Author stuff: This chapter was added last year. I wasn't entirely sure of what I wanted with it, but I needed to add in Verena getting into the Map Room, so a follow up chapter had to be written. I have a lot of... complicated feelings about this chapter.
It was originally supposed to be an Archie chapter. He and Graham were going to bond, and Adne was going to come in and the three of them were going to talk about her locket. Mostly because I forgot Archie and Adne were both Runners and that couldn't happen. So, I had to rework everything. But I got to slip in a part of a scene that was taken out, so yay!
This was the outcome of it. Y'all are getting an extra Adne chapter. I'm breaking the cycle! It's fine though.
Trigger warning: Violence, blood, and injuries.
Chapter 39
In Which Adne Talks About Her Locket
Adne was grateful she had the day off. It had been... a while since she'd done, really, nothing. In the morning, she helped out in the gardens. Zart chased her away before something could happen to the turnips.
Again.
She went to a couple others to see if they needed any sort of help and was promptly shooed away. In the end, she wound up doing some basic exercises and stretches. That is, until she was interrupted.
"That looks painful."
Adne rightened herself, turning around.
Now, she knew Graham. They shared a similar friend group, but the two of them? Well, to say they spent any amount of time without at least one other person, would be a lie. It would be like finding a diamond in the Glade.
"Not really," she said, bringing her arm up over her head and bending it at the elbow. With her other hand, she found the joint and pushed down, feeling a few muscles tug as they were stretched.
Graham winced.
"And that looked gross." He wrinkled his nose. "How did you know that you could do that?"
Adne shrugged.
"Just kind of happened." She moved on to the other arm, repeating the process.
"You know, you're probably grossing out half the Glade."
"Doesn't bother me."
"No?"
"Blame Verena. She's always staring at me when I stretch in our room."
"She kind of scares me," he said, shuddering.
"Yeah," Adne said, "she kind of freaks me out too.If it makes you feel better, she only picks on people she considers her friends."
"That's not... comforting."
"Zart's kind of her favorite target right now. The two of them formed a weird bond."
"Did something happen?"
"I didn't catch all of it when Flossy explained, but it was something about his tomatoes."
"Zart and his shucking tomatoes."
The two of them shared a look and laughed.
"You're kind of warming back up to people after... yeah."
Adne shrugged again.
"Y'all aren't all terrible. Just a few bad apples in the bushel."
"Gee, thanks."
She snorted.
"So, why aren't you working today?" she said, moving to sit on the soft earth and stretch her legs.
YOU ARE READING
This Conspiracy
FanfictionWhen Archie came up in the Box, he was accompanied by a girl, Flossy, and another boy, Graham. They arrived in the Glade, unsure of their futures or what would be expected of them. It all seems peaceful, until they start to learn about the Maze beyo...
