Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Maze Runner nor any of the characters from it.


CHAPTER THREE:

New Foreign Places and Languages…


Day One – Part Two – The "Glade"

Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing was real. Maybe this kid was just telling a joke or pulling his leg. But he had quickly caught on that things didn't go the way they planned.

He absently shook his head, his attention going back to the walls. He tried to make out what the words meant, but his scrambled brain had not only never heard those words before but couldn't even think of what it could be.

The Glade?

Silence filled his ears as no one said a word. They simply watched as he craned his neck to take a better look at the height of the walls. He gained the feeling that they had all gone through the same thoughts and feelings as he had.

The silence broke by a snicker behind him, making him turn around.

"Look at the Greenbean," the scratchy voice said. The voice belonged to a tall, skinny boy with black hair and a giant nose. He looked at the person next to him with a smirk on his face. "He's gonna break his shucking neck lookin' at those."

Some of the boys next to him snickered along with him. Leo assumed those boys were his "friends" or his lackeys for a better name.

A dark-skinned boy with short hair have the boy a scowl, the glare on his face seeming to be permeant. "Gally, shut your shucking hole."

Leo glanced at the crowd and then at the boy in front. "The Glade?" he asked.

"That's right. The Glade," a boy with light brown hair said, walking closer. He had calming blue eyes, filled with light which were a contrast to the other's scowling brown eyes.

"W-What is this place? Where the hell am I?"

"Nowhere good," the dark-skinned boy said. "Just slim yourself nice and calm."

"How can you expect me to be calm in a situation like this?!"

"We don't." The brown haired boy chuckled, leaning his arm on the other boy's shoulder. "Don't mind him. He ain't one for questions."

Leo scoffed. "Not like I couldn't tell." He rolled his eyes.

The brown haired boy smirked. "You've got quite the tongue, don't cha."

Leo shrugged, not knowing if his change in attitude was because of the strange location and new faces, or if this was just him in general.

"Ha! Looks like we've got a pretty one here," the boy known a Gally stated with a smirk.

"What Keeper do ya think he's gonna get?" someone asked.

Gally scoffed. "Please. Like he could do anything. Look at him."

At that moment, Leo knew he would have a very strong disliking for him. It hadn't even been a minute yet and he already presented himself as someone Leo didn't want to be around.

"-I'll bet my liver on it," he continued.

"I'm willing to take the chance," a small boy said. He looked about the youngest.

"Bring it on shank."

Shank? Keeper? Shuck?

The words sounded like they came from another language, something that they had made up in their spare time.

"I said shut your holes!" the dark-skinned boy yelled. "Keep yapping and next break'll be cut in half."

The crowd of boys went silent, some more willing than others. Gally crossed his arms, clearly annoyed.

"C'mon Alby, calm down," the brown haired boy said, patting on back with a warm smile. "You're scaring the Greenie."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Scaring? Yeah, right."

Alby glared at him, not liking the tone in his voice.

"Anyway, what is going on here?" Leo continued.

The brown haired boy sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "It's a…long story. Piece by piece, you'll eventually get it. I'll take ya on the tour tomorrow."

"Till then, keep your outbursts to yourself shank," Alby finished.

"Alby," he said sternly.

Alby sighed, his body tensing up. "Shuck, sorry. I'm not good at this kinda stuff."

"I'm clearly not good at meeting people either," Leo said, crossing his arms.

The boy smiled as he stuck his hand out. "I'm Nick by the way. Nice to meet ya."

Leo glanced at his hand before they connected, shaking hands. "Leo."

"So, now that we've gotten all buddy-buddy, mind telling me what's going on around here?" he asked.

"If we told ya everything, you'd die right on the spot after you'd klunk your pants," Alby interrupted. "The Baggers would have to drag ya off. Ya wouldn't be any use to us then, would ya?"

Leo got what the word klunk meant pretty quickly.

"Baggers? Are they your resident grave diggers or something?" Leo asked. "Also, if we're going to be pedantic here, why would I die from knowing information about the place I'm currently trapped in? And, if I was to die, that would have been a waste of a half an hour elevator ride."

"Greenie, you're ticking me off."

"And another thing, what's with calling me a Greenie? I already told you my name, why don't you use it?"

