A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt) UNDER EDITING/REWRITE

Chapter 3

Originally published: 05/03/18

Edited: 30-11-24

.~.~.~.

Cally

"Sooo... what's a Gathering?" I asked while I followed Alby, not remembering it from the movies. Not that that was a lot to go on, I had only seen the first two because my best friend loved them so much and had dragged me into the cinema with her. Of course I hadn't hated the movies, but still, they hadn't exactly been my favorites either. Besides, that was years ago and this was a dream, who knew what was and wasn't accurate in here.
     "You'll see." Alby answered me without even glancing over his shoulder. Somehow my one question had already been a source of irritation for the guy.
     It didn't take long before I realized we were heading for the biggest building inside the square. Standing in front of the building I stopped, craning my neck to take it all in. The structure was made completely out of wood with some glass windows seemingly scattered around it at random. the center building clearly had been the base while other parts had been built around it. Reminding me of the Burrow, the house from the Weasley family in Harry Potter, just less stable. 
     "More time to take it all in later, Greenie," Newt spoke up from behind me. "For now, keep moving."
     I signed, glancing back at the guy. He was taller than the others, making me having to angle my head to look him in the eyes. "Could you stop calling me that?" 
     Instead of an answer Newt just nodded towards the house and Alby, who had not stopped to wait for me to take in the weird building. "Fine." I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders before walking though the open door. 
     The entrance of the building reminded me of the cafeteria at school. A big open space with rows and rows of tables, benches and chairs scattered around the room. At some places I noticed sleeping bags laying around as well, although mostly placed on piles to the sides. All with all it didn't look to bad, if it hadn't been for all the boys. 
     Wherever I looked I saw guys, staring at me as I walked by, some whispering to each other, giving me weird looks. Dream or not, discomfort grew inside of me. Where were the other girls? 
     Trying to ignore everyone, I straitened my back, squared my shoulders and followed Alby, not giving any of them any of my attention. 
     At first I thought we were heading for the big stairs in the middle of the room, but instead we swirled to to right and went into another room on the ground floor, a bit of the uncomfortable feeling fading now there was a door between me and the prying eyes of all those boys.
     The room itself did not hold a lot, no closets or decorations, not even a table, except for a half circle of eleven chairs. Eight of the eleven occupied by boys, one of them I recognized to be Gally. In front of the half circle were three other chairs, two next to each other and one a bit further of to the side and back.
     "Go sit there, Shank." Alby commanded me while gesturing to the chair furthest away from the rest, rudely pulling me out of my thoughts. "Don't talk, only when asked a question."
     I scoffed at the guy's demand while making my way to the chair, mumbling under my breath, "Someone doesn't like mornings." I hadn't intended for anyone else to hear my comment, but it seemed like Newt had. An amused snort came from the guy before he straightened his face and joined Alby, who had made his way to the front of the group and sat down on one of the empty chairs.
     "You may have noticed that, after searching all bugging night, we've found the girl." Alby started talking, gestured to me as he did. Everyone's attention now switched from him to me, all their eyes on me made the uncomfortable feeling from before return. Trying to escape the feeling and distract myself, I looked down at my hands. Making me realize something was off... I wore a bracelet, brown, made of something leathery. It took me e moment before I remembered. The day before, at work, I went into the back door in Mr. Gibbs' office.
     "I am not covering for you if he finds out!" Jenny had protested, our boss's office was off limits when he was not there and no one was ever allowed inside that back room. But he had left it unlocked for ones when he left that day and my curiosity had won from my fear and my friend's protests. 
     I had pushed the door open and slipped inside. The office felt ominously empty without the old man occupying the desk, still, I did not turn back. 
     "Cally, come back." Jenny tried from the open door as I made my way to the back door, a key sat in the lock. Too easy. I reached out to the handle, only to hear my friend protesting from behind me.
     "We shouldn't go in there." 
