Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I leaned back in my seat, letting a heavy sigh escape from my chest as I looked at the notebook in front of me, and flipped open to the most recent page which is also the last. Some of the ink was smeared from my forearm, but it was still legible. I smiled at the last line of the theme. It had taken two months— it’s all I had been focusing on, working on it for hours to the point where even Darry was concerned with how long I’d worked on it. But it didn’t matter, because it was finished. Everyone could finally hear my story... Hear their story.

I closed the notebook, choosing to look up at the ceiling, the same ceiling that I had always known. I let a small smile fall onto my face before I skidded the chair back, it scraped along the floor before stopping. I groaned, resting my hands on my lower back before leaning back, it cracked with my movement. My eyes flickered to my bed and I briefly thought about laying down and sleeping for the rest of the day. It'd been quite some time since I’d gotten even five hours of sleep.

But, I quickly let that thought go when my stomach rumbled fiercely, I flinched at the noise, I didn’t even feel hungry! I stared down for a few moments before sighing and shrugging, I walked toward the door and grabbed the knob, turning it. It creaked open and I heard the TV volume quickly decline. I felt eyes on me before I even walked into view.

It was Two-Bit and Steve, they were watching Mickey while they ate ice cream, if the spoon in Two-Bit’s mouth was anything to go by, at least. They looked at each other for a second before looking at me, Two-Bit smiling sheepishly while Steve scrambled for the remote, quickly shutting the TV off.

“Oh hey, Ponyboy! You feeling any better?” Two-Bit asked, a bit of sincerity bleeding into his words. I looked at him blankly, suddenly not knowing how to respond to his simple question. It was as if I’d forgotten how to understand English.

“Uh..” I said quietly, it was then apparent to me that my throat was uncomfortably dry, grating with every word or sound I would make. Steve turned to look at me, the remote still clutched in his hand. I felt goosebumps wash over me as the room fell silent, the two of them simply staring at me and waiting for something more to come from me. But I couldn’t say anything else. It wouldn’t feel right.

I looked around the room, at a loss for how to communicate that I just wanted to get something to eat and drink. Two-Bit was a bit ahead of me, though. 

“Well, if ya don’t wanna talk, then how about you go get somethin’ to eat? It’s been a while since you’ve eaten, Pony,” He smiled at me before making a ‘shoo’ motion with his hand. I looked at him with what I hoped was a grateful expression, but by the concerned look on his face, it wasn’t what I hoped.

I walked into the kitchen, hearing Steve and Two-Bit mutter to each other before the sound of Mickey filled the house once again. A tension I didn’t even know I had fallen from my shoulders. It was too quiet earlier. I walked over to the fridge, opened the door, and peeked inside to see if there was anything worth eating. I saw food, but nothing looked appetizing. I also didn’t feel too up for cooking at the moment.

Maybe I should go out to eat? Did I even have any money right now? Maybe if I asked Two-Bit and Steve they’d take pity on me and give me some money, maybe even drive me over there. I then froze, suddenly taking into account the fact that I would have to walk over to the Dingo by myself if I chose to go.

A strange fear caught me by the throat and my vision blurred. I placed a trembling hand over my mouth and closed my eyes, letting out a ragged sigh as I tried to keep myself calm. Something warm ran down my face. Blood was my first thought, I shakily reached my hand up to my face, swiping whatever was on my face off. I looked down at my fingers. For a second, I thought I saw blood but it turned out to be tears. I hadn’t even noticed.

I looked down at my hands and all I could see was red covering them. I shrunk down on myself and raced out of the kitchen toward my room. I heard Two-Bit shout, and Steve yell out, but the door shut behind me and I couldn’t hear anything. I looked back at the door and twisted the lock. We never locked anything in the house except for the bathroom, but I didn’t want anyone to talk to me. I didn’t want anyone to look at me. I then jumped into Soda and I’s shared bed. I immediately sank into the comforters. The room smelled familiar, I fumbled to get the jacket around my waist off, and I reached over to grab another jacket that was hanging on the edge of the bed.

