Hearts and Minds

I Probably Have Anger Issues

"Wait okay-so who are you?" Artemis asked for the fifth time, pointing at the darker skinned boy..he looked more like a man, early twenties possibly. The man gave her a look that said 'are you serious?'

"Oh my shucking word-Chuck! Someone find Chuck, now!" Alby shouted aloud, he had been trying to explain what he could when Newt handed the two greenies over to him. But now the girl was really grinding his nerves, she asked the same questions over and over.

"Down here Alby!"
"Thank God, Chuck! Show these two around."

Alby instantly stalked off leaving Artemis and Thomas alone with the..kid. He was a kid. Artemis felt something in her stomach summersault at the sight. He was just a child, couldn't be older than thirteen. He had a load of fabrics, sticks, and other useless items in his arms. "Hey! I'm Chuck. Welcome to the Glade, Greenies. Follow me!"

Artemis furrowed her brows as she looked at the curly haired kid. The Glade..what? And what did he mean by Greenies?! She stumbled to keep up with the kid, he seemed to be walking as if life was perfectly fine. As if this was normal and this is how the world is supposed to work. Artemis bent down and grabbed some of the fabrics from the massive pile of junk in his arms, earning a grateful look from the boy. "What..what does 'greenie' mean?" Thomas asked, catching up and walking on the other side of Chuck.

"Newbies. The new person to the Glade. Or in this case new people." Chuck explained as he led them to a little shack. There was only one wall and the rest of the space was just hammocks and a few sleeping boys. As Thomas and Artemis both started tying up their own hammocks, Chuck explained each job and where everything was. And how each day they'd train with a different Keeper to see which job they'd get. Artemis was listening to him rant about how he was a Slopper and he was basically doing his job now when she noticed the large gap in the cement walls. The girl furrowed her eyebrows, slowly stepping away from the boys.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing a finger towards it. Chuck instantly glanced off, chuckling slightly as if he was trying to hide something. It fell deaf to Artemis' ears, her curiosity overwhelming her habit to analyze everything.

"I don't know. We're not supposed to go in there."

"Why not?" Thomas asked.

"I don't know that either." Chuck responded, once again sounding unsure of himself. The tone of voice was a dead giveaway to Thomas that it was obviously something. And Artemis was already stalking towards it. Thomas started jogging to catch up to the girl, causing Chuck to stare after them with an offended glare. "Hey! I just said we aren't allowed to go in there! Why are you still-hey wait for me!" The boy said, quickly dropping the rope he had been holding and scurrying to catch up with the two.

Artemis made it to the gap first, staring at it in awe. It was much bigger up close and it was definitely more ominous once you stood before it. Thomas wasn't long before he was standing beside her, arms crossed over his chest. Artemis had her hands on her hips beside him before she subconsciously grabbed his wrist and started walking into the opening. "Woah, what are you doing?" Thomas asked quickly, yet he made no move to pull away from her touch.

"Going to take a look. Aren't you curious what's beyond this...wall. This is all insane and if I don't figure out what's going on I might go crazy." She rambled, looking at him with almost a pleading look. As if saying 'please I can't do it alone.' Thomas sucked on his teeth, glancing back at Chuck who hadn't quite caught up yet. He finally sighed as he nodded, instantly earning a pleased grin from the girl. She instantly started pulling him back towards the opening.

"Hey!" Artemis furrowed her brows at the scream, turning to see what was going on but was instantly knocked off her feet. Somebody had ran over and pushed Thomas, causing a chain reaction of Artemis to go flying with him. Artemis squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for her face to hit the dirt. Instead Thomas had grabbed her, letting himself hit the ground and basically catching her. She let out a breath, looking down at him.

"Tommy? You okay?" She asked instantly, scrambling off of him to her feet. Roles had reversed now, Artemis holding out her smaller hand for the boy to take. He took it and let her pull him up with a groan from both of them.

"Yeah..I'm fine." He grumbled before the two turned towards whoever the hell had just pushed them. There stood the boy named Gally, glaring at them with his arms crossed. The way he stared at them insinuated that it was their fault they had been pushed. The thought made Artemis' blood boil and caused her to see red.

"What the hell was that?!" She shouted, stalking towards the boy. Chuck was panting beside the three, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Soon enough a crowd had gathered around them. They were all watching eagerly for what was going to happen. "You can't just push people because you feel like it douchebag!"

The boy scoffed, standing straighter when Artemis stopped barely a foot away from him. "Get over it. That was only a warning. Next time you go anywhere near the maze I won't hesitate to throw you just because you're a girl." Gally hissed, hiding a proud smile on his face. He thought he had handled that well, proven his point and whatnot. But that only pissed off Artemis even more. Not to mention the seething Thomas that stood right behind her.

"Last I checked you weren't the one in charge here bonehead! And even if you were I'd have a hard time listening to you because I'm so distracted by your withering teeth. Next time you lay a finger on me I'll snap it clean in half, you understand me?!" Artemis shouted back. She was slightly taken aback inside, she didn't know how angry she was until she started spewing out words..but now she felt the urge to break something. Hit something. She was shaking with anger at the way Gally had tried to talk to her like she was a toddler.

"Listen here you little b-"

"Okay okay! That is enough! Gally, get to your hut. Now!" Alby had materialized beside the two, grabbing Gally and pushing at his shoulder slightly. The taller boy frowned deeper and shoved past Thomas on his way out. Artemis had to fight the urge to launch herself at him from behind. "Everyone else, back to work. Go!"

As the crowd dispersed, Alby walked over to the trio. "You got guts. And that's good for in here, but not when it's distracting my workers. Listen to Chuck, he'll tell you everything you need to know. Be ready for the bonfire tonight." As Alby walked off Artemis had to fight the urge to throw dirt at his back. He was so vague, so irritating! As was most of the people she had met by now in this horrid place.

"Wait. Bonfire?" Thomas asked, turning to the curly haired boy. Chuck looked up at them with an excited grin. Artemis couldn't help smiling at the sight, the fact the boy looked so innocent and happy right then.

"Yeah! We have a bonfire to introduce our Greenies every month! And this time it's probably going to be bigger and better because there's two of you!" Chuck said as he bounced up and down in excitement. Artemis had let herself calm down before speaking to the only two people she felt she could somewhat trust in this strange place.

"Tell us all about the last one." She said, earning a look from Thomas. Chuck grinned wider, if possible, and instantly launched into the story of his own bonfire that had happened when he was sent up in the box. Thomas gave her an exasperated look, knowing the boy would talk for hours considering he hadn't stopped since they met him. She just smiled back, walking with the two boys towards the edge of the woods to get some shade. Artemis caught sight of something shiny on the ground and zoned out for a moment trying to inspect it. She was taken aback when it scurried away as fast as possible, leaving her hardly any time to see it. She chewed the inside of her lip, slowly catching up with the boys. She didn't know what that was but she could tell one things about it. It was watching them.