#tmr chuck fanfiction | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

maddie0101 · 8 months

Text

Skinny Love Series (thomas tmr x fem ofc)

Summary: Blake and Thomas argue throughout the entire day, but there is something else between them that the two can’t ignore.

Warnings: cussing, sexual tension?

Word count: 2k

➭ Previous Chapter ➭ Series Masterlist ➭ Next Chapter

𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙠𝙚 arrives back at her hammock, sitting down with her elbows resting on her thighs. Her hands clasp together by her mouth as her leg bounces. The girl's face etches with worry and confusion as her thoughts wonder to the greenie. So we definitely knew each other, and that was definitely a memory I got back. What are the odds? Is he the reason I was sent here?

Her foot stills as she tries to push her thoughts away. Blake wasn't good with change, usually—she would open the greenies with open arms and not be so closed off, but this one is different. Once they had shaken hands, Blake got her first memory back.

Why now?

Why him?

A twig snaps to her left, making the girl whip her head around to the boy— who the small girl had just been thinking about.

"You okay?" Thomas asks in a soft whisper

The brunette girl fixes her posture and clears her throat. "Yeah, just drank too much...." Blake says as her eyes flicker from her hands to the greenie. "Why are you here?—Shouldn't you be, I don't know...celebrating?"

Thomas blinks at the girl's sudden mood change—she's aggravated for some reason.

"I uh..just wanted to make sure you were okay; saw you walking off..." Thomas says as he shifts his feet.

"Well, I'm fine, Thomas." The girl says, turning her head to the boy with a blank expression. "I'm going to sleep— so if you don't mind...I'd like to do that."

"Yep, got it," Thomas says as anger boils in his stomach.

Turning on his heels to leave, he quickly whips around to face her. "What's your deal with me?"

Blake shifts on her hammock as she turns her head toward the boy, scrunching her features. "Nothing—I just want to get some sleep." She says, shifting back over—away from the boy.

Thomas stands awkwardly in the same spot as his hands fall on his hips before running a hand over his face in agitation. Realizing the girl might be tired, he turns back on his heels.

That night, Thomas lays in his hammock, staring at the hut's ceiling as his eyes turn to peer at Blake sleeping.

What’s her deal with me?

The following day, Blake wakes up at her usual time, grabbing her set of clean clothes and heading to the showers.

It was a Saturday, meaning most gladers had the day off. Alby gives them one day per week to rest and help around the glade. They used to not have any days off, but Alby had noticed a handful of runners growing exhausted and ending up injured because of it. So he ordered the runners to relax for a day to avoid getting injured or worse. After all, they need as many runners as they can get.

Blake walks into the showers as she hears one of the faucets running. Min

The girl goes to grab one of the fresh towels. She throws it over one of the stall doors, placing her clothes onto the hook for her to grab—once she is done. The girl opens the stall door and turns the knobs to her preferred temperature—before realizing she forgot her brush.

"Shit," Blake curses to herself as she darts out of the stall—running over to the sink, she grabs her brush. Turning on her heels, the girl sprints back to the shower but slams into a...wall?

Blake's eyes widen as she realizes it, in fact, isn't a wall. Her eyes slowly rise to see the greenie staring down at her as his hands steady her waist.

Blake's eyes grow wider as she scans over the brunette boy in front of her. Holy shit. Although Blake wasn't particularly fond of the greenie, she couldn't deny how attractive he was.

Thomas stands in front of her only in a towel with a light smirk, tugging at his lips as he looks down at her. His brown hair falls over his forehead as water beads trickle down his face. Blake gawks at the towel hanging dangerously low on his waist.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Thomas teases with a smirk as he brushes past the girl.

Blake blinks, her gaze falling into a glare as she brings her eyes back up to his, scoffing at his newfound confidence: Oh, hell no.

"Who clunked in your cornflakes this morning?"

Her remark only amused Thomas as a slight smirk tugged onto his lips again. "Nobody, but it seems someone shit in yours last night."

Blake scoffs before she turns around and walks back to her shower, shutting the door.

"Fuck off, greenie," Blake says, anger flickering in her voice as she strips her clothes off.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" Thomas grunts in agitation.

"Because you're the newbie." Blake explains as she throws her clothes over the stall door.

"Yeah, well—why doesn't everyone just call me by my name?" The boy continues, not able to hide the annoyance in his tone.

Blake laughs at the boy's agitation. "Well, greenie, technically, you just remembered your name last night."

Silence fills the room as Blake steps under the water, sighing as the water meets her skin.

"True, but why do you keep using 'greenie'?"

"Because I can... greenie. Now, please shut your shuck hole and let me shower peacefully."

Blake lathers her hair with shampoo as she hears the bathroom door slam shut, smiling to herself as she finally gets some peace.

Later in the day, Blake leans against a tree as she watches the boys bicker over a game of 'glader ball.' The boys all stand in a group arguing, most shirtless and sweaty from running.

Blake spots Gally yelling at Zart—who apparently made a "shit call." Giggling at the builder's agitation, Blake's shoulders rise up and down as she notes Gally's veins pop out of his forehead, throwing his hands up in question as he continues to yell.

Alby had decided to give the rest of the gladers the day off to celebrate the new greenie as some of the boys started the game.