Through blurry vision cast by my tears, I clutched the two jackets close to my chest, clenching my eyes shut as I let out a shaky breath. Johnny... Dally... Sadness spread from my chest, fizzing throughout the rest of my body. I missed them. More than could be put into words, I missed them. Their memory burned behind my eyes each time I blinked, their deaths replaying like a broken radio. The gunshots ringing out, a lone body going limp under a street light, A sixteen-year-old boy’s head lolling off to the side as he was proclaimed dead, their jackets being the only thing I got to keep as a reminder.

Sometimes, I feel like I don’t deserve to keep their memory. That I should give it to someone who means more to them. But who else? Everyone cared for them just as much as I did, maybe even more. But would they be able to deal with seeing the last bit of their dead family members? People who were once part of their family, trying to escape the fact that they had no one to go home to? No one who cared?

A sob hicked out of my throat as I shuddered, laying Dally’s jacket over my body as I buried my face into Johnny’s. I drifted off to sleep, not knowing if the faint sound of a door swinging open was part of the dream I was soon to have.

Apparently it wasn’t, judging by the thumping footsteps that soon came to a stop. I opened my eyes to stare at the door, listening to everything. It was eerily quiet, the TV had been turned off the second the front door creaked. I could hear a muffled conversation through the door. Was it Two-Bit and Steve again? The footsteps started up once again, building up until they stopped in front of his door. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to panic. I just stared at the door, waiting to see what Dally—

I stopped myself in my thoughts, taking a deep breath. I waited to see what Darry would do at the door, he seemed to have fallen silent. 

“Pony?” Darry called out from the other side of the door, an odd softness in his voice that I hadn’t heard since the incident two months ago. I wondered if I would be able to talk again, but I answered without thinking.

“Yeah?” My voice was scratchy and degraded, once Darry heard it I was convinced that he would force the door open and shove honeyed tea down my throat. But he didn’t. He didn’t say anything, but he slid down the door, his head tilted back and hit the door. 

“Ponyboy.. are you okay?” His tone was hesitant as if he didn’t know how to ask. I was admittedly taken by surprise when I heard the question, it took me a moment to answer. Should I be honest? Would he understand or would he just put it off as ‘teenage hormones’ again? I didn’t want to risk it.

“Mhm, I’m fine Darry,” I cleared my throat after, Darry fell silent once again as if thinking over my answer. I was scared he might find me out, but I don’t know why. Maybe because I was treating it like a secret.

“Pony, honey, please don’t lie to me,” Darry replied after a bit. I went silent as well, listening to Two-bit and Steve swing the front door open before gently closing it behind them. Well, that was new.

“Ponyboy?” I just realized that I hadn’t answered Darry. But I didn’t want to anyways. I just wanted to sleep. That’s all I wanted to do. 

“Go ‘way.. you’re not real,” I muttered just loudly enough for Darry to hear it. He stood up real quick from his spot on the floor, I could hear it. He wrapped his hand around the doorknob and jiggled it, but it wouldn’t open. I stared at the knob on my side where the lock was turned and, well, locked.

I could hear him talking, his voice slowly getting louder, but his voice slowly slipped out of my mind as I stared at the jackets. One laid over my body as it had been once before, and the other under my head while I held it in my arms. Warmth washed over my body and I relaxed into the bed once more, drifting off into a sleep even Darry couldn’t get me out of.

Chapter Text

I woke up, snapping my eyes open when I heard a loud rattle of chains. I looked around the small room frantically, it looked like a miner's lift. I locked eyes with a boy who looked two years or more older than me, but I didn’t have time to do anything else before the lift lagged, before jerking up a bit quicker. The other boy and I fell to the floor, it had a chain-like pattern but that’s all I could process before the lift came to a long overdue stop.

I breathed in heavily as I lifted myself off the floor with shaky legs. I looked at the other boy who was in the process of getting off the floor. We were both alarmed, yet neither of us spoke. I subconsciously grabbed the sleeve of the brown jacket just as the ceiling opened up from above us. There were other kids, also looking older than me, who were staring down at me and the other boy. 

Someone with blonde hair stepped out from the crowd of boys and looked down at us in shock. 

