Born to Run (Newt X Reader)

Earn Your Keep

"Rise n' shine Greenie! Time to get to work."

     You let out a loud groan as you were tipped from your hammock by a group of boys. "It's so early," you groaned, curling up into a ball on the ground and pulling your blanket over your head.

     "You get used to it. Now, this here is Winston, he's the keeper of the slicers. So he'll be responsible for you while you work and he'll teach you all you need to know." You rose your head to see the boy Alby had mentioned. He was a dark-haired boy with tanned skin and dark eyes. He was kind of scrawny compared to some of the other boys but he seemed nice enough. You awkwardly lifted a hand to wave before you were hauled to your feet by a familiar brute. Such force was used that you tumbled backwards into your hammock, flipping over it and onto the ground once more.

     "Morning Gally," you growled, pulling yourself to your feet and stretching your arms.

     "Greenie," he smirked back. He was definitely one Glader you didn't like.

     You tried to ignore him as Winston gestured for you to follow, Alby waving goodbye as you went and the other boys he had conjured to wake you up departing to their own jobs.

     "So," Winston began as you made your way towards the blood house, "Good job at beating Gally last night. It's about time someone showed the shank up."

     "Why is he so-" you trailed off, trying to find a nicer word than the one that had first come to mind, "Mean?" Yeah, that word was definitely much better.

     "Cause he's Gally," Winston shrugged, "How do you feel about blood?"

     "Uh." You couldn't really remember too much about blood. Sure you'd seen it a couple of times since you'd arrived yesterday, but you hadn't really seen enough to make any proper assumptions. "I don't know?" Winston only hummed before pulling the gate open to an animal pen and gesturing for you to enter. Once you were inside he shut the gate and watched you with a smile. "Are you not coming in?" you questioned slowly, feeling slightly confused.

     "Nope," Winston grinned, "You see, we need to catch one of those hogs." He gestured to the other side of the pen where a group of about eight pig-like things with large tusks stood in a huddle. Their eyes seemed to stare you down and you shivered slightly before turning back to the boy.

     "Ok, so what does that have to do with me?"

     "As Gladers, we believe in earning your keep. Those hogs? Are not nice things to try and catch. Especially that big one over there, pretty sure he's a boar. Now we need to catch one to take to the bloodhouse today, so. That jobs up to you today Greenie. You catch one of the small ones and you get extra dinner tonight and you've earned your keep."

     "What if I catch the big one?"

     "You're off slaughter duty for a week and you've got yourself a whole lot of respect. We haven't been able to catch that guy in months."

     You turned to face the large pigs, weighing up your options in your mind. You hadn't actually been on slaughter duty yet, but you weren't really looking forward to it. Plus, it could be good to earn yourself a little more respect. You let out a breath of air, rolling your shoulders and shaking your hands. You were probably really going to regret this.

     Upon seeing you in the pen the other slicers abandoned their tasks and hurried over to watch. Wide grins spreading across their faces. It appeared they found amusement in torturing poor Greenies. "Good luck Newbie. I'll help carry you to the Med-Jacks once you're done!" one of the slicers called out.

     "Quiet now Dave. Let her concentrate."

     "Yeah Dave," you muttered angrily under your breath. You began to take slow cautious steps towards the animals, trying to separate the hogs from the boar. One of the pigs screeched and you jumped to the side as a hog ran past you, another quickly following. "Ya!" you yelled waving your arms in the air and scaring another hog away. The boar stared you down as you approached. Not even seeming fazed by your yelling or outstretched arms.