A Little Hope (TMR Fanfic)COMPLETED

CHAPTER FOUR

Newt sat beside me in front of the tree, holding a stick and drawing patterns of swirls and circles into the dirt. We had been talking about the maze and how Thomas had killed something called a Griever at night by squashing it in a wall. Newt had laughed when I grimaced and shivered.
"You're such a girl," he chuckled along.
"Maybe because I am one?" I giggled.
We looked at each other, our worlds melting into each other's with our eyes... then I looked away, blushing. Newt coughed awkwardly and stood up. He held out a hand to me to pull me up. I accepted and took his hand.
"I'm taking you to dinner," he stated, confident.
"How romantic," I rose an eyebrow. He pulled my hand and dragged me away from the forest over to some benches where the rest of the gladers were sitting, feeding on pork and vegetables. We sat down next to Thomas and Teresa, who were happily chatting away.
"Hey," Teresa smiled at me as she plopped another piece of carrot in her mouth. "They have good food for a glade."
I replied the smile as I grabbed a plate and served up some meat.
"Thomas, I thought you would've been in the pit tonight." Newt said.
"Yeah, but Alby said he needed to diccuss some stuff with me first. So I'm allowed to have dinner then talk then the pit." Thomas groaned and continued knawing on his food.
I then realized how hungry I was by my stomach growling angrily. I apologized mentally and stuffed myself with pig.
"You're a fast eater," Newt laughed, still only on his vege as I polished up my plate.
"Oops," I looked at him.
"Woah." Thomas acted surprised. "It can talk!"
"Ha ha, Thomas." Teresa fake-punched him in the shoulder. "He's such a comedian."
"Thomas!" Alby appeared from a nearby bench and waved for Thomas to go over. Thomas nodded at us and got up, running over to Alby. They talked for a while, then started making their way over to a concrete building in the centre of the glade.
"They're going to talk about maps," Newt said, obviously noticing my confusion. "Thomas is a runner now, so they have to map and note what they found today."
"About the griever?" I asked and Newt nodded.
"Thomas told me about that." Teresa chimed in. "What do grievers look like?"
Newt kind of shuddered, like he was scarred, then gulped. "I think you'd have to see for yourself."

Once we ate dinner, Newt took me back to the hammocks. He lay down, but I perched on the edge, trying to take control of what happened today in my mind. Newt noticed and used his elbow to lean on the bed.
"You okay?" He wondered.
"Yeah, just tired." I yawned and lay down, finally.
"It's been a wild day." Newt said, but I didn't look at him. Above my head, the trees had parted, leaving an area of the night sky to display. It was beautiful.
Suddenly, a memory flashed~ I was laying on the grass, someone lying next to me. I heard a baby cry to my right and someone whisper in my ear: "She's all ours. All ours."
Then I woke up.

I remembered something.
It probably wasn't important, probably only something personal, but I remembered. I wasn't sure if I should've told someone, but I knew I couldn't keep it to myself for long. Someone was bound to get curious.
Then I remembered something else. This time, only one word, being spoken by a man around my age~ Riley.
Then I woke up, again.

I had a dream inside of a dream. My eyes opened and I winced at the light of morning. Glancing to my side, I saw that Newt was still asleep, so I sat up slowly and rubbed my forehead. I'd had a headache since I arrived in the glade, like someone was constantly pounding at the back of my hair, trying to get my attention. Maybe it was my memories. That's why they were coming back to me, slowly.
I turned to my right and looked out at the glade, all the grass, the field. The door of the right wall had shut during the night, obviously, and now they were opening again. They caused a crunching, scraping sound that probably woke up most of the gladers. I had to cover my ears the sound was so dreadful.
"Morning," Newt yawned from behind me. I turned around, greeted him, then turned back. There were two people standing by the opening of the maze. Thomas and Minho. Once the terrible sound had stopped, they ran in together. I jumped up and took a few steps forward, gaping.
"They went in!" I gasped and Newt appeared beside me.
"Who did?" He asked, squinting to where I was looking.
"Thomas and Minho!" I rubbed my head, confuzed again. I realized how often I was confuzed at everything.
"They're runners." Newt explained and turned to look at me frowning. "Oh yeah, I didn't really tell you what runners are, did I?"
I shook my head. "I thought they were, like, athletes, or something."
"They run around the maze, mapping it, trying to find a way out. The maze changed every night, so it's pretty hard. But it's the best job here, hardest, but best."
"I want to go in," I took a step forward but was stopped by Newt grabbing onto my arm. I shook it off.
"You can't just go in," Newt walked in front of me, tilting his head slightly.
"Why not?" I asked stubbornly.
"It's one of our rules: no non-runners going in the maze."
"Then I want to be a runner." I crossed my arms, wincing at him.
Newt burst into laughter and held his stomach. "You can't just be a runner. You've got to work for it." He walked back over to his hammock and I turned to face him, arms still crossed.
"I'm going to be a runner," I said. "And I'm going to work, more than any of you little boys have ever done in two years."