Alby stepped forward as he grabbed hold of Leo's shirt collar, lifting him an inch or two off the ground. Leo almost forgot how to breathe from the shock.

"Listen here ya shank. No interruptions. You'll get your shucking answers later. Till then, keep your mouth shut."

And with that, he dropped Leo to the ground, his butt landing with a thud.

No one in the crowd said a word as they stared at the fallen Greenie. Everyone remained silent. Could this possibly have been the first time someone had stood up to Alby and faced the repercussions?

Nick shook his head, grabbing Alby's shoulder. "Alby, me and you both know how much you hate questions, but you need to control yourself." He pointed over towards a shanty looking wooden building. "I'll handle it. Go check on Newt."

Alby nodded, not hesitating before he walked away from the group and towards the building. His shoulder's relaxed as he got further away from Leo, and that made him roll his eyes.

"Sorry 'bout him," Nick said. "He's a bit of a handful." He held out his hand and Leo grabbed it, the two of them working together to pull him back to his feet.

Nick glanced up at the sky. "Night's coming. Runners'll be back soon. Whatever the Creators doing, sure like sending Greenies up late."

He looked back down at Leo and smiled. "Tomorrow morning, after wake up. I'll show ya 'round the place." He chuckled to himself, holding up his hand right as Leo opened his mouth to speak. "I know. Your questions will be answered. All of them. Eventually."

Nick ran his hand through his hair again, his forehead lined with sweat. "Normally, we'd have our second in command show ya where to sleep but he's…recovering from an injury at the minute. Uh," he quickly glanced around the crowd, "Hawk, show the Greenie where he's sleeping tonight. Got it?"

The boy, who Leo assumed was called Hawk, nodded.

Nick nodded back. "Good that. Now, I've gotta check on the shank Alby. Everyone else, get back to work. You've all got jobs to do."

As soon as he'd finished speaking, he walked off to where Alby had ended up. The others boys surrounding them all looked at each other before they eventually left too, each of them giving Leo a second glance before they left.

"Greetings Greenie," Hawk said as he walked closer.

"Leo," he said, glaring.

"Right. Leo. As you've heard, I'm Hawk, the shank showin' ya where you're crashing for the night."

"Good. I could use some rest." Hawk looked at him, scanning up and down. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Can't say Gally was wrong. You're a pretty one, ain't ya?"

"Compliment or insult?" Leo asked.

Hawk shrugged. "Bit of both."

Only then did Hawk realise that he'd just called a fellow guy "pretty". He shook his head, clearing his throat as his cheeks reddened.

"A-Anyway, you're probably confused, scared and tired. We're all confused in some way. A bit mad, a little insane? You confused?"

"Of course, who wouldn't be?"

"Least it makes you human."

Leo scoffed. "Glad to know I make such a good human. The implants in my brain are clearly working their bloody magic."

Hawk chuckled, knowing full well the tone of sarcasm.

"What's so funny? You don't believe I'm a robot?"

"Yeah, not in the slightest. But, that's not it. Let's just say you and our second in command will be good friends in no time."

"Alright, since all of you seem to love secrets, can you at least answer this one? Who the hell is this Newt guy, or the second in command or whatever the hell he's called, and why does everyone say I sound like him?"

"Well, our second in command means that he'd been in charge if anything happened to Nick. Along with Alby. They're our potential leaders. But, nothin' bad gonna's happen to Nick. Guaranteed."

So, Nick is their leader. Thought so.

"He'd be showing ya where to go, but he's stuck in bed. Shucked his ankle pretty badly…As for you sounding the same, you've got the same kind of accent. I think that's what it's called. From a different country from me and the others."

Judging us on our accents? Bloody stupid.

"But enough of that. We've gotta get ya a place to rest. Tired from riding up in that klunking box?"

Leo nodded as the pain in his hands came back. He looked down and saw how swollen and red they were.

"Got anything to help with this?" he asked, holding his hands up.

Hawk grimaced as he looked at them, making a hissing sound. "We're gonna have to make a detour to the Med Jacks. They'll patch your hands up."

"Med Jacks? They you're equivalent to Doctors around here?"

