Save Me From Myself

A groan involuntarily escaped my lips when I felt someone shaking me awake.

"What?" I muttered, sleep lacing my voice as someone continued to shake my body.

"Come on, Green Bean, wake up. Got stuff to do," a voice told me.

"No thanks," I pouted before rolling over on to my stomach.

"Sutton," the voice called out, seriousness dripping through the voice.

Opening my eyes lightly, I grew confused when I noticed that the room was still dark.

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"Early. Now come on, get up, sweetheart,".

When my vision focused, I saw Newt sitting beside me, watching me.

"Good morning to you, too," I practically growled as I ran a hand through my hair, brushing out the knots.

"Well, let's go! Up, up, up!" Newt chuckled, jumping up to his feet. I shot him a look of annoyance as he helped me stand up.

"How can you possibly be so hyper at this time of day?".

"It's a secret," Newt responded, winking.

"Winking isn't cute at this time of the day, cut it.. Umm. The klunk out. Klunk. Sure, let's go with that," I sighed, stretching.

After I was awake and ready to go, Newt lead me down the Homestead's stairs.

"So where can we possibly be going at this time of day?" I asked Newt curiously.

"Just stop with the questions, girl. You'll find out when we get there,".

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"This is where the... Runners work, right?" I asked Newt as he locked the metal door behind us.

"Kind of," Newt replied, scratching his head.

Glued to my spot, I watched Newt make his way across the room, maneuvering through tables and crates that were filled to the brim with sheets of paper. Eventually, he made his way to a window, the single window in the room.

I was watching him so intensely that I almost didn't notice him waving me over. When I reached him, Newt pointed to the window silently, as if to say 'Look out there'.

"And I'm looking for.. What, exactly?" I asked, laughing slightly.

Newt shushed me, so I clamped my lips shut and tried to figure out where I was looking. When I figured it out, I gasped: I was looking in the Maze. Outside of the window was a long, narrow pathway that eventually ended and reared off to the right.

The maze walls were covered with thick green moss that actually looked pretty gross. The floor of the Maze matched the floor of the Glade; a brown dirt path that was adorned with tiny pebbles. Looking up into the sky, the sun was rising slowly, despite the fact that there were no clouds.

"Are there ever any clouds here?" I asked on accident, for I had meant to keep that to myself; I didn't want to sound stupid, did I?

"Listen! Hear that?" Newt's voice jerked, making me jump.

"Hear what?" I hissed back in a whisper.

I became cross-eyed for a minute when Newt's finger pushed itself up against my lips, ordering me to stop talking. Looking back up at him, he winked at me, so I shoved him playfully. When Newt's finger disappeared, well, that was when I heard it.

But what was it, exactly?

A strange whirring sound could be heard from inside the Maze, as well as what sounded to me like metal clanking against metal. Every few seconds, the whirring would be cut off by a sort of hiss, as if whatever was making the noise was emitting a deep breath.

Now it was getting closer.

Closer.

I glanced over at Newt in worry, but his face was quite calm. How could he be calm during a situation like this? What was out there in that Maze?

It was so close now.

The shadow of the creature making all of the noises was just reaching the corner of the pathway that Newt had ordered me to watch. The shadow grew up the wall of the Maze, and before I knew it, its shadow took up almost the entire wall.

How big is this thing?

My body automatically froze when what looked to be like a sharp spearhead appeared from the corner of the Maze. Then a long pole that held the spearhead to the body of whatever was coming. My breath caught in my throat when the round body of the creature—no, monster, appeared from around the corner.

Random spikes, rods, claws, and other sorts of things prodded out from the main circular region of the creature; all I knew was that every edge or weapon attached to that.. That thing /was sharp. Its bulbous body was covered in a dark green that eventually turned into black, goo. As it moved through the Maze, the goo rippled across its body, changing color as it went.

I wanted desperately to ask Newt what the hell that thing was, but I couldn't find my voice in time to ask him. By the time I snapped out of my frozen stupor, the creature had made its way down the long corridor of the Maze and was facing the window we were looking through, only a few feet away.

"Newt.." I began to say but almost fell over when the creature lunged for the window, some of its random spears and rods smacking against the glass. "Can the glass break?" I asked, not even bothering to hide my terror.

