TMR/TBS Imagines

Newt // Nick

* So I wrote this a long time ago and completely forgot to post it. I hope you all like it! Love you all 💖 *

"I'll do it!"

"No, I can do it!"

"You'll just shuck it up somehow!"

"Yeah but I'm the strongest!"

"So what?!"

Boys were screaming at each other while the decision was being made. We had been in the glade for almost three years and never have we tried going into the box hole after the box went down. The boys were arguing over who should be the chosen one and go down.

"It's probably just nothing," I said crossing my arms over my chest, "it's another dead end."

Newt, who was standing beside me, sighed and put his arm around my waist. "We still have to try. We've tried everything else under the sun. This is the last option we have."

"All you shut your holes!" Our leader, Nick, yelled over the boys. They immediately silenced under his command in fear of his harsh punishments. He was a great leader, but he still was scary. "As your leader, I will go in. I need the strongest boys holding onto the rope. If anything happens to me, Alby is my second I'm command you listen to him. Am I clear?!"

"Yes Nick," everyone's monotone voice mixed into one. Nick was the best leader we could have asked for. He was understanding but disciplined when necessary. He was fair but still kept order in tough situations. Above that, he was a great friend to all of us.

Nick took the longest rope we had and tied it around his torso. He secured it underneath his armpits and tightened it so he wouldn't slip through. The strongest boys- mostly the builders and runners who weren't running that day- held onto the other end of the rope.

"On my command," Alby said watching nick sit on the edge of the box with his feet dangling inside. Nick sent me a reassuring smile and nod when Alby gave the order to begin lowering him.

My lip was being chewed between my teeth out of nerves, watching my friend and leader do something most likely to be dangerous. They lowered him a good ways down before Alby told the boys to stop.

"See anything, Nick?" The rest of the glade was silent as we listened for nicks response.

"No, not yet. But- WOAH!" His sudden gasp only worsened my nerves. I clenched onto Newt's arm as I leaned forward to try and see inside, even though I was many feet away from the box itself.

"What's wrong?" Gally asked at the front of the line of boys holding the rope.

"I-I don't know. But there's something down here. It like flew past my hip," Nick chuckled. A few boys exchanged looks all wondering the same thing: what was down there with him?

"Alby, maybe we should-" Winston began but was cut off by our leader.

"AHH! There's something flying past my head! Pull me up!" He screamed. Alby shouted orders to quickly pull him up, so the strong boys tugged hard on the rope.

When they got Nick's head up, his eyes were stuck staring straight ahead. A layer of glaze covered them and wouldn't go away since he wasn't blinking. What was wrong with him?

When they finally pulled him up, fear set in first. Nick came back up from the box, missing the part of his body from the waist down. He was only a torso, arms and a head.

Screams filled the glade from a few boys while others were hunched over losing their lunch. I couldn't react when Newt grabbed my waist and spun me into his chest so I couldn't look. Something cut his body clean in half. Nick was dead.

"Oh my god," Newt muttered, mostly to himself. All I wanted to do was scream, puke, or sob but I was too much of a state of shock to move.

"Someone get the baggers. He's their job now," Alby ordered and sent two boys off to find them. We rarely needed the baggers so they needed to be the strongest minded boys to handle situations so sudden like this.

"What do we do without our leader?" The youngest and newest glader, Chuck, asked. He wiped off his mouth with his sleeve which meant he was one of the few boys who lost their lunch. I couldn't imagine how it felt to be that boy. He wakes up in a box as a 12 year old, only to see two weeks later our leader chopped in half. I wanted to comfort him knowing he must not be taking it well, but I couldn't move. I could only feel the damp part of Newt's shirt where my tears soaked into.

"I'm leader. I was second in command after all," Alby said monotone. It sickened me more to hear how Alby was taking this. Sure, he needed to be strong for the other boys seeing as this was an extremely traumatic experience, but he was still our friend. A friend who we just lost. "And as your new leader, I say everything remains as it was, except I shall need a second in command myself. Newt, will be my second in command. Now I will give you all one day to grieve before we return back to work. Understand?"

The boys answered with 'yes sir's' and I'm assuming shy nods that I couldn't see. The glade was quiet now, and all you could hear were my low cries.

"(Y/N)? I said do you understand?" Alby asked behind me in a stern voice, since I had been the only one not to answer. My blood boiled under my skin at the tone he spoke to me in. We just lost our friend and now he wants to play boss? It's pathetic.

I spun around without bothering to wipe my red, soaked cheeks. "Yes, Alby."

"Alright. There is nothing we can do for him now. We'll set up a spot in the woods to bury him like the others. For now, just take time to grieve." Alby stalked away from the box and towards the homestead. My eyes sent daggers at his back the entire trip he walked away.

-----

Alby allowed us a small ceremony where the body was buried. I couldn't even look at him the whole night after what he said. I only stared at a patch of grass by my feet, or looked up to check on Newt. He stood beside me the entire day; not one second did he let me out of his sight and I wasn't sure whether it was for him or me.

After the ceremony where the boys shared stories about him or swore to him they'd find a way out, I stayed back while the others left. Newt was still behind me when I kneeled by the wood driven into the ground, marking his grave.

My eyes stared at the words carved into the wood of the grave marker. It churned my stomach to see the boys so heartless. I took a few moments before taking Newt's hand and turning towards the homestead where I planned on sleeping.

The whole walk and most of the next few days were haunted by the words on the marker for the greenies to come.

Let this half-shank be a warning to all:
You can't escape through the box hole