Season Two, Episode Three: A Change of Jobs?
Alby didn't know who was angrier - Nick, who was screaming at Chris and pasing around room angrily, or Newt who was standing in the corner just glaring at Chris. It was like he was trying to transfer all his anger through laser-beams. Elizabeth was in bed and it was just those three and a couple other guys who had heard what happened and wanted in on deciding Chris's punishment.
It was times like these that Alby wished he was in charge the most. Nick focused too much of his energy on pure emotion which took logic out of the equation. Usually his method of basing things solely on feeling worked fairly well, but this time he was barely making any progress.
"WE HAVE RULES FOR A REASON, SHANK! You come up here with nothin' but the clothes on your back and you're supposed to abide by our rules. You hear that? OUR RULES. Not yours, because you're the stranger here!"
Nick's lecture was starting to get jumbled and made less and less sense as it went on. Alby sighed before pushing off the wall. He looked around the room.
"Does anybody else here have anything to confess? Apparently this isn't the first time this has happened, but Elizabeth was too shy to give me any names," he said. At her name, Newt raised his head and his hand.
"Actually she told me that Ben and Snow confessed feelings to her," he said. Alby raised an eyebrow. Ironically Snow was present at the meeting, but Ben was not. He looked over at the boy in question and Snow shrugged.
"Yeah, I told her I was into her first week I got here. But she didn't have the same feelings so I left her alone. I never touched her," Snow said. From his corner Newt's eyes narrowed at Snow and Alby swallowed a chuckle. Jealous much? From the scene he'd barged in on earlier it was safe to assume the reason why Elizabeth said no to Snow. He'd opened the door to his hut a few hours ago to find Newt and Elizabeth kissing on the floor using his bed for support. He didn't have to ask if it was what Elizabeth wanted - her flushed face and dreamy eyes said it all. She definitely didn't like it when Chris had been coming on to her, but Newt? Hell, she was probably the one to make the first move on that one.
Nick frowned at Snow, but didn't make any other comments. Instead, he turned his back to Chris and stood there seething. Alby decided it was his turn to butt in and act as stand-in. He walked to the middle of the room and continued scanning the room. Gally, P.F., Dalton, Minho, Snow, Newt, Nick. None of them flinched under his gaze, which he took to mean none of them had made a move on Elizabeth, either.
"Anyone have any ideas about what we can do to prevent this from happening again?" Alby asked.
"Yeah, put the shank in the Slammer for a week!" P.F. suggested.
"Or a month," Dalton grumbled, nudging P.F.'s shoulder. Alby was glad that the two friends were getting along again. It made things seem more...right.
"I suggest we have another meeting about the rules," Minho said. Nick shook his head at that one.
"That doesn't work, we have a meeting every month for newbies to talk about it. Everybody's heard it loads of times," he pointed out.
"Can we throw him in the Maze for a while?" Gally asked, earning him a few surprised looks.
"Gally we aren't gonna kill him," Newt said.
"I think he deserves it," was Gally's retort.
A squabble broke out about whether sending Chris into the Maze was a viable idea for a punishment. Snow took Gally's side, reasoning that the Runners could just go and retrieve him at the end of the day. The rest of them decided against the idea, arguing that it was too risky and wasn't the answer to the solution. All the while Chris, who was tied up to a chair in the center of the room, was listening with mild amusement.
"You guys are a bunch of saps," he said at one point, "I broke a fundamental rule. If you want to kill me, go ahead and try."
"Shut up, you!" Newt growled. "Just because we all aren't sadistic bastards like you doesn't make us saps."
Alby stroked his chin in thought. Letting Chris loose into the Maze was out - they'd have to wait until nightfall to make him stay there, anyway, and nobody survived a night out in the Maze. It defeated the purpose, and he agreed with Newt - they needed to maintain some sense of morality in this place.
"What if we sent Elizabeth out instead?" he asked, breaking the silence. The boys turned to look at him.
"What the shuck you mean, Alby?" Minho asked. Alby could see Newt was already starting to turn into the overprotective boyfriend. He groaned internally. Though he was glad the two of them had finally - at last thank God - gotten together, he wasn't looking forward to seeing this new side of his friend.
"As a Runner, I mean. It would get her out of the Glade during the day, and we've all seen her go jogging in the evenings. If that's not a characteristic of a potential Runner, I don't know what is."
"Aw, man, this is like some awful cliche!" P.F. groaned. "A girl is sent up in the Box, she gets considered as Runners before other shanks do...I don't know it doesn't sound right to me."
"What do you know about cliches, P.F.?" Snow asked.
"Think about it," Alby continued, ignoring them. "She likes to run, we've all seen that. We don't want Chris or anyone else creeping on her during the day; Running means she won't be here to get hit on."
"She also like gardening," Newt said, crossing his arms.
"I like it," Gally said. Ably glanced at him and he shrugged. "Elizabeth isn't stupid and she can take care of herself. If being in the Glade is too much of a distraction for shanks like Chris it makes sense to get her out of it."
Newt looked like he was feeling uncomfortable about the idea, "What if she doesn't want to be a Runner?" he asked.
"Fine," Alby said, getting annoyed, "We'll put Chris in the slammer for a few days and ask Elizabeth about Running. If she doesn't want to do it, then fine. It's just a suggestion."
"It's settled then," Nick said, slapping his hands together. "Chris goes to the Slammer, and Elizabeth goes to the Maze."
Minho was given the task of asking Elizabeth about becoming a Runner. He approached her the next morning, when she was already at the gardens talking to - who else? - Newt. The two of them were laughing about something and Newt reached out and brushed his hand against her arm.
