Something stirred beside Newt. Stirred more. Sat up. Newt yawned, shifting for a moment, a small flare of pain in his bad leg. It faded quickly, and he looked up. Minho slept peacefully, snoring away in the sleeping bag to his left. Newt looked over to his right, seeing that darker-skinned leader Alby of the Glade. He was sitting up, rubbing his eyes. After a moment he seemed to sense Newt's gaze and looked over, giving him a meaningful look. Newt knew what it meant. He got up, wobbling slightly before balancing himself and walking towards the markedly crooked Homestead.
Opening the door slowly, he stepped into the foyer. He could hear the snores, the soft snuffling, faint whispers, and stirring from others in the other rooms. He limped slowly to the room he knew the Greenie and Chuckie were sleeping. Sure enough, he was them snoring away in the corner. He walked slowly through the room, weaving around the thickly packed bodies on the floor. His limp didn't help as he dragged his foot along the floor, making a soft scuffling sound. Those he walked by sometimes stirred, yawned, a few cracked open their eyes briefly before shutting them to block out the light.
He walked up to a sleeping Thomas. Crouched, shook his gently. A bit harder, just a bit. Let go, waited. The Greenie stirred, his eyes cracking open. And suddenly they shot open, his lips parting ever so slightly as if to say, "Why?" But before any noise could come out, Newt clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Shh, Greenie. Don't wanna be waking Chuckie now, do we?" Newt asked softly. He watched as the panic melted away in the Greenie's eyes, replaced with a calm. He smiled down at him, loosening his hand and watched as the Greenie sucked in a breath.
"C'mon Greenie. S'posed to be showing you something before wake-up." Newt informed the Greenie as he started to limp towards the foyer, winding around the bodies of Gladers.
"Where are we going?" A small voice came from behind him, and Newt turned to see that, to his relief, Thomas was following in close pace.
"Just follow me. And stay close." The words came from Newt's mouth before he could stop them and he felt they were stupid. Thomas was already doing just that. Pushing away his feelings, he led the kid towards the foyer. At one point, he heard a small cry of pain and a faint blow. He turned to see Thomas rubbing his shin, and right next to his foot lay a stirring, half-asleep Zart. Newt gave Thomas a faint glare, and continued on.
Newt broke outside into the fresh air and felt a sense of pressure. The sun was lighting up so he had to show Thomas soon before the Grievers went away. He sped up into an unsteady jog, favoring his bad leg as he crossed the Glade in a swift bounds. It felt nice, he felt like a Runner against before the Incident. He knew Thomas was curious as he ran after him, huffing and puffing. Newt slowed to a stop of the west wall.
"What are those?" Thomas asked in a soft voice, noticing the bright red lights of the Beetle blades, flickering on and off among the towering walls of the Glade. He fell in beside Newt, looking around.
"When you bloody need to know, you'll know." Was Newt's brisk response, tossing a bit of blonde hair over his shoulder as he went to grab the thick curtain of vines to pull away. Thomas's next words stopped him.
"It's kind of stupid to send me to a place where nothing makes sense, and not answer my questions. Shank." Newt was shocked into silence for a long moment, at his sudden braveness, that he'd actually used shank, that he'd been so short.. He started to laugh, but quickly silenced himself for fear that he'd alert a nearby griever, and turned to the kid.
"I like you, Greenie," Newt said, giving a smile. "Now shut it and let me show ya something." He said, turning to the wall of ivy again. He pulled away the heavy vines, which dug sharply into his palms. Revealing one of the many windows scattered around the Glade. They'd always been there, and Alby decided to use them as sort of a Griever defense. It was black at the moment, unlit by the unnatural light of the Grievers.
A few minutes passed. Newt waited, still and silent. Thomas seemed to get bored, squirming, but keeping silent. Finally, the creepy light of the Griever lit the window, glowing out onto Newt's pale face. Thomas looked disturbed and terribly curious and scared all at the same time.
"Out there's the Maze. Everything we do, every lovin' second of every lovin' day, we do in honor of the Maze, tryin' to solve something that's not shown us it has a bloody solution, y'know?" Newt said in a soft voice, shocked and wide-eyed at being so close to a Griever since his Runner accident, it gave him a thrill and a jolt of horror at the same time. "And we wanted to show you it's not something to be messed with. Show ya why them buggin doors close every night, show ya why you never wanna be out there past night."
Newt stepped back, holding the vines aside. He didn't need to give the Greenie a gesture as he leant forward. Stared, mesmerized for a long moment before letting out a shriek and scrambling back.
"What is that thing?" The kid demanded, looking at Newt with fear in his eyes. Newt felt sympathetic, but he knew it was for the best.
"Griever's, we call them. Nasty buggers, eh? Just be glad Grievers only come out at night. Be thankful for these walls…. Tommy." His voice dropped. He felt like he knew this kid for real. Like a friend. Some sort of memory was just out of reach, taunting him. Saying his name that way felt familiar on his tongue.
"And now you know that bloody lurks behind them walls, my friend. Know that this place ain't a joke. You've been sent to the Glade for a reason, and we except you to help us survive and do what we've been all sent here to do."
"And… what's that?" Thomas asked softly, unsure that he wanted to know the answer. And as Newt spoke the next words in the dawn, he wondered whether this kid would be a major contribution to the escape of this hellhole, or if he would just drive them all into extinction. He couldn't be in the middle. Newt knew that this kid would start something big. And he knew that he knew this kid before.
"Find our way out, Tommy. Solve the buggin Maze and find our way home."