"Pretty much. Expect they don't perform surgery or miracles. Anyway, follow me." He started walking towards the same wooden building that the others had disappeared into. Leo, not wanting to be left behind, quickly followed.

"This, my friend, is where you'll be sleeping," Hawk said, gesturing down to the ground.

"On the ground? With nothing?" Leo asked.

"You get a pillow and a blanket shank, that's it. No beauty treatment here. Over there is the Homestead. There are beds there, but most are occupied anyway. Plus, most of us sleep outside anyway."

"Like looking at the stars?" Leo asked, looking up the bright blue sky, not a single cloud blocking the view of the sun.

Hawk scoffed. "More like lack thereof."

"There aren't any stars in the sky here?" he asked. Hawk shook his head.

"All we get is the moon at night. And the sun always shines."

Strange. How could a place like this, which seems to be in the middle of bloody nowhere, have not a single star in the sky? And how can the sun always be shining? Wouldn't there be such a thing called rain?

"Hold on," Hawk started. "Let me get ya some stuff."

He gave a smile before he walked off into the building, which Leo had now learnt was called the Homestead. Strange name, but everything else here was strange, so why make a difference with one building.

Without even realising it, Leo had almost forgotten that he was in an unknown location until Hawk had left, leaving him all alone in the giant new world. As he stood there, not knowing what to do, his thoughts went wild. Questions floated around in his mind, begging to be released and answered. But, there was the nagging thought in the back of his mind of what life was like before arriving in this place. Did he have any parents? Would they be missing him right now? Did he have friends and was he in a relationship with anyone?

Would anyone be devastated that he was taken and missing?

And that thought alone made tears form in his eyes. He tried to blink them away, but that only made it worse as one tear fell down his cheek, causing more to follow. He felt short of breath as he thought of who his parents might have been and wondering if they were just as upset as he was.

He muffled his sobs into his black, long-sleeved shirt. He didn't want to appear weak in front of these people he had never met before. Especially since all of them were teenage boys who were probably stronger and bigger than him. They would make fun of him and his stay in this place would be even worse than it is now.

"Got ya sleeping bag," Hawk said as he came out with the grey sleeping bag in his hands. He quickly noticed Leo sobbing into his arm and his sunny attitude quickly dropped. He moved closer and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Greenie," he said. "You can heckle as loud as you want, no one's gonna judge. We were all the same when we came here. We hollered and screamed for days straight."

The words didn't help as he continued to cry into his sleeve. Hawk didn't know what to do, he had never comforted anyone before, let alone watched anyone cry. He looked around the Glade, hoping someone could help him, but everyone ignored them as they continued on with their work.

"Hawk!" a voice called and he sighed with relief. "Lookin' kind of awkward over here. Everything alright with the Greenie?"

Hawk shook his head as he looked at Leo. "Greenie won't stop crying. I don't know what to shucking do."

Nick sighed. "Leave it to me. I'm an expert."

Hawk nodded as he slowly walked off, feeling slightly ashamed that he couldn't do anything to help. He then retreated inside the Homestead again, most likely going to go talk with Alby.

Nick bent down and placed his hand on Leo's shoulder. "It's alright, Greenie. Everything's going to be alright."

Leo shook his head, his body rattling with silent sobs. "I-It's not. I-I don't know where I am! I-I don't know if I even have a family!"

"I know Greenie, I know. We've all been through the same thing when we were dropped here. We spent days balling our eyes and screaming our lungs out, begging to be taken home. We all know what it's like."

Leo wiped his eyes, trying to calm down his breathing as he relaxed. "You talk like you've been here a long time."

Nick chuckled, checking his watch. "Almost two years now."

"Two years?! And you haven't been able to leave this bloody place?!"

"Two years and counting. But don't worry Greenie, we will get out of here. We just don't know when yet."

With that, he rustled Leo's hair as he walked back into the Homestead. As he passed through the door, he patted Hawk on the back.

"All yours. Get him to the Med Jacks. His hands aren't looking too good."

Hawk nodded. "Right."

"Good that. Now go. He's 'calm' at the moment. Might not last long, but it might just be enough to get his hands treated."

Hawk nodded as he walked outside, taking a few steps outside before he turned around. "Thanks shank."

Nick smiled. "Anytime shank."