The boys made up the game one day when one of the gladers found a ball that had come up in the box—It had started just throwing the ball around, and then— it turned into tackling. Soon enough, the boys made rules to play the game and even pulled some of the other gladers into refereeing to make the game 'fair.'

It was somewhat of an escape from the feeling of being trapped. It was a way to get everyone's mind off of the chances of not getting out and to have some fun.

Blake feels the breeze lift her curls away from her face as she spots Minho walking over with a smile etching his face.

Here we go...Blake smiles, rolling her eyes at her best friend.

"Hey princess, wanna come play some glader ball?" Minho asks as he stops in front of her with his hands on his hips.

"Not right now, Min. I'm relaxing."

"Oh, come on. A bunch of guys with their shirts off, and you don't want to be near them?" He teases as he throws his hands out in exasperation.

Blake rolls her eyes at his attempt. "It's way too hot, Min. I'm just chilling for now," the girl says with a pause, "and besides, I can observe the abs from here." She continues, smirking.

"Who? Thomas' abs?" Minho asks

Blake glares at the boy before her, "Min, really? I can barely stand the guy."

"You were literally gawking at him all yesterday! As soon as he came up from the box, it looked like you wanted to—"

"Minho! Don't you dare finish that sentence!" The girl growls

"What?" He smirks, knowing he hit a nerve.

"I don't like him like that, and besides, I'm just—stressed, okay." She says as she lifts her hand to brush her fingers through her hair.

"Want me to help? You know—release some tension?"

The girl's hand instantly freezes, and her mouth hangs open at the boy's comment, blinking rapidly in shock.

Blake grabs the shoe off her foot, throwing it at the boy in front of her. "Get out of here, Min! Shoo! You shuck face!"

Minho laughs as he dodges the shoe, his hands flying up in fake surrender as he turns on his heel to run back to the game—The runner notices a certain greenie glaring in their direction. Minho's smile instantly grows bigger, knowing he caused the frown on the greenie's face.

Later that day, the dinner bell rings throughout the glade, signaling to the gladers dinner is ready.

Blake gets up from her spot to make her way to the kitchen, spotting her favorite boys chatting at the table, well, all her favorites—except for the greenie.

Grabbing her plate, she slides down in her seat next to Minho. Newt sits diagonally from the girl, with Chuck on his left and Thomas on his right—leaving the greenie to sit across from the girl.

Blake rolls her eyes as she shoves food into her mouth. Minho holds in a laugh at Blake's agitation, knowing she isn't too happy with the newbie sitting at their spot.

"How's the day been treating you, princess?" Minho teases the girl as he breaks the silence, bringing his fork up to take a bite.

Blake glares at the boy, smirking; she opens her mouth to retort back at Minho's comment but sees Thomas holding in a laugh. Blake feels rage flow through her body as she tries to refrain herself from attacking him.

"What are you laughing at, shank?" Blake scolds

Thomas' laugh fades into a slight frown as his eyebrows raise. "I don't know what's got your panties in a twist, princess."

Anger bubbles inside the petite brunette as she narrows her eyes at the boy in front of her. In a split second—she darts over the table, grabbing the greenie by the collar of his shirt, making him stand up with her as she brings his face inches from her own.

"You don't get to use that nickname, greenie. Now sit back down and shut your fucking mouth before I do." She says, gritting her teeth. The small girl pushes him back into his seat as he tenses in shock. Thomas was taken off guard at that comment and honestly a little flustered.

Across the table, Minho can't help but chuckle as Newt sits beside the greenie, hiding his laughter. Thomas' jaw clenched, and his gaze hardened as he glared at her from across the table.

"How about we tone it down a bit—Shall we?" The British voice causes the girl to huff as she continues devouring her food.

Newt shifts his gaze between the two as they stare each other down. "What's the deal with you two anyways?"

"This shank is my deal." Blake snaps

Thomas' eyes burned into Blake's as the tension grew thicker—Blake flashed the greenie a quick smirk to push him even farther on edge.

Minho glanced over to Blake, scanning her features. He knew exactly why Blake was acting out. She's scared.

Thomas hasn't done anything to upset the girl...but the memory she got back scared her—even though she would never admit it.

"Well, you two need to make amends before you both end up in the pit." Newt says, cutting through the tense silence. "I don't know what happened—or why you don't like each other but—"

"I have my reasons." Blake cuts in, breaking eye contact with Thomas as she quickly grabs her plate, standing up.

Blake ignores Newt calling her name as the boys look between each other, confused.

Thomas' eyes lingered on Blake, every step she took until she disappeared from view. The boy sighs exasperated as his arms folded over his chest, leaning back in his chair.

➭ Next Chapter

author’s note

- The Skinny Love series is already complete. I am transferring it from my Wattpad to Tumblr. This is my first fic I have ever written. If you’d like to read the rest of the series without having to wait for updates, my Wattpad user is: @maddie5139 (linked in my pinned post)

- Also, if you’d like to be tagged lmk!