     "Then you stay out there," I responded, turning the key to open the lock with a soft click. "Don't worry Jenny, I won't touch anything, I'm just gonna take a look. What's the harm in that?"
     Jenny let out an exasperated sign, joining my side. "I hate you."
     I laughed, "No you don't. you love my sense of adventure." I stated, looking at her with a big grin while pushing the door open and walking in. 
     The walls of the room where filled with bookshelves filled with old looking tombs that gave me the impression they would fall apart by the lightest touch, not a big surprise there. The air smelled stuffy, the only light coming from the open door, casting a long shadow where my friend stood. In the middle of the room stood another desk, this one a lot less organized, books and papers and other instruments and trinkets lay scattered around it. 
     "Come on, Cally, we've seen what's in here, now lets go back before-" As she said it, we could hear the little bell going off, warning us that someone had entered the store. Jenny shot me a look before turning around and making her way back into the store. 
     Chuckling to myself I walked over to the desk. Sure, I had said I would not touch anything, but there in the middle of all the clutter lay a leather bracelet. I wasn't sure why, but it piqued my interest. I reached out and picket it up, examining it and just for the fun of it, put it around my wrist. It fit perfectly.
     "Mr. Gibbs!" I heard Jenny almost yell, "Back already!" 
     A jolt went through my body as I rushed out of the room, twisting the lock back in place and ran back out of the office. Only to realize I still had the bracelet around my wrist. Quickly I pulled the sleeve of my purple sweater over it and walked into the main room of the shop. 
     "Hello Mr. Gibbs," I greeted our boss, "Did you forget something?"
     "Yes," He responded, walking passed us towards his office. "My keys. I won't take long." Jenny shot me a dirty look when Mr. Gibbs wasn't looking, on which I responded with an awkward grin. 
     "There we go," The old man said as he reappeared from his office, putting the keys inside his jacket pocket. "You two didn't sneak a peak while I was gone, did you?"
     Jenny shook her head, making her long blonde hair move around her face while saying, "I wouldn't dare."
     At the same time I shrugged my shoulders, "Didn't even know you left it open."
     Mr. Gibbs's eyes scanned over us, before breaking out in a smile, "Didn't think you would. Now, I trust you have this all under control. I will see you young ladies tomorrow, have a good day." With that he left the room. We called some greetings after him, waving until he was not longer visible through the window. 
     Immediately Jenny hit me on the arm. "I hate you." 
     I couldn't help but laugh. "That was so close!" 
     "Too close! Girl, you could have caused us our jobs!" I only laughed as Jenny continued. "Do you want to work at McDonalds instead? Do you?" I locked eyes with Jenny, trying to stop laughing, but the moment my friend's blue eyes met mine, the both of us bursted out laughing. Until I swiped some hair out of my face and my sleeve fell away from the bracelet. 
     Jenny stopped laughing, grabbing a hold of my arm, pulling the shirt away, displaying the bracelet. "What's this? You didn't have this before." 
     Quickly I pulled my arm away. "I'll put it back."
     "Cally!" My friend gasped, "You said you wouldn't take anything."
     "It wasn't the plan!" I defended myself, "I panicked when I heard you greet Gibbs. I'll put it back the moment I can."
     "Promise?"
     "Pinky promise." I stuck out my pinky and after a short moment Jenny reluctantly hooked hers with mine. 
     "Fine, but don't think I won't cut off your pink if you break this one." There was a hint of playfulness in Jenny's voice as she said it, but something told me part of her meant it.
     "She appeared in the Glade at night." Alby's voice pulled me back to the present, making me forget about the bracelet. "But there were no sirens, nor did anyone open the Box. The gates of the Maze were closed. So that leaves us with the question: How did she get here?" 
     The silence that followed made me look up at Alby, only to see he was already looking at me. "Oh, that was a question for me?" I asked with a mixture of sarcasm and annoyance in my voice. "Sorry, she didn't notice that she was allowed to speak."
     "Watch your tongue." Alby told me with a threatening tone. "Now, how did you get here?"
