New(t's) Life:
AN: Hello, Runners and readers! This gem is a translation of a German fanfic by Ritara2083. I fell in love with that fic instantly and now I have her permission to share it with you. New(t's) Life is still ongoing, so I will upload whenever a new chapter appears. It might take a few days longer sometimes since I'm focusing on my last year of university as well. But enough of the le-gally-ties (pun intended!) …
This is the story of Newt's life in the Glade, from his arrival onward. Know that neither Ritara nor I have read Kill Order or Fever code, but I hope you'll like it just as much as I do.
The Maze Runner belongs to James Dashner, OCs and plot belong to Ritara. I'm just a humble translator.
And now let's plunge right into the turbulent sea that is New(t's) Life!
X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X
Grunts.
That was the first thing I heard. But only a second later, the clucking of a bird and the barking of a dog were added to the background noise. I additionally smelled animals and hay. Still a little dazed, I turned my head to the left when something tickled my nose. Unable to prevent the sneezing reflex, I doubled up and sneezed vigorously. Just now I noticed that I was lying on my back. Then I began to think. Where was I even? I didn't see opening my eyes for such a simple question. It was obvious. I was on a farm. A farm had such noises, as well as the animals. But why was it jolting so much then? It made no sense. So I had to look after all. I gave a sigh. Carefully I started to blink and eventually could open my eyes. Panic instantly overcame me and I shortly asked myself if I was blind. Because I saw nothing. Well, yes. Blackness. Everything around me was black. Confused, I blinked again to make sure my eyes were really open. But I had already gotten used to the darkness and I realized that it wasn't as black as I had thought.
A light flared up in irregular intervals and vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. But it was enough to see at least a little. The next thing I registered was the four crates in one corner. In one corner of a sort of cage… My heartbeat spiked and pounded against my ribcage. I forced myself to calm down and looked around further. This cage was moving apparently, which would explain the strong jolts. Now I realized too that we were moving up and so fast that it was frightening. How high up were we already? I carefully rolled onto my stomach to take a better look. I also now knew where the smell of hay had come from. A thick layer of the wonderfully smelling grass was laid out under me. Curious, I peeked through a hole in the bottom of the cage and immediately felt a strong nausea rise up.
I couldn't see anything. Beneath me everything was black, a light flared up occasionally that quickly went out though. I had no idea for how long we had been moving or how high I was. But honestly, I didn't want to know.
Completely confused and close to panicking, I returned to my original position and stared in the direction I assumed the ceiling was. I mused and thought, trying to make sense of all of this. But none of my thoughts made sense in any way, so I eventually gave up. Everything would become clear, I was sure of it. And so, I could do nothing but wait.
Everything remained dark for some time and I started to wonder if I would ever see the light again. Then I noticed a red light in the blackness above me which headed straight toward me at breakneck speed. By now I could recognize that it was a door. And we were speeding on and on towards that door without slowing down in the slightest. I quickly tried to get up, ready to escape, even if it was futile. But it gave me the feeling of not being completely helpless against the inevitable collision that would surely take my life.
The door came closer and closer and I closed my eyes, awaiting the impact. But it never came. A strong jerk went through the cage and I was pressed to the ground. I remained lying without moving an inch and waited for something to happen. I didn't dare to open my eyes. I was too afraid of what I would see. But I knew, sooner or later I would have to open them, whether I wanted or not. I couldn't lay here forever after all. So I decided that it would be enough to blink at first.
But almost immediately I shut my eyes tightly again, as all of a sudden everything became as bright as day. Clumsily I tried to shield my face with my hand. I could hear a voice. She was muttering something, but I couldn't understand it. I only knew that relief flooded me, I was so glad to finally hear a human voice again. But still, a part of me was distrustful. Who was that? Where did the voice come from? And even more important: Where was I now? Would they be able to tell me where I was? A creak pulled me from my thoughts and brought me back down to earth. Without thinking too much, I opened my eyes regardless and, despite the searing light, I distinguished a figure. I only saw it hazily, but it looked like a man. Now he squatted down and did the same as me. Stare in complete confusion.