22 notes · View notes

alive-and-afraid · 2 years

Link

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: The Maze Runner (Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Gally & Minho & Newt & Thomas (Maze Runner), Gally & OC (Maze Runner), Gally & Newt (Maze Runner), Newt & Thomas (Maze Runner), Frypan & Gally & Minho & Newt & Thomas (Maze Runner), Minho & Newt & Thomas (Maze Runner), Newt & OC, Minho & OC, Thomas & OC, Frypan & OC, Brenda & Frypan & Jorge & Minho & Newt & Thomas (Maze Runner) Characters: Gally (Maze Runner), Newt (Maze Runner), Thomas (Maze Runner), Brenda (Maze Runner), Vince (Maze Runner), Frypan (Maze Runner), Minho (Maze Runner), Jorge (Maze Runner), Teresa Agnes, Lawrence (Maze Runner), Ava Paige (Maze Runner), Harriet (Maze Runner), Sonya | Elizabeth "Lizzy" (Maze Runner), Aris Jones Additional Tags: Original Character(s), Oc is to Gally what Chuck was to Thomas, The Death Cure Fix-It, Book/Movie 3: The Death Cure, Post-The Death Cure, WICKED | WCKD is Not Good, Protective Gally (Maze Runner), Sweet Gally (Maze Runner), Gally is soft, Newt Lives (Maze Runner), Safe Haven (Maze Runner), Cranks (Maze Runner), Maze D (The Maze Runner), Gally being a big brother, Teresa Agnes Bashing, The Maze Runner Spoilers, Oc is a little too much like Gally, Sarcastic Newt (Maze Runner), All my homies hate Teresa, Newt & Sonya | Elizabeth "Lizzy" are Siblings (Maze Runner), Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Glader Slang (Maze Runner), no beta we die like chuck Series: Part 1 of The Maze D Chronicles. Summary:

Hedy's always been resourceful. She's also always been alone.

She got out of her maze on her own. She got out of WCKD on her own. She survived the Scorch. On. Her. Own.

That is until some idiot stumbles into the crank-infested warehouse she's in, half-dazed and blinded by the sandstorm raging outside. She picks him up by the scruff of his neck and saves his ass from the Cranks.

After breaking his nose.

Seven months later and they're still saving each others asses, only now it's from WCKD guards on runs into the city, desperately trying to find a way to dismantle the organisation behind their torture. And now with Gally's old Glader friends bursting onto the scene and planning to stroll on into WCKD with no planning, they're not just going up against the guards anymore. And they're not just saving each other's asses.

#tmr #the maze runner #fanfic #fanfiction #Gally #Newt #Thomas #Teresa slander #oc is to Gally what chuck was to Thomas #writing #first fanfic #my stuff #moots! please read

0 notes

ivesterrarium · 1 year

Text

Masterlist

The Maze Runner

-- tmr / maze runner

Characters

-- newt

-- thomas

-- alby

-- george

-- nick

-- minho

-- brenda

-- teresa

-- chuck

-- sonya

-- aris

Ships

-- newtmas

-- nalby

-- minewt

-- thominho

-- thominewt

-- thomesa

-- trenda

-- thomaris

Terraria

-- terraria

Characters

-- the guide

-- the arms dealer

-- the demolitionist

-- the truffle

Ships

-- arms dealer x guide

-- arms dealer x demolitionist

-- guide x truffle

Misc

-- fanfictions

-- moodboards

-- reblogs

-- asks

-- my art

-- headcanons

-- submissions

-- incorrect quotes

-- tag games

Unrelated

-- harry potter * * * * *

-- futurama *

-- pleasantville

-- unrelated

-- sex education / sex education netflix

-- mole interest

-- days at the morisaki bookshop

*more to be added

1 note · View note

simpurnatural · 3 years

Note

Can you write one where reader is the only girl in the glade? thx

*"Yes! Thousand times yes! Hope you like this one!" - Nat <3

What it's like being the "Only Gal in the Glade" HC

The Glade x Fem!Reader (platonic)

Spoiler Warning ⚠️: Not much. But this talks about some stuff from the first book/movie.

You were one of the first people sent up after the first group did

That group consisted of people like Minho, Alby, and Newt

Who took it upon themselves to act like older brothers to you from then on

The day you arrived in the box, the boys added a special set of rules when it came to you

"Put a single non-consensual hand on her and you'll have a date with the grievers. Good that?"

That was Minho's favorite and he liked reciting it to any greenie that came his way

A nickname that stuck with you even after the maze was “She-Bean”

You didn’t mind it, especially since it took you four days to remember your name

You never had a set job in the Glade because you enjoyed helping everyone out as much as you can

Like helping Zart farm some veggies and fruits in the garden

Be awfully good with a knife when helping Winston in the Blood House

Help Gally hammer a few extra nails into the new builds

Spend some time with Frypan in the kitchen to help better his "Five Star" rated culinary skills

Lend help to Clint and Jeff whenever there are a lot of injured people

Mark maps with Minho and the other runners because they like your hand-writing

Even though you weren't a keeper of any group, you were part of the council

The boys learned the hard way to not speak while you speaking during those meetings:

"Shut it you bunch of shuck faces. Don't come whining to me if you have to sleep in the deadheads tonight."

They were shocked to say the least since they’ve never heard you raise your voice before

And when you acted like nothing happened, it scared them even more

“Cool, so anyway-”

A thing that you started that would occur 3-4 times a month was a day when everyone could just relax

That’s when you taught some of the boys how to make flower crowns

Everyone looked like they belonged in a fairy-tale

You all sat in the peaceful forest like area in the deadheads for the whole day enjoying nature and eating fruit

“Winston, the prettiest-glader-princess of them all,” *cue the bowing and applause*

Something you enjoyed doing in your spare time was sewing

Mainly because the boys grew out of their clothes quicker than you did and would just discard them after for a new set

So you took it upon yourself to take make use of them to benefit yourself

“New dress?” “Correction, some type of overalls I’ve been working on. Watch this, Newt.” *widens stance* “PANT LEGS!”