Hawk led Leo into the Homestead, heading up the dodgy set of stairs and into the room on the far right. Inside were two boys cleaning up medical supplies around them and stacking them onto shelves.

"Jeff! Clint! I got a job for ya," Hawk said, closing the door behind them as Leo walked through, staring at the amount of supplies on the shelves. But, there were strange vials filled with some type of liquid that caught her eye.

One of the boys turned around. He was very short and had black hair. "What is it now?"

The other smirked as he walked over. Leo had to look up at him and almost burst out into laughter at his giant nose. "Get a splinter again?"

"No, ya slinthead. You heard Greenie over here banging on the Box. His hands are pretty shucked."

Leo, guessing this was his cue, held up his hands to the Med Jacks.

"Geez, you went all out on this," the short one asked as he grabbed Leo's hands, inspecting the damage down to his hands.

"I guess I did," Leo said with a nod, looking away from his hands. He was starting to feel sick from having to look at the sight of his own blood.

"Well, we'll get 'em treated in no time," the taller one said, holding bandages in one hand and a glass of water in the other. The smaller one let go of his hands as he walked over to the shelf and took down a packet of salt. He poured the salt into the water and used his hand to stir it.

"Get ready, cause this is gonna hurt," he said as he held onto the glass as he held onto Leo's hands.

Leo nodded as he closed his eyes, scrunching his face to brace himself for the pain. The glass of salt water was poured onto his open wounds, causing him to whimper and curse. Quickly, the salt water went inside of the wounds and eventually stopped the searing pain. Then it was time for the next one.

Once the treatment was completed, the taller one – who was named Jeff – used the bandages and wrapped them around Leo's hands, making sure the blood didn't get anywhere else.

The smaller one – named Clint – was discussing with Hawk about how Newt was doing. Occasionally, Leo tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, but Jeff quickly noticed and tried to distract him at every chance he could.

Jeff stood up as he wiped his hands on his shirt, staining it with bits of smeared blood. Leo looked down at his hands, admiring the sight of clean hands.

"Everything alright now?" Hawk asked, crossing his arms. A frown was on his face, presuming from the conversation about Newt's condition, and he looked about ready to leave.

"For a moment," Jeff said. "He'll need to come back in a few days though, see if anything's changed."

"In the meantime, don't do anything rash that might reopen those wounds," Clint said, staring at Leo. Leo groaned, the feeling of being lectured at a school by a teacher forming in his mind from Clint's tone.

Not to be rude, considering they had just cleaned and bandaged his wounds, he nodded.

Hawk placed his hand on Leo's shoulder, making him raise an eyebrow. "Guess what Greenie, we're gonna go meet your new friend."

Hawk knocked on the door right across from the Med Jack station, not waiting for an answer as he opened it. Leo quickly entered the room, noting Hawk's change in attitude as he shut the door behind them.

The whole building reminded Leo of a haunted house with the floors creaking and the wallpaper peeling. Though he didn't remember ever seeing a haunted house or how he knew what it was, it knew it must have been something run down or poorly built.

Hawk walked up to the bed perched up next to the window, staring at the person lying down on it. Leo moved up closer and stood beside Hawk, who was glaring at the boy. Sat up against the wall was a tall boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. Leo's breath caught in his throat when the two made eye contact, but he quickly shrugged it off, pretending it was just nerves.

"How you doing Newt?" Hawk asked, the tone in his voice giving the impression that he wasn't impressed with the situation.

Only then did Leo notice the bandage wrapped around Newt's ankle, his leg stretched out on the bed.

"Seen better days," Newt said, his accent filling the room. Leo almost took a step back, noticing how they sounded similar. Obviously, his voice was much deeper, but the accent was definitely the same.

"When you start work again?" Hawk asked.

"Tomorrow. Been copped up in bed too bloody long." He slowly placed his injured leg on the ground as he pushed himself up to stand.

Hawk sighed, looking uncomfortable now as he looked anywhere but Newt. This made Leo feel awkward as he stared between the two boys.

"I brought the Greenie, like you wanted."

Newt looked back over to Leo, and Leo felt the heat rise to his cheeks. He wondered what was wrong with him, hoping it was some kind of condition or disease instead of what it could have been.

