The Runner - A Newt FanFic

Employee Part 2

It's just after lunch and I'm heading over to the Slicers with Jeff, who said he'd gladly take me over.

"Hey Winston! Aida's gonna come and help you guys out", he yells over to them. Winston, the boy with the dark skin and brown shirt stands up and says, "yeah Alby told me". He greets me with a nod and I give a shy smile back. After what Clint had said, I'm not keen on finding out what Slicers are.

Jeff leans over to him and whispers in a hopeless attempt for me not to hear "Clint told her some really stupid stuff, so she's a bit scared-" "I'm not scared!" I squeak. Of course, you're not Aida.

"She should be good. I mean, after seeing her with Gally yesterday, you can tell she's strong" Winston winks at me and I smirk back at him. "Alright, well we should start heading off then. Come on, Aida" Winston says to me and whistles at a few other boys who have knives casually hanging around them.

"I'll see you later then" Jeff says and starts running back over to Clint. I'm yet again left alone with strangers.

"Aida, I'm Winston: Keeper of the Slicers. These are the other Slicers; Marc, Jade, Charlie and Hugh. We don't have many of us because it quite a...urgh...harsh job" Winston says as we start heading over to the Bloodhouse, close to the Map Room I pointed out earlier. I start hearing animal noises from a distance. That's when it dawns on me.

"Winston?"

"Yeah"

"What exactly do Slicers do?"

I see Winston take a deep breath before saying "Slicers...take care of the um...meat."

"You kill the animals?"

"Yes" Hugh says from the front of the line. Oh God. Winston squishes up his face in annoyance then looks over at me, concern written all over his face.

"Are you ok? You've gone white" he says. My head is pumping and is heavy on my shoulders. I feel like I'm going to be sick.

"What? No, I'm ok". I lied.

Just ahead I see the animals in the barn, trapped altogether. I'm feeling more and more hot with every step I take towards the Bloodhouse. That's when it happens: Winston shouts an order about pigs and the boys jump over the fence. All the sound around me has disappeared and all I can do is stare at the Slicers. Watch as Jade jumps over a black pig, bring its head back and- slice!

I scream louder than I ever knew I could and everyone starts staring at me. I can see my surroundings changing, yet I can't feel myself moving till I fall onto the ground. I can hear the muffling of someone shouting out my name yet it's not clear enough for me to know who it is.

"Aida... Aida...Good work Aida". The call of my name blends into a cold woman's voice. I look up at her, her blond hair tied back so tightly, she can barely move her face. She wears the same white clothes as I have, as everybody has. The woman smiles and walks away. I look over to a girl with black hair and gorgeous blue eyes and see her smile at me and a feeling of pride pumps through me.

"Good job Aida...Aida...Aida, are you ok?" I scream as I feel a hand grab my shoulder firmly.

"Woah, it's ok. It's just me". I'm lying on the forest floor covered in dirt and pain in my arms.

"What happened?" It's only Winston. I try to catch my breath and speak but all that comes out is "Bloodhouse-animal-knife-then-then-then they-" "shhhhhh, Aida it's ok. It's over now. You don't have to go back there". Winston offers me his hand and I take it, slowly bringing me up.