Finding Hope - Newt x Reader | Book 1

Chapter 2

I wake up to a soft shake. My eyes open, the light of the day not as bright as I was expecting it to be. As my eyes adjust, the figure above me becomes more clear and I make it out to be Newt. The boy looks at me with a gentle smile, his face showing his excitement. His hair is messier than usual, as if he just woke up and didn't bother to fix it.

He softly shakes my hammock again, "Come on, Clementine. I have something to show you before the others wake up."

It takes a moment for what he just said to click in my mind, but once it does, I slowly sit up in my hammock. I cover my mouth with my hand as a yawn escapes my lips. I rub my eyes, and look around---everyone's still sleeping, including the runners. The sun wasn't even entirely up yet, and dawn was barely marking the sky.

I look up at the boy, showing my skepticism, "Newt, what time is it?"

"It's uh... early," he whispers, "now come on, we don't have lots of time."

I sigh as I stand up, stretching my arms out before looking at the blonde in front of me. He looked like a little golden retriever excited to go on a walk. A smile forms on my face as I pick up a small purse-like bag and get my boots on.

"Alright, lead the way captain," I tell him, gesturing towards the rest of the Glade.

He starts walking off, and I follow close behind. It's weird hearing such silence around the Glade, as there's almost always noise from every direction---whether it's conversations, the sounds of the cutting down of trees, or even the animals from the Blood House. The loudest thing is the sounds of crickets chirping.

I walk side by side with the taller boy as he leads me to a smaller group of trees, a bit away from one of the walls. He walks up to one of the taller trees and pulls himself up, climbing up the branches. I just stop and stare at the boy, watching as he just continued to make his way up the tree.

He pauses momentarily, realizing that I'm not climbing up with him. He looks down at me, "Well come on. It's about to happen."

"You look like a monkey," I laugh, remaining in my spot at the trunk of the tree.

"Oh shut up, come up here," he tells me, a playful tone in his voice as he continues to grab onto branches and pull himself up.

Here we go. I grab onto the closest branch and pull myself up, following behind the brit. Eventually, he stops generally at the top of the tree, sitting on a branch as he waits for me. I make my way to him, carefully crawling along the branch. My right hand slips and I feel the right side of my body fall downwards. I quickly grab the branch again, my heart feeling like it just skipped 100 beats.

"Careful," the boy says ahead of me as he reaches a hand out to me. I look up at him, his brown eyes looking into mine. I place my hand in his as he guides me along the branch, before sitting back down in the spot he was in before. We sit down, our legs dangling off the branch and our arms touching as we sit closely together. I focus my attention on the view in front of us---the Glade looking smaller than usual, and the walls looking just a bit shorter. All the buildings and areas look smaller, and the boys in the Homestead look like little ants. The night sky still above us, and stars sparkling. The darkness of the night looks like it's fading away behind the wall ahead of us.

I turn to the boy, his gaze focused on the land in front of us. "What exactly are we doing up here, Newt?"

He turns to me, a soft look on his face, "Just give it a minute, Greenie. It's gonna happen any minute now, look ahead." He points over at the wall our bodies face. Slowly, the sky fades into a subtle pink and yellow, the brightness of the sun peaking above the wall. Light finds its way onto the Glade, and everything suddenly looks alive.