"Welcome to the Glade, Greenie," Newt said with a nod.

"Uh, thanks for the welcome," Leo said, not knowing what else to say. Newt's face softened as he noticed the accent, a smile appearing on his face.

"Didn't I tell ya you'd be good friends?" Hawk asked, elbowing Leo's stomach.

"Ow, bloody hell," Leo groaned as he moved his hands to his stomach, groaning in pain.

"Shuck, sorry," Hawk sighed, patting him on the shoulder. He looked back at Newt and then to Leo, suddenly feeling like he didn't belong in the room. "I'll uh, I'll just leave you two alone now."

As he rushed out of the room, he unknowingly slammed the door shut, shaking the room as the door fell off its hinges and smashed onto the ground. Leo stepped backwards and yelped as he just narrowly avoided being crushed by the wooden door.

"Shuck," Newt muttered. "Now someone's gotta fix it."

"W-What just happened?" Leo asked as he calmed down his panic, taking deep breaths to try and calm his heart rate back down to normal.

Newt shrugged, placing his hands in his pants pocket. "Nerves get him, then he doesn't think. Also, super human strength."

Leo slowly nodded as he looked away from the door and back to Newt, who was staring back at him. "I heard about your bloody fit out there," he said.

"Fit? What fit?" Leo asked.

"Punching the walls. Heard it from here." He chuckled, gesturing down to his bandaged hands. "Shucked them bad, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that." The bandages covering his hands now had splotches of fresh blood on them as the wounds hadn't completely healed yet. Leo looked over to Newt's bandaged leg and was tempted to ask, but the words couldn't leave his mouth. Something in the back of his mind told him it was more than just a simple injury, hence Hawk's uncomfortableness when inside the room.

"Did something bloody stupid, that's all," Newt said, interrupting his thoughts.

Leo looked up at his face, an eyebrow raised.

"The leg? You staring at it?"

"S-Sorry," Leo muttered. Newt shrugged, talking about his injury not seeming to bother him. "Is it broken or something?"

"Some bugging thing like that. Say I won't be walking without a limp now."

"Oh."

Newt moved closer to Leo, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Calm down Greenie," he said. "I'll be fine. Worry 'bout yourself."

Leo would never admit it, but he felt his heart beating even faster just from his touch that sent shivers down his spine.

"Since we're here, could you answer some of my questions?" Leo asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Sorry Greenie," Newt said with a smirk. "You'll get answers tomorrow on the tour."

Leo groaned. "I have to wait till tomorrow?"

"Don't worry. Once ya know, you'll be glad we kept you in the dark."

"What do you mean by that?"

Newt chuckled as he glanced at him, sending a chill down Leo's spine. Something was definitely wrong with him, and it was only happening whenever he was around Newt. He'd only known him for a minute or two, but he almost felt like he'd known him forever.

"Don't think I can handle the information?" Leo asked, a smirk forming on his face. His nerves were pushed to the side as his sarcasm and sass finally started to form.

"Honest, I'd rather not having the bugging place torn cause of you."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I have anger issues or something? Because I don't. I was stuck in a dark bloody box."

"Whatever you say Greenie," he said with a smirk.

Leo looked away for a second before a smile formed onto his face. He looked back and the two just stared at each other until there was a knock on the door.

They turned and saw Hawk standing in the middle of the doorway, staring at the fallen door before looking back at them.

"Was that me?" he asked. "My bad."

"What's happening shank?" Newt asked.

"Look at the time. Dinner's cooked." He leaned up against the doorframe, looking outside the one window in the room. "The Runners are back."

Newt looked down at his watch, not realising how much time had passed since he'd last checked. "Right on time."

"Hey, Greenie! It feels like it's been years since I last saw you!" Hawk said as he rushed over, grabbing hold of Leo's arm.

"It's only been three minutes," Leo said, looking back at Newt who nodded as he looked at his watch.

"Round here that's like forever. C'mon, we're gonna see Frypan. He's the cook 'round here."

"Hold on a second," Leo tried to say, but he didn't get the chance as Hawk dragged him out of the room, down the stairs and across the Glade. He struggled to get away from his grip, but his super human strength was taking effect and it was almost impossible to escape.