AN: I'm so sorry about the late update guys – I've been so busy of the late with my internship, I have close to zero time for myself honestly ugh. Anyhow I'll be temporarily removing the update schedule, as you can probably tell that I can't update on time anymore. So expect updates to be random for at least the next two months or so, I'll just update when I can and whenever I have a chapter ready. I apologize for the current arrangement but it's the best I can do at the moment, thank you so much for understanding!
"There's a girl here?" was how Thomas greeted her when she went up to say hi, his voice incredulous as if this was the most ridiculous thing he had encountered all day compared to zero memories and huge moving doors.
Qiufeng sat down, sandwiching him between herself and Newt. The celebration was ongoing, but unlike the other Greenies, this one completely refused to partake in it. He chose to settle himself near a log and sulk, kind of like herself when she had her celebration and she couldn't help smiling nostalgically at the memory. She almost couldn't believe it had been two years since she had arrived at the glade, time seemed to pass so fast – so many things had happened, to her, to them.
"Well, I don't think I look like a boy anymore, at least I hope not," she replied and in a showcase of pretence worry, glanced down at her body and gave herself a once over.
Newt laughed before explaining to the Greenie who looked perplexed – though he wasn't sure whether it was because the other still couldn't comprehend there was a girl here or because he didn't understand Qiufeng's joke. "Everyone thought she was a boy when the box sent her up because her hair was short of a few sticks to being a chicken nest, both literally and figuratively."
Qiufeng laughed fondly at the memory as Thomas slowly nodded and then glanced at them again. "So why just one girl?"
"Shuck if I know." She shrugged as she took a swing of Gally's concoction. "Name's Qiufeng by the way, everyone just calls me Feng though."
"Thomas," the boy curtly replied.
"Hell of a first day Greenie." Newt commented after a moment. He glanced over to Thomas who was staring straight ahead, right at the tightly shut East Door. The dark haired boy managed another slow nod of acknowledgement and broke his gaze away to look at the ground instead.
Newt exchanged a glance with Qiufeng who grinned awkwardly and nodded towards Thomas again. She didn't know what to say either, this Greenie was a little hard to crack. Jokes bounced off his tough exterior, and he seemed more displeased than anything at their company. Newt rolled his eyes at her lack of initiative and grabbed a mug from the ground, offering it to the other. "Here," he said in between bites of the skewered chicken he was holding, "put some hair on your chest."
When Thomas looked at it suspiciously, the blond gave a quick nod of encouragement and Qiufeng had to cough once to hide her growing anticipation for the newbie's reaction. Everyone knew that Gally's drink tasted nasty, especially the first time you downed it and she particularly enjoyed the weird expressions that came over a Greenie's face whenever they first partook in it. Thomas threw her a suspicious glance too, and she had to hide her laughter with an innocent wide smile.
He brought it to his lips, and daringly took a large gulp – resulting in him spitting it out almost immediately right after on the ground. Qiufeng burst into loud laughter as Thomas made a disgusted sound, coughing out whatever he could while Newt chuckled beside him.
"Oh my god, what is that?" He continued to hack harshly.
"We don't even know," Qiufeng replied while laughing, amusement evident in her voice.
"It's Gally's recipe." Newt continued with a grin as he glanced backwards at the bonfire where everyone was seated around and chatting.
Thomas nodded his head in some sort of understanding as to why it tasted so bad, and Qiufeng gave him a cheeky wink as she lifted a single finger up to her lips. "It's a trade secret."
"Yeah well, he's still an asshole." Thomas replied as he briefly met her eyes before glancing back to where Newt was looking.
The blond turned back and offered a sympathetic smile before speaking, "he saved your life today," and then to Qiufeng who had raised an eyebrow questioningly, "tried to wander out into the maze when we weren't looking, this shank."
For a moment Qiufeng wondered if they had gotten themselves another Minho, but she shook the thought away and gave a small smile. "You don't want to go out there, trust me," she paused as she took another sip of the nasty drink, "the maze is a dangerous place, especially now."
A low groan and echo of something heavy moving sounded, making her glance up quickly towards the doors with wary eyes. Her eyes darted all over the doors and once she was sure they were still tightly shut, settled back down against the log hastily. Thomas noticed her jumpy behaviour as he quietly observed from beside her, but didn't ask – yet.
"We're trapped here aren't we," he eventually said, more of a sentence than a question.