"Hey, who are you?"
Frightened, I gave a start.
"W… w… what?", I asked, puzzled.
"Who are you?", the man patiently repeated the question.
I was about to answer when I realized something. I had no idea who I was. Not a single clue. I didn't know what my name was, how old I was, how I looked like and even where I came from was beyond me. If I had family, when my birthday was, where I had lived… I didn't know. I simply didn't have any indications of who I was. And that fact shocked me so much that a little sob escaped me.
The man above me instantly changed his attitude. He reached to his side and a rope appeared. He lowered one end down to me and looped the other around his chest and shoulder.
"Let's get you out of there first, then we can talk.", the man explained.
I got up hesitantly, my legs seriously shaking, but they held my weight. I shortly debated whether or not it was safer to stay in the cage or to finally stand in the light again, but with a stranger. My wish for freedom and light won over and determinedly, I grabbed the end of the rope and wrapped it around my hips. I gathered all of my strength, channelled it and began to climb up the wall. It wasn't tall, but after such an event everything seemed big and new to me.
But only two minutes later, I scrambled over the edge and collapsed on the soft meadow, completely exhausted. Worriedly, the man sat down beside me. I raised my head apologetically and looked into a friendly looking face. I could see now that it was more of a boy, maybe sixteen or seventeen. He had dark skin and hair cropped short. The white teeth sparkled. He actually looked quite friendly, at least he was smiling a little. Now he extended a hand to me.
"Hi, I'm Alby."
Just then, I had been resting on my hands and knees on the ground. Now I let myself fall to the side, turned and landed on my butt. I stretched out my legs and propped myself up from behind with one hand while I high-fived Alby with my other.
"Hi, Alby."
He let himself sink to the ground beside me and tucked up his legs. His arms resting on his knees, he looked at me. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Then a smile crept onto his face.
"I know how you feel.", he began.
I looked up, incredulous, and stared at him. Beg his pardon? He knew what? Alby continued smiling.
"You're scared.", he stated matter-of-factly, "You're scared because you don't know who you are, where you come from. I went through the same thing. But I can promise you, in a few days you'll remember your name."
The very thought of it brought tears to my eyes. Alby saw that too.
"I have an idea. I'll show you how you look like, then you know at least that again. Afterwards, you'll get something to eat and I'll tell you everything, okay?", he suggested.
I hesitated for a moment. Was it a trick? I didn't know the boy actually. On the other hand, I really wanted to know more. So I cast aside my doubts and nodded. That sounded good, knowing what I looked like. Joy ran through me as I got up and followed Alby toward a gut. It looked halfway done but had a roof already. He invitingly held open the door made from a loose wooden board, then entered the small room himself.
"You know what a mirror is, do you?", he wanted to know.
I nodded. Of course I knew. Alby stepped beside me and put something in my hand. I lifted it and looked. The mirror. It was just a small hand mirror, but it was sufficient. For the first time, I could see myself:
I had blond hair hanging cheekily into my forehead. My eyes had a dark brown colour. I saw a straight nose, lips, a square chin, high cheekbones. All in all, I found myself pretty acceptable. My clothes were only comprised of dark trousers, a maroon top and a white shirt, as well as the shoes I was wearing. My build could be described as slender. I seemed to be relatively tall. I liked that.
"Better?", Alby asked.
"Much better.", I smiled back.
Then suddenly something flashed through me like an epiphany. There was something. Something important. I opened my eyes wide and looked at Alby, who looked back quizzically.
"I know my name again!", I exclaimed excitedly.
"My name is Newt!"
END CHAPTER 1
And there we have it, dears! Chapter 1 is done. I might drop the next chapter in three or four days, depending on my uni work. I have a lot of fun with the story and I'm really excited to share it with you.
I hope you like it, pretty please leave a comment if you did and that I can welcome you back for Chapter 2.
Until then, kisses and cake!
Yuna McHill