Afflicted↠ Newt [1]

Chapter 24

I woke up to screaming. Gally's screams echoed off the walls of the Homestead; it made me wonder how anyone was able to sleep a wink. I tried to go back to sleep, covering my ears, stuffing my head under my pillow, but nothing seemed to block out the horrible screams- not even a little bit.
Movement in the bed next ot me caught my attention. I turned to see Newt sitting on the edge of his bed, tying his shoe. He looked up at me as I sat up in my bed, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.
"You okay?" he asked. I nodded, stifled a yawn.
"Minho's taking the day off, for the Gathering today," he said with a smirk. "So you won't be alone."
"I'm never alone," I insisted. "I have more friends here than you think."
"Yeah?" Newt raised an eyebrow. "Name some, then."
"Alby, Frypan, Winston, Zart, Gally, Jeff," I counted off the people with my fingers, laughed as he rolled his eyes.
"And how often do you talk to these people?"
"I talk to Frypan and Jeff at least once a day," I said.
Newt chuckled, began tying his other shoe. "Trust me, princess. You wouldn't be the same bloody person you are now without me."
I smiled at him, realizing what he said was true, "I know."
He stood up and walked over to me, sat on the bed next to me, "I have to go. I'll see you later, okay?"
I nodded, "Be careful?"
"Always." He leaned down and placed a quick kiss on my lips before standing up. I watched as he exited the room, closing the door behind him, before settling back into my bed. Gally's screams had become softer, maybe to the point where I could get some more sleep.
I closed my eyes, thankful as I immediately felt myself dozing off.

Once again, I was dreaming. I was in a lab, surrounded by high-tech computers and other electronic devices. The lab was empty, except for two kids. Emily and Oliver. They sat in front of a computer, watching intently as a low quality video played. I approached them, strained to see the video. I realized that the video that played was that of the Glade. streaming from the eye of a beetle blade.
The Glade didn't look the same as it did now. The Homestead was smaller, only big enough to fit about six people inside. The Deadheads were fresh and green, the grass short. Not as much ivy covered the cracked stone walls, and goats and pigs ran freely around the field. Four boys wandered around the Glade in a group, staring around them in awe. My stomach clenched as I recognized the boys. Nick and Alby. Gally was there, too. And Newt. I felt my throat tighten as the camera focused on the blonde boy. He stared around the Glade, his eyebrows ceased. No idea where he was, probably frightened to death. No memory of his past life. Of me.
Voices came from the video- muffled, barely audible, but still there.
"This place it too weird. Where are we?"
It was Nick that had spoken. He already seemed to take authority, as if it were natural for him. The three other boys stopped walking, turned to look at him as he spoke.
"It must be a prison." This was Gally. "It's the only possible answer."
"What could we have possibly done to deserve to be put here?" Alby spoke. Newt stayed silent, his gaze focused on the ground as his shoes drew designs in the dirt.
"There's no time to ponder on it now," Nick said. "Look around you. We have animals, supplies, shelter. Whoever put us here obviously wants us to survive. We might as well make the best of it."
Alby nodded. His gaze shifted, so that he was looking directly into the camera. His eyebrows furrowed together, he pointed towards it.
"What is that?"
Emily quickly clicked some buttons, and the camera shut off with a beeping noise. She fell back into her chair, looked over at Oliver.
"See?" he said. "He's fine. And you'll be there soon."
"Not soon enough," Emily said, crossing her arms with a huff.
"Six months," Oliver leaned over and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, and she nodded.
"Six months."

I felt a wave of dizziness as my vision blurred, shook. And then it cleared. Though now I was no longer in the lab, but in a different room. I opened my eyes, realizing that I had control of my body. I saw nothing but a white ceiling. I tried to move my limbs, but it was as if they were strapped into whatever I lay on. I then realized that I was inside my old body. Before I went into the Maze.
People in lab suits stood over me, wearing weird masks over their faces. Realization flooded over me, and I felt a rush of panic. These were the people that operated on Newt before he went into the Maze, and they were about to operate on me.
My head turned- it was as if I no longer had control of my body- and looked over at a table next to me. Oliver layed on the table, his eyes closed. But when I called out to him- my voice sounding foreign to my ears- his eyes opened. He turned to look at me and smiled.
"You get to see him, Emily. Today."
I nodded, "Today."
I felt a sudden prick in my arm, let out a gasp of surprise as my vision became blurry. The voices that spoke around me became muffled and slow. There was a faint buzzing sound, followed by a few hisses. I tried to move my arms, my fingers, anything, but I had no control over my body what-so-ever. I felt a slight discomfort in the sides of my head, growing sharper by the second until it felt like a full-on migrane. There was a beeping sound in my head, followed by a hissing noise. I became dizzy, ready to pass out as I breathed in a pungent smell. The mask.
My eyes felt as if they were beginning to droop, yet they were closed. My head was heavy. The dizziness was overwhelming. And then everything went black.