     I shrugged. "I don't know. Just woke up in one of the fields."
     "Liar." One of the boys accused me immediately. "She knows more."
     "I'm not-" 
     "That wasn't a question." Alby cut me short. "What were you saying, Winston?" I sighed in frustration as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
     "She obviously knows more." The guy that called me a liar, this Winston, continued. "Maybe she's one of them." The group now looked at me with something in their eyes that I could only describe as a mixture of fear and hate while most of them started to whisper among each other.
     "Possible." Alby stated. "She did know our names. She could be one of them."
     "Who you mean, them?" I couldn't help but ask. "Sounds a bit ominous." 
     "Slim it." Alby bit at me. Even though I did not know what the hell that meant, I assumed he just told me to stop talking, causing my annoyance towards the guy to grow. "What do you suggest we do with her?"
     "We should Banish her. She could be dangerous." Winston stated confidently. Some gasps came from the other boys the moment the word 'banish' fell. Making more discomfort creep into me. My eyes scanning over the people around me with more interest, trying to get more details out of their body language.
     "That's a bit dramatic, don't ya think, Winny?" Newt joined in, disagreeing with the other boy. "Why don't we treat her like any other Newbie?" The blonde continued. "She hasn't done anythin' against the rules so far."
     "Exactly, Newt. 'So far', what if she is one of them? She could be the death of us." The dark-haired boy named Gally spoke up, looking at me with doubtful eyes, as if he wasn't entirely sure about his own words.
     "Don't be such a Slinthead, Gally." The Asian boy, Minho, joined in. "If you use that way of thinking, we would have to Banish every shuck Greenie that pops up in the Box."
     I could see Gally was about to make a probably nasty remark, but Alby seemed to have noticed that too and quickly took charge again. "Okay! There's only one way to settle this. Let's vote." The dark skinned guy looked around the room to see if everyone was listening. "Who's for Banishing the girl, raise your-"
     "Wait!" Before I could stop myself, it had left my mouth, the fact that all of this was just a dream temporarily leaving my brain. The fear of whatever Banishing meant became too much, and I just had to do something. Now everyone was looking at me, I continued in a calmer voice. "Wait. I lied. I was scared and made up those things. I don't know my last name, or age, or my birthday. I just didn't want you to know that I didn't know, because I didn't know what was going on. I- I still don't. I don't get what's going on and I don't know what Banishing is or who they are but I promise I am not a threat."
     "Then how did you know our names?" Minho was the first one to react, leaning forward on his knees, looking me in the eyes with such intensity that it took me a lot of willpower not to look away.
     "I heard you talking." That wasn't technically a lie. "I was hiding in a tree... you all kept talking, and I heard a lot. No one ever looked up, though. Which is a really stupid mistake if you ask me, but-" I reconsidered before continuing, maybe commenting on a mistake they made would not be the smartest move right now. I cleared my throat, "Anyways. I hid, in a tree, you guys talk loudly." My words apparently amused Minho because I saw a small smirk on his lips.
     "So..." Newt started, looking at me with crossed arms and a frown on his face, "How did ya get here?"
     My shoulders sacked and I rubbed my upper arm, "that... I really don't know. I just woke up here."
     "If what you're saying is true, and you're not one of those Creators, why did you bugging run when we found you?" 
     I scoffed, making eye contact with Gally, who had asked the question. "What the fuck did you expect? I wake up in the middle of nowhere, no clue where the fuck I am or how I got there while two strangers try to drag me to god knows where- So yeah, I ran, and hid and trying to get away, sue me."
     Alby cleared his throat, not letting anyone respond to me by getting back everyone's attention. "So, who votes for Banishment?" The leader of the boys got everyone to get back to the point. Some hesitation went through the group, but eventually, three people raised their hands. Newt scribbled something down on a piece of paper. When he was done, he nodded at Alby, who now continued with his next question. "Who votes for a new Greenie?" There was another wave of hesitation, but eventually, five hands got raised. Including Newt's and Minho's. 
