The Girl in Charge | Newt

9 | Tag

A/N: i haven't updated in a week, oops. sorry bout that. college was super busy! :/

Newt and Vera arrived back in the Glade with a few minutes left before sunrise. He had caught up to her not long after she had run off, simply because she let him do so. When they walked into the Glade together, Newt laughing at something she had said moments prior, Minho walked over with a grin on his face.

"Well well. Look who it is." Minho said. "Vera has come back at last."

"Shut it, Minho." She smirked.

"She smiles?" He exclaimed, looking between them.

"I don't see why you are so surprised, you shank." The familiar blank scowl formed on her face.

"And back to normal, thank shuck."

Vera left Newt and Minho to themselves and went to find the greenie, Winston. She found him sat in the animal pens, rubbing the head of the piglets.

Quietly, she sat beside him, not saying a word. Her favourite baby goat came and curled up into her lap.

"You doing okay?" She asked.

"I believe I'm handling it better than Newt did." He smiled to himself. "He seemed rather upset."

"He's a rather emotional shank sometimes, I can't lie." She sighed. "Though I can't really say much, I've only known him a month."

They continue to talk until a while after the sun had set as Vera wanted to make sure that he was definitely doing alright. Frypan yelled out for dinner and she eagerly got up, desperate to eat.

In silence, everyone made their way over to the Homestead. No one talking as their minds still replayed what they saw in the morning. She looked around at them helplessly, their empty faces being what she was scared of.

"Eat quickly, then come outside. I have an idea." She announced, her voice full of authority.

At this, the boys all ate more eagerly, themselves being distracted by the promise of an idea. Albeit, Vera wasn't sure of how to make the idea work, but she thought that it was worth a shot.

Twenty minutes later, the boys went outside and met Vera who was holding a makeshift torch and had what appeared to be mud on her face. The boys all looked at her confused, silence overwhelming them again. After a moment, Minho started laughing, followed by Newt and Nick. Soon, all of them were laughing which made Vera's face turn bright red.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked them incredulously. "I thought you all had better manners than that."

"Why do you have mud on your face?" Nick asked between his escaping laughs.

"It's my war paint, obviously." She folded her arms across her chest, her face now the brightest red they had ever seen it.

"And why do you have war paint on?" Ben grinned.

"Well, we're going to play a game and I thought to look like I was in it to win it."

"What game?" Newt asked and he stepped more towards the front of the gathering crowd.

"Tag." A smirk appeared on her face as she tapped Newt on the shoulder, blew out the torch and ran off.

He looked after her in a perplexed manner until he realised what game she was referring to. By the time he had figured it out, the other boys had all run off, getting as far away from Newt as possible. Chuckling at the situation, he started sprinting towards the forest, his first place of suspect.

It didn't take him long before he had found Adam, sneaked up on him and tapped his shoulder. He sprinted off and managed to spot Vera.

"I'm not it anymore. I got Adam." He assured her when she went to make off.

"And how do I know if I should trust a shank like you?" She smiled.

"I guess that you'll just have to take my word." He returned the smile and sat down besides her, making sure to crouch low enough to hide.

"How are you enjoying your Glade experience?" She questioned jokingly.

"Why, it's the best bloody place I've ever been." He nudged her shoulder in a playful manner. "And how has your stay been madame?"

"Abso-bloody-lutely fantastic." She chuckled lightly.

"Do you think there's a way out?" His voice dropped to a mere broken whisper.

"I can only pray there is. To give up now would be foolish, but we need to make sure that we don't kid ourselves too much and neglect this area." She had water in her eyes as she hissed in pain.

"Vera? What's wrong?" Newt questioned. His eyes looking over her body to check for any obvious injuries.

"It's nothing. Make sure the guys have a good time, okay? I need to go and sleep. " She got up, pain swelling in her chest.

Vera half ran to the Homestead and up into her room that she shared with Newt and Alby. Hidden under her bed was a box filled with needles. She grabbed one out and stuck it into her thigh, the pain starting to stop almost immediately.

Taking a deep breath, she slumped herself against the side of the bed on the floor and fell asleep. Newt came in not long after and lifted her onto the bed and got Alby to grab her an extra blanket from the storage boxes.

Newt gently covered her with the blanket, making sure to be careful to not wake her up. He turned to Alby who was looking at her in bewilderment.

"She's hiding something big, isn't she?" He stated, the question needing not an answer.

"We have to let her tell us in her own time." Alby replied, a hand on Newt's shoulder.

"But how long will that take?" The sad look returned to Newt's eyes as he looked down at her before he got into his own bed, sleep overtaking his urge to find out what happened to the girl in charge.