When Rae woke up, she noticed she was in a different room than before. The doctor who stuck the needle in her was standing and adjusted his lab coat as he turned around. Instead of turning in Rae's direction, he walked past her cot to the one next to hers. To her surprise, a boy was in the other bed, also hooked into the same clear pouch with the clear liquid.
Rae didn't recognize the boy as he was not from the Glade. His shaggy brown covered most of his face from the angle Rae was at, but when he moved his head a little to the side, she got a glimpse. He was a little older than the redhead, maybe by a year. He looked like he hadn't slept in decades from the dark circles under his brown eyes. His short nose sat atop plump rosy lips that were chapped from the lack of hydration. Rae wondered who he was and where he came from.
"How's your head?" the doctor asked the boy.
He nodded as a way of saying, "It's fine." With that, the doctor unhooked him and helped him sit up. Without saying another word, the man in the white coat turned to Rae, also releasing her from her IV as well, and motioned for the two to stand up.
When Rae stood up, her legs felt like mush. How long was she passed out for?
Rae and the strange boy followed the doctor, taking multiple turns until they reached two frosted glass doors.
"Your friends are in there," the doctor said. As he walked away, his hand brushed against Rae's arm, who slightly flinched from the touch. Nevertheless, Rae stepped forward and the doors slid open to reveal more teens on the other side. Rae expected to only see her friends, not a whole bunch of people.
The room was filled with other kids, other people like Rae. Some were younger than her, but only a handful seemed older. Everyone was absorbed in their plate of food or conversing with their friends. Rows of long metal tables were set up neatly; the only place clear of anything was the front of the room where another set of mechanical doors were and one long panel of glass that separated the room from another hallway.
Once Newt's blonde hair immediately caught the girl's eyes, she smiled as she made her way to him, completely ignoring the boy who was standing next to her. As a surprise, Rae grabbed a piece of cornbread from Newt's plate as she plopped down next to him. The blonde boy turned, indeed surprised, but once he realized who it was, he was ecstatic.
"There you are!" he beamed, displaying his happiness by giving Rae a quick peck on the forehead. "What took you so long?" Newt asked her.
"Eh, I don't know. They couldn't find my vein or something like that," Rae said, maintaining eye contact with the blonde. Rae could tell Newt was happy here, happy to get out of the maze. She didn't want to ruin it by telling him she didn't fully trust these people. It seemed that he was already getting comfortable, but who could blame him. None of them remembered what it was like to be safe.
"Well, that's because you got thick skin," joked Fry on the other side of Newt. Reaching over, Rae gave her friend a light playful punch to the shoulder.
"Hey, I'm David," the dark-skinned boy said across from Newt. The other boy next to David introduced himself as Riley.
"Rae," the girl replied.
As David talked to Newt and Minho, Rae chose to look at something besides the unamusing metal table. She glanced up only to see the boy from earlier still standing in the back of the cafeteria. He looked around, confused, until he made eye contact with Rae. The red-head immediately turned the other way back at David, pretending to be listening to whatever he was saying, but from the corner of her eye, she saw the boy make his way towards them.
She could feel the table seat slightly shift as the boy sat down next to Riley. David immediately stopped talking and they all turned to the random boy while Rae kept her head down.
YOU ARE READING
maze through the scorch ~ newt²
Fanfic[the scorch trials] [book 2 of the survivors trilogy] Just as it seemed they were finally safe, the remaining Gladers have to battle yet another obstacle: the Scorch. Through their journey into the world, Rae and Newt battle for survival as their lo...