     "It's decided." Alby turned himself to me, for the first time he sounded glad. "Welcome to the Glade, Greenie."
     A small smile appeared on my lips, happy that I didn't get banished. Even though I still didn't really know what that was or what was going on, it still felt like a small victory.
     "Newt." The leader addressed him. "You're giving her the tour. After all, it was your idea to keep her." Newt nodded at Alby and then shot me a quick smile, I think as a sign that he meant that as a joke, but I couldn't really tell. "Okay, Shanks! Get to work!"
     Before I knew it, everyone had left the room, leaving me alone with the tall blond guy named Newt. An uncomfortable silence fell that I felt obligated to break. "So... a tour it is then, right? So, alons-y?" Internally I cringed at my own words, my nerves had gotten the best of me, I should just have keep my mouth shut.
     "What did you just bloody say?" Newt seemed equal parts confused and interested.
     "Alons-y..." I repeated hesitantly. "I- it means 'let's go' in French." A nervous chuckle escaped my lips. "A- at least I think so. I'm pretty sure that's what that means." When he just looked at me I continued mumbling, "I don't know why I think that."
     Newt let out a short chuckle, eyes closing as he did so, his confusion now replaced by amusement. "That's the selective memory, ya'll get used to it, Greenie."
     "Seriously, don't call me that." 
     "Okay, Greenbean." Newt smirked at me.
     I groaned, not hiding the disgust in my face, "Oh my... that's worse."
     Newt smiled, letting it reach his eyes for the first time, he had a nice smile. "Ya better get used to it, Greenie. It's gonna be your name for the coming month. At least."
     "Sure thing," I huffed. Yeah, right, I thought. A month. More like a few hours, maybe less, time is always so weird in a dream... this one really takes the cake though.
     I followed Newt as he left the room, leading me out of the building and back onto the grass fields outisde. "As ya might've heard already, this is the Glade. We've got three rules. First of all, never go outside the Glade. Only the Runners go out there. Second, everyone does their part and last-"
     "Let me guess!" I interrupt him with a fake enthusiasm. "Don't kill each other?"
     "Never hurt another Glader." He corrected me.
     "Close enough for me." I said, shrugging my shoulders.
     Newt shook his head, "Okay, listen." He returned to all the standard tour things. "The building we just left is called the Homestead. The Med-Jacks work on the second floor. There are rooms to sleep, the room we just had the Gathering, there is the Kitchen and the place where you can eat your lunch, breakfast, dinner or whatever you wanne call it."
     We walked around the building, where a off center concrete building with a single barred window drew my attention. Before I could ask what it was, Newt started talking again. "That's the Slammer, it's like a prison. I'm surprised no one mentioned locking ya up."
     A shiver went down my spine, that does not look very comfortable.
     "Why didn't you suggest to lock me in there?"
     Newt shrugged, "Didn't think you're a threat. Except for that knife of yours, talkin' about which." He turned to me and held out his hand. I looked down at it for a moment not sure what he wanted from me, almost reaching out to put my hand on his, but then it dawned on me.
     "No."
     "Come on, Greenie, can't have ya swingin' that thing around again. Hand me the knife."
     "I won't! I promise."
     "Greenie-"
     I stuck out my hand holding up my pink. "Pinky promise?" I tried, sounding as innocent as I could. It always worked on Jenny and Felix, it was my last resort. Only Newt just raised an eyebrow at me in confusion.
     "What?"
     "Pinky... promise?" I tried again, "You don't know what that is?" I did not let him respond as I continued rambling nervously. "You hook your pinky fingers together as you make a promise and you can't break that promise or your pinky finger will get cut off. I don't think anyone does that and I'm not sure if people remember that part of the pinky promise. It would be kind of fucked up for multiple reasons, one of them being that you will loose about 50 percent of the strength in your hand when you loose your pink. The muscles in your hands are very entwined and-"
     "I know what a bloody pinky promise is." Newt interrupted me. I couldn't tell if he was amused or irritated with me, "Just- It's fine. Keep the bloody thing, but the moment I see you flapping it around again I'm takin' it, good that?" 
