𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 - 𝘔𝘈𝘡𝘌 𝘙𝘜𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘙

6 ~ 𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙮'𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

Newt

 Lottie finished trying out all of the jobs, and the Keepers held a Gathering to decide what job she would have. Slicing was out immediately; she had begged me for anything but that job. Gally had said that she sucked at Building, so that was out, too. Apparently, the boys hadn't been able to handle her being a Med-jack, and we already had enough Baggers and Sloppers. There was only one job left: Track-hoe. It worked perfectly, too; she wasn't bad at it, and since there was a lot to get done in the Gardens, we could always use more workers.

Today was my first day working with Lottie. As usual, I woke before the Door opened. The sun hadn't come up from behind the Maze walls yet, so the Glade was still semi-dark. I left the Homestead, where I slept. I didn't like sleeping outside, because whenever I did, I found my blankets all wet from the dew. And since I was second in command, Alby made the Builders make me a room in the Homestead, which was located next to his own.

When I stepped outside, I could see that the only other person who was awake was Frypan, who was trying to be as quiet as possible whilst making breakfast.

I took a brisk walk around the Glade, as I did every morning. When I was finished, my shoes were soaked with dew. I was still waiting for the sun to come up, but a sliver of orange light was poking above the Eastern wall.

The Glade had a sun during the day, and sometimes even clouds. But when the sun went down, the sky was blank. No moon, no stars, nothing, which led me to think that the sky was fake. It made me disgruntled; I would have liked to see the stars and moon.

I headed over to Frypan's kitchen, wanting to be first in line, as always.

"Hey, Newt." He said as I approached. "Want some bacon? Fresh off the pan." He grabbed a strip and tossed it into the air. I caught it, and popped it into my mouth. Frypan's bacon was the best thing that's ever happened to the Glade. And his stew was the worst, I joked inside my head. I snickered silently.

"Delicious, as usual," I complimented Frypan, and then snagged an apple. I never ate much for breakfast, since I was never very hungry in the mornings. Yet, come dinnertime, I was nearly starving to death.

The sun finally poked over the wall, just as the group of Runners came over to grab some breakfast before heading out into the Maze.

"Mornin, shank," Minho said, bumping me hard with his shoulder as he passed. He grabbed an apple from the large pile, tossed it into the air, and took a bite. I was glad that the Box sent up a fresh supply of apples every week. The amount that the Gladers ate in a day was concerning.

I walked with the Runners to the Door, and waited for it to open. Finally, it did, with the loud rumbling that usually woke up the rest of the Gladers who weren't awake already.

After I watched the Runners sprint into the Maze, I turned around to face the forest, where everyone's hammocks were. Sure enough, the Door had woken up the rest of the Gladers. They were sitting up in their hammocks, rubbing the tiredness from their eyes.

Lottie was easily spotted, with her long brown hair falling down her back, tangled after sleeping. She was sitting in her hammock still, talking to Mitch. I was glad she was – no one ever gave that kid any attention, including me.

I approached her. Mitch caught sight of me, and stood immediately. All I had to do was raise my eyebrows for him to turn around and hurry towards the Bloodhouse.

"Where're ya goin'?" I called after him. He turned timidly.

"Weren't you going to tell me to get to work?"

I rolled my eyes. "Do you think I'm going to send you to work without any breakfast? That's not a way to start the day."

Lottie turned to face me. "You sound like a mom," she snickered. I sighed.