For bonfire nights, you’d have scary stories prepared to tell the boys

You’d notice them all snuggle closer to one another after those nights which made you laugh

Gally’s weird ass drink was something you knew you’d never want to try

“Come on. Just one sip,” “No thanks. I distinctly recall Alby thoroughly rinsing his mouth and dry heaving after drinking that.”

Oh and don’t get me started on how you mother-hen Chuck after he arrived

You’d let him follow you almost everywhere like a little duckling

Sure he was a slopper but that was because he wasn’t cut out for any job, yet.

That’s how you explained it to him after the other keepers sort of shunned him

You let him sit with you during all meals

Accompany and help him with his tasks

Call out his name and wave to him if you caught eye of him while you were working

Ask him how his day was which he would talk about till the wake up

But you didn’t mind one bit

“And then I...” *snores* “Night night, Chucky.”

...

This is my comfort HC at the moment

#the maze runner #the maze runner fandom #the maze runner fanfiction #the glade #tmr newt #tmr alby #tmr gally #tmr minho #tmr frypan #tmr chuck #tmr newt fanfiction #tmr alby fanfiction #tmr gally fanfiction #tmr chuck fanfiction #tmr headcanons #tmr headcanon #tmr fanfic

264 notes · View notes

justinewt · 3 years

Text

Welcome To The Glade - TMR REWRITE Chapter One

[THE MAZE RUNNER MASTERLIST]

Next Chapter

Summary: Grace wake up in a cage with a bunch of boxes around her. The cage’s going up; she’s dragged out of her hole by a boy of her age and faces unknown people in an unknown place. She cannot escape but she discovers something that makes the girl grow more patient, willing to give time to the Glade and the Gladers. On just her first day, she has made a couple friends among the boys there, which makes this waiting in perspective not so bad.

Words: 5.3k

Warnings: The Maze Runner spoilers, small space, mention of blood/gutting/animal killing/deaths prior to Grace’s arrival in the Glade, suicides, mention of attempted suicide, small flashbacks

“Be strong, my sweethearts. They mean you no harm, Okay? Watch over each other. You’ll always have each other.” The little girl looked at the woman kneeled near her, holding a little boy, her brother, and herself in her arms. She couldn’t see the boy’s face and somehow, she didn’t even recognize who was the woman which felt strange because there was this warmth and sense of love and protection coming from her towards the two children. She had this sweet and comforting smell of lavender on her and the girl trusted her despite not knowing who she was supposed to be to her. As she thought and thought about the woman, she straightened up with a start, gasping as if she was out of breath.

She looked around her, groping the space of her hands. She was in an iron cage with boxes and crates in the corners. The cage was going upwards, crossed by blinding lights that allowed the teenage girl to see her surroundings, despite being not so vast. She got on her knees, leaning on her hands and tried to see below but it was an endless dark pit and she let out a sigh, rolling on her back when suddenly, the cage stopped going up. She subconsciously held her breath, leaning on her elbows, staring above her, her fringers gripped to the mesh of the cage’s walls. She heard a loud metal noise as if something heavy was being pulled up outside. She was still in the dark, swallowing harshly, apprehending whatever was on the other side until a second metal door, seemingly thinner then the previous one slid open and let in the sun's rays. She brought her hand to her ees, blinded by a light she wasn’t use to, narrowing her eyes.

“Where am I?” She mumbled, blinking over a dozen times to get used to the intensity of the light and being able to keep her eyes open. She glanced outside from the inside of the cage and slowly noticed a group of people surrounding the opening and looking down at her. She didn’t recognize any of the voices she heard at the moment, which led her to panick slightly, tensing up. There were exclusively boys. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do until one of them spoke up.

“It’s a girl.” Everyone was surprised, apparently not expecting a female person to be sent here. She was as lost as them if she was honest with herself, having no idea at all as to why she was here. Someone had came to the realization that she wasn’t a boy when she lowered her hands, revealing her face. She could have as well been a boy with long hair but she wouldn’t argue as she wasn’t. “Okay, go get her.” Someone jumped in the cage, making her jump. She brought her knees to her chest and stared at the stranger. It was someone of around her age from what she thought, short blond hari, an oval face with eyebrows so arched they didn't make him look so sympathetic.

“We didn’t expect a girl. Come on.” He said, his face far too close to her for his taste. He grabbed her arm tightly and dragged her out of the cage, throwing her unceremoniously to the dirt. She coughed from the dust she inhaled and winced, leaning on her arms to try and get up. She turned around and looked at the boys surrounding her. They didn’t seem so dangerous but how they were crowded around her made her suffocate. Almost instinctively, she stood up, pushed some boys out of her way and ran as fast as she could, not caring much about how he might look, lost, disoriented; it wasn’t her primar concern. She ran so fast she even started to feel like her legs were on auto-pilot mode and something about it felt so freeing like the birds in the sky not thinking about moving their wings, just doing it. It felt good and so natural to her she chuckled, momentarily forgetting the context. She observed the four immense stone walls delimiting the area with huge openings in them. She decided to make a run for it, not really thinking anymore, her heart beating wildly in her chest. When there were barely a few feet left for her to get into the opening, wherever it might lead, she was violently pushed to the side, her side hitting the ground so hard she closed her eyes, groaning, her teeth gritted, leaning on her hands.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” She yelled as she got up with difficulty, dismissing the hand he held out to her to help her get on her feet.