     "Deal." I stuck out my pink to him again to see what he would do. Newt glanced down at my hand, before hooking his pink with mine, but not without rolling his eyes, making me laugh. 
     "That," Newt pointed at one of the big openings in the stone walls that surrounded is after letting go of my pink, "is the North Door. It leads to the Maze, just like all the other Doors. They open in the morning and close at night. Don't go-"
     "Don't go in. I get it."
     "No. You don't get it. It's dangerous, onl-"
     "Only the Runners go out. Really, I get it."
     I expected Newt to be annoyed by my interruption, but instead, he looked at me with suspicion. "You don't want to know why?"
     My eyes grew wide for a second. I remember there were some sort of monsters out there, and I did not feel like running into one of them, I did not need this dream to go back to being a nightmare. So I shrugged, "Let me guess. I can get lost, the doors will close, and I'll starve."
     Newt seemed to consider my answer. "Yeah, but that's not all. There are Grievers out there. Ya don't wanne meet one of those buggers."
     Grievers. Now I remember, they were also in the movies, ugly slug like creatures... "Sounds... fun?"
     Newt let out an unamused chuckle, "Not even a little. I'll show ya one in the mornin'. For now, just follow me."
     I scoffed, "I'm confused. That's what I've been doing so far..."
     Newt chuckled a little but didn't say anything about my sarcastic comment. We continued on our way until we reached fields filled with different kinds of plants placed in neat rows that I assumed were vegetables or fruits, but I never was really good at recognizing plants. Boys were taking care of the plants and placing new ones. "These are the Gardens. The Track-hoes take care of them."
     I almost chocked on air trying not to laugh. "Track-ho... Why not just call them Gardeners or Farmers?" I tried to ask without letting my amusement at the ridiculous name sound through.
     "Donno, don't care. That's just how they're called."
     Newt continued his story about the Glade and everything in and around it, but I wasn't paying attention, lost in my own thoughts. Wondering how I knew all these things and why my brain made up those horrible names for things... Maybe I somehow remembered the names from the movies? 
     A new flash of interest came over me when we reached the pens I had seen across the field from my hiding place. There were cows, sheep, chickens, pigs and I think turkeys roaming the fields. Not really thinking about it I made my way to the pen of the pigs. One of them, a big female with white and black, spiky fur, lay against the fence. Adoration grew inside of me as I knelt down by her side and started rubbing her belly. The pig seemed to like this because she lazily rolled on her side to give me more space.
     "Greenie? Are ya listening to me?" Newt stopped in his tracks and turned around, only to notice I wasn't there anymore. "What are you doing? Ya shouldn't play with your food."
     I glared at Newt, "she isn't food yet. Right now, she's just a little piggy enjoying a belly rub. Aren't ya, small one?" There was no reaction from the animal, of course, but that didn't stop me.
     "Sure. Com'n, Cals, ain't got all day."
     Cals? "What did you just call me?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
     "Does it matter?" Newt asked back.
     I shrugged. "Guess not, if the alternative is people calling me 'Greenbean', then Cals is just fine."
     "Anyway, like I said. These are the pens, and that's the Blood house. Slicers take care of the animals and slaughter them before they go to the Cooks. Most Newbies get sent to work here on their first day."
     I shuddered thinking about it. "I wouldn't mind taking care of the animals, but slaughter them? No freaking way. I'm not taking a life."
     Now it was Newt who looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Does this mean you're not gonna eat the meat?"
     "I never said that."
     "Then slim it. If ya're gonna eat it, then you're gonna kill it."
     "You can't make me kill an animal. I'll refuse." To show my protest, I crossed my arms over my chest.
     Apparently, Newt didn't really fancy having a longer discussion about this. "Have it your way, Greenbean. But in a few days you'll stand in the Blood house, if you like it or not."