Newt's calming hand landed on my shoulder, but it didn't do much to actually calm me.

"Hasn't yet; we should be okay,".

"What!" I shouted in a panic, my voice rising an octave or two. "What if that thing gets in here?".

"Then we book it and run for the hills," Newt replied smiling.

Staring at him in shock, I couldn't help but wonder how he was so calm and happy, seeing as how there was a giant mechanical creature trying to break the window's glass so it could reach us.

"Okay.." I gulped, forcing myself to calm down. "What is that thing?" I asked, pointing toward the window.

The creature's gears could be heard whizzing and whirring as it continued to slam itself into the glass window.

"Thing's called a Griever," Newt said simply before taking my hand in his.

He then made his way through the decent-sized room, forcing me to follow him.

"Is that why the Maze's walls close at night? To keep those things.. Umm.. Grievers, out?" I said breathlessly as I had to take giant steps to keep up with Newt's.

Despite the limp that I had noticed the day before, Newt still could walk pretty well.

"Exactly," Newt muttered from up ahead of me as he unlocked the door leading out to the Glade.

"But why are they there? Where do they come from?" I chirped, not seeing a point to stop asking questions; so many things about the Glade were a mystery.. Why not ask questions that I deserve to know?

"We have no idea why they're here and no idea where they come from. But please, stop with the questions, Greenie. Alby will explain everything soon," Newt rambled off to me as if he had said all of this multiple times before.

"Why 'Greenie'? I'm not green,".

I threw a hand up over my face as Newt pulled me out into the sunlight. The sun had risen quickly since we'd been watching the Griever. Looking around, I spotted a handful of young boys milling about the center of the Glade to prepare for the long day that was laid out before them.

"It means you're new here, like a 'newbie',".

"So what does that have to with being a green bean?" I asked him.

I was completely and utterly confused. Newt's unoccupied hand started to flinch as he struggled to find an answer.

"Gosh, I don't know, Sutton! It's just our thing, here. I guess just think of it this way: You know the saying 'You stick out like a sore thumb'? We don't grow green beans here, so you just.. God, I don't know, you stick out like a greenbean," Newt growled, clearly annoyed that he couldn't think of a proper answer.

A smile crept on to my face as Newt quickly led me through the Glade's square.

"That's the best you could make up?" I giggled, which made Newt's mouth turn into a frown.

"Just shut your shuck mouth and ask Alby all of your questions,".

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"So, what's first, Boss? I asked Alby as I leaned back into a wooden bench.

Alby was standing in front of me, his face still morphed into a permanent scowl as he surveyed everyone in the square.

"No questions," Alby snapped as his face finally made its way towards mine.

"I can't even ask what we're doing?".

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at rude Alby was coming off as; yeah sure, he was the apparent leader of the place, but shouldn't you want to welcome new (not to mention terrified) people? Alby let out an annoyed sigh as he pulled me up from the bench.

"You're just getting an in-depth tour, is all,".

Giving him a look that said I was confused, I spoke.

"So.. That was what you couldn't tell? That we're going on a tour of the Glade?".

Alby glared at me from under thick lashes as he responded.

"That's it, no more questions. I don't want to hear one peep from you until the tour is over, got me Greenie?".

I nodded back since he said no more speaking.

"Thank the shuck heavens, let's go," Alby sighed gratefully before walking towards the other side of the Glade.

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"That building over there is known as the Blood House.. I doubt you'll want to work there, but, as per usual, we have to try you out everywhere to see where you fit in," Alby explained with a bored tone in his voice.

You could tell that he had given this tour plenty of times. The Blood House was a decent-sized building placed directly in the West corner of the Glade. The building was built was the same material as the Homestead and was next to the giant pen where animals were kept. I was about to ask him why they called it the Blood House, but Alby could tell that I was thinking about what to say.

"I know you're probably wondering what the 'Blood House' is exactly, but there's no time for that. You'll find out when you work there,".

Judging by the look of the building, as well at the sounds coming from inside of it, I already knew that working at the Blood House was not the job for me. To the right of the pen of animals, Alby lead me down a tree-shrouded path that was almost invisible from the Glade square.

"This," Alby began as he pointed towards a small building surrounded by trees. "Is where Baggers work".