“Calm down, greenie.” He showed her the palm of his hands as a sign of peace, nodding softly. “We’re good. It’s okay.”

She gave him a death stare, tightening her grip on her side. A pain shot through her ribs but at least nothing felt broken. The guy that pushed her so strongly was no other than the one that dragged her out of the cage. He was staring at her annoyed by her behavior and at the same time slightly worried because she had clearly hurt herself in the fall. She was quickly brought to the infirmary where she lifted the side of her shirt to have some sort of cream or ointment on her bruises and straight after she was locked up in a hole, a litteral hole, dug in the dirt with a wooden fence on top, keeping her from getting out. She went to sit cross-legged in a corner, rubbing the dirt off her T-shirt with her hand. She didn’t really give a damn about it but it kept her busy for now. After she gave up and stared ahead of her, not really looking at anything in particular, someone came to see her. It was a tall, slightly intimidating dark-skinned young man who crouched near the fence, looking down at her. He seemed to be the eldest person here, not significantly but still, maybe a few years older than the teenager boys she had seen. He got rid of the lock and opened the grid.

“You don’t run off, all right?” He paused, observing her face, waiting for a response but as she didn’t move an inch, he nodded. “Cool. My name’s Alby. I’d like to know stuff about you. Who you are, where you’re from… you see, no girls has ever ended up in the Glade since the first of us arrived here.”

“I don’t know.” She frowned, fidgeting her fingers. “I don’t remember anything, not even my name… only-” She cut herself off when she was about to mention her dream before she woke up in the cage. She wasn’t even sure if it was just a dream or a memory, and if she really had a brother. Maybe.

“Only?” She shook her head, looking down at her hands.

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” She suddenly raised her eyes on Alby. “Why don’t I remember anything?”

“Don’t worry. We’ve all been through this. You’ll remember your name.” He sighed. “It’s the only thing they let us remember…”

“What do you mean?” She asked, staring at him, frowning in wonder.

“Come with me. I’m gonna tell you how things work around here.” He stretched out his hand to her and when she took it, he pulled her out of the hole. She had been in there for a couple of hours at most but after running so frantically, she didn’t mind sitting for a little while. Alby took a few steps, walking away from the cells dug in the dirt and showed her the place. He seemed to genuinely want her to fit in.

“We eat here. We sleep here. We grow our own food. We build our own shelter.” He explained, pointing at different spaces in the Glade as he spoke. “Whatever we need, the Box provides us. The rest is up to us.”

“The box?” They stopped walking and she looked at the metal doors covering the opening from which she came.

“Yeah. They send ‘em once a month with fresh supplies and a new Greenie. This month, you, a girl. As I said, never happened before.” She frowned, staring at the said box.

“Who send us here?” She wondered. “You said, “this is the only thing they let us remember”. They. Who’se they? The people who send us here?”

“We don’t know.” Alby simply told her. She glanced down at the grass, and stared at the box, crossing her arms over her chest. There was something off about it and she had enough wits to feel it. Whoever she was before she forgot all about herself and her own life, she would have to find them to get it all back, whatever was the reason why they took it from her and everybody else. But for now, she couldn’t do much, she thought that maybe the people here in the Glade could only open the box when it came up. Looking around, she saw Alby, a few feet away and jogtrotted to join him.

“Hey, Alby.” Alby and her both raised her eyes and glanced at a young man, wild blond hair blown around by the breeze, youthful face; his body was rather slender but maybe the loose clothes he wore exaggerated the whole. He seemed nice from what she saw just now.

“Greenie, meet Newt.” He introduced him so she would be able to put a name on his face. Newt gave her a friendly handshake and she smiled as a hello. “When I’m not around, he’s the one in charge.”

“Why wouldn’t you be around?” She asked, genuinely curious. She got it; he was like his second, but how could Alby not be in the Glade?

“Don’t you worry, he’s always around.” Newt retorted, quite cheerfully. He turned his head back to her. “You know, that was some dash you made earlier. You could be a runner.”

“A runner?”

“That’s great.” He added before looking at the blonde beside them. “Hey, go get me Chuck.” Newt nodded and just walked away, glancing at the newcomer as he left. Alby grabbed her shoulder and led her as he started to walk again.

“Look, I’m sorry to rush this. There’s a lot to do. We got something special planned tonight.” He turned his head to her, with a bright and excited smile. She didn’t say anything and silently followed him to a tower built in a tree, really it was just ladder linking a few floor to each other but still very much looking like an observation tower. Alby climbed up and she did so too, joining him at the very top. He leaned on the railing. “This is all we got. We’ve worked hard for it. You respect this place, you and I will get along just fine.”

“What’s beyond the walls?” She pointed at the opening she tried to cross by running earlier today but Alby remained silent. He straightened up, looking at her.

