Into The WICKED Maze | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

25. Prejudices

We continued working on our sketches and the model until lunch. Shortly before we set off for Fry Pan, we decided that we had nothing more to do and would take the afternoon off. I decided that I would sit down with Gally for a while, because I hadn't been with him for a long time, since our first days here, to be exact. I'm sure he would be happy to have me keep him company at work. Maybe I could help him a little, too.
We reached the kitchen and sat down with Gally and Clint, who were already eating.
"Well, have you met the newcomer yet?" Gally asked us as we sat down.
"Yes, he seems nice."
"But not a runner," Minho threw in and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"And that makes him less nice?" I asked.
"No, that's not what I meant. There are already two of us, Alby was right. Maybe it's really better if it stays that way for now. We don't need someone who's just holding us back."
"And that's why it's good for him to find another job, isn't it?" I went into it. I couldn't understand why Minho thought that way.
"Yes, you're right. I'm sorry I reacted like a fool. I don't know what I was thinking."
"No problem, you slinthead," I laughed and that was it.
I watched Newt come to dinner with the new guy and concluded that he had decided to try it with the track-hoes. Yes, that somehow suited him, I thought.
The two sat down on the last seats at our table, with Newt sitting next to me and the newbie next to Minho, who sat opposite me next to Clint.
"Well, how was your day?" Newt asked me.
"Good so far, we've managed to cope with everything we wanted to do today. We were going to take some time off this afternoon and I thought I'd keep Gally company for a while."
"Hey, I didn't know about that yet. When were you going to tell me about my luck?" Gally asked next to me with a full mouth.
I laughed. "Now you know."
"And tomorrow you're going back out there?" the new guy asked reverently.
Now all eyes were on him and I answered quickly, before he could become uncomfortable that he had asked something.
"Yes, tomorrow we'll go back out into the maze."
"Wow. You guys are really brave."
"You get used to it after a while," Minho mumbled, again a little dismissive.
I really wondered what he had.
The boy looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, but Minho kept looking at his food and didn't look up. Then he looked at me again and his eyes began to shine. Apparently he had decided not to give Minho's mood any meaning. Good decision.
"You're not afraid of getting lost?"
"We're pretty good at memorizing directions, I guess. So far we haven't had any trouble with that."
Again he looked at me with that awestruck look. Kind of funny.
I guess Gally thought so too, because now he was butting in. "Just to clarify, she's no longer available. It's hard to accept, I know, but Newt was faster than us."
He sounded amused.
"Gally, now stop it. He just asked me a question."
I had looked at Newt in horror, because he was obviously afraid that he had done something wrong now. He calmed down a bit with my words and seemed to decide that the best thing to do now was to shut up and just eat. He was probably right, the boys - and especially Gally - were too good at getting on your nerves, even if they weren't, and when you were new, it must be pretty intimidating. I was glad I had never felt that way.
As we sat up we talked about all sorts of things and Clint told me that he had to patch Justin up this morning because he had hurt himself with a hoe. In the meantime it had become a running gag that he managed to hurt himself again and again. In my first weeks here alone, he had spent five nights and numerous short stays in the sanihut.
When everyone had eaten up, I set off with Gally to the keepers' huts, where he was still building Fry Pan's hut. I was amazed to see how much building material had come up with the box today.
"You can make a lot out of that now, can't you?" I asked, pointing to the mountain of wood.
"That's right. I was also surprised that it was so much this time. But maybe this way I'll make faster progress, then you and Minho will soon get your hut, too."
I looked at him in surprise. "Our hut? Singular?"
"Oh, didn't Nick tell you yet? You're supposed to share a cabin. Come on, there's nothing to it. You're not supposed to share a bed. Besides, you're at Newt's all the time anyway, right?"
He was right.
"Sorry, I was just surprised. Of course I don't mind sharing a cabin with Minho."
It'd probably even be fun.
I helped Gally by giving him the things he needed. It really wasn't a hard job and we could talk.
"Looks like the greenie's gonna be a track-hoe. I was really hoping to get a builder to do it."
"You got that right. Maybe you'll have better luck next month."
Gally just shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. If not, you can help me." Now he laughed.
