The next morning I walked into the kitchens to see Gally and the rest of the builder's ganging up on a small child who I had never seen before. He must be the new Greenie.
"Lick my boots," I heard Gally say as I made my way closer to him. He shoved his boot in the Greenie's face with a chuckle and a head nod to his idiot followers.
"Gally!" I cried out as I stormed over to the group. "You leave that Greenie alone right now or I will throw you into the shucking maze myself!" I yelled as I pushed Gally back into his group of friends, who continued to laugh at the poor boy. Probably a bad idea on my part, but Gally was being such a bully to the newbie. "Out now!" I commanded as I pointed a finger to the door and raised my eyebrows, practically daring him to defy me.
"You're lucky you got her, Greenie," Gally snickered as he and his friends turned around and walked straight out of the door and back into the Glade. I turned around to see the poor boy completely and utterly scared out of his mind. I looked at the boy, he had a round face, with dark, brown curly hair and hazel eyes.
"Hi, my name is Tasha, but everyone around here calls me Tash. What's your name?" I asked as I bent down to get a clearer view of the boy.
"I don't know, I can't remember. Why can't I remember?!" He yelled with confusion and absolute horror. There was not a doubt in my mind that this boy was scared out of his wits and he really needed someone to help him.
"Ah, Tash, I see you've met our newest addition. Hey Greenbean!" Alby cried as he smacked a hand onto the boy's shoulder harshly.
"Alby, be gentle," I commanded as I heard Newt come into the kitchens.
"Hey beautiful," Newt said as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, effectively trapping me from going anywhere. Not that I would want to of course, being next to Newt was the best part of staying in the Glade.
The young boy looked at me as even more boys came to enter the kitchens. I pulled away from Newt and instantly missed his warmth, but this child was scared and I felt that it was somehow my duty to calm him down.
"Hey, it's ok," I whispered as I wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. The boy seemed to tense up, but it went away almost as quickly as it had come.
He looked up at me and I saw compassion in his hazel eyes.
"Thank you, Tasha," he thanked me, but I knew my name felt strange coming out of his mouth. He was so young. Whatever he had done to get put up here, he certainly did not deserve it.
The Greenie was just starting to calm down when all of a sudden it was ripped away. Enter Minho, stage left. He looked solemn and serious, which really could only mean one thing.
"Are you ready?" He asked as he stood a fair bit away from Newt, as to avoid his wrath, because knowing Newt, he would not be happy with the fact that I was going back into the maze today.
"Don't go," Newt's voice sounded broken and scarred, which only made me feel terrible. I looked up at Newt and my heart broke. The only thing I saw in his eyes was sadness and I knew that if I went today, he'd be worried sick. But I had to, it was my duty. My responsibility.
I hugged Newt as tightly as I could. "I'll be alright. I promise." I whispered in his ear before I pulled back to gaze into his eyes. I placed a gentle peck on his lips and that seemed to make everything ok. He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up off of the ground in a tight hug.
"Please be careful, love," he pleaded as he set me back down on the ground.
"I will, don't you worry about me," I smiled up at him as I pulled away.
Cold air immediately rushed over the warm parts of my body and let me tell you, I missed it. Turning away from Newt, my heart dropped as I stared into the maze, hearing Newt whisper to himself. "Come back to me."
"Let's go, Tasha. We don't got all day." Minho whined impatiently, as he smirked over at both of us. I rolled my eyes at him but spared a glance back at Newt one last time.
"I love you!" I yelled at him, grinning before I turned back.
"I love you too! I'll be here when you get back." He promised, as he forced a smile at me. I knew he was afraid, possibly more afraid than I was, but he was trying to be strong for me, so I had to be strong for him.
I turned back to look at Minho, a small smile on my face. "Let's go."
•••••••••
Minho and I ran for about a half hour before I got winded and we had to take a break. I took a big gulp of water from my canteen before I looked over at him. "My legs feel like they're on fire!" I cried out as I greedily gulped oxygen in as I was pretty sure my body was being robbed of it.
