Cleo stood beside Thomas, staring down at the unconscious girl with a puzzled expression. She was more than disappointed to find that it had been hours and she was still unconscious. She had finally gotten another girl, after three years of wishing and hoping, she had finally gotten a girl, and they weren't sure she would wake up again.
"Jeff, what's going on?" The boy next to her pushed.
She couldn't blame him. The only thing the girl had said was his name. The box still sitting wide open in the middle of the glade and the daunting note she had brought along with her, were enough to perplex all of them.
"What's the matter with her? Why won't she wake up?"
Jeff blinked up at them, shrugging simply, "Hey, man. I got my job the same way you did."
Newt give Thomas anymore time to pester the Med-Jack, turning to him, an eyebrow crocked upward in suspicion, "Do you recognize her?"
"No." Thomas stated dumbly, appalled that he would even assume something like that.
Cleo and Minho looked at one another.
"Really? Because she seemed to recognize you." Newt didn't seem to be believing him much either.
The last one.
Ever.
"What about the note?" Cleo blurted out. She was staring at the girl again, finding she couldn't look away. There was something familiar in her features. It sat on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what it was.
Newt just shook his head, "We'll worry about the note later."
Finally, able to tear her eyes away, she turned to him, "I think we should worry about it now."
"We've got enough to deal with at the moment."
"If the Box isn't coming back up, how long do you think we can last?" Jeff chimed in. Cleo hadn't meant to worry him so much, but it was something they needed to be thinking about. She cringed at his worried question.
"No one said that. Let's not jump to any conclusions," Newt's voice was condescending, though he truly meant well and he sent a glare to the girl beside him, "We'll just wait until she wakes up and see what she knows."
Thomas shook his head, turning towards the door. His strides were long and quick, obvious indication that he was on some kind of mission and the others glanced at one another.
"Where are you going?"
"Back into the Maze." His answer was cut and dry, momentarily stunning the other three before Minho raced after him.
Cleo wanted to be surprised when Minho appeared at her hammock a half an hour later. He had a pleading look on his face and she knew whatever he was going to ask her, she wouldn't be able to say no.
"Thomas and I are going back out to the Griever. He thinks it'll give us an answer of some kind. I've already got Frypan and Zart. Winston, maybe," He blinked, "What do you say?"
Cleo wanted to say no. Go back into the Maze, back to the Griever that had tried to kill them the night before. Leave the Gladers with the new girl and her creepy note. She wanted to say no and curl into her hammock, go to sleep and pretend nothing had happened. Plus, she was injured. If anything were to happen she would only be dead weight. But all the same, she found herself pushing to her feet and letting out a long sigh. If Minho was coming to her personally, there wasn't a good enough reason for her to turn him down.
"I say, it's worth a shot."
Minho smiled at her faintly, and began leading her across the glade to the meeting place. They were halfway across when Chuck cut them off. He waved Minho's protest off before the boy could say anything.
"I heard you and Zart talking. I'm going."
Cleo and Minho glanced back and forth for a moment and then the boy sighed.
"Fine. But stay with Cleo, got it?"
Chuck nodded, biting the inside of his cheeks to hide the smile that he so wanted to show. Minho took off in a jog once again and Cleo stared after him. Once he was out of ear shot, she spun around on Chuck, grabbing his shoulder tightly.
"You will do exactly as I say, alright? This isn't just a leisurely stroll. Something could happen at any second and you need to be ready to react."
Chuck swallowed, eyes bugging some. Cleo closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and loosened her grip on his shoulder.
"I'm not trying to scare you. I just don't want you getting hurt," The boy nodded in return, "Alright, c'mon."
"Will this be enough?"
Thomas had been pacing in front of the Runner's hut for a good ten minutes, digging a trench into the soft mud beneath him. He spun around when Minho called out, baffled by the five Gladers trailing behind him. His eyes locked with Cleo's for a moment and she smiled, putting an arm around Chuck to push him to the front of the group.
"Okay," He breathed, "Let's go."