I nodded towards Alby even though my eyes were trained on the building. Young boys milled around and inside the building with clipboards, jotting things down as they walked.

"They deal with the dirty work around here; the crime,".

My eyes widened at the idea of crime in such a small place, which Alby caught on to quickly.

"Don't freak out, klunkhead! I'm not saying people get robbed daily or any klunk like that. Baggers are here just in case; think of them as our police," Alby explained to me quickly before heading back into the Glade's town square.

I spun around in a rush, not wanting to lose him; the 'no-talking' policy was getting on my nerves, but I figured that if I wanted as many questions answered as possible, I should keep my mouth shut.

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"That's the Homestead, as you should know by now," Alby rolled his eyes before pointing the dilapidated building.

He didn't stop walking though, so I kept using my large strides to somewhat keep up with him.

"Lighten up, Alby! Girl may be all legs, but you're practically running!" a voice shouted from the Homestead.

Alby skidded to a halt, as if in shock that someone had stood up to him like that; when he saw that it was Newt who had shouted out, however, a smile replaced his smirk. I began to smile when I saw Alby smile, but his lips quickly turned back into the snarl that was made for his face.

"You feel like giving this Greenie the tour, then?" Alby snarled, even though I could hear a hint of playfulness when it came to his best friend.

Newt shot me a quick wink before looking back at Alby. Watching Newt curiously, I caught him fiddling around with a long piece of rope. What did he need rope for?

"Normally, Albs, I would say 'hell no', but for Sutton? I might just have to change that answer to a 'maybe',".

Hearing Newt's response only made me blush, but when the boys all around us started making cat calls and whistling, I couldn't help but blush even more.

"Maybe I prefer Alby giving me this tour.." I called over to him, but quieted down once I got Newt's attention.

By this point, most of the boys walking around had stopped to watch our interaction, clearly eager to see how the 'new girl' was doing. The boys that surrounded Newt laughed and pointed at him, calling out words like "Burn!" and "You got owned by a Greenie!". Newt's eyebrows were raised in disbelief.

"Don't lie to yourself, sweetheart. I think we all know who you prefer,".

Taking Alby's wrist into my hand, I scoffed and began to pull a confused Alby away.

"Maybe if someone wasn't so blunt about their feelings, I would change my mind," I laughed as Alby finally snapped out of his trance to pull me ahead.

"You'll come crawling back one way or another, it's alright Greenie," Newt chuckled, fiddling around with the rope in his hands.

"It's Sutton!" I threw over my shoulder, which only made Newt smile.

"Now that you're done fooling around, I need to show you the—," Alby began, but his mouth snapped shut when an ear-piercing alarm split through the calm air.

"What is that!" I shouted, clamping my hands over my ears.

The ringing alarm was so loud that it practically filled your entire being and was trying to shake you from the inside. I could feel my pulse thump against my ear, which only freaked me out more.

"Alby, what is that?" I called out again over the blaring alarm.

When I finally took the time to look at Alby, I was surprised to see that he wasn't worried or terrified like I was; no, Alby looked slightly confused.

When I looked around, some boys had their hands clamped over their ears just as I did, but none of them looked worried; all of them just looked confused.

"Alby, what's going on?" I repeated myself, but the ringing in my ears grew louder when someone pulled on my elbow. "What the hell!" I screeched, fighting the body that I was pressed up against.

"Calm down, Greenie! Just stay with me and you'll be fine,".

Looking up, I saw him. Newt.

Oh.

Goodness, I felt like an idiot.

"What's going on?" I asked him as loudly as I could so he could hear me over the alarm.

Newt began to explain what was going on as he led me to the center of the Glade, but I couldn't hear him. I squeezed his defined bicep, which actually made him blush, but I put my hand to my ear quickly to signal that I couldn't hear him.

"Oh, sorry.. This alarm goes off every time we get a newbie from the Box,".

I let him talk without interruption, simply because I wanted to know the answer. My tour was clearly cut short due to someone coming up through the Box that I had entered through.

"Why does everyone look so confused, then?" I heard my voice ask.

"Because we get a newbie once every two weeks; we've never gotten two newbies in two days, Sutton. Something isn't right,".