I woke up to someone shaking me. I opened my eyes to come face to face with Minho. His eyes were wide, inches from mine. He stepped away from me once he realized I was awake, seemed to relax.
"You were freaking out in your sleep," he said. "I thought you were about to go nuts like Nick and Gally."
I looked over at the window, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Bright sunlight shone through the window, dappling the floor with light.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Almost noon," Minho shrugged. "Figured I'd let you sleep. Alby said it was okay, since there was nothing for you to do at work today."
"What about Gally?" I realized that complete silence hung over the Glade. No more screaming.
"He's calmer now," Minho replied. "Seems like whatever fit he was having is over now. Thankfully." He sat down on the edge of my bed, and I sat up to join him.
"The Greenie got his job." he looked over at me and smiled. "Looks like you'll have a new partner."
"He's a Med-Jack?" I asked, and Minho nodded. I couldn't hide the excitement I felt towards the news. We needed more Med-Jacks around here, and Jeff would be some good company.
Minho suddenly stood up, reaching down and pulling me up after him, "Now, come on. Quit being lazy and go do something useful."

+

The rest of the day seemed to go by extremely slow. There wasn't much going on around the Glade, for once. It was silent, except for the occasional calls of the animals over at the Bloodhouse. I hoped that Minho was right, and that whatever was wrong with Gally was gone now, and for good.
I looked up from my artwork in the dirt as Jeff approached me, the biggest smile that I've seen in a while plastered on his face.
"Did you hear?" he asked as he plopped down beside me. "I'm a Med-Jack!"
"I've heard," I smiled. "That's great, Jeff."
I felt a stab of sympathy towards the kid. I imagined him in his past life, before he arrived in the lift. With his family, eating dinner or even going to church. The kid couldn't of been more than 15, and yet he was thrown in here. It was so unfair.
I looked over to the West Door in time to see Newt running into the Glade. Sweat covered his forehead, drenched his hair, though he still managed to look extremely attractive. He had a smile on his face as he approached us, sat down next to me.
"How was running?" I asked.
"It was good. Nothing abnormal," he shrugged, then looked over at Jeff. "Figure out what job you got?"
He suprised me by addressing the Greenie. I've never seen him do it before, unless he was trying to scare him.
"Yeah, Med-Jack," Jeff replied and smiled. Newt looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
"Did you have something to do with it?" He asked.
"No," I scoffed. "I was asleep until noon."
Newt chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Lazy ass."
I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped as a wave of nausea came over me. I felt dizzy, had to lean on to Newt for support. Suddenly, as if being pulled by a rope, I stood up.
"Are you okay?" Newt asked, sitting up to look at me.
I shook my head, "I don't feel so good." I stumbled, feeling as if something were pulling me towards the Deadheads. "I'm going for a walk, okay?"
"Want me to come with you?" Newt looked up at me, his brown eyes full of concern.
I quickly shook my head, "No, I'm fine. I just need to be alone right now."
Newt furrowed his eyebrows, though didn't protest. I quickly turned and headed towards the Deadheads, stumbling a bit as I walked. Suddenly, I no longer felt nauseous or dizzy, almost as it someone had pressed a button to turn it off. Though I kept walking towards the trees, still feeling a longing to be surrounded by trees. To be alone.
The temperature immediately dropped as I stepped into the shade of the trees. It felt nice- peaceful almost. The only source of light was the sunlight that shone through the thick canopy of trees, dappling the leaf littered ground below me. I took a seat against a tree deep within the forest, letting out a deep breath that I hadn't realized I was holding in. I felt myself relax, and I closed my eyes. A twig snapping caused them to shoot open not a second later. I looked around me frantically, jumping as a bush rustled in front of me. I had a feeling I was being watched, and I felt a rush of panic. Another twig snapped. Alarmed, I sat up.
Maybe it was only a beetle blade watching me, and I was freaking out over nothing. But as the bushes rustled in front of me once more, I knew that it wasn't one of the metallic robot bugs. The bushes parted, revealing a boy standing in their place. George. His eyes were wide, his pupils dialated, shining with some emotion. Anger, insanity. Lust? He stepped out of the bushes, licking his lips as he looked at me.
"Hello, beautiful."

+

A/N:
OHMAHGOD CLIFFHANGER. What's gonna happen? HUh? You'll have to wait >:)
But ugh I had a feeling this chapter was poorly written. Sowwy guys :(
There's only two more chapters left in this book :O
Until next time, my lovelies <3