Chapter 19

In Which Newt Threatens The Girlie With Beetle Blades

As much as she hated to admit it, the boys were right.

Gally readily agreed to help in any way that he could in getting them a medicinal garden. Were they planning on putting it closer to the actual Gardens or closer to the Med-hut? Who would be taking care of it? What did they plan on planting in it? And over a ton of other questions he thought the other Keepers might ask.

"We're still working out all the details," she told him. "I haven't even talked to Zart about it, and we don't know if he'll go with it. Not to mention Nick and the others. This all has to bypass all of the Keepers."

"Well, if it's you and Zart keeping an eye on it, I don't know why anyone would disagree. You two are our best Track-hoes."

"Thanks, Gally." She gave him a small smile.

"So, um," Gally said, "how are things? With, uh, with Newt?"

"With Newt? What do you mean?"

"You two seem… attached at the hip when he's not in the Maze."

"Well, yeah, I mean, he's kind of the only one I can talk to about… certain things."

"Certain things?" he said, eyeing her over.

"Just… certain things. Why?"

"It's just, I… Look, you two seem close, really close. Almost like you're, um, together-together."

She sputtered at that.

"To…" she said. "Newt and I definitely aren't like that. That's weird. And gross. Newt's like… He's like a really good friend or cousin or something. Who I can talk to about some stuff."

"Certain stuff."

"Yeah, certain stuff. That only he can understand because just happens to know a lot about it." She looked away from him with a heavy sigh, drawing her legs close to her chest. "Newt really… needs someone to talk to, you know? And I'm willing to listen. And he's there to listen to me. We have a sort of… We have this deal, you see? I can't really talk with other people about some stuff, no one else would understand. He gets it, I get it. He's my weird friend who needs help."

"Why can't you talk to me about these things?"

She looked up at him through her lashes, feeling herself start to blush again. God, why did he do this to her?

He looked away from her rather sharply to the whittling tools in his lap. He'd let one of the knives slip, and he'd knicked his thumb. He gave a hiss.

"I'm going to find Clint and Jeff," he said.

"Over this way. We were talking earlier." She led him back the way they'd come. They found the pair easily, still sitting with Archie and Ben. While she was still a little miffed about them purposefully pointing her in the wrong direction, she knew that she'd forgive them eventually. Eventually being practically seconds after rejoining them.

Besides, there were more important things to worry about. Like Gally accidentally cutting himself.

"What did you do to him?" Jeff said, eyeing the cut. "Threaten to cut off his fingers if he didn't agree?"

"Yes," Gally said flatly, "that is exactly what she did."

Ben and Clint snorted in amusement.

"Alright, you shank, come on. Let's get you patched up so you can boss around your Builders after this rain stops. If it decides to stop today."

Jeff led Gally away, and Flossy sat back down with the group. She leaned against Archie, resting her head on his arm. He didn't tense up like she'd expected. She was glad for that.

"He agreed to help," she said, feeling exhausted. She wasn't sure if it was because she had gathered up the courage to ask Gally for his help, or if it was because of the weather. Either way, it was taking a toll on her.

"Good that," Clint said. "Ha! And look at that. The rain stopped. Are you going to go talk to Zart now or tomorrow?"

"I could talk to him now, if you want. I think he's heading over to the Gardens to take a look at the damage."

"Shouldn't be too bad, at least better than your first rain here."

"Yeah," Archie said, poking her cheek, "didn't you end up getting sick because of it?"

She sat up straight and looked at him. She'd kind of hoped that he'd forgotten about that. Clint coughed into his arm, attempting to hide his laughter. Ben chewed on the skin around his fingers to hide his face from her.

"Yes," she said, a little more coldly than she'd intended. "I did."

His face scrunched up.

"Didn't you get sick last month as well?"

Clint coughed harder, and Ben snorted. She knew that Clint was aware – he was actually the one to enforce her staying in the Med-hut – but Ben? She wasn't sure what she'd think of him if he knew. It was ungodly embarrassing enough as it was.

"Yes," she said.

"I have a feeling it'll happen again this month as well," Ben said. She glared at him, noting the mischievous gleam in his eyes. She hated rule number two at the moment.

"Can't you do anything to stop it?" Archie said, looking at Clint. He looked alarmed and worried by the amused look that crossed Clint's face.

"We're working on it," Clint said. She had to kick Ben to stop him from speaking up. "Though it's not really something we can exactly heal. Treat it, yes, but only so far."

Archie looked mortified by that. He was about to say something when she stopped him by pinching his arm.

"Don't question it anymore, Archie," she said, "and don't think too long on it. It's fine and normal. Just… let it go."

"But –"

"Let it go!"

She hated these boys.


"So," Ben said when he finally managed to catch her when she was alone, "Archie doesn't know about the birds and the bees."

"I'm pretty sure he does," she said. "He's just not putting two and two together. And don't you say anything to him. I have enough people treating differently during that time. I don't need one more."

