Chapter 9

Anna couldn't help but feel extremely grateful that Newt had become her second-in-command. It had dawned on her what a horrible situation she'd be in right about then if she didn't have anyone to take over. Newt, on the other hand, seemed less than happy about the new arrangement, and he came to visit her every night with news of the Glade and what an exhausting job it was to be in charge of the Gladers. Anna, though sympathetic, found this quite entertaining, and she humored him every time he complained.

"I can't take much more of this," a very frazzled Newt moaned about three days after she'd saved Gally. "They all want to know what's going on with you, and what they should be doing, and the shuck Greenbean won't leave me alone!"

Composing herself so she looked reasonable and consoling, Anna tried to soothe him.

"Newt," she began, but dissolved into hastily silenced laughter. Newt frowned. Then his features relaxed as he seemed to see it from Anna's point of view.

"I guess it is stupid of me to be complaining, though," he admitted. "You did that shuck job all by yourself for more than a year."

"You're just not used to it," she told him, taking his hand and smiling. "You'll get better at it soon. It was like that for me at first, too." She didn't add that she hadn't had anyone to vent to about her stress when she had done it.

"Alright, then," Newt said, placated.

"Oh!" Anna said suddenly. "Did you see Clint on the way in?"

"Yeah," Newt answered, his brow knitting. "Why?"

"Did he say anything about letting me out? I'm shucking bored in here when you aren't visiting." Newt smirked.

"Do you pine away, all alone, wishing that I would come back to you, my dear Anna?"

"Yes, Newt," she gushed, playing along. "I miss you ever so much when you leave me, my love." Newt laughed and leaned over, kissing her cheek.

"Listen, Anna, I have to leave soon," he said, dropping his character. She frowned.

"How come?" she asked.

"I can't leave the shuck Greenie alone for three seconds without him coming to bother me. I don't want him coming in here."

"Fair enough," Anna admitted. "Hey, can you go get Clint? I want to know when he'll let me free."

"Alright," Newt replied. He kissed her forehead and stood up, walking out of the room. Anna waited for a few moments, but being the impatient person that she was, she got bored after about a minute. When she was wondering whether Clint was ever going to show up, he finally opened the door.

"Took you long enough," Anna teased. Clint grinned.

"It wasn't my fault. I came over as soon as Newt asked me to. Maybe he's the one who took a long time."

Anna threw a pillow at him. Clint caught it and put it back on the bed. Anna arranged herself so she was in a sitting position, and looked at him expectantly.

"What do you say?" she asked. "Can I leave? Newt's gonna crack if I don't let him take a day off." Clint sighed. He seemed to be weighing the possibilities. After a while, he looked up at her and delivered his verdict.

"You know what, if you think that you can do it, then I probably shouldn't let you." Anna made an indignant noise.

"What do you mean?" she cried.

"I mean that this is an impulse move and when you stand up you're gonna get dizzy and fall over and hit your head on something."

"I'm not impulsive," Anna protested.

"Yeah, you are," Clint said. Anna pouted. "Okay, look," he said, apparently trying to placate her. "You can try tomorrow. I just don't want you creating more problems for yourself."

"Okay," Anna sighed. She sat back against her pillow resignedly and prepared herself for another day of boredom.

"Come on, Anna," Clint said. "Don't look at me like that." Anna, who hadn't realized that she was looking at him in any specific way, blinked bewilderedly.

"I wasn't looking at you," she told him. He shrugged.

"Okay, then," he said, humoring her.

"Alright, get out, Clint," she laughed. He gave her a look of false hurt and walked out of the room.

Anna decided to take a nap. She figured that she had nothing better to do, and should therefore take advantage of the situation by doing the one thing she never got to do. Anna slept for almost six hours, until she was woken up by a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called blearily. The door opened, and standing there was Minho, grinning widely.

"Hey, Anna," he said. "How's life going?"

"I was sleeping, until you showed up," she told him.

"Sorry bout that," Minho apologized, not sounding like he totally meant it. Anna didn't mind, though.

"So, did you guys find anything?" she asked.

"Nope. Nada. We never really do."

"That's not true," she protested. "You found a bunch of stuff."

"Like what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Like, um… Well you haven't found anything recently, but that's because you've already found most of it."

"I guess," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "So, how was your day as a prisoner of Clint and Jeff?"

"Boring," she answered honestly. "Clint said he'd let me go tomorrow, though."

"Sweet," Minho said. "Alright, well, I've gotta go. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye," Anna called after him as he got up and walked out. She wasn't really tired by then, so she stayed up most of the night wishing she could fall asleep. When she finally did, it had been more than five hours, though, so she woke up the next morning exhausted. She had rolled over to fall asleep again when the door was thrown open and Clint walked in.

"You slept in," he informed her. "It's like nine. I figured you should get moving sooner than later if we want to preserve Newt's sanity, so I came in as soon as I could." Anna sat up, overwhelmed by the information that had just been thrown at her so quickly.

"Wait," she mumbled groggily. "What?"

"I'm gonna let you stand up now, even though it's early," Clint said more slowly. "I figured Newt needs you." Anna let out a small laugh.

"Okay," she agreed. "Sounds good. Can you get this shuck thing off of my face, please?"

"Yeah, I guess," Clint replied. He walked over and carefully unwound the bandage that had been covering Anna's face for the past four days. When her left eye was revealed, Clint's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up slightly.

"Is it bad?" she asked, not wanting to know the answer.

"See for yourself," Clint said, handing her the small mirror that they'd received in the Box a few months earlier. She took it and stared at her face.

"Shuck it," she said after a few seconds. Her left eye was all swollen up and there was a partially healed cut from her forehead to her cheekbone. She looked a wreck. "Can you put the bandage back on?" Clint, who Anna could tell felt bad for her, agreed. After this small fiasco, Anna was ready to get up and go.

"Be careful," Clint warned her, his hands held out in front of him like he was prepared to catch her. Anna rolled her eyes and swung her legs over the side of the mattress. As she stood up, she was overcome by a wave of vertigo and she stumbled slightly, but recovered her posture after a few seconds.

"I'm good," she assured a very tensed up Clint. She took a few steps and realized that it was much easier to walk around than it was to stand up. After a minute or so, she was walking around the room like a pro, and felt very proud of herself. Clint deemed her ready to go out into the world, so she walked out the door to reclaim her rightful position as leader of the Glade.

The minute the toe of her boot touched the grass of the Glade, the Greenie was upon her, peppering her with questions.

"Whoa! What's that on your face? What happened? Oh! Is that from the other night? Is that why the other guy has been in charge this whole time?" Anna scowled and held out a hand to indicate her personal space.

"Yes," she said. "It's from the other night. It's why Newt has been in charge. I've got to go join him, so sorry to run off like this, but I have to go."

"Okay," the Greenie said, evidently satisfied. "Bye."

"Bye," Anna said over her shoulder, having already walked away. She turned back towards the rest of the Glade, trying to regain her composure. She didn't know how Newt had survived that kid for so long.

Anna saw Newt standing with the Builders, apparently making up work for Gally. She walked up behind him and grabbed his elbow. He spun around, his expression murderous, but his features relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Oh, Anna, you don't know how relieved I am to see you," he cried, hugging her. She grinned.

"Good to see you, too," she said. "Clint said I could come back and relieve you of your full-time job."

"Oh, man," he said happily. "You're saving my life. These shanks are so bloody hard to take care of."

"Tell me about it," Anna muttered, grinning.