“We have three rules. First, do you part. No time for any freeloaders.” She nodded, listening. “Second, never harm another Glader. None of this works unless we have trust. And most importantly… never go beyond those walls. You understand me, Greenie?”

“Hey, Alby!” He looked down, taking his eyes off her. She followed his gaze and spotted a stocky young boy no older than 12 or 13 maybe, making him the youngest boy she had encountered so far. His dark curly hair fell down her neck and the main charm of his chubby cute face seemed to be in his blue eyes which she couldn't see very well from above. He waved at Alby from the ground.

“Hey Chuck.” He replied, chuckling. They got down and Chuck stayed with her. He was the Greenie of the Glade until she got here and he was genuinely super sweet, really nice with her as he led her to a place in the shade, where there were several hammocks installed in a row. She listened to him with a distracted ear, staring at the opening in the stone walls, fighting her curiosity to go see for herself. But she eventually walked away and across the Glade, going toward it but Chuck realized she was gone and went after her.

“Where you going?”

“I just wanna take a look.”

“You can look, but you don’t go out there, okay?” She nodded at his question.

“Yeah, don’t worry.” He let her step nearer the opening and she narrowed her eyes when she saw two figures calmly jogging in their direction. One was built like a brick shit house with Eastern Asian features, black straight hair styled up on his head and the other was a white, young man with blonde hair, way less wild than Newt’s and much shorter. He seemed less imposing than the Asian. They ran past the two of them and as the blond addressed Chuck they both stared at her, shocked that she was a girl.

“Hey Chuck, the Greenie’s a girl, huh? How does it feel to be promoted?”

“Feels great, Ben.” Frowning slightly, she watched them as they got closer to the small woods a little further in the Glade.

“Why were they out there?” She inquired.

“We can’t. They’re diffent. They’re the runners.” She looked at the side, thinking about how Newt called her a runner earlier. She wouldn’t say no if she could go with them see what was on the other side of these walls. “They know more about the Maze than anyone.”

“What? The Maze?”

“What Maze?”

“Come on, you just said Maze.” She sighed, well aware he knew what he said, just that maybe he wasn’t supposed to tell her about it just yet.

“I did?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, widening her eyes in exasperation. He eventually left her, giving her some alone time after telling her again not to go beyond the walls and she wasn’t going to. She was just awfully curious about all of this, but it would be questions to be answered for later she guessed. She walked around the Glade and climbed into a tree at the edge of the wood. She ran fast but was also quite flexible with enough strength in her arms and legs to lift her up a tree. She looked through the leaves, wondering. She stuck her fingers into one of the pockets of her pants and felt something inside of it. She straightened up, letting her calves hang in the void and she looked at the folded paper she was holding in between her fingers. She unfolded it and rotated the piece of paper in her hands. A bunch of words were written all over it, with more or less application in the handwriting. Sometimes, the words seemed to have been written in a haste even. First, she checked a bunch of letter. “W.C.K.E.D” was written in capital letters, like the acronym of something. The way she read it in her head sounded like the word “wicked”. She didn’t know whether or not it should be funny. Below on the page, she narrowed her eyes, getting the paper closer to her eyes to try and deciper the two words “I Grace”.

“Grace? Am I… Grace?” She wondered out loud, glancing around briefly before reporting her attention back on the paper. She checked the other word. Other names. Thomas, Theresa… Names that currently meant nothing to her but if it wasn’t her who wrote all this and put it in her pocket, who could it be? It had to be her. She would sooner or later remember who these people were and what this acronym was actually for. After a while, tweaking her brain, she lied across the thick branches and took a nap, not really worried about accidentally falling off the tree. She was a light sleeper so she would wake herself up and avoid too much damage.

“Mommy!” The little girl screamed at the top of her lungs at the woman kneeled in the snow, struggling against a man dressed in a bulletproof vest and a military uniform with large black belts covered in ammunition and weapons was carrying her somewhere away from the crow, holding her in his arms. She cried, closing her eyed tightly, moving around until she felt a pinch in the back of her neck and everything went black.

“Good job, Grace.” The voice of a woman that patted her shoulder while the girl seated in front of a computer displaying datas on the screen, overlapsed with flashes of a cold lab and people dressed in long white jackets. The face of this blond woman came back over and over again as she repeatedly told her that WCKD was good. She saw the woman bent over her, placing her hands on her shoulders, smiling at her. “You’re Grace.”

“Grace.” She gasped, straightening up suddenly, hitting her head on branches above her, scratching her face. She winced and jumped off the tree, staring into the void, thinking about what she just dreamed of. It felt so strange, and then it clicked. Her brother and her had been taken by whatever WCKD was for whatever reason, and their mother let it happen. Her name was Grace. The blonde woman told her so when she was younger. She had no idea what WCKD was, what she was doing for them and she was even more confused as to why her memory would have been wiped clean and sent here. Was she even supposed to be there? She frowned, too many questions bothered her at the moment and she looked around, realizing the sun had set already. The openings in the walls leading to the maze were closed shut and no one was nearby so she followed the cheerful shouting of the Gladers, all gathered around a huge bonfire, music on one side, boys drinking and talking lively on the other. Some were doing acrobatics with such an agility, they made it seem beyond easy and she smiled, seeing the warm setting of this party put on for her arrival. As she took a few steps, someone went to stand in front of her and she lifted her head slightly to see the same disagreeable face of the guy that forced her out of the cage.