"I think everyone should know."

"Please don't."

"What? You happen to have a uterus, and it's normal. Get over it."

"Don't make me kill you."

"Threatening fellow Gladers, Girlie?"

They turned to see Newt passing them by. He walked over to them, dropping an arm around her shoulders. He nodded to Ben in greeting.

She hadn't realized it was that late already. Were the Runners really due back already?

"You need to learn to be nice to others," he said, squeezing her in a one armed embrace.

"And you shouldn't be so mean," she said, hugging him back and instantly regretting it. He was… sweaty.

"I'm being mean? Girlie, you were threatening poor Benny when I passed by."

"I'm quaking in my boots," Ben said in as monotonous a tone as he could, crossing his arms.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Careful," Newt said, "or the Beetle Blades will catch it."

She scowled at him. Ben gave them a confused look.

"Beetle Blades?" he said.

"The little mechanical bugs wandering around the Glade," she said. "You've seen them about."

"Is that what you call those things? Huh."

"They're right creepy," Newt said, nodding to one climbing up the side of the Homestead. She watched as it moved in a serpentine pattern, its many legs moving too quickly for her brain to process the exact way they worked.

"Do you think the Creators spy on us with them?" Ben said, watching the mechanized insect.

"What else would they be for? Just wish the shanks would help us get out of here instead of just sending up supplies every week."

"Maybe they can't. Or maybe they're secretly bug people. Or bird people."

Newt snorted at that, and Flossy ducked her head into his chest to laugh. bug people. bird people. What ridiculous hypothesis.

"What do you think the world is like out there?" Flossy said, tilting her head and looking at the Wall beyond.

"What ever it's like," Newt said, licking his lips, "it's got to be better than in here."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I have to believe in something out there."


The humidity from the rain made the next day almost unbearable. Many of the Gladers were taking breaks more frequently and hydrating every time they did. Clothes were stained from sweat and stuck uncomfortably in places she didn't think clothes could stick.

Thankfully, she wasn't the only one struggling.

"Oh, shuck," Zart said as he collapsed on the ground next to her. Like the rest of the Track-hoes, they were all lounging in the shade of the orchards. It was the only place they all could get to on a short notice to help cool down.

She fanned him with a straw hat she'd found laying around their storage shed.

"I think I might actually die from heat exhaustion."

"Here," she said, giving him a canteen of water.

With a huff, he sat up and chugged it. That probably wasn't healthy.

"Can we call it a day, Zart?" Chris said, from a spot close to her feet. He had collapsed into a puddle of sorts after she'd sat down.

"Well, assistant Med-jack, what do you say?" Zart said.

"It's only going to get hotter," she said, squinting up at the sky and shielding her face from the glaring sun. "Clint and Jeff would say that heat stroke is possible or something."

"So, we're calling it a day, right?" Chris said, lifting his head up to look at her and Zart.

"Yeah," Zart said, nodding slowly. "We're calling it a day. Don't need any of you shanks winding up in the Med-hut."

There were cries of delight from the Trac-hoes.

"But first, we need to get all the equipment inside."

They groaned.

Flossy was the first to her feet and pulled up Chris. Of course, both of them almost went tumbling back down in the grass when the sweat of their hands made their grip slick.

The task of cleaning up everything they'd used that day wasn't a laborious one. It was mostly just annoying as everything got a little spaced out between the trellises, the corn field, and the orchard.

Since Zart was needed to overlook the others, she was put in charge of gathering the tools by the corn field. It wasn't too many items — she was the one who'd brought them over, of course, and she tended to keep everything together.

But, for some strange reason, her sickle was missing. She specifically called it her sickle because it was smaller than the ones the boys tended to use, and the grip fit perfectly in her hands. She'd actually grown rather fond of it. Well, truth be told, she was actually a little too short to use any of the scythes in their shed. But it was fine. She liked the sickle.

Now, if she could only find it.

She could have sworn it was by everything else. She was almost absolutely positive she left it right by the fence, tucked away where someone couldn't possibly step on it and get hurt. (She'd seen enough of that, thank you very much.)

She was just about to give up when a flash of white and gray caught her eye. A beetle blade.

It scuttled off to her left, its legs crawling along in the creepy fashion as they always did. The red light pulsed steadily from its antenna. And it was somehow holding onto her sickle.

For just a moment it stopped to look back at her and continued on its way.

"What…?" she said, squinting at it.

It stopped and looked back at her once more, as if waiting for… something.

"Do you want me to… follow you?"

It didn't answer, of course. It just waited. Hesitantly, she took a step toward it and then another. It took off again.

Slowly, she followed the beetle blade, eyes trained on her sickle and the best possible way to grab it. The beetle blades, she'd been warned, could severely hurt a person.

She'd been so intent on watching it, she hadn't been aware of her surroundings until she noticed the change from grass to stone.