“Well, that doesn’t happen every day now does it?” He spoke, pursing his lips and looking off to somewhere we couldn’t see from our current position.

“Hey, Alby! We got two bloody Greenies today!” He exclaimed, cupping his hands around his mouth. The guy known as Alby stepped into their limited field of vision, staring down at the two in surprise that was effortlessly partially hidden.

“Huh.. well, we’ll call ‘em twins then. Minho! Help Newt get the Greenbeans up, and everyone else, back up! Get back to work!” Alby exclaimed, waving his hands in the air as the other boys slowly spread away from the Box, going back to the jobs that they were previously doing.

The guy who had greeted them, while not technically greeting them , shrugged before looking back down at them, Minho walking over to his side and looking down at them as well.

“Wow, you’re both so lanky that I can’t tell if you’re half dead, younger than the rest, or just skinny,” Minho said, gazing at them playfully. The other boy merely scoffed while I looked at him with an unimpressed expression. Minho laughed before crouching down and sticking his hand out.

“Hey! Skinny Greenie with the jackets— yeah you, grab my hand and let me get you outta that klunk-hole,” I was slightly astonished at the fact that these guys seemed to have worse grammar than me! Then again, they’ve been trapped in what looks like a field from what I can see. But, his grammar was so bad it was on level with a six-year-old, no offense to him.

I clasped my hand with Minho’s calloused one, and I yelped when I was pulled out of the Box with a surprising force. Minho was apparently surprised as well, if his expression was anything to go by.

“Woah! You’re light Greenie one, we’re gonna have to get some meat on your bones if you’re gonna be any use around here,” He said off-handedly, I looked at him with hardly concealed offense. I wasn’t skinny, and even if I was I would be able to do everything here!

As Newt helped the other boy out of the Box, I took a moment to look at my surroundings. There was a flash of silver and red from me moving a bit too quickly. There were only a few buildings, but this place was seriously big. There were these stone/concrete walls creating a square, and there were three large entrances to what I was about to ask about. It gave off a sense of.. danger, almost. It was interesting, enticing, even.

“Hey, Minho, what’s that, over there?” I asked, pointing toward the area. Minho stared at it silently before looking at Newt who quickly replied instead.

“That’s the Maze, Greenie one. You don’t wanna go in there, no matter how ‘cool’ it looks. The Griever’s will snatch ya right up before you can even blink,” Newt said sternly, he’d practiced this line, and said it to the others before me. I could tell by how he subconsciously took a serious expression before donning a more carefree one. Minho was used to this, as expected, but the other boy didn’t seem as unsettled as I was anticipating. 

“So, do you remember your name, Greenie?” Minho asked me, nudging me with his shoulder to get my attention away from Newt. I looked back at him and opened my mouth, ready to reply with my name, only for my mind to go blank at the very last second. I furrowed my eyebrows and did my best to remember. Black hair.. brown eyes.. scared.. I couldn’t think of just one name, I felt a good few right behind something that was almost blocking off my memories from before. But what was before? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I don’t belong here. I wasn’t meant to be here. But I’m here now, for some reason. Maybe I feel like I don’t belong because I’m scared? Actually, probably because everyone here seemed around two years older than me.

“Hey, it’s okay if you don’t remember Greenie, I was just checkin’ in case—” Minho quickly said after I remained silent for a few moments. I ignored his words and blurted the first name that seemed familiar to me as I looked to the grassy floor and idly grabbed the sleeve of the jean jacket around my waist. The name came surprisingly easily.

“Johnny,” I said, only a shadow of a doubt around the word. It didn’t exactly feel right , but it was the closest thing right now. Minho looked slightly taken aback, but he quickly nodded and grinned, throwing his arm over my shoulder and shouting to Newt.

“Hey, Greenie one remembers his name, Newt! Fresh outta the Box, too!” Minho exclaimed, a dopey smile on his face. I let a smile slip hesitantly onto my face before looking down at the jacket sleeve. Johnny… that felt right.