Minho chuckled and leant his back against one of the concrete walls. "That's what happens when you sit on your ass for months, Tash." He took a sip from his canteen, closed his eyes and relished in the feel of the midday sun.
I rolled my eyes before I took a seat on the ground. "I don't remember it hurting like this when I first started." I groaned as I stretched out my legs. I knew we had to keep going so we'd make it back in time, but if I didn't stretch out my legs I probably wouldn't be able to run as far or as fast.
"You'll get used to it." Minho smirked as he ran his fingers through his hair. "So, how are you and Newt?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. I resisted the urge to throw my canteen at him as I felt a blush creep up the back of my neck.
"We're good, we're getting along a lot better these days. He's not so secretive and it feels good to not have any secrets pushing down on my shoulders too. He's kind of amazing," I smiled to myself as I pictured Newt and what he would be doing right about now. Those memories quickly got interrupted by the sight of Minho gagging.
"Gross, you guys make me sick!" He cried out with a smile and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. I knew for certain that he was messing around, but even though I did know, it was still annoying and upsetting that he was making fun at Newt and I's expense.
"Says the one whose been trying to get us together forever!" I laughed, reminiscing all of the awkward times Minho tried to get Newt and I to reveal our feelings — months of awkward and hilarious situations.
"Why do you have to be so mean Minho?" I asked with a fake cry as I chucked my now empty canteen as the shank's head. He dodged it with ease and then looked up at the sun to check what time it was.
"We'd better head off. We need to keep going if we don't want to be stuck out here after nightfall," He picked up the canteen and strapped it to his chest-plate. He then held out a hand to help me up off of the dusty ground which I eagerly accepted. He hauled me up and started to jog at a brisk pace and he clearly expected me to keep up.
I looked at Minho uneasily as we ran through the maze. I felt my chest tighten as we turned another corner. I slowed down my pace, as pain started to surge from my previous wound all the way up to my chest. It was becoming increasingly harder to breathe. I leaned my hands against the concrete wall and tried to calm my racing heart.
"Something's wrong!" I called out to Minho as I made a futile attempt to try and catch my breath.
Minho jogged over to me. "What's wrong?" He asked as fear and concern were painted on his face, practically for the whole Glade to see.
I shook my head. "I don't know. I feel this pain in my chest and it makes it hard to breathe." I tried to explain, but the more oxygen I used, the more light-headed and dizzy I became.
"Look, just try to take deep breaths." Minho placed his hand on my back, which I took as an attempt to comfort me. It didn't help. The pain intensified as I squeezed my eyes shut and my heart beat quickened exceptionally.
I was pretty sure I was having a panic attack, but it wasn't normal — it was like the something in the maze caused it.
It didn't take long for colour to form behind my eyelids, but everything I saw was strange and unfamiliar. Almost as if it didn't really exist.
The room that was before me was filled with holographic screens and motherboards of all sorts, almost like a control room. There was a boardwalk in the middle with a lone figure standing in the middle.
She was dressed all in white, with her blonde-grey hair pulled back tightly in a neat bun. She looked out over the people who bustled around her, almost like she didn't even exist. It didn't take long for the one sentence that I had heard nearly a thousand times over.
"Don't forget, W.C.K.D is good," the woman's voice had a chilling edge to it, something lay underneath the tone, almost as if she knew every answer to every question I had ever had.
She looked over my shoulder, "Excellent work, Tasha."
Fragments of images came to my sight, and from what I saw, some of them were most likely memories from before the glade — but nothing I could make out, as the images turned dark fast, the scene fading with a dull cry.
This time I stood in the middle of the Glade and instantly I knew that this was the nightmare that had plagued my mind every night for the past week. I found myself walking toward the center of the Glade, although I begged myself to stop. I saw Newt's hunched figure and a body lying just in front of him.
"Please," I begged myself to stop, tried to make myself stop walking toward the scene I knew awaited me. It didn't take long for me to reach Newt's shaking body. I tried to close my eyes to stop from looking down at Minho's bloodied and ripped body.