They took off towards the wall, keeping their heads down and making sure no one would see them sneaking back into the Maze. When they reached the entrance, Cleo could feel Chuck slowing down. Coming to a stop just inside the Maze, she turned to him.
"You don't have to come, Chuck. Nobody is gonna think any less of you, okay?"
He nodded, scuffing his shoes into the dirt.
"Plus," Thomas spoke from beside her, "We need somebody to keep watch. Can you do that for me, buddy?"
Chuck looked up at him, and slowly nodded. His face lifted some as Cleo gave him a warm smile. Thomas rested his palm on her arm, turning her gaze towards him.
"You think you can keep up?" He was teasing of course, she could see it in his eyes.
Rolling her eyes, she raised an eyebrow at Chuck and shoved Thomas, "Let's get going before Gally notices you're breaking the rules again."
It was easy to retrace their steps and find the crushed Griever. It was oozing out from between the two walls, a disgustingly foul smell seeped from its flattened body. Cleo placed a hand over her nose and mouth, eyebrows furrowing as she stared at the creature. In the moment, she felt glad that Chuck hadn't come along.
"That's disgusting." Zart gagged beside her, covering his own nose.
Something caught Cleo's eyes. Hand dropping away from her mouth, she leaned in to get a closer look. Within the wall, within the Griever, was a red flashing light. "There's something in there." She breathed, blinking at the others.
"You mean, besides a Griever pancake?" Frypan retorted, earning himself a slap to the stomach.
She moved ahead of the group, creeping closer to the creature. They all reached out to her, calling out for her to stop but she ignored them. Eyes focused on the hole in the wall, she stepped into the leg of the Griever. It spasmed, sending her stumbling back into someone. The other boys jumped, startled, taking a collective step backwards.
"I thought you said it was dead?" Frypan panted.
"Was it a reflex?"
Eyes shifted to Zart.
"You hope."
Cleo hissed as pain traveled through her ankle and up her leg. It was a dumb idea on her part, going any closer to the Griever that had been hunting them only hours before, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her. The sharp pain of reminder that she was somewhat crippled was better karma than getting stung she supposed.
"You okay?" It was Thomas she had collided with, his hands still grabbing onto her waist. With a small nod from the girl, he let her go, stepping around to get a clear look at the now sprawled out Griever, "Okay, come on. Let's try and pull it out."
Without hesitation, Minho and Cleo were beside him, grabbing onto the limbs. Slowly, the other three joined and on three, they began to tug backwards. It took a second for any kind of give but eventually they were sent flying backwards, landing in a heap on one another as the leg came loose. The Griever stayed lodged in between the walls, but now they had something to work with. Pushing off the ground, they returned to their original standing positions.
Again, Cleo's ankle throbbed and she started to regret her decision to come back out, when the flashing light caught her eye again. No one spoke when she moved closer this time. She gave a tentative look over her shoulder before sticking her hand inside. The boys held their breath, half expecting her to starting screaming, or pull her arm away missing a hand. Instead, she came back with a sack like object, three wires sticking out of the top. Her face contorted into disgusts as she wiped away the excess goo.
"What the hell is that?" Someone breathed.
She pulled the skin away revealing a metal cylinder. Clearing away blood and slim, she lifted her eyes to Minho and waved him over. He stood at her side, taking the object away from her and studying it himself.
"Interesting." He concurred, handing it back to her.
She was about to give the others some kind of explanation for Minho's statement but Frypan beat her to it, "Whatever it is, can we take it up back at the Glade? I don't want to meet this guy's friends."
"He's right," Minho nodded, "It's getting late."
Leaving the Griever behind, the six headed back home, happy they had made some kind of discovery.
The happiness dwindled when they were met by Chuck at the door, his face showing a mixture of shame and fear. Cleo reached him first, using his shoulder to lean against.
"What's up, Chuckie?" She panted, searching his eyes.
He swallowed, looking away from her and towards the Council Hall, "Gally found out that you guys left. He called a meeting for when you guys get back."
