A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chepter 4

Uploaded: March 5th 2018
Edited: October 26th 2019

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Cally's pov

"So," I started after swallowing some of the now cold bacon the Cooks had made for breakfast. "The people that were at the Gathering are the Keepers. Those are the leaders of every job there is. Except for Alby, who's basically the leader of the Gladers, and you. You're like the second in command.  
     The Keepers are Minho, from the Runners, they go into the maze to find a way out. There's Zart from the Track-hoes, who produce most of the food. Gally is from the Builders, who make stuff. Clint from the Med-Jacks, who are basically your doctors. There's that guy Winston who wanted to banish me, he's the Keeper of the Slicers who take care of the animals and kill them..." I stopped talking to think. Newt, who was sitting in front of me, didn't look up. He was still focused on eating, when he noticed my silence, he gestured me to go on. I led out a tired sigh. "Can't remember the other names, sorry."
     "That's okay, it's a start." Newt said as if it wasn't a big deal at all.
      Newt and I were sitting on a picnic table just outside of the Homestead. The tour had ended some time ago, we had taken some food and water from the kitchen and now I was trying to recall everything that Newt had told me.
     "Ow! Wait, I forgot. There's Frypan, Keeper of the Cooks."
     "Yep." The blond boy confirmed. "He's nice. Just doesn't like it when people mess around in the kitchen."
      I nodded in response, unable to talk since I had already filled my mouth with more food.
     Man this is getting complicated. When am I gonna wake up? It's like I.... Wait... no...
     My eyes grew wider, and I dropped my fork as the thought popped up in my head.
     What if I'm in a coma again? That was like this. Only that time I... no... that can't be happening again. I was just on my bed, reading. That can't be it.
     "Cals? Cally? Are you okay, Shank?" Newt had noticed my not so subtle realization.
     "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Nothing wrong. What makes you think that?" I tried- and failed- to cover it up.
     "Well, you dropped your fork and started starin' into nothingness. It's okay if you need some time, ya know. Most of us are cryin' our eyes out while sittin' in a corner like a baby the first few weeks."
     Newt's words made me realize I hadn't been responding right. It shouldn't be so easy for someone to go through amnesia inside some big maze. But on the other side, it was just a dream, and I must be overthinking this. So I settled for avoiding the topic.
     "No, it's okay. Better keep going, crying won't get me far."
     Newt seemed to approve of my reaction. "Smart. And I thought girls would cry more, apparently not."
     "Well, I don't know. Never been a guy before."
     It was quiet for a few minutes, until I remembered something from the movies, Alby had mentioned it by the Gathering too, but Newt hadn't shown it to me during the tour.
     "Hey Newt, I was wondering-" This got Newt to look at me with a questioning look in his eyes.
       "During the Gathering, Alby talked about sirenes and some kinda box. What was that about? What box?"
     "Ow yeah. The box. It's in the middle of the Glade. It's a box in a hole in the ground. Once a month, the Sirenes go off, and we get a new Newbie. Except for this time, though. Once every week we get supplies. Mostly food and clothes. We can drop a note in it with a request for things, too. Won't always get it, but sometimes we do."
     "Ever tried going down the hole?" For a moment, I thought my questions were starting to annoy the tall boy, but he answered anyway.
     "Yep," he led the p plop. "When ya stay in the box, it won't go down. When it's down and you try goin' down with a rope, well, the only person who tried got cut in half by something."
     I dropped my fork again by hearing that. "Cut in half? How do you know? Shouldn't he have fallen down?"
     "He did. At least his bottom half did. The rest was bound to the rope. When he got pulled back up- well, it ain't pretty."
     "What did you do to the body?" Maybe not the best question to ask, but I got curious.
     "We buried him, of course, it's on the graveyard. The casket's upside is made from glass to remind other Shanks not to do it again."
     Okay, I'm done, it's official. Not liking this dream anymore. I wanne wake up.
     "So, a giant maze with killer monster things or whatever in it. Robot lizards that will cut your hand off. A hole in the ground that will cut you in half if you try climbing down. Anything else I should know about before it kills me or cuts of a limb?"
     Half of me was joking, but the other half really wanted to know. Newt didn't even consider the possibility that my question was rhetorical and seemed to think about his answer. "There's a Cliff in the Maze, Alby threatens to throw people in it sometimes... There are a lot of sharp things in the Blood house and kitchen that could probably kill ya. Think that's about it."
     "Did Alby ever throw someone down that cliff?"
     "Not really. When Shanks go nuts, we mostly Banish them or kill them at the spot if necessary."
     "Yeah, that again." I said with a deep sigh. "What does Banishing mean?"
     "You'll get put inside the Maze at night when the doors close. No one ever survived out there at night."
     "Okay, note to self, don't get Banished."
     This place is getting worse and worse.
     "So, what are we going to do for the rest of the day?" I asked Newt, who had just finished his meal.
     "We, not much. I am going into the Maze, do my job. You, on the other hand, do what you want. Explore a bit or somethin'. Tomorrow, you'll start with trying out one of the jobs. You'll try another one every day, one job mostly sticks."
     "Wait. Does that mean that I've got to kill one of those animals? Can't I just skip the Slicer thing?"
     "Don't be a sissy. Ya can do it."
     "Just because I can, doesn't mean I will."
     Newt didn't answer, I don't think he was feeling like talking about it again. After Newt went into the Maze, I was left to myself. There were boys working all over the Glade, but I didn't really feel like talking to them. So I decided to go to the one place I was sure there weren't any working. The so-called Deadheads.