Newt looked up from his blood covered hands and gazed straight into my eyes.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Newt's words echoed around in my head as my eyes snapped open to see Minho with a very worried look on his face.
"Minho," I cried out as tears streaked down my face. "Get me out of here," I pleaded. That one sentence was enough to snap some sense into Minho and he knew that I was dead serious. He knew that I desperately needed to get out of the maze and away from here.
Minho helped me up and supported me as we ran through the rest of the maze. The visions were fading, but even so I could still hear their voices as they screamed at me.
"This is your fault!"
"You killed us!"
"You're so bloody stupid!"
I let go of Minho as we finally reached the Glade. I took in a deep breath of relief, yet I could still feel my heart pounding away in my chest as I sought out to find Newt. My eyes scanned the perimeter until I saw his slim form, as he walked towards Minho and I. I ran to him as fast as I could. I needed his warm embrace. I needed to know everything was okay. My feet pounded against the ground beneath me, as all the boys looked at me with alarm.
When I got close enough to Newt I wrapped my arms around him tight and sobbed into him. I tried to stop my tears but I couldn't. "I can't do it. I can't," I gasped for breath as I clung onto him tighter.
Newt held me tight and rubbed my back soothingly. "Shh, shh. It's okay, love. You're safe now. You hear me? Nothing can hurt you."
I tried to slow my breathing as I held onto him. Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong?
"Newt? What's wrong with her?" Alby's voice broke through my thoughts as I felt his comforting hand on my shoulder.
"I don't know Alby, I really don't," I heard Newt's voice rumble throughout his chest as he answered the leader's question. Newt pulled away from me slightly, even though it was clear he really didn't want to. "Tash, love, what happened out there?" He asked as his hands rubbed my arms up and down in a calming gesture. I took a shaky breath in as I desperately tried to calm my racing heart.
"I saw it again," I began as I looked into Newt's eyes. His touch and the look in his eyes were probably the only thing that was keeping me grounded at the moment.
"The same one?" He asked, as he pulled me down onto the ground and into his arms. Alby crouched down with him, his hand still on my shoulder.
"Yes, but there was a part before it," I stumbled as Newt pulled me into his arms in a comforting embrace. "There was a woman standing in a control room, like she owned the place or something. But then there was this boy — that was as much as I got out of it." I finished as I curled up further into Newt's arms.
"It's alright love, you're going to be fine," he whispered as he picked me up bridal style and walked me to the Homestead. Probably to get checked out by Clint or Jeff, who had already started calling me an honorary Med-Jack.
Newt's POV
"Alby, I don't think she should be a runner anymore." I looked over at Tasha, who had finally fallen asleep on the medical bed with a blanket over her to protect her from the chill. "It isn't just what happened in the maze, she's been mumbling in her sleep, too." I told Alby as I felt guilty for even telling him anything.
"Newt's right, she's terrified." Minho chimed in. "As soon as she stepped foot in the maze, she didn't seem like herself."
Alby rubbed his forehead and shook his head as he watched Tasha's shoulders rise and fall with her breaths of sleep. "Newt, do you think she's capable of running the maze?" He asked as he looked at me with nothing but seriousness etched across his face.
There was silence and all I could do was look over at her. I thought of every night she would toss and turn, as nightmares flooded her mind. I couldn't let that happen again - I wouldn't let that happen again.
"No."
Alby was the one to bring Tasha into the room. I couldn't do it. I couldn't be the one to ever give her this news, not after the day she had.
"What is it, guys?" Tasha asked as she sat down on the chair off to the side of the room.
Alby looked at her dead on. "We've - we've all decided that you shouldn't be a runner anymore," he told her honestly as he watched her for her reaction.
She was silent for a moment. Tasha rubbed her forehead, her gaze focused on the ground. "Why?" Her voice didn't even crack, like I thought it would, which only proved to me she was stronger than we had thought. Either that, or she was trying harder than anything to hide her true feelings and her true opinion.
"After what happened today, you're not fit to be a runner. We don't want you getting injured out there, and we can't have you breaking down in the middle of the maze. There are too many bad possibilities." Alby continued, as he crossed his arms in what could be mistaken as a defiant stance.
