Author stuff: Well, this chapter marks the end of part 1. And I almost completely forgot Graham. Whoops.

Trigger warning for this chapter! There is blood at the end.


Chapter 20

In Which The Girlie Makes A Good Bet About The New Greenie

Archie wasn't used to dreaming. Well, he had dreams of his days in the Glade – sometimes they'd escaped and other times they did not, nightmares those were called – but he wasn't used to having dreams of a life outside of the Glade. Especially since he couldn't remember that life.

He had several that night.

One was a short scene of him and a man. The pair of them talked – about what, he couldn't recall when he woke up – over a quick meal of food so tasteless it made no mark on his memory. Another was of the Gladers, but they weren't in the Glade. They were in a classroom and much younger. And he wasn't in the lesson with them, he was observing them. It was… odd.

Another was of Flossy and Graham. They were arguing over something. And there was a boy and girl, always watching and observing. They always seemed to be there, lurking in the background.

Everything was shades of white and gray and black and blue, cold and unfeeling. Sterile and hospital scented. Hair was perfectly groomed and pulled away from eyes. Faces freshly washed and tidy. Clothes put together, nothing out of place.

He'd never felt more afraid of that place – that weird dream landscape – than he had ever felt before. He was less afraid of the Maze than that place, whatever it was.

There was one girl, however, that haunted his mind. He couldn't remember her face or any specific features beyond brown eyes, but she felt warm and peaceful. She was a welcoming grace, a spark of fire in the icy place. It would have been nice to know who she was. She made that place seem a little more bearable. A friend, that was what she was.

He was grateful to have woken up in the humidity of the Glade, wrapped in the sarcophagus that served as his hammock. Other Gladers woke with him, stretching and bemoaning the morning. Ben looked around with half-lidded eyes. When they saw him, Ben gave him a sleepy smile.

"Morning," Ben said.

"Morning," he said. He sounded monotonous to his ears, but Ben didn't seem to mind.

"Should we go get breakfast?"

"Think it's ready?"

"Never hurts to go check."

They quickly changed into the cleanest clothes they had and jogged out of the sleeping area.

He could smell whatever Frypan and the Cooks were making – it smelled delicious, as always. He didn't understand why some of the Gladers joked about Fry's cooking. Sure it wasn't some fancy gourmet food, but it was the best of what they had available – which was pretty amazing, all things considered.

It was still early, but he was surprised to see people in the dining area. Most of them were Runners, but a few Track-hoes were there as well. Flossy was back with them after her week-long illness that still bothered him.

"Good to see you up and about," Ben said, setting his plate down next to her as he ruffled her hair. She gave a cry and swiped at him.

"I just got my hair to lie right for once," she said, patting down the strands pitifully.

"Here, let me help," Minho said. He made a move to fix her hair, but he ended up ruffling it as well. She returned the favor, though it did little to actually make him look any less different or unattractive. Flossy seemed to notice this and sagged a little.

"That's really not fair." She huffed, quickly braiding her hair so she could keep it out of her face while she worked.

"We're just happy to have you back with us, Girlie."

"Huh," the Track-hoe named Chris said. He always seemed to be hanging about Flossy, though not in a bad way. He was like a bodyguard. A scrawny, doe-eyed bodyguard who barely looked like he could handle a hoe, but a bodyguard nonetheless.

"What?" Ben said.

"Just realized, Flossy always gets sick a week before a new Greenie comes up. Do you think they're connected somehow?"

Flossy, who'd been taking a bite of her eggs, choked. Ben gaped at him, a grin spreading across his features. Zart darted a look around at each of their faces before turning his attention back to his buttered toast, bacon, and egg sandwich. Minho appeared thoughtful, chewing slowly. Something seemed to have dawned on him, and he looked at Flossy with wide eyes. He looked like he was about to say something, but he jumped up with a yelp instead. The others were just as confused and curious as Archie was.

Did Flossy's illness have something to do with a new Greenie? If it did, why? Why would the Creators do something so cruel?

"That… that's not…" Flossy said, a blush taking over her features.

"Careful," Minho said, "don't want to wind up back in the Med-hut for another week."

She was about to smack him when a hand stopped her.

"Don't beat up the Runners," Newt said, forcing his way between them. "Especially not our best one. We need him in prime fighting shape so that we can get out of this hell hole."