“Johnny!” Newt exclaimed, I snapped my head up when I heard the name, and just as I did that, something akin to sadness panged through me dully. I bit my lip and ignored the feeling. I was just nervous about the new setting, that’s it.

“Yeah?” I replied, using my forearm to wipe my forehead as I walked over to Newt, Minho following me briefly before he split to talk to the other new boy. Newt cracked his neck effortlessly before sticking his hand out and smiling at me.

“Welcome to the Glade, Johnny-green,” He said enthusiastically. Another dull feeling of sadness shot through me, but I ignored it and stuck my hand out, shaking his all while doing my best to show no hesitance, no weakness.

“Good to be here,” I say sarcastically, Newt gives me a half-empathetic smile before looking down at our clasped hands, he lets go and rubs his hand on his shirt.

“Wow are your hands burning up, was the Box hot today?” I don’t remember anything about the Box aside from the sound of yanking chains and the look of terrified confusion on the other boy’s face, but I nodded despite that. Newt shook his head and chuckled.

“Well, in that case, I’d recommend that you hit the showers before we set up your hammock. Hey, Minho! Go show Johnny-green here the showers and I’ll hand Greenie two off to Chuck, alright?” Minho nodded and waved bye to the other boy, walking past Newt as the latter walked toward Greenie two.

“Judging by our first stop to the showers, I’m guessing the Box was hot again.. at least, on one side..” Minho muttered, clearly having not intended for me to have heard that. But, I replied thoughtlessly.

“Mmhm,” I hummed, Minho didn’t show any surprise but merely flicked his eyes over to me instead of the ground, “So, you got good hearin', Johnny-green?” Minho asked. I looked at him in slight confusion but nodded despite that. I did have pretty good hearing I’d have to say. At least a bit better than the average.

“Ah, that’s good. Keep your ears out because boys around here are pretty NOSEY,” He yelled the last part out and four boys raced away from the Showerhouse, giggling shamelessly although they were eavesdropping.

“They’re gonna be all over you for at least a week, maybe two because of the twin Greenie situation, but still,” Minho shrugged before walking over to the door of the shower house and unlocking it with a key he had hanging on his hip, he gestured to the opened door but I looked at it in suspicion. It could be a trap.

“Klunk! Sorry, forgot the spare key for you and the other greenie. Most of ‘em do panic near locked doors because of it bein' the first day and all..” Minho continued to mutter to himself as he quickly walked away to apparently grab the spare keys for me and the other boy. I looked near the other side of the shower house when I heard someone start yelling.

“Marty, I put you in charge for ten minutes and I come back to see the FOUR boys I asked you to watch, gone?” He questioned accusingly, not letting Marty get a word in with the one-sided argument.

“But– Gally, they ran off when I was helping the other crew!” Gally stuck a finger in front of Marty’s face, wordlessly telling him to shut up. I smiled a bit at the scene before speaking up.

“Gally, the four went that way, they were hiding behind the Showerhouse!” I exclaimed, my mind producing an image of a dirty-blonded guy with a cartoony mouse on his shirt calling me out for snitching. Gally smiled at me before turning to Marty.

“See? It really isn’t that hard now Mart. The greenie was with Minho and still caught that!” Gally exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air as Marty casually rolled his eyes. 

“Wait a quick second, I heard Minho screamin’ about you rememberin’ your name, what is it?” Gally asked with slight haste, glancing back occasionally to make sure Marty hadn’t walked off.

“Oh uh, my name is Johnny, Newt calls me Johnny-green,” I said casually, Gally nodded before turning back to face Marty only to turn around again to face me.

“Thank you, Johnny-green for doing what Marty apparently couldn’t have done! After All, builders are recommended to be multitaskers! It says so in the pamphlet!” Gally exclaimed at Marty, having turned back around after thanking me loudly. I blushed a bit when a few of the Gladers turned around to face me, minuscule looks of shock on their face for something I had no clue about. Later, I found out that Gally almost never thanked people, even if he was joking.

“Alright! I got the keys!” Minho yelled out, jogging over to me as he held the keys up. They jingled in his hands with the movement. Once he came to a stop, he puffed his breath on the key before taking the end of his shirt and wiping it playfully. I smiled and rolled my eyes at the motion, going on my tippy toes to grab one of the keys from Minho’s grasp.