I looked back at Tasha who was looking intently at Minho. "You said yourself I'm the fastest runner here." She said accusingly. Tasha didn't sound upset, but she certainly wasn't thrilled.
Minho looked at Tasha with a sad expression. "I meant every word of it, but Alby's right. I saw you back there - all of us have to be able to keep running; and you just can't," Minho sounded upset, rightly so, as he realised that he had just crushed her dreams.
Tasha just nodded in reply and turned her gaze back to the ground. I knew that she had felt free in the maze and we were taking that away from her to protect her. I never wanted her to hurt herself the way I did. I couldn't lose her to the maze. This was the right thing to do.
"They're right, Tasha." I spoke up as I gazed deeply into her eyes. She turned to me and it took everything in me to keep a straight face. Eventually, a frown crossed my face. "It's too big of a risk... You don't have to be afraid anymore."
A look of relief washed over her face, it was small, but it was still there. Tasha quickly looked away from me and ran her fingers through her hair. She mumbled something, but I couldn't make out what she said. "Okay..." She sat up straight and looked up at Alby with a straight face. "Okay," I knew she really didn't want to agree with Alby and Minho, but it wasn't like she had a choice.
"Okay?" Minho asked as he looked at Tasha in shock.
Her shoulders moved in a shrugging motion, but I knew that wasn't how she felt. "You guys have obviously made your decision. I'll just have to accept it." She reached her hands up and rubbed her face.
"Tasha-" Alby began as his arms dropped from their position across his chest and he tried to make his way toward her, but she definitely didn't want any of it.
"Slim it," she interrupted Alby and shrugged him off. "I'm a lot stronger than you all think, you don't need to patronize me. Just tell me what I'll do instead," it was clear that Tasha was not okay with this decision and I could only help she didn't hold a grudge against me for deciding her fate for her.
"You ultimately have the choice." I replied as I looked at her gently. "But you've done great at the gardens, you have the most exp-"
"I get it." Again she wouldn't look at me, but I didn't blame her. This was partially my fault. "I'll work at the gardens," she told Alby, her gaze averted to the ground. Her voice held a sarcastic tone now, but I could still hear the coldness as she muttered, "It's the only place that probably won't make me kill myself."
Probably.
"Aren't you a drama queen." Minho joked, which earned a glare from Alby and me.
Tasha looked up from the ground, a small smirk on her face. "I must've learnt it from you."
"So, it's settled then." Alby spoke you and looked up from Tasha to the rest of us. "You're no longer a runner."
"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" I stopped towards the door as Tasha grabbed my arm. I looked at her and noticed her eyes were fixated on the others.
"Yeah, sure," I glanced over at Minho who stood still at the door.
"Give us a minute, shank," I yelled over at the idiot and I wanted to throw something at him with the wink he gave and the wiggle of his eyebrows clearly meant he thought we were going to do something other than just talk.
Minho smirked at us before shutting the door and left us alone. Finally.
Tasha slowly let her hand fall down my arm, as her fingers connected with mine. I wrapped my other arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I know after the day you had this probably isn't what you wanted to hear, but-"
She shook her head against my chest as she interrupted me. "I adore you, you know that right?"
I pulled away from her and let go of her hand to hold onto her soft face. "Of course, darling," I whispered as I looked into her green eyes.
She leaned the palms of her hands against my chest. "I don't blame you. I don't blame anyone. You're all just looking out for me, I get it." She leaned up and gave me a kiss on the nose. "I'm sort of relieved. After what happened out there..." She trailed off as she shook her head to try and rid herself of the day's events. "It won't be easy for me, but I'll get used to it," she smiled the smile that I had fallen in love with and that practically made me smile back.
I let go of her face and pulled her into a tight hug.
Tasha breathed out a quiet giggle. "Besides, now I can bother you all day long." She was silent before she took a deep breath. "And maybe now I won't have nightmares anymore." I looked down at her lovingly and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Hopefully.