"But if it wasn't for this hell hole," Minho said, dropping his head to Newt's shoulder and batting his eyelashes, "you wouldn't have met me, the love of your life."

"Shove off, you slinthead." Newt jerked his shoulder up to dislodge his friend.

"Who you calling a slinthead, you shuck-face?"

"What? Shuck-face? You –"

"As much fun as it is seeing you two insult one another," Flossy said, "the Walls will be opening up in about twenty minutes, and you still need to eat, Newt. Minho, I'm going to go grab the bags for your lunches, but I'd like some help?"

"Say no more, Girlie," Minho said, following her as she stood up and gathered their plates. They dumped their things off in the bins and headed back into the kitchens, disappearing behind a sheet of fabric acting as a door.

"Hope whatever Flossy has isn't too serious," Chris said, stirring his eggs around with his spoon. Newt choked on his eggs. "Or contagious. Hate to catch it."

"Alright there?" Ben said.

"I'm fine," Newt said. He took a big gulp of his water. "She'll be fine. It's nothing to worry about. She, Clint, and Jeff are handling it, right, Zart?"

Zart looked rather startled to have been pulled into the conversation. He looked between Newt and Chris, eyes wide as a bug's. He nodded slowly.

"See, it's being handled." Newt quickly polished off the rest of his breakfast as Minho and Flossy rejoined them, bag in tow. They distributed them between the Runners, each one claiming their own bag based on the look of it. How they could tell the difference Archie had no idea.

The Runners left them shortly thereafter, Newt jogging off with a piece of toast in his mouth. They all reached the doors as the Walls started to groan open. They were out of sight in less than a minute.

"So," one of the Track-hoes said, "any bets on the Greenie today?"

"Shuck," Ben said, "has it already been a month?"

"Yeah, you'll be promoted later," Chris said, holding up his cup of water. "Cheers."

Ben raised his own cup and gently knocked it against Chris's.

"Bet you tomorrow's bacon the Greenie will klunk himself," Ben said.

"Bet you he'll chuck up whatever's in his stomach," Chris said.

"And I bet tonight's dinner that the Greenie will be a girl," Flossy said, rolling her eyes and walking away.

Archie wasn't sure whether wanting another girl in the Glade would be a good thing or a bad thing.


It was late afternoon when the alarm for the Box sounded. Like the last few times and the times before that, every member who was in the Glade stopped what they were doing and gathered around. Each wanted the first peek at the new Greenie – like he would be a new plaything, a toy to be used until it was boring or broken.

Archie stood next to Graham – who gave him a smile, the first he'd seen since the three of them came up together. It looked quite nice in him.

"What do you think?" Graham said, nodding towards the Box.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Who's ever in there is going to be surprised, I know that."

"Do you think he'll take off running?"

"What, like you? I wouldn't be surprised, in all honesty."

Graham nodded, his eyes scanning the crowd. Archie noted how they stopped on Flossy, who stood up front with the Keepers. She was conversing with them about something. She was cut off – mid-sentence from what he could tell – by the Box opening.

Everyone leaned forward expectantly. Their voices rose, carrying up with their bets and jeers. Those closest stopped and cursed upon seeing the Greenie.

Clint and Jeff jumped down first, their voices steady and calm. He couldn't hear what they said, their voices too low for him to register beyond the mumble.

Something nagged at the back of his mind. Curiosity?

He pushed closer to see down.

In the Box was the Greenie, dripping with blood and wielding Zart's new shovel. Eyes wide and wild as they looked about, a caged beast trying to find an escape. Archie got a good look of those eyes – a pretty shade of brown – and stepped back.

The Greenie was a girl.


Author stuff cont'd.: So part one is done! I'll be taking the next week off to organize some stuff for the rest of this story (a couple of rewrites and editing, only). Questions about who this girl is will be answered then.

In the meantime, if you like Miraculous Ladybug, I have a couple of fics published for that. One is a Robin Hood AU (Noblesse Oblige), one is a collection of one-shots (Oh! You Pretty Things), and the last is Adrien trying to prove that his father killed his mother… through a podcast and inspired by a tumblr post (no body, no crime). The last one's a lot of fun.

If you're not into Miraculous, I'll see you back on 21 June!