"I already told you, a voice told us to deliver you the messages." Sadie growled impatiently, her eyes darting around the semi-circle of boys. She was sitting in a creaky wooden chair her hands clasping the sides as they muttered to themselves, casting weary and interested glances back at her. Sadie shifted uncomfortably under everyone's gaze, why are they doing this? Can't they see that I don't remember anything?
"Why don't we start from the beginning?" Their leader, Alby said in a commanding voice. "How did you get here?"
"In the freaking elevator ride of death that's how." Sadie huffed blowing a stray curl out of her face in annoyance. Alby didn't even attempt to mask the suspicion in his voice when he had asked her.
"You mean the box?" One of the boys in the circle corrected her. Sadie let out a snort of amusement.
"The box? Seems fitting." Alby sent her and the boy an annoyed glare.
"Shut it Zart." He said before continuing, crossing his arms as he sat in the middle of the group.
"When did this voice speak to you exactly?" He asked his eyes practically searing into Sadie's forehead. Her grip tightened on the arms of the chair.
"I'm not crazy if that's what you're wondering." She hissed sending an equally intense glare back at him. "It came on a little bit after I woke up. An alarm went off and then a voice started talking about experiments and messages."
"Experiments?" Another boy asked, leaning forward in interest. "What kind of experiment?"
"How the hell should I know?"
"Cut that klunk out!" Alby barked at her. "We're the ones asking the questions here not you! So shucking answer them!" He stared icily at her, daring her to say something else. Sadie could feel her face burning red. She bit her tongue in an attempt to keep a few choice words from flying out of her mouth and turned back on the boy.
"I. Don't. Know." Sadie answered evenly. "It didn't exactly go into details. It just told us to deliver you the message and told me to protect… my friend." Sadie coughed into her hand hoping it masked her hesitation. She didn't want them to know Teresa's name just yet, just in case. Alby and the others watched her closely, he gestured for Newt to step forward and muttered something in his ear. Sadie watched as Newt nodded and left the room not even giving her a second glance. So much for him. Sadie thought icily her eyes trailing after Newt on his way out.
"And you don't remember anything." It didn't come out as a question but more as a fact. She nodded and shifted her focus back onto Alby. He stared back his dark eyes picking away at her. Sadie jutted her chin out stubbornly, and refused to look away from his intense gaze. The two were snapped out of their starring contest when Newt lumbered back into the small meeting room another boy in tow. This one seemed different from the others. He had dark, close cut hair that was starting to grow shaggy and wide curious eyes. But there was something else. There was a certain air to him that none of the other boys shared. And when he walked in further something clicked in Sadie's brain.
"Thomas!" Sadie shouted unable to stop the words from spilling out as everyone's heads snapped in the direction of the guy. He stumbled back and looked at her with wide and confused eyes. I know you. I know you! She wanted to scream. Her head was pounding yet again her fingernails digging into the rough wood of the chair. She refused to pass out this time. She wasn't going to cry or scream as the pain ripped through her head. She stared at him, Thomas. Her head scrambled trying to piece together a memory. Teresa and Thomas. The pain was blinding, it took all of Sadie's energy not to cry out as her head began to spin yet again.
Something's wrong with me!
Don't cry. Don't you dare cry or yell or do anything! But she couldn't help but look at Thomas and think hopefully. Please Thomas, tell them I didn't do anything wrong. Help me.
Sadie's brain throbbed one last time then stopped all at once. She blinked in surprise and let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Every set of eyes in the room darted from her to Thomas and back again.
"You know each other?"
Newt was sure she was going to faint. Her eyes had gone wild when she saw Thomas and her face turned a sickly gray color. No one else seemed to notice but Newt did. He could almost see the tension building in her, and he was almost positive now that if he didn't step forward and try to help she would pass out. Or worse. But as suddenly as it came it went and Sadie sighed in relief the pain in her eyes dimming and her body relaxing as she slinked further into her chair.
"You know each other?" Winston asked as everyone looked back in forth between the two. Sadie nodded shakily her eyes still on Tommy. Another round of questioning happened this time including Thomas. But neither seemed to know how they knew each other, just that they did.
"I can't explain it. I just know I know her." Thomas said in frustration as Alby pelted him with questions. None of it made sense. Why would the Creators send up two girls? And why did they let them remember each other when everyone else could only remember their name? The rest of the Keepers started to mutter to each other restlessly. It took a few shouts and threats from Alby before they settled down again.
"How do we know she wasn't sent by the Creators?" One called out causing Newt glare in the speaker's direction.
"We were all sent here by the bloody Creators!" He snapped.
"But he's got a point. How do we know she isn't some crazy chick they sent up here to take us all out? She might even be worse than the Grievers." Gally pointed out, everyone turned and gave Sadie a calculating and for some slightly impressed looks. She stared back at them in disbelief her face scrunched up in annoyance.
"Excuse me?" She growled.
"She isn't some crazy psycho chick, okay? She's my friend… I think." Thomas interjected. More arguing broke out amongst the Keepers. All of them trying to get their opinions about the girl heard.