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I couldn't help but be surprised as to how protective Newt was being of me.

When we had finally approached the Box, Newt had pulled me behind him before looking at me saying, "Just in case something happens,". I had only know these guys for less than two days, and Newt so far was more than welcoming. He was probably my only friend here. Newt did have a good amount of height over me, so when the blaring alarm finally stopped, I had to stand on my toes to see over his shoulder.

"Alright, let's open it up," I heard Alby grunt from the opposite side of where Newt and I were standing.

Quickly and quietly, I took a few steps back into the crowd of boys that were already gathered around the opening to the Box. My different clothing denied me access to fit in with the surrounding crowd, but I did the best I could.

Without looking at the crowd, Newt and Alby stepped forward and grabbed on to the two handle that were on each side of the giant door that I had finally just noticed. The giant moss-coated door that matched the giant walls of the Glade was pushed back an inch or two, then pulled to the side like an elevator door—just thinking about something so simple like an elevator door bothered me.

How could I remember something like that but not my own family?

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Watching the boys open the door to the Box was much different when you're on the 'all-knowing' side. When you're stuck in that tiny Box, you have no idea what's going—where you are, who you are; how do you know if you're even sane? Being on the side that I was on now, however, almost made me feel cocky; confident.

A person that was just as terrified as I had been was is in that Box right now, and here I stand, knowing how they'll react. Knowing how scared they'll be when the door is opened and their vision is blinded by the shining sun. Knowing how confused they'll be when two teenage boys who they'll learn to know as Newt and Alby stick their heads in to the Box to examine the new 'fresh meat'.

Everyone, including myself, leaned forward to listen in as soon as we heard a small whimper emerge from the Box. Without hesitation, Newt's head snapped back to face the throng of boys that I was submerged in to speak.

"Stop freakin' out, it's a shuck boy,".

I wasn't surprised when half the group groaned—they must be pretty sick of not seeing female faces.

"At least we've got Sutton!" one boy joked, but his mouth snapped shut when he was shot two glares from Alby and Newt.

After a short conversation between Alby, Newt, and the new boy, both Alby and Newt leaned into the Box just as they had with me and began to lift the newcomer out. When the new kid was finally emerged in what was the 'Glade', he scooted his body to the floor and away from everyone, as if touching us would kill him.

"Where am I?" he stuttered, horror filling his voice.

"Welcome home, Newbie. This is the Glade," Newt said cheerfully, patting the kid on the back.

"The boy's probably scared to death, let him go easier than you did me, okay?" I called out from over on the sidelines.

Newt's face twisted into a smirk while Alby's face continued to shoot everyone a menacing sneer.

"Hey.." an unfamiliar voice muttered.

I hadn't heard that voice before, but for some reason it sparked something inside of me. Glancing down at the boy who was curled up into a ball on the ground, I couldn't help but take in his features.

He, as almost everyone else here, had a few inches over me; you could tell from the long legs. His short brown hair fanned over his forehead while his deep blue eyes sparkled in the sun.

"Hi?" I heard myself say in more of a question than anything.

The boy was in deep thought as we stared at each other, as he had felt the same spark inside of his body as I had. Unfortunately, everyone seemed to notice it, especially when Alby broke the silence with an uncomfortable clearing of his throat.

"You two know each other or something?" he asked, but the boy and I were both quick in shooting that idea down.

We barely knew who we as a person were; how would we know each other?

The Gladers soon learned that the boy believed his name to be Thomas, but he was just as confused on everything I had been confused on, and well, still am.

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"What do you think I did before I got sent here?" I asked Newt, who was sprawled out in the grass beside me.

"T'hell do you think I know, you klunk head? I don't even remember my last name!" Newt replied, chuckling slightly.

"So it's not just me?" I asked him happily, glad to finally get something important out of someone.

"I'm not the only one who can't remember anything?".

Newt snorted as he plucked up random blades of grass.

"Glad you finally figured that important piece of information out,".

I began to sputter when Newt draped the blades of grass across my face.

"You've been here for what, two years? Don't you have a job or something to be doing instead of throwing grass in a girl's face?".

"A pretty girl," Newt corrected me, throwing his pointer finger into my face.

"Oh, please; you're attempts at flirting are just plain sad," I replied, my shoulders shaking lightly as I giggled.

