns of the maze. When I had first arrived in the Glen, Harriet, Sonya, Ximena, and I all started running the Maze to figure out exactly where they were. I soon found that I'd rather stay in the Glen and take care of my sisters than run the Maze every day. Once I was finished, I placed the map in the chest with the others. Then I made her way to the Dining Hall where everyone had already gathered.
"Lea!" A voice called out.
I turned around to spot Rachel, the old Blondie, running towards her, "Hey Blondie!" I smiled at Rachel and when Rachel reached me, we did a small handshake.
"How was your run?" Rachel asked.
"Good. Nothin' changed." I replied.
"That's typical," Rachel replied. I didn't respond, so Rachel changed the topic, "So, Blondie day tomorrow, huh?"
I nodded, walking into the Dining Hall. I grabbed a bowl and Cass scooped some of the soup into my bowl. I shot Cass a small smile, then continued to walk to join my friends at the makeshift table. I slid the bowl onto the table next to Rosa, who looked up at me while the spoon was still in her mouth. I sat down and immediately started eating.
"I hope Sonya gets better." Rachel sighed.
"Same, amiga," Rosa replied.
Rachel looked at Rosa like she was crazy, then shrugged it off. Rosa and I exchanged a look, then burst out laughing. When Rosa had first arrived, she spoke (at first) in a whole other language. But they soon learned that Rosa could speak English, however, the memory of it had to be triggered by something. That something seemed to be me, so we concluded that the two of us had been friends before we'd been sent up in the Box by the finching Creators.
"You're lucky, Rach," I said.
Rachel looked up at me. "What?"
"When Rosa arrived, she only spoke like that. Took forever to figure out what she was talking about and I, for some reason, could understand her." I replied, smirking slightly. "Be glad you didn't arrive speaking another language, it'd be very hard."
Rachel nodded.
~~~~~~~~~
The next day, I got up early to check up on Sonya, who with no doubt would've gotten up on instinct. I walked into the Soother's hut to find Sonya sitting up on her cot, a bout of coughs racking her lungs. I grabbed a flask of water and made Sonya drink it. Once Sonya was done, I checked her temperature.
"It's gone down." I declared. Sonya sighed and made a move to get up, but I pushed her back down. "But, until that coughing goes away, you ain't going nowhere."
Sonya glared at me, "C'mon, crackface! I've spent three days in this finch hut, I need to get back out there!"
"No. You don't. You need to get better, I'll take Rachel out and map your section again." I replied to the stubborn Mapper.
"Who'd she go with yesterday?" Sonya asked.
"Carrie," I replied as I stood up and clapped Sonya on the back. "Stay here and get some sleep. You need it."
I exited the hut and got ready for the day after taking care of girl stuff. I then made my way to where Rachel was sleeping. Her hammock swayed slightly in the wind. I placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, leaned down and ...
"BOO!"
Rachel shrieked and shot up in her hammock. I noticed her breathing was faster than normal, and Rachel placed a hand on her heart to calm down. I smirked at Rachel, who glared at me.
"C'mon Blondie, let's go runnin'."