     Yeah, hell no.
     We continued walking past the South Door and the Map Room. We didn't go inside the Map Room. That's only for Runners and Map Makers. Newt also didn't tell me what was inside, but seeing Map was in the name of the small building, I did have a wild guess.
     "This are the Deadheads." The blond guy continued when we reached the edge of the forest I had been hiding for most of the night. "It's a forest. But I guess you already knew that part."
     "Why's it called Deadheads?" I wondered out loud, but Newt answered anyway.
     "'Cause there's a graveyard in it. Didn't find that last night, did ya?"
     I shook my head. "No, not really. Was kinda busy, you know? Hiding for strange boys."
     "You could've just come with them and talked to us." Newt stated, scratching the back of his head. "Would've spared all of us a lot of trouble."
     Another scoff escaped my lips. "HA! Yeah. Good idea. Next time I wake up in a field with two strangers deciding on what to do with me before grabbing me and dragging me along, I'll invite them over for tea. That's definitely gonna keep me save."  
     This seemed to get Newt's attention. "Wait, what exactly happened?"
     "Well, I don't know. I woke up and heard to voices I didn't recognize, I freaked out, tried to run. They grabbed me. Then the  black haired guy said, 'To Alby' and they started dragging me along. I didn't know where the fuck they were trying to take me so yeah, like I said, I ran."
     As I explained my side of the story I noticed some irritation fill his features, and when I was done he mumbled something to himself that sounded like: "Those bloody Slintheads." Whatever that meant.
     I waved it off. "It's fine. It happened, can't change it anymore."
     "You're not angry?" Newt asked raising his eyebrows, I saw a hint of suspicion in his eyes, maybe thinking I might turn around and hurt the guys when no one was looking.
     "Nah, not really." I shrugged, answering not wanting to cause more trouble. "Could've been worse. They didn't hurt me or something. Would've stabbed them if they tried."
     This made Newt chuckle again. "Didn't ya just say you weren't gonna take a life?"
     "Yeah, of an innocent animal. If someone tried to hurt me, I would." I paused for a moment. "Well, maybe not kill them. Cut of some fingers, maybe an ear. I don't think I'll really kill somebody."
     "I would be worried if ya hadn't made me a pinky promise not to hurt anyone a second ago." I wasn't sure if he was joking or not,but his comment made me laugh anyway, he joined in as well
     "Unless you wanne see the graveyard," Newt got back on track, "the tour is over."
     I let my eyes wonder to the trees, taking in as much detail of the place as I could. "Don't think you need to show me. I'll find it myself if I want to."
     This time, Newt was the one who shrugged. "Okay, Greenie. What about we go to the kitchen and grab some food. We missed breakfast, and I don't know about you but I'm bloody starving."
     Now the subject was brought up, I felt my empty stomach rumble. "Yeah, me too." Newt started heading to the Homestead, but a glance at my arms made me realize something.
     "Wait! Can we go through the forest?" 
     Newt looked at me quistioning, "Wanne see the Deadheads after all, Greenie?"
     I shook my head. "I left my shirt there."
     "Your shirt? Why did ya leave your bloody shirt there in the first place?"
     "It's purple, it stands out. I was trying not to be seen, so I left it."
     The blonde boy snorted. "You should've gotten rid of your hair too, it's pretty long and also- you know- purple."
     I gasped dramatically. "What? Really? I didn't know that. How could I ever have known that my hair is long and purple? Thank you for letting me know, Newton. You're my hero." I put as much sarcasm in that sentence as I could muster.
     "Oh, slim it, Greenbean." He sounded annoyed, but he had a smile on his face. "We're gonna get your shirt. Remember where ya left it?"