"Oh, yeah, I think that would suit me just fine." I laughed, too.
"Why, you're doing very well right now."
"I give you things you tell me. And most of the time I don't even know what you mean. I'm probably the worst builder that was ever born and I'd smash my finger right off."
"You may even be right. Hand me that hammer, please."
"Oh, I know what that is."
We laughed again. I was glad I had decided to help Gally.
At some point he decided to take a break and we sat down on a pile of wood.
"While we're alone, how's it going with our Newty?" he asked after he had had a drink.
"Excellent," I replied.
"And you still want to tell me, your best friend, that you two are still just cuddling?"
I looked at him with indignation.
"Gally!" it slipped out.
"What? I'll be allowed to ask you that!"
When he saw my horrified look, he had to laugh.
"To be honest, I'd rather you didn't ask me anything like that."
I tried to sound horrified, but I had to laugh myself.
"Oh, yeah?"
I nodded.
"Well, do I still get an answer?"
"You won't give up, will you?" I asked, acting theatrically.
"Absolutely right."
"All right, then. Yes, that's all there has been since I arrived here. And you know what? I think it's a good thing. No matter what happened before the maze, the fact remains we've only known each other four weeks. And besides, we don't have time for this."
"Oh, believe me, you'll have plenty of time for that, if you want to. And you will."
Now I threw a little piece of wood at him, but he ducked in time.
"What?" he asked with a laugh. "I'm only telling the truth."
"And how do you know that?"
"Hey, don't get personal."
"It's true." Now I was the one laughing.
"I'm a guy, okay? I know that without doing it myself."
"So, all right."
We looked at each other seriously for a second, and then we burst out laughing again.
"What's so funny?" Someone came up behind us and we turned around.
Newt.
"Oh, nothing," I lied and looked at him innocently. When Gally next to me gave a snort of his breath, which he obviously couldn't hold back, I couldn't control myself either and again we laughed out loud.
"Do I have to understand this?" Newt asked confusedly.
"No," I pushed out and laughed even more.
He stood there and looked at us without understanding until we had calmed down a bit. Then he turned to Gally.
"Nick sent me. He wants you to take the new one to your place tomorrow and see how he would do as a builder. You need support more urgently than the track-hoes. Even if I can't picture him with a hammer."
Gally raised an eyebrow. "You can tell Nick that I have no interest in showing him my work because he won't be able to do it anyway. Anna could help me better."
"Now don't be mean, Gally. Anybody could do it better than me."
"You're doing fine. And I can only say it again. I'm happy the way things are and before I tie one to my leg who doesn't have it, I'd rather wait for someone with talent to come up with the box, okay?"
Newt looked at him crooked. "I'm gonna tell Nick, but I don't think he'll care. If you don't want it at all, you'll probably have to go to him yourself or get the day off tomorrow as best as you can. The newbie's not gonna put a nail in his leg or anything."
"I'm not so sure about that, I mean -"
"Gally! Stop it!" I had got up and looked at him threateningly. "What are you doing? What's the matter with all of you? Minho is also so curious about the new guy. I don't think that's right. He's one of us now, like every new guy, like we were last month."
Outraged, I put my hands on my hips and looked down at him from above until he stood up too.
"Okay, okay. You're right, I'll give him a chance. And I'll be nice to him."
He had raised his hands and looked at me reassuringly before embracing me. "I'm sorry, lil' one. I'll pull myself together now."
I loosened my stance a little and returned the hug.
"It's all right."
Maybe I had overreacted a bit, but it annoyed me how impulsive he could be sometimes. A feeling told me that he had been that way before and that even then it had caused problems that I had always been involved in.
We separated from each other and turned to Newt.
"Well, you can tell Nick that I'll try Greenbean tomorrow. But I cannot promise that he will be a builder. Like you said yourself, he doesn't seem like the type."
Newt nodded. "Good. How are you getting on?"
"Just fine. Anna's been helping me, so I've been even faster than usual." He winked at me and I grinned back.
Newt nodded again. "Well, see you at the campfire. I'm going to the fields again."
He waved at us and made his way to his work, while Gally and I continued where we had stopped before our break.