"Elizabeth," he nodded as he walked up. She greeted him with a friendly smile, completely oblivious to why he might have been looking for her.
"I'd like to speak with you in private," Minho said, giving Newt a look. His friend sobered up at that, rested one arm against the other looking perturbed. Minho ignored him.
"Sure, Minho, what's up?" Elizabeth dusted her hands against her pants. For a girl who had been aggressively cornered and threatened, she seemed pretty happy. When they were far enough away from Newt, Minho cleared his throat.
"I was wondering if you'd consider becoming a Runner," he said. Elizabeth blinked. Her hair had grown well past her shoulders in the time she'd been there, and it lifted gently in the breeze.
"A Runner? Why would you ask me this?"
"Honestly? Alby thought it would protect you from perverts during the day. We've got Chris in the Slammer for the time being, but it might be a good idea to make yourself scarce around the Glade during the day. That way things are less likely to happen." Minho suddenly remembered a conversation with Elizabeth long ago when they'd asked each other if they were worried that something might happen. Something like Chris trying to force himself on her.
"I mean, on one hand I understand, but don't you think there'd be more of a chance of anything happening at night rather than in broad daylight?"
"Chris took you in the daytime," he pointed out.
"True, but -"
Minho cut her off: "Look, if you don't want to, just say it. I don't have a lot of time to talk about this."
Elizabeth frowned. She looked back at Newt and Minho waited as she tried to telepathically ask him what she should do. He knew just as well as she did that this wasn't his call.
"Do you think I could do it?" she finally asked, looking back at him, "Be a Runner, I mean?"
Minho studied her, starting with the gaze of her blue eyes, and stopping at the shoes on her feet. It wasn't an ogling stare to check out the contours of her body and appraise hotness levels, it was a determination of bodily ability. Elizabeth flinched under his gaze, but remained silent as he thought it over.
She could run, certainly, he had seen her running in the evening after dinner when the others sometimes played around with Frypan's drink. She wasn't the fastest by any means, but she had endurance, and sometimes that counted for more than speed. He wasn't concerned about her keeping up, he knew she would be able to figure out a way to stay with them, all the new Runners had to. Her arms were a bit scrawny, but they could work on that with a little bit of exercise. He'd seen her stand up against a Griever when Newt was in danger, so he could check bravery off the list. Jumping...he hadn't seen her jump, but she was lithe, and as a lighter weight than the rest of them, was probably pretty good at it.
"You qualify," he told her, making sure to look her dead in the eye. "If you want to be a Runner, you could do it."
Elizabeth bit her lip and Minho heaved a giant sigh. "I really don't have all day. If you want to join us, grab a water bottle and a Griever-sword. You could try it today and go back to gardening tomorrow."
She was looking at Newt, again. Was that all she ever did? Minho was growing impatient. Right as he was deciding to just leave her and go, she turned back to him and nodded once, her disposition taking on a new, determined nerve.
"I'll do it," she said, "I'll run."
Dalton was excited about Running today. Elizabeth would be joining them for the first time, and they hadn't had a newbie in a while. It was always fun to share the job with a beginner, and watch them soak in the thrill of it. Training also meant an easier day for the rest of them, with generally slower running and more talking than usual. Nick was running with them today, too, probably to help Elizabeth through it. Ever since Newt's accident, there was only the three of them - Minho, P.F. and himself. Nick didn't like running like the rest of them did, and preferred joining with the Builders or Track-hoes.
"You ready?" he asked Elizabeth. Newbies were never quite sure if they were ready or not. She was wearing the traditional Runner-bag, with a water bottle and snack inside. She was carrying a Griever-sword, but was holding it at an awkward angle.
"Here, let me help with that," he said, and grabbed the handle to steady the weapon, "It's pretty heavy at first, you have to kind of use your whole weight to hold it up firmly."
"Thanks, Dalton," Elizabeth gave him a smile. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and he was glad that his hair was short enough that he never had to do that. It must be a pain having hair that long all the time.
"Alright, let's move out!" Minho shouted. Sheesh. Already barking orders at them. He acknowledged Elizabeth and instructed her to stay in the middle of the group as much as she could.
"That way we can all take turns giving you advice and explaining the ropes," he explained.
"The ropes," P.F. whispered and nudged Dalton in the side, "Show her the ol' ropes, boys!" Dalton snickered and got into formation. Elizabeth was right in front of him. She didn't look nervous, but he could feel the waves of fear waving off of her.
"Just relax," P.F. told her. "Newt did this all the time, remember? You'll come back in one piece,"
Elizabeth giggled a bit at that, and some of the stress eased off. P.F. flashed a proud smile at Dalton and Dalton rolled his eyes. Show-off.
They jogged to the entrance of the Maze and Dalton could feel somebody's eyes on them. When he looked to the side of the Wall, Newt was there. He waved to Elizabeth and she waved back. Dalton felt sad that his friend couldn't run with them anymore, but Elizabeth was his friend too, and he was sure she would do just as well. They entered the Maze and left Newt and the rest of the Glade behind them.
*Special Author's Note*
I know it took forever for Newt and Elizabeth to get together, but I like it when the relationship is developed before going straight for romance. Anyway, I know this is getting long, but I hope it's still interesting. It'll probably get longer because I sort of worked it out in my head to make it 2 seasons long (it's like a tv show in my head). I also wanted to let you know that I posted a poll on my profile about which OC is your favorite. I like Elizabeth, of course, but I'm also really enjoying Dalton and P.F. What about you?
Thank you for all your kind comments! I squeal each time I get a new one! May the force be with you, padawans.