“Greenie finally decided to come join us?” She gave him a tight smile, staring at him dead in the eyes.

“My name’s Grace, rat face.” She spat before jostling him to pass behind him and join the others. She sat down on a tree trunk, watching the party going strong. Everyone seemed pretty happy, in a festive mood and Grace was the only one who didn't know what to do. She didn't even eat. Too many thoughts tormented her clouded mind, keeping her from being able to settle down quietly. Who sent them all here? Who is the W.C.K.E.D ? As she was thinking, someone touched her shoulder causing her to jump.

“Come join us.” She turned around and saw Newt standing right behind her, a soft smile stretching out his thin lips. He came to sit down next to her. “What a day, huh Greenie?”

“I’ll give you that.” She shot up her eyebrows, chuckling. “Oh, uh, I remembered my name.”

“Already? That’s cool.” he held out his hand to her. “I’m Newt.”

“Grace.” She gave him a handshake, smiling. Unlike the one she just nicknamed rat face, Newt was really nice with her. He gave her a friendly smile back.

“Nice to meet you, Grace.” He let go of her hand and glanced around. “Are you hungry?” She just shook her head. Grace had more worrying things running through her head, preventing her from really knowing if she was hungry or not, but she assumed that she wasn't. In a sigh, she glanced at the walls of the Glade.

“We’re stuck here.”

“For the moment.” He pointed at a group of teenage boys across the two of them. “But, you see those guys by the fire? Those are the Runners. And that guy in the middle there, it’s Minho.” She stared at them and recognized the Asian boy she saw coming from the maze with Ben.

“I saw him today.” She stated, talking about Minho.

“He’s the keeper of the Runners.” He continued. “Now, every morning when those doors open, they run the Maze, mapping it, memorizing it, trying to figure a way out.”

“So, I need to get him to admit me among the Runners.”

“You sure put on a hell of a show this afternoon, but no one’s ever become a Runner in their first month.” He grabbed a drink and took a sip.

“How do you become a Runner?” She insisted and he rose his eyes at her.

“Runners are elected. You don’t just go up to Minho asking to become one.” He chuckled. “And in any case, you’ll get to try every job at the Glade for the next two weeks. One a day.”

“I’ll have to try every single one of them ?” She widened her eyes, not really excited about the perspective of doing that. She wanted to be a Runner and she would find a way to become one. He nodded, amused by her reaction.

“I mean, if you excel at a job and the keeper of said job wants you, you might avoid the worst ones.” She stared at him with concern.

“What will I have to start with ?” She asks, frowning her nose.

“Usually, the Greenies are send to the Slicers as their first job. Winston will be the man you’ll be looking for tomorrow morning.”

“The name of it already doesn’t sound really good.” She groaned, cracking one of her fingers.

“Literally. They feed the animals in the pens, mostly, and-” She raised her hand.

“I feel like I know where this is going.” Newt laughed, finishing his drink and she stared at the flames of the bonfire, dancing with the wind. After a dozen of seconds, Newt stood up, inviting her to do the same.

“I’ll say no more and let you discover by yourself, tomorrow. Come on, I’ll introduce you. You’re supposed to be the guest of honor.” She shook her head, opening her mouth to protest but he pulled her on her feet, a hand on her shoulder so she would wake beside him around the fire. Arms crossed, she reluctantly came along, looking at the groups she pointed at to show her everyone. The builders, to which the keeper is Gally, the guy she insulted of rat face earlier. If Alby heard that she called him that, she would probably get in trouble. He showed her Winston, the keeper of the Slicers whom she would meet with the next day. She didn’t look forward to slaughtering animals with her bare hands though. The Medjacks of the Glade, Clint and Jeff, who apparently are kept busy with having to take care of the Slicers’ injuries. She awkwardly chuckled, not too excited about cutting herself accidently while having to gut a pig.

“And you, what do you do? Besides being Alby’s second, I mean.” She asked as they stopped walking.

“Well, when we have time on our hands, every Gladers is encouraged to help others in their tasks, but their priority is the job they were given.” He explained. “Besides being Alby’s second in command, I usually help the Gardeners.”

“Caring for plants sounds chiller than cutting pigs and stuff.” She laughed.

“Definitely.” He nodded. Before he let her alone and walked away, he looked at her. “Oh, after the party, go see Alby to tell him you remember you’re name.”

“Okay.” They waved at each other and as he walked away, she watched him and noticed that the blonde had a heavy limp. She wondered what had happened to him and she glanced at him as she went to sit beneath a tree. She let out a deep breath, pulling out the folded piece of paper from her pocket, taking another look at it. So, Grace was her name. But who were the two others, Thomas and Theresa? She mumbled the names multiple times, trying to see if it brought up flashes in her mind but nothing. She scanned every inch of the sheet with her eyes like with a magnifying glass and as she lifted it, resting her wrists on her knees, a bunch of scrimbled words became visible in the light from the fire. She read the words ;

They’ll know it’s us. They don’t do mistakes.

Wait for me. I’ll be next. -T.