Qiufeng furrowed her brows as she gave him a look. "Oh no, we're definitely having summer camp here." Her voice threatened to give away her bitter feelings from the night before and she took a deep breath to calm down.
Thomas shrugged.
"For the moment we are," Newt said in reply to his earlier question. There was a pause before he turned backwards towards the bonfire again. "But," he pointed towards a small group of boys that were mingling by the fire, "you see those guys, there by the fire."
"Those are the runners." Qiufeng continued without needing to look back, her voice a little sad. She was supposed to be sitting with them today to get to know them better, or so she wanted to until she laid eyes on Minho. Without even needing to think her body instinctively changed her course of destination and walked towards Newt instead. "That guy in the middle," she glanced tentatively over her shoulder to where Minho was sitting on a short barrel, still in the midst of his meal. "That's Minho."
As if he knew that his name was called, the other looked up straight at them, her, and Qiufeng quickly averted her eyes and looked back front.
Their brief interaction didn't escape Thomas's eyes, but he said nothing at the moment. Wouldn't be wise to bring it up now.
"He's the keeper of the runners." Newt took over. "They run the maze, mapping it, memorizing it – trying to find a way out."
Thomas cast a skeptical glance at him, and by the looks of his reaction it seemed as though Chuck had told him the basics of what's going on around here – being in the maze and all. "How long have they been looking?"
"Three years," Qiufeng answered with a small grin, a lock of black hair falling over her shoulder as she turned towards him.
"And they haven't found anything?" The brown haired boy furrowed his brows as if disbelieving of their efforts.
"It's a lot easier said than done." Newt laughed as he motioned to Qiufeng. "She would know, it was her first time running today."
"I honestly don't know how I'm going to run again tomorrow." She gave a meek smile, feeling the dull ache within her muscles.
She saw Thomas light up with a ton of questions written all over his face, but before he could ask Newt suddenly held his hand up. "Listen."
Thomas obliged even through his itchy mouth and the sudden silence allowed them to hear a low rumble in the distance, like rocks being grinded against one another slowly. It was followed by a loud moan and Qiufeng through the terror that pooled in her stomach, imagined a giant stirring in his sleep. Although it had been two years since she arrived here, the sounds at night never failed to unnerve her especially after the past week or so.
"That's the maze," Newt paused to glance at Thomas, "changing." Then on a lighter tone he continued, "changes every night."
"How's that even possible?" The brunet asked as he watched the walls with some sort of awe and wonder.
"You've seen the doors close right before your eyes and you still don't believe us?" Qiufeng managed a somewhat cheerful laugh.
Thomas stayed quiet as if contemplating her words, before Newt spoke again and broke his thoughts, "you can ask the people who put us in here if you ever meet the bastards."
There was another low rumble and a small vibration passed through the ground underneath them.
"Listen, the truth is," Newt briefly glanced at the girl beside Thomas, "the runners are the only ones who really know what's out there."
At least the more experienced ones do. Qiufeng added inwardly to herself as she drew up her knees to her chest and rested her head on them.
"They're the strongest and the fastest of us all and it's a good thing too because if they don't make it back before those doors close," Newt jabbed his index finger several times towards the doors they were facing, "then they're stuck out there for the night."
"And no one's ever survived a night in the maze." Qiufeng whispered as she turned to look at Thomas who was staring at her, them, in disbelief. She met his gaze levelly as she continued to rest her head on her knees. She could see uncertainty and fear in his eyes, which was good but then a hint of curiosity entered them. He would certainly be a handful.
"What happens to them?" Thomas asked once more and she laughed. He was certainly open with his questions.
"Grievers," she said simply with a ghost of a smile on her face. She stood up and motioned to Newt to do so as well. "Come on, we can't sit here all night can we?"
"Yeah, that's enough questions for one night." He sat up and stretched. "You're supposed to be the guest of honour."
And once the last three words passed his lips Thomas's eyes lit up in realization and he shook his head as Newt pulled him up and refused to listen to his objections.
"Part of the integration Greenie, can't escape it." Qiufeng added with a laugh once the brunet was on his feet.
They took a leisurely stroll along the bonfire as Newt introduced the various gladers by their jobs one by one, greeting them casually as they went by. Clint, Jack, Frypan… She could name every single one of them by heart. Newt eventually went on to talk about the buildings and their purposes as well, and Thomas listened intently.
