A/N: To whoever is still reading this, I'm so so so so so so so sorry. I've kinda procrastinated on this and I know I should update more often. I know this is an excuse, but you know… School. I'll try to update as much as possible so that you guys can keep reading. So, here's the chapter.
The image of the boy on the bed covered in scratches and green veins keep flashing through my head. Over and over and over again. And then suddenly, the boy stands up and slowly walks towards me, like a Zombie. I can't help but scream. His face is terrible. It's pale white but covered in prominent veins. The vision suddenly changes, and I'm in a cafeteria. Sitting next to me is a younger version of Newt, while a younger version of Minho is sitting across from me. They both look about 8. Just as younger Newt is about to say something to me, I'm being shaken awake.
"Shhh. It's okay. I'm here. Nothing's going to hurt you. It was just a dream," I hear someone whisper to me. For a second, I panic. It's pitch black in the room and I can't see who it is. If I had been in the right state of mind however, I would've known it was Newt from that thick accent. But, I was still shaken by my nightmare. When he's sure I won't scream again, Newt gets up and lights a lamp.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Newt asks me, hesitantly putting his arms around my still slightly shaking frame. He sees my hesitation, and quickly says, "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"No, I'll tell you," I say, turning around to face him, my previous annoyance with him about not wanting to tell me about the Changing all gone.
"I saw that boy- I don't know his name- that you were taking care of. I saw him on his bed over and over again. And then he got up and came walking towards me. His gaunt face was pleading for help. I don't know why, but I instinctively screamed," I told Newt. I feel a lot better after telling him what I saw.
"His name was Bryce, " Newt said quietly, his face growing dark. "He didn't survive the changing. He died last night." We sat in silence for awhile. "Is that all you saw?" Newt then asked me.
"No, that's not all I saw. Right after that, I saw images of you and Minho sitting next to me in the cafeteria." I hesitate. "Newt, I think we knew each other before we all got sent inside this Maze," I say to him. "I think what I saw was true."
He thinks about what I said for awhile. "Maybe," he says. He then yawns. "We can think about it tomorrow. I'm tired. Let's go back to sleep." When he's about to go back to his sleeping bag, I grab his wrist. "Is there something you need?" he asks me.
"Um… Could you…" I hesitate.
"It's okay. Go ahead and ask," he encourages me.
"Could you stay on the bed with me?" I ask, looking at the floor.
He smiles at me. "Sure, if that's what you want." I nod my head. He gets up to blow out the lamp, and then crawls back onto the bed, laying down next to me.
"Thanks," I tell him.
"No problem," he murmurs back to me, already half asleep. Comforted by Newt's presence, I slowly drift off to a deep, dreamless sleep.
When I wake up again, the sun is just barely up. Newt is still sleeping next to me, his face inches away. I turn away, lightly blushing. Well, this is a first, me waking up before Newt! I must've slept well last night.
A few moments later, I hear Newt stirring next to me. He sits up, and I can see him look down at me through my barely open eyes. He gets up, and I discreetly turn away when he starts changing out of his pajamas. Later, I hear footsteps coming back towards the bed, and when they stop, I feel his hand on my shoulder, shaking me to wake up. I sit up briskly. "Morning," I say, smiling at him.
He laughs. "Did you have a good sleep?" he asks me.
"Yeah, I did. I think that was the best I've ever slept. Well… according to what I can remember, anyway, which isn't that much…" I reply.
I get out of bed and he steps out to let me change. Tying my hair into a pony tail after I'm done changing, I sigh. 'Why does the world have to be so harsh? What did Bryce ever do to deserve getting stung? Why did he have to go through the changing and then die?' I didn't know Bryce, but I felt bad for him. He couldn't have been older than 16.
The rest of the day is a blur for me. I don't even remember what i had for breakfast. All I'm thinking about is the Changing and the Grievers in the Maze.
One of the few things I remember is getting sent to the Med-Jacks after I tripped on a rock on the ground. I had been walking back towards the Homestead after eating dinner and was lost in thought. I fell hard onto the ground and scrapped my knees and palms.
I had tried to hide the scratches from Newt as I walked into our shared room, but he ended up seeing them anyway. Always the worrier, he insisted on waking up Jeff and Clint to have them look at my wounds. I tried to stop him, but to no avail.
He left me at the Med-Jacks' Hut and a few minutes later, came back with a not very happy Jeff and a tousled hair Clint. They were complaining to Newt about waking them up and were rubbing their eyes.
"What do you need us to do at this hour?" Clint asked.
"This better be important," Jeff grumbled. "I'm losing valuable sleep time!"
"Jeff! Don't be so inhospitable!" Clint chided. Then he thought about it. "Wait... am I using inhospitable right here? Anyways Jeff, we have to take care of our patient!"
Clint, definitely not as grumpy as Jeff, took a look at my scraped knees and palms and cleaned them. He bandaged the wounds and I was good to go. The whole time Clint worked, Jeff was complaining. "Why'd you even wake me up if I wasn't gonna do anything? Clint did everything by himself anyways. You could've just woken Clint up."
Clint batted at Jeff, but Jeff ducked, narrowly getting hit in the head.
"Thanks guys," I said laughing. "And, I'm sorry for Mr. Worrier over here waking you guys up." I turned to look at Newt.
"It's no problem, Adelynn." Clint paused and then said threateningly, "Right Jeff?"
"Yeah, yeah," Jeff said grudgingly, worried about getting hit in the head by Clint again. "Just call us again if you need anything…"
While walking back to the Homestead, I thanked Jeff and Clint again, feeling bad that they had to be woken up just for a few scratches that I gained from not being careful.