Newt rolled his eyes and tried to block out the useless arguing choosing instead to focus his attention back on Sadie. He scanned her up and down. The clothes he had given her were big on her but suited her all the same. Her arms and face were a creamy olive color and her nose and cheeks were dotted with small freckles. But as far as he could tell there was nothing strange about her. What had she meant by scars? He didn't see any scars on her. Only one thing came to mind when she had asked him about the maze. Grievers. Newt shuttered at the mere thought of them. He could practically hear their deep groaning. See their pinchers and needles, feel their hot disgusting breath on his neck…
"Newt?"
Newt snapped out of his daze and shook his head.
"Huh?" He asked as the Keepers gathered together a few of them waving him over.
"We need to take a vote and make a decision." Alby said nodding at him from the head of the circle. Newt quickly followed them over casting a glance over his shoulder at Sadie. How could she have scars? She just got here.
How is any of this bloody possible? He thought. Then again nothing seemed possible nowadays. First Tommy shows up in the shuck box and won't stop pestering Newt about the maze and now this girl too? Newt shook his head in confusion and listened as the Keepers discussed what to do next.
"Okay after hearin' everybody's vote, I think we've come to a decision. It doesn't seem like you're here to try and kill us," Alby said scratching his chin in thought as he peered at Sadie. She rolled her eyes. "Even if you did give our med-jacks one hell of a beating." He added, Sadie only shrugged and gave a half-hearted and sarcastic,
"Woops."
"But we could always use the extra hands. You start work today, just like the rest of us did." Some of the Keepers started to object but one look from Alby shut the klunks right up. "She's going to start just like the rest of us did! You hear me?" Alby turned back towards Sadie and jabbed his thumb in Tommy's direction. "You start with him today after lunch, got that?"
"Fine." Sadie answered, sitting forward in interest as the meeting began to come to a close.
"Good. Now we still need to give you the tour. Which one of you klunks wants to show her around?" Almost immediately every boy in the room except Alby and Newt jumped out of their chairs all raising their hands like kids in a classroom.
"I'll do it!"
"No I want to!"
"Shut it shuck face. Let me do it I'll show her a thing or two!" Sadie slunk even lower in her chair her arms crossed tightly around her. Newt stepped forward and grabbed Alby's shoulder.
"Maybe it would be better if I showed the bird around." He whispered, shooting the Gladers in the room a seething glare. Alby nodded in agreement and yelled for everyone to quiet down.
"Get back to work you shucks! Newt here's gonna give her the tour, now get your behinds in gear and go back to your duties." The room quickly emptied as the grumbling Keepers filed out and went back to their respected workings, leaving only Newt, Thomas, and Sadie behind.
Newt clapped a hand down on Tommy's shoulder. "We'll meet you during lunch and I'll take you and Sadie over to the Bloodhouse afterwards. It's just too bad you have to bloody eat before it." Newt said, Thomas nodded and left quickly.
"And then there were two." Sadie said springing up from her chair and stalking past Newt into the Glade. Newt limped after her signaling the beginning of the tour as he began to point out the different parts of the glade.
"There's the Gardens, Homestead, the Map Room, Bloodhouse…" Newt announced gesturing to each landmark in turn. "You'll start work today with Tommy, everyone bloody does so there's no point in complaining."
"I didn't complain." Sadie retorted snappily Newt laughed and shook his head.
"Just because you ain't complaining now love doesn't mean you won't later." He answered as the pair neared the Deadheads. Sadie narrowed her eyes at Newt and blurted out some more questions.
"What's over there? What sort of jobs? How exactly is there electricity? Who're the creators? Why do you keep calling me that? And what the hell does shuck mean?" Newt groaned inwardly.
"What is it with Greenies and questions?" Sadie only ignored him and seeming to be on a roll spouting out twenty more before they could even reach the East entrance.
"So this is the Maze?" She asked, Newt nodded, ignoring her other questions in the process.
"This is the East entrance there's more all around the Glade. The doors close every night and open again every morning." Before he could even tell her to stay away from the Maze she started walking towards the entrance. "Wait! Stop. You aren't allowed in there!" Newt yelped as she marched towards the entrance to the Maze. He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her away, putting himself between her and the doors.
"Why not?" She asked standing on the tips of her toes in an attempt to peer over his shoulder. "I mean it's a maze for gods sake." Newt shook his head and stood his ground in front of her.
"Only Runners are aloud in the Maze. No one else. Especially not you." Newt ordered clamping his hands on her small shoulders to try and stop her from weaving around him. God, she's so bloody stubborn and curious. Newt thought grumpily as she gave him a dirty look.
"And why can't I?" She asked a small hint of a challenge in her voice. Newt stepped forward until they were nearly nose-to-nose. Her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp.
"Because it's one of our rules. And everyone follows the rules here love." Newt could feel her warm breath on his neck as he stared down at her. "Everyone here does their part, nobody hurts any other Glader, and no one leaves the Glade." Sadie blinked up at him, they were close, almost too close. Newt could practically count every freckle on her nose; he could see the golden brown lining of her eyes. In the end it was Newt who backed up first. She looked at him in confusion before a small, sly smile slid across her face.