"…and lastly, here's Homestead." Newt beckoned to the rickety shelter. "You'll be sleeping here tonight…" The blond trailed off as he tilted his head over to look at something that had caught his attention, and Qiufeng looked over as well.
"What is it?" Thomas asked, waiting for the rest of his explanations.
"Isn't that… Chuck?" Qiufeng asked as she squinted her eyes at a shadowy figure that was moving around in the dark behind Homestead. It clambered up unto a wooden box hastily in an attempt to be silent and then knocked on the surface in front. There was no doubt it was Chuck, he was the only one short enough to need a step up for anything, and his pudginess was unmistakeable.
"Probably up to no good as usual." Newt scratched the back of his head.
By now Thomas had peered over as well and had recognized his friend. "I'll go check it out." He offered, and broke into a jog before they could respond.
There was a moment as Newt and Qiufeng watched as Thomas approached Chuck, they seemed to squabble for a bit, their figures engaging in a small scuffle, before calming down. Then Thomas seemed to stand aside to wait for Chuck to finish whatever he was doing.
"What're they doing?" Qiufeng crossed her arms as she tapped her foot impatiently.
Just when she had about enough and was about to go get the two of them, a scream pierced the air – that of a young boys's – straight from the direction of Thomas and Chuck. It was followed by a loud crash from instead Homestead, and then a long string of swearwords by a scratchy voice bubbling with anger. It was almost too easy to recognize – Gally was unhappy most of the time around the glade so his voice was perpetually like that.
She saw one of the figures take off into the open glade, whereas the other one sort of just stood there as if it wasn't quite sure what had just happened. It wasn't hard to tell who was who.
"Ah, it's Chuck's famous toilet prank." Newt realized dryly just as she did.
"I'm gonna kill you, shuck-face!" Gally screamed as he stomped out of Homestead, looking like a furious animal on the loose.
He immediately pointed at Thomas. "Come here!" he yelled and Qiufeng snapped out of her own thoughts as well. Newt was way ahead of her, moving up towards the raging beast first.
"It wasn't me, I swear." Thomas was saying as they neared.
"Wasn't you?" Gally snarled and Newt took the moment to step in. "Calm down you big lug, he was with us," he said as he stepped in between the two of them.
"It was that lil rascal Chuck who pulled that prank on you." Qiufeng rolled her eyes. "Of course that doesn't mean you should go after him either – I'll talk to him."
"I'm not a dong," Gally spat. "I saw Chuck's fat face in the window." He turned towards Thomas and pointed at Thomas's chest. "But you better decide right quick who you want as your friends and enemies, hear me? One more trick like that—I don't care if it's your sissy idea or not—there'll be blood spilled. You got that, Newbie?" But before Thomas could answer Gally'd already turned to walk away.
"Sorry," Thomas muttered, and Qiufeng gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Don't be too hard on yourself, it's not your fault."
"I know you two," Gally suddenly added without looking back. "I saw both in the Changing, and I'm gonna figure out who you two are." He disappeared back into the Homestead, and all of them relaxed for a moment. There was a moment before someone spoke, voice clearly embarrassed.
"Sorry—if I'd known it was Gally, I never would've done it, I swear."
They turned to see Chuck standing there, staring at the ground. Qiufeng sighed, she ought to tell the boy off but perhaps he had enough for the day already.
"Well it's been a long day, time to turn in shanks," Newt said after a moment and she nodded in agreement, suddenly aware of the sleepiness that had been pushed to the back of her head earlier. It seemed as though the nap she had before dinner wasn't enough to keep her awake for too long, and not to mention she had to run tomorrow as well. Running had certainly lost all its glamour.
She gave the two younger boys a short wave as she turned to leave for her hammock along with Newt. "We're gonna head in first, don't get into any more trouble."
Just as they turned out of sight, she heard Thomas laugh out loud, something they couldn't get out of him since he had arrived in the box.
"He's a weird one, that guy," she commented as she swung herself into her hammock.
"Honestly in a world full of moving walls and half flesh half animal creatures, I don't even know how to define weird anymore." Newt sighed as he ruffled the back of his head.
Qiufeng laughed before turning over and wrapping herself up in her blanket. Sleep came easily, especially after what she'd been through earlier that afternoon. It'd been one endless—and strange—day.