Cleo could see the Glader stalking towards them, head dipped low, almost predatory. She gave a look to the boys behind her and then turned back to Chuck.
"Don't worry, Chuck. We'll sort everything out." She reassured him, ruffling his hair for extra measure and took off towards Gally. She planned on dodging him completely, finding Newt and letting the hothead cool down. But he caught her arm as she moved passed and stopped her.
"Cleo-" He growled, fingers digging into her forearm.
She yanked herself free, finding the other boys had followed her, and stepped in closer, "In the Council, now. You want to throw a fit, then you do it in there, not out here," She moved around him again, "Let's go!"
"We found this," Thomas took the metal device from Minho, passing it over to Newt, "It was inside a Griever."
"These are the same letters we get on our supplies," He added, growing antsy,"Whoever put us here obviously made the Grievers. This is the first real clue, the first anything," He corrected, "you've found in over three years."
Minho and Cleo nodded in agreement. Newt seemed to be listening though his eyes stayed on the device. Thomas stepped forward, lowering his voice some, "Newt, we gotta get back out there. Who knows where this might lead us."
"You see what he's trying to do, right?" Gally interjected, "First he breaks our rules, and then he tries to convinces us to abandon them totally. The rules are the only thing that have ever held us together. Why now are we questioning them?"
Cleo understood where the asshole point, and as much as she hated to admit it, knew he was right. Since Thomas had arrived things had become different. Even though she didn't agree with him, she understood why Gally was acting the way he was. That didn't mean she was about to express that verbally. Gally had done nothing but piss her off for the last few days, she was going to let his ship sink for a bit.
"If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me. This Shank needs to be punished."
Things were quiet for a moment. Without any kind of spoken order, they knew Newt had the floor. Now they just had to wait until he made up his mind.
Finally, he nodded, agreeing with Gally, "You're right. Thomas broke the rules. One night in the pit, and no food."
This, while relieving the small group in front of them, didn't sit well with Gally, and he opened his mouth to object.
"Do you think that's gonna stop him from going into the Maze?"
Newt shook his head, nonchalantly, "No. And we can't just have non-runners running into the Maze whenever they feel like it," His eyes shifted to Thomas, "So let's just make this official. Starting from tomorrow, you're a runner."
A scoff escaped Gally's throat and he shook his head, obviously hurt that no one had been on side. Letting out an aggravated "wow" he stormed outside. Frypan followed after him, hoping to calm him down.
"Thanks, Newt." Thomas breathed.
The boy just looked at him, then the others and walked away. The meeting ended silently.
Winston and Zart went back to work, grumbling about the Griever smell still stuck in their noses. Cleo, Minho, and Thomas stood where they were and watched the Glade around them.
"Come on, Green Bean," Minho clapped Thomas on the shoulder suddenly, "I gotta show you something."
As he began jogging towards the woods, Thomas turned back to Cleo.
"Can he still call me Green Bean, even with the new Greenie here?"
Cleo smiled, tucking her hands into her pockets and shrugged, "You got two days as a Greenie. The rest of us had a month. You'll be hearing that for a while," He smiled back at her, before she gave him a light push, "Go, Minho's not going to wait forever. I'll see you later."
He stood for a moment longer, before turning and jogging after Minho, leaving the girl to smile after him. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, and turned in search of Chuck.
BookRain: I had the first one pretty planned out before I started writing it, so I knew where I wanted to go with it. It's easier to write something that you know where it's going, haha. I also had a good chunk of it written before I started posting as well.
.2016: I'm glad you like it! I will say though that it'll be pretty slow-burn. There will be hints to them kind of falling for each other and liking one another in the chapters to come but as for anything really establishing their relationship, it won't be until the sequel (but you won't have to wait very long). Hopefully that doesn't scare you away! There will be Thomas/Cleo, just not in this book.
x XRoweenaJAugustineX x: Thank you so much for favoriting and leaving a review! I'm glad you are enjoying it!
Four more chapters until the end! Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and/or following! You guys are amazing!