We sat in silence for a moment, staring up at the cloudless sky before I heard Newt's voice in my ear.

"I'm Alby's right-hand man. I work when I want to work," his smooth, accented voice explained as he twirled a blade of grass.

"Well aren't you all high and mighty!" I spat playfully as I rolled my eyes. In the corner of my eye, I could see Newt's head turning to look at me.

"I used to have a crazy job; hurt myself when things got too dangerous,".

My face rolled over to face his handsome features as I listened.

"What was your old job?" I asked quietly, our faces almost touching.

"I was a Runner,".

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"You ran through the Maze?" I asked in surprise to the boy next to me.

His devious smirk reappeared on his face as he stared into my eyes.

"Surprise," he muttered before glancing down at his bad leg.

"Is that why you have a limp? From running?".

Newt nodded before looking back up at me. His tongue was making its way across his bottom lip slowly, which I couldn't help but notice.

"Being chased by a Griever, got tripped by it, fell; wouldn't have gotten out if it wasn't for Alby,".

"Wait, Alby's a Runner too?" I asked him; I was beyond confused by now.

Newt's eyebrows crinkled as if in deep thought as he spoke again.

"No; Alby sort of just runs things out here, you know? We brought him out into the Maze one day because we thought we had figured something out, something important. Little did we know there was a shuck Griever waiting for us,".

Watching Newt sigh in frustration, I leaned my head back into the grass as I watched the sun begin to set.

"Why do you think we got two new people in two days, Newt? Alby said that that's never happened before.." I rambled on, wanting to get down to the important stuff.

Plus, I could Newt needed a break from his 'leg story'; anyone could tell that he was affected by it. Newt shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Don't know. What I do know is that Alby will want to get to the bottom of it,".

The two of us sat in silence for a while, giving me time to think about the last two days and what I've already been through. I jumped a little when the ground started to shake, but I quickly remembered that it was just the Maze's walls closing for the night.

"Sutton, is there anything you need to tell me?" Newt asked, breaking me out of my stupor.

I couldn't help but giggle when a lock of my brunette hair was blown over to reach Newt's nose, making him sneeze.

"Don't laugh, that wasn't funny!" Newt sniffled, rubbing his nose.

"Oh come on, that so was funny,".

My head fell back into the grass in laughter as Newt shoved me lightly as he shook his head.

"Hey Sutton!" a random voice called. Looking up, I saw a random Glader waving towards me, so I smiled politely and waved back.

"Well, aren't you Miss Popularity now that the Glade's got a new Green Bean," Newt sighed, standing up.

"That's what happens when you're the only girl in a group full of teenage boys," I grunted as Newt helped me so I was standing.

"Let's head out, it'll be dark soon. You don't—,".

"Want to be out after dark, yeah, I know," I smirked back at Newt as I finished his sentence.

The boy shot me an obnoxious eye roll before leading the way back to the Homestead.

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"Not to sound repetitive or anything, but is there something going on?" Newt's voice asked me, clearly filled with intrigue.

"I don't think so.. Why?" I replied, since the whole question was throwing me off.

Why would Newt think that I wasn't telling him something? I barely remembered anything!

"I don't know.. It's just that when Thomas and you saw each other, it's like something... Clicked. Maybe I'm just imagining it," Newt explained as he ran a hand through his long hair.

I didn't have the guts to tell him, but he was right; something had clicked. There was something about Thomas that I knew; remembered. The feeling wasn't completely far-fetched; I had felt the same thing when I met Newt. Maybe it was just something I felt when I was around attractive guys; yeah, that must be it.

"I think you're going crazy," I snorted when we finally made our way to the Homestead's front door.

"What? Crazy? I don't think so," Newt shook his head furiously, and to my surprise, he took hold of my tiny hand. "Does this seem crazy to you?" he asked me in a whisper, his breath warm against my face.

For one incredibly crazy and delusional second, I thought he might try something; might being the perfect word. As if on cue, an ear-piercing scream lit up the night sky, causing everyone who was still awake to stop dead in their tracks.

Our faces were practically pulled apart so we could look up at the Homestead's highest window. Judging by the painful cries, we knew it could only be Ben.

"No.. But that does,".