AN: Just pelt me with rocks. Tomorrow is my first batch of exams for this school year. I'll try updating next week. Because I got over my writer's block today.
BTW, I used to think writer's block was a real sickness, like fever or something, well, I didn't bother researching for it, and I was still new to the world of fanfiction way back when. LOL.
Disclaimer's on the first chapter.
"Bloody hell." Newt muttered as he took a look.
"What the shuck?" Minho exclaimed as he followed Newt.
"Just get the shank outta there." Alby ordered as he walked towards the Box himself.
"Alby, the shank's Monroe." Gally pointed out.
"I said get the shank outta there. We'll know what to do once she's awake." Alby hissed
Newt didn't hesitate to jump down and see Monroe's doppelganger. She was asleep, with her fingers clasped around themselves, resting on her chest. Her hair was short, spreading like a halo. She was breathing evenly, her chest rising and falling after every inhale and exhale.
He scooped her body from the makeshift crate bed and yelled for the rope.
"It's eerie how much she looks like Monroe." A Glader commented. The girl was blonde, paler, but held a great resemblance to Monroe. The girl thrashed around Newt's arms a little, as if having a dream. She was screaming, her expression turning grim every passing second.
She was screaming incoherently. Whatever words that she said were unclear and difficult to decipher. Tears trailed down her cheeks as she cried in anguish. Newt was concerned, somehow, he knew that this girl was a little more familiar than he thought. With the med-jacks trailing after him, he entered the Med-jack hut and put the doppelganger on one of the spare beds.
She was still crying and screaming but still asleep.
Newt, Clint, and Jeff faintly heard the Doors opening for the day. If it was even possible, the real Monroe should still be alive.
Once Minho heard the Doors open, he was preparing to run his rounds for the day. It was impossible that the girl in the Box was Madison. For the past two months, he'd seen her change, the sickly, thin version of her disappeared and gave way to a Madison who could stomach running around the Maze for long periods of time. There was no way in hell that she changed that much. She was only gone for two days, to say the least. She couldn't have starved that much to drop to the same weight as she used to be when she first got here.
He was absentmindedly exploring the Maze. He really didn't need to pay a lot of attention to the Maze because he knew it all by heart. Three years running around the place did that to him. He winded up in an unfamiliar corner. That was impossible. Of all his years in exploring, he'd never got into this area. An almost impulsive part of him wanted to see what was in the nook. He could hear a shallow breathing. Could it be?
He tip-toed, suspecting it was a Griever. But once he saw her, his heart stopped. She was sprawled inside the nook, barely breathing. Her lips cracked from the dehydration, her clothes grimy form the dirt. An odour hung in the air, resembling sweat and blood.
She had dirt caking her face, blood in her hands and some on her clothes and face.
Minho rushed inside the nook, brushing the strands of hair away from the girl's face. Madison. She looked so exhausted. Definitely from the running and the starvation and dehydration.
She sighed, holding Minho's hand faintly. Her strength fading. Minho quickly carried her out of the nook, needing to get her to the Glade to have her eat and rest.
"They… told… me… to find… the… James… fa…mily." She croaked out.
"Shhh. You can tell me everything else later, just sleep while I get you to the Glade, alright?" He assured, feeling a little weird for suddenly being this gentle with anyone.
She nodded, but even the gesture made her feel woozy and dizzy. She just needed to follow him, and she'll be alright in no time.
Newt stayed put in the Med-jack hut with the doppelganger. She stopped thrashing an hour ago, and was now breathing deeply. Frypan fixed up a meal for her when she'd wake up. As Newt was reading a book, that he requested for, way back when, he heard a gasp.
The girl was awake. She was breathing heavily, her eyes wide, looking around, then seeing him.
"Who are you?" Her voice was parched, but she still spoke.
"Listen, greenie," He put down his book. "I'm Newt, and this is the Glade." She looked at him in confusion. Something about her was familiar, niggling in his brain, but he couldn't point it out.
"Why am I here?" She questioned.
"Eat," He avoided the question. "Then I'll answer the rest of your buggin' questions. Good that?" She kept staring at him.
"You poisoned my food." She stated flatly. He laughed. "If I did, why'd I stay for the past few hours, only to see you die?"
"I wouldn't know. Like I wouldn't know my purpose here."
"Just get yourself fed greenie. You don't wanna go hungry, do ya?"
She tentatively reached for the tray of food on her bedside but ravaged through the tray. She greedily drank the water. Newt looked at her with mild amusement as she got through the meal quickly.
"Tasty now is it?" He laughed.
She glared at him. "Yummy poison." She retorted.
And he laughed yet again.
The pair navigated through the Maze, Grievers clicking in the distance. The clicks made Minho walk a little faster. Madison was steadily asleep. It was almost as if the Grievers were afraid to get near them.
Minho kept a steady pace throughout as he got around the Maze, gradually increasing his speed if he heard Grievers howling close by.
He jogged by now, but surprisingly not disturbing Monroe.
Once the pair got towards the pathway to the Glade, they were met with the sight of a still Griever. Slime was dripping, and a pungent odour that resembled rotting corpses invaded their noses, making Madison wake up. Minho carefully walked towards the Griever, quietly. The Griever made no indication of motion, until they got through it. The Griever pierced the wall close to Minho, a hair's breath away from piercing Minho's head.
Many of the Gladers were looking at the Griever move as Minho and Madison stumbled onto the Glade.
"Get her to the Med-jack hut." Minho ordered as he patted the dirt off his arms and shoulders. Gally immediately stepped forward and carried Madison to the hut.
Minho sighed. He almost died today. But he didn't, luckily.
Now, he needed to talk to Alby about this James family.
AN: Since I'm in a graduating class, I'll be very busy during these following months, but I'll try to put up some chapters.
Replies:
Embers and Ashes: Thank you sooo much for your understanding! Hope you liked this chapter! :)
12-Madam-Jordan-Valdez-12: Thank you! Your comment is really appreciated. Glad to know I make people laugh! :)