Flossy's eyes quickly darted up and looked around. She was right on the inside of the Maze, just beyond the doors to the Glade. Quickly, she dated back inside, fixing her eyes on the beetle blade who seemed to notice that she stopped.

"Damn it," she said, mostly to herself.

Poor Jackson, who'd been napping at the gate, jumped awake. He looked around and then back to her.

"What you doing?" he said slowly.

"That beetle blade has my sickle." She pointed to the offensive… creature, gnawing on her cheek.

He turned to look where she was pointing and hummed.

"Shuck. That's not… good."

"I know. And it's not like… it's not like I can just go out into the Maze and chase after it."

He hummed again, scratching his chin.

"Might be a lost cause."

She huffed out a breath.

"Just my luck," she said, crossing her arms. "And I really liked that sickle, too."

"Hey," he said, "on the bright side, you can ask for a new one."

She snorted.

"Right. And it'll come up with the TV."


The private wrestling pit was still warm when she met up with Gally that evening. Despite the fact that the sun hadn't broken through the thick branches, the sand was warm under her bare feet. Still, Gally insisted that she continue her lessons.

Someone was definitely going to comment on the dirt and sand clinging on the back of her shirt when they'd finished. She hoped she could snag a shower before dinner.

"Right," Gally said, "let's try that again. Grab my arm here."

He took her hand and placed it on his forearm. He was so warm.

He tried to walk her through how to throw someone over her shoulder. It shouldn't have been such a difficult thing, but then again he was well over a foot taller than her. And he was expecting it.

And she might have been enjoying the fact that he was pressed against her back just a smidge too much.

"Flossy," he said, swiping a hand through his cropped hair. "How about we take a break?"

"Sure," she said, shrugging. "I don't think I'm going to get it."

"No, no. You can get it. It's just… Maybe you need to practice with someone shorter than me or something."

"Maybe." She took the water bottle he offered her, gulping it down. She hadn't realized she was thirsty until then.

She tried to ignore the fact that he drank from the same bottle, instead she focused on curling and uncurling her toes.

"Hey, you alright?"

He reached across the short distance and delicately brushed aside her hair to touch her rather sweaty forehead. She willed every fiber of her being not to blush. She knew she failed, but she hoped he thought it was because of the heat.

"I'm fine," she said. "Might be a little off from… the last week, but I'm okay."

"Good that," he said, nodding. He turned away, his cheeks turning a little pink. "Maybe we should have waited another day or so before starting up the lessons again."

"No, it's alright! Exercise will do me some good. I just don't think I can throw you over my shoulder. Maybe we can try something else?"

"Think we'll call it a day here and recruit someone else. Nick or Alby or someone."

She nodded, looking away from him.

"Sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," she said, turning and smiling up at him. "I'm fine. Maybe just a little more tired than I thought."

"Good that. So, um, showers?"

She looked down at herself and gave a little laugh.

"Would probably be a good idea before dinner."

They made their way back to the homestead so that they could gather a fresh pair of clothes. They got a few odd looks, but no one said anything to their faces. She was going to have to deal with some gossip later, though.

Gally kicked out a few guys, who were all disgruntled and muttered things at them. She quickly ducked in and relished in the fact that she had searing hot water for once. Still, she didn't want Gally to wait forever on her — he probably wanted a shower just as badly as she had — so she eventually ducked out and quickly changed.

She was just about to put her boots back on when she felt a presence over her shoulder. Without giving it much thought, she reached back and grabbed their arm. By some sort of miracle, she was able to throw the guy over her shoulder.

He gave a groan when he hit the floor.

And, between the guy's cry of alarm and her shriek, she was able to get Gally's attention from outside. He and Newt ducked in and looked around. They spotted the boy on the floor and stopped.

"Ash?" Gally said, kicking Ash's boot. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sock," he said, holding up a sock as he coughed. "Feet got cold."

"Sorry," Flossy said. "Do you need help getting up?"

Ash shook his head.

"Gonna lie here. Get breath back."

"You slinthead," Newt said. "Should know better than to sneak up on the Girlie. Even if it was just for a sock."

"How'd you even get in?" Gally said.

Ash shook his head, blinking rapidly.

"Nevermind," Flossy said. "Newt, help me get him to the Med-hut. Gally, you should probably take your shower now."

"Sure you don't want —"

"We'll be alright," Newt said. "Come on, you shank, let's get up."

"Didn't know the Girlie could do that," Ash said. He looked over at her. There was something in his eyes. Something akin to fear. And respect.

"Good," she said, "and I can do it again, if you'd like."


Author stuff cont'd.: Just a reminder, after next week's chapter, I'm taking a week off to organize some stuff for the next part. It's mostly rewriting a couple of scenes and editing what I do and don't like.

I'll be around, probably reading some fics, but I won't be posting. But no worries! I'll be back with two shakes of a lamb's tail.