If There Is A Light

Chapter 6

There was no way to be sure, but she was about one hundred and three percent sure that in whatever position she held in the life before the Glade that she possessed no culinary skills. Frypan had his work cut out for him. She spent most of her day trying to stay out of his way and making sure she was mirroring his actions exactly. However some weird cosmic twist in their universe caused hers to taste like dirty dish water and his to taste.... Well amazing. She was not sure of what she had eaten before this, but she could still taste the difference in good cooking and bad cooking. Hers was definitely the latter.

She was skeptical when she first entered his domain, and she would have hardly called it a kitchen. It held the bare essentials: a few pots, spoons, bowls and multitasking knives. She was utterly amazed at how innovative Frypan was. He used what little he had in the way of spices and tools and was able to dance circles around what she could come up with. Granted she had only been there a little over a day, but she somehow knew that her time spent there had nothing to do with it.

Frypan had laughed at her when she released an angry sigh and an annoyed look replaced the disgusted look on her face. He tried his best to not look like he was going to vomit, but she could have sworn his face turned a shade of green. Nevertheless he assured her he could fix it and no one would have to know how truly bad it was to start with.

His calm and encouraging demeanor slowly changed as the day progressed. He started to worry about a 'deadline', making sure everyone was fed on time, and Alby had something big planned. By the end of her sentence her hair clung to her face and beads of sweat dripped from her brow (the Glade got pretty hot during the day). She used the back of her hand to wipe away the stray strands and excess perspiration. She got a lecture from Frypan each time, he nagged about it not being sanitary. She knew she should have cared a little more, but they did not even have running water so it seemed to her that his 'state-of-the-art' kitchen itself was not sanitary. The grouchy thought could have just been the heat, frustration and sheer exhaustion catching up with her though. After a couple times he finally told her to just get out. Of course he said it in a nicer fashion, "Just take the rest of the day off."

She knew he was just telling her to get out, but she was happy to oblige. Being out in the open made her instantly feel better. There was a breeze that made the wetness on her skin feel cool and blew the annoying pieces of hair out of her eyes. Looking around she could tell that everyone else was ready to be done with the day as well. Perhaps it was the fact they were all excited for whatever Alby had planned or maybe they were all simply exhausted as well, but their speed was slowed down a lot from that morning.

Since everyone was busy with responsibilities and previous engagements she took the time to explore. That is if you could call it that. She had already been given a tour of the place, and she was not sure she wanted to brave the untamed parts yet. All she was really doing was walking along the perimeter of the wall. Her hand was gently placed on the concrete and she drug it lightly across the rough barrier as she tried to get a sense of how big the Glade truly was.

Newt was always glad to get out of the maze. He was happy to help in whatever way he could. This was his home, and if his job was to run around in the most dangerous place and risk his life then so be it. At first it was not nearly as taxing, but now that they had basically run out of any sort of hope in getting out it felt like a chore. That was what it was actually... They had decided it would be best to keep up the charade for the other Gladers who still thought they had a chance of getting back home. None of them knew where or what 'home' was, but it was the common goal that kept them going.

Newt noticed her walking alongside the walls when he first stepped out of the deathtrap. At first he was ready to tackle her and tell her to get away, because she really did not want anything to do with the maze even though she might think she did. She was not interested in the entrances though. She stopped in a particular spot that he knew very well.