     Nope...  "Yeah! I think..." I looked around, trying to retrace my steps. "I ran into that wall, followed it 'till I reached the corner and then started running for the... Deadheads. Or something." I let my eyes follow the patch I was mapping out. "So I came from that side." I said without really pointing at things. It was more meant for myself, to remember. I clapped in my hands when I recognized the path I had taken, startling Newt a little before I ran into the forest. "Alons-y!" I called back at him, not really waiting for the guy as I started my way into the forest.
     It didn't take long for Newt to catch up with me. He was pretty fast, almost faster than me. Almost. I slowed down a bit when I stopped recognizing things and started looking around better. My eyes scanned the ground filled with sticks and leaves. Some of the leaves had been there for a long time, all brown and broken, while others were still entirely green. Then, my eyes found the big tree I had hid in and saw a hint of purple between the roots and leaves.
     "Found it!" I called to Newt while pulling my shirt from beneath the leaves on the ground. 
     Newt stopped running when he reached me. "You're fast, Shank. Did you really remember where you had left that thing?"
     "Apparently. I didn't really pay a lot of attention this morning since I thought I wouldn't go back for it. But tracing my steps isn't that hard. Besides, I'm a particular good finder."
     Newt seemed to be thinking about something before he opened his mouth again, his tone was thoughtful, as if he was still considering other possibilities while he talked. "Hmm. 'kay, Greenie, sounds like ya would be a good Runner."
    "Really?" I raised an eyebrow at him, I didn't know how to feel about that. I love running, it is what I do, but going in a Maze with monster slugs? Not my thing.
     "Yeah, but don't get your hopes up, one doesn't become a Runner that easily."
     "Don't know if I want to. I love running, but going out there? I don't even know what is out there. I'm not going to jump in without knowing anything. I'm not that reckless."
     I looked down at the shirt in my hands about to put it on when suddenly Newt hit slammed it out of my hand.
      I yelped, jumping away from the guy, pulling my hand close to my body. "What the fuck, dude!" I bit at him angrily about to go pick my shirt back up when Newt stretched out his arm, blocking my way.
     "Don't." 
     "Why not?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. 
     Newt did not answer in words, instead he picked up a long stick and carefully put it underneath my shirt, picking it up. Revealing a little metal looking creature. "Hey, it's one of those things." I leaned closer, but Newt did not move his arm out of the way, making me keep my distance. "I saw one when I hid in the tree. What are they?"
     "Beetle Blades," Newt answered dropping my sweater on the ground away from the creature. "Nasty buggers." 
     "What's so bad about them? Are they venomous?"
     Newt shook his head no. "They might as well be, though. Look." I watched as Newt moved the stick towards the Beetle Blade and softly pocket it. 
     Faster then I could see the creature moved, the segments of its body switching open and revealing small blades that cut through the stick with absolutely zero effort. Newt discarded what was left of the stick and dusted his hands against his pants. "That's why ua don't touch those buggers."
     I couldn't help but stare at the creature as it ran off into the forest. "Ah- hu... Yeah... okay. that's... totally normal..." 
     "Some Gladers lost some fingers to those things, others a toe or two and others their hands. It's no fun, trust me."
     "First-hand experiences?" I teased with a smirk.
     "Stepped on one of those bloody things once. Still have all my toes, though." He answered as if it was no big deal, but then his posture changed, all traces of jokes replaced with a solemn sadness. "I was lucky, most Shanks lose a limp and die of blood loss or infections." 
     My posture changed now as well, not really knowing what to say to that. "Oh... I'm sorry, that sounds horrible..."
     Newt looked me in the eye for a moment, trying to see if I meant what I said. Eventually, he shrugged it away and shot me a smile. "Let's go eat."
     Quickly, I picked up my shirt- a bit more careful to make sure there weren't any creepy crawlies in it- then shook the rest of the leaves and sticks off my shirt and pulled it over my head. "Finally! Lead the way, Newton."
     "The name's Newt, Greenie." Newt corrected me as he started his way to the Homestead.
     "And mine's Cally. Maybe learn to use it." I smirked up at Newt, who just shook his head, but I could see the hint of a smile on his lips as he did so.

~.~.~