"Technically, I already sort of broke one of those rules when I beat the shuck out of those two guys." Newt couldn't help but chuckle and started to walk in the direction of the lunch hall. "Did I say that right? Shuck?" She asked giving him a sideways glance. Newt laughed reaching over and messing up her hair.
"You'll get the hang of it Greenie."
Sadie couldn't believe how comfortable she felt in the Glade. She'd been there for less than twenty-four hours and even the Maze didn't seem so menacing. She thought back to what Newt had said as the two headed off to get some food. Only Runners are aloud in the Maze?
Runner.
The word seemed slightly familiar and Sadie said it aloud softly and hoped that Newt hadn't heard her. It sounded as familiar as her own name. And now that she had seen the entrance to the Maze up close a small flame of curiosity had ignited inside of her. She had to see more of it. Well, I guess I'll just have to become a Runner then. Sadie thought determinedly a small smile tugging at her lips.
Newt limped beside her as they arrived and waited in line to get their food. Sadie couldn't help but peer at him out of the corner of her eye now and then. He's pretty handsome. She thought her eyes scanning him up and down. Taking in his blonde messy hair and built form, she blushed unwillingly and tore her eyes away nervously. Stop that! She chided to herself.
When they reached the front of the line all eyes turned and watched as Sadie grabbed her lunch from a guy named Frypan, a kid who couldn't have been older than sixteen and was already sporting a small beard. Sadie edged closer towards Newt trying her best to ignore all of the eyes on her as he lead her to a table in the corner occupied by Thomas and a younger slightly chubby boy.
"Hey there Tommy." Newt said as the pair plopped down. Sadie nodded towards Thomas and looked at the boy. He smiled at her and stuck out his hand from across the table.
"The name's Chuck!" He said cheerfully as Sadie shook his hand. He's so young. Sadie thought and she felt a small pang of sadness. He's too young for this. She turned away quickly and looked down at her food curiously. It was nothing special, just a slab of cooked meet some potatoes and what looked like a crudely made salad. Sadie hadn't realized how hungry she'd been, she felt like she hadn't eaten in weeks. She stabbed at a piece of meat and popped it in her mouth chewing it experimentally. Her eyes widened.
"This is delicious!" She cried happily as she shoveled the rest of her food into her mouth. The boys watched her with slacked jaws and wide eyes but she couldn't honestly find it in her to care. Whatever, I'm shucking starving. She almost laughed at how easily the Glader's slang had taken root in her mind but opted out and continued to devour her food.
"Jeez lady! Are you hungry or what?" Chuck exclaimed as she pigged out. Sadie finally stopped for a breath and smiled at him.
"I'm just relieved that there's someone here who knows how to cook. Cuz I sure as hell wasn't going to start anytime soon." The boys laughed and she sighed contently before adding. "And don't call me lady. I'm only like…" She paused furrowing her brow. How old am I?
"Sixteen?" Newt ventured shrugging, "None of us are really sure how old we are either." Sadie nodded but it still nagged at her. I don't even know how old I am.
Newt couldn't believe how comfortable she seemed with it all. Sure she had asked him, Chuck, and Tommy about a million questions but the answers didn't seem to surprise her in the slightest. Not only that but she joked around easily with everyone like she'd known all of them for years. Newt shook his head in disbelief and grudging respect. She might not be crazy, but she sure was strange. And beautiful. A small voice said in his head, Newt shook his head even faster trying to push the thought away. But he couldn't help but smile every time she joked during lunch or laughed loudly.
Afterwards Newt lead Tommy and Sadie over to the Bloodhouse and introduced them to Winston.
"This is where we raise and slaughter the livestock." Winston announced whirling a blade around the small red barn. "If you do alright on the job you might work here permanently. If you're into that kind of thing." He said with a wink in Sadie's direction. Newt was pleased to see her roll her eyes at the comment.
"I'll leave you guys to it." Newt said clapping his hands together and waving at the two as he limped away. He chuckled when he faintly heard Thomas and Sadie groan in dismay as Winston directed them towards the butcher's table.
"That was disgusting." Sadie declared as her and Thomas headed back towards Homestead and away from the Bloodhouse, thank god.
"You can say that again." Thomas answered scrubbing at his hands to try and clean off the blood that was long gone. As the two walked Sadie tried to remember again, thankfully her head didn't try and split in two this time but she was still disappointed when she came up empty handed. Sadie looked over at Thomas and wondered… well it's worth a shot.
"Guess this means you and I are best buds now or something?" She asked watching for his reaction. He laughed but didn't respond so Sadie pushed on. "You don't remember anything? Anything at all?" She asked hopefully but he just shook his head dismally.
"No. Sorry Sadie all I know is that we're friends." He mumbled as they climbed up the hill nearing Homestead.
"It's all right." She said quickly. "But let's never do that again. I am never shucking butchering another animal for as long as I live." Sadie muttered while Thomas laughed.
"I couldn't agree more."