She was more confused than ever. It was signed T, like in Thomas? Would it be for this reason she wrote his name? If she wrote names so as not to forget them and be able to remember, it meant that she knew she would have her mind wiped. Given this little message Thomas left for her when she would regain consciousness, Grace probably was close to the latter. Was he her brother? This little boy that was hugging this woman, surely their mother, with her in this dream she had in the cage? She figured that the “They” was to talk about WCKD. Grace read the words over and over again, mouthing them as she let her eyes pass over the letters and she got more questions than answer. She didn’t understand any of it. Maybe the best move was to wait for this Thomas that was maybe her brother. He literally said that whatever they did back there to get her here, they would get busted. Theresa was the only other name written on the sheet of paper, maybe she was involved in this as well. She couldn’t be sure until Thomas got here and when he would, he would probably don’t remember having written this, nor would he remember Grace or even his own name. At least, what she was kind of sure of was that it wasn’t a mistake of WCKD or anyone who was sending the teenagers up here, and it was their doing, Thomas and her, maybe even Theresa. But, why would they send her in the middle of a bunch of teenage boys trapped in a maze? It didn’t make any sense. She needed this Thomas to get his ass in the Glade to sort this out because she was more than lost.

The next day, she got woken up by Alby as she laid in her hammock, as the sun was just rising above the Maze. She had dreamed about the same stuff as the day before, the same scenes as if she was watching a movie. Bent over her, Alby motioned for her to stay quiet and follow him across the Glade, bringing her to a wall where names were engraved in.

“It looks so peaceful.” Grace said, looking at the Glade, her back to the wall with the names.

“I know it might be hard to believe but, it wasn’t always like that. We had dark days.” She listened to him carefully. “We lost a lot of boys to fear. To panic. We’ve come far since then.”

“How long have you been here?”

“It’s been three years. We managed to establish order, we made peace.” She nodded, letting her arms hang to her side.

“Why are you telling me this?” She wondered.

“Because you’re not like the others, and I’m not talking about the fact that you’re a girl.” He replied instantly. “There is this strength of character about you. And you’re curious. But you’re one of us now. You need to know what that means.” Then he put the knife in her hand and pointed at the wall and she turned around. She got close to the stone and observed the names engraved, some of them crossed out and she figured it was the ones that died.

“Dark days, huh?” She said, not really expecting an answer as she knew it already. She looked for space to mark her name and planted the knife on the stone, tracing the letters, leaning on the wall with her free hand. Later, she went to the farm or what they called the Blood House, quite explicit name really, and went to look for Winston, the keeper of the Slicers. She wasn’t looking forward to do this job and she was really not feeling it. She didn’t fear getting blood all over the place but killing chicken, pigs or whatever was definitely not something she wanted to do, especially not all day long so she didn’t mind messing up at work today so as not to be chosen by Winston. She opened the fence and closed it right back after to not unleash the livestock out in the Glade and she crossed the fence to the Blood House.

Winston was nice but he quickly saw this job wasn’t for her, it was not even that she wasn’t good at it but because she was so reluctant to do what he asked her and grossed out by having to gut the animals open, it was plain to see that she would never become a Slicer and honestly, she wasn’t going to complain. She didn’t want to spend her days doing that. At the end of the morning, Winston dismissed her, even though it was supposed to occupy her whole day so she was left after lunch with nothing to do until Alby himself came up to her and told her to go with Newt at the Garden, maybe she would do better there. She wanted to be a Runner but she clearly preferred to plant and harvest fruits and vegetables rather than kill animals. She was okay with having to eat meat, they had to survive but she wasn’t going to do it herself. Gally told her she didn’t have the guts but she ignored him and followed Newt to the plantations. She didn’t have the guts to kill a chicken, but she would have the guts to pick a fight with him even if she was smaller and probably weaker than him. She could get a few punches in.

“I guess you’ve already tried to climb up the walls, right?”

“Tried it.” Newt told her while she crouched on the grass, her hands in the dirt. Having her hands covered in dirt was definitely better than having blood all over it. “The ivy doesn’t go all the way up. And besides, where you gonna go from there?”

“I don’t know…” She paused, thinking for a second. “When you said someone tried-”

“I tried it.” He responded bluntly, staring at her.

“And that’s how you got your limp?” She asked, carefully saying each word, not wanting to offend Newt with her questions. He nodded but didn’t say anything else and yet she knew there was a little more to it. As she planted a bunch of seeds, she was struck with the realization that Newt probably didn’t attempt to climb up the wall just for fun. Alby spoke of dark days and lots of boys that panicked and were too scared. What if Newt had been one of those boys but he just survived despite the odds? She swallowed harshly. She wanted to ask but wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate, but she had this feeling like she could tell Newt anything, so she went for it, speaking in a soft voice. “Did you jump off the wall?”

“I did.” He looked away for a bit and get back to what he was doing. She bit the inside of her cheek, king of regretting asking this, thinking that she maybe went too far and felt too comfortable with her questions, but she thought that if Newt didn’t want to talk about, he would have told her and in this case, he just answered and the chill atmosphere in the garden didn’t tense up or got cold. Newt didn’t look bothered or offended by her curiosity, so it helped not feel guilty for not holding her tongue.

[To be continued…]

Next Chapter

Published (03/21/2022) by Andrea

Taglist: @cathrin2405 @kika64

15 notes · View notes

ghxst-heart · 3 years

Text

ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴢᴇ ʀᴜɴɴᴇʀ ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇs

‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

ᴀʟʙʏ