Smoke and Mirrors | Newt x Male OC

Chapter 3

A loud rumbling sound echoed around the glade, waking Wire up suddenly. He blinked, trying to get his bearings. He was lying face down, half on half off his thin mat on the floor. Wire groaned, and rolled over onto his back. There was dirt imprinted on his cheek, and his hair was standing on end. Groaning, Wire tried to shake the grogginess out of his clouded mind.

Last night had been a blur. Someone had managed to figure out how to make alcohol, or something along those lines, and he was now feeling the consequences. Wire sighed and looked around. Gladers were camped out in groups all round the clearing, a few getting ready for the day. A rumbling in his stomach alerted Wire to the need of food, and soon.

He pushed himself up, swaying slightly on his feet. Bloody hell. What was in that stuff Wire sighed, he'd just have to push through. Newt had pointed Frypan out the night before, aparently he was the most proficient in the food department.

Wire found the infamous Frypan in the beginnings of a kitchen. There were two walls already set up, and a few appliances lying around. Frypan himself was quite a hairy guy, dark skinned and stocky in build. His apron was stained with food, and he seemed busy cooking up a storm.

Wire knocked on the door lightly, not sure how Frypan would take being interrupted. The bloke looked up from where he was furiously chopping some carrots. Wire was genuinely scared for the boy's fingers.

"What?" He said gruffly, his voice matching his rugged appearance. "Come to steal somming from my freezer?"

Wire raised his eyebrows, and held his hands up in surrender. "I come in peace, Chef. Just wanted to know what a man had to do to get some grub around here."

Frypans hard gaze softened, and a low rumble off a laugh could be heard. "There's some eggs and bacon over there. Sauce is in the fridge." He pointed the knife at a plate stacked impossibly high with food.

"See, was that so hard?" Wire said teasingly, winking. Frypan just rolled his eyes.

"You got some attitude kid. Not everyone here is gonna take kindly to that."

"Consider me warned." Wire grinned and took a bite of the bacon. Frypan sighed and went back to dicing his carrots.

"So... how was it coming up in the box? I mean, when the rest of us woke up, we were just spread out around the glade. No freaky elevator to be seen." Frypan glanced at Wire for a moment.

He shrugged, chewing on his bacon for a moment. "Kinda terrifying, to be honest. It was black, pitch black, then mix that with no bloody memories and a rickety ass box." Wire stared at his feet, thinking back to that morning. Only yesterday. It was hard to believe he had only been here a day.

"I get that. Waking up here was hard enough." Frypan nodded, and scraped his carrots into a pit. It looked like he was about to say something else, when a commotion sounded from the other side of the glade. Wire and Frypan gave each other a look, then started sprinting out of the kitchen. It sounded like screaming.

As the pair reached the west wall they could make out Newt and Alby. But Alby was straddling another boy raining punches down on him like hellfire. Wire recognised his face, but couldn't connect it to a name.

The boy was a mess. His muscles were locked, tense and cramped, as if they had always been that way. His eyes bulged, his lips pressed tight, the skin on his face looked like it had been ripped off, boiled, then stapled back on again.

Wire skidded to a stop as he reached the group, just as Newt managed to stop most of Albys punches.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with him?" Newt shouted. A kid Wire didn't know came into view.