“Yeah yeah, thanks Minho,” I smiled, the words themselves sarcastic yet I said them with sincerity. Minho flashed a smile at me before winking and opening the door for me once more, bowing as I walked inside, “Enjoy your shower Johnny-green!” He said before closing the door behind me. I turned and locked it before turning back around and walking.

“Disfruta tu ducha..” I mimicked him teasingly, stopping when I heard the words that slipped out of my mouth. I slapped a hand over it before looking around the shower room, which was empty aside from myself. I slowly led my hand away from my face before shaking my head slowly.

“Okay.. no more thinking, I can think after I shower..” I muttered to myself as I pulled off my clothes quickly until I had nothing on. I turned the knob to the shower and pulled the bar forward. Water sprayed down from the head and I adjusted it to make it as warm as it could go, which was still decently cold in my opinion. I let my back hit the eerily cold shower wall as I stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. It was.. as if I was expecting to see another ceiling. I don’t know what I was expecting.

I tried my best not to look down at my body. I also tried my best to actually wash myself, but I was feeling faint. My hands felt clammy and warm. I slid my hand along the shower walls before leaning heavily against the closest one. I shut off the shower and stumbled out, wrapping myself in a scrappy towel and drying myself before dropping to the floor. I scrambled to get my clothes on, the shirt was tight and looked more like a half shirt, but I ignored it and grabbed the two jackets I had on before. I was shivering violently, and only thought of saying one thing:

“Mierda,” I said, the words echoing loudly in the room before the floor vanished from underneath me.

“And.. inform me once more of the situation with Group A of the Maze Trials? I’m hoping to have heard you incorrectly.”

“Someone.. unfamiliar to our records had gone up the lift with A2. He has yet to be identified. Sources say that there is no trace of his existence whatsoever.”

The room fell silent as the words were processed. Her eyes sharpened. A threat to the experiment, he was. He would be dealt with... accordingly, eventually.

“Allow him to partake in the trails. Drag him away and get vitals on him, get blood drawn and get him on file,” The assistant nodded affirmatively before turning away and reaching out for the door handle.

“Also, Remus?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I know about your little business with A.D. Janson. I would like that to be put to a stop, it’d be a shame if we had to fire you both.”

Click

“Well, I would’ve told you to rethink that if you had the time to. Now, hand over the card and the keys.”

“Remus..”

“You heard me, ma’am! Don’t make me pull this trigger because so help me , I will if I have to.”

“You’re a good man, you don’t have to do this..”

“Cut the sweet talk, Ava. Remus, grab the necessities,” Janson said as he walked into the room, closing the doors behind him securely. He glanced around the whole room only to find no cameras were placed.

“Oh, you have such little faith in me,” Janson said before knocking Ava out, her body going limp onto the floor.

Chapter Text

“Glory..” My croaky voice produced, my eyes were squinted as I tried to clear the faint burning that I felt not just in my eyes, but all over my body. I saw a blurry, tall figure standing over me. Another was next to me, but I couldn’t feel it. I could only see them, but not completely.

“Is somebody sick?..” I said quietly. The mouth of the one nearest to me started moving, replying to my question. But they were cut off.

“Yeah, shank. You’re sick,” My eyes widened when I heard the unfamiliar voice. I slowly blinked, the hallucination slowly fading away as I looked around the room I was in. Someone was standing near the cot I was in, he had his hands on his hips and didn’t seem too impressed with me.

“Now pray tell, how was the Box hot? This hasn’t happened since Winston…” He muttered under his breath as he slowly shook his head, removing a rag from my forehead and wetting it with cold water before placing it back on my forehead. I pulled a face at the cool temperature of the rag. Thin streams of water ran down my face but I ignored it as I spoke.

“What.. hot Box?” I murmured, he looked back from where he was near a small table with a neutral expression.

“It’s code for ‘the Greenie somehow got sick,’ we only use it because when Winston heard that as a greenie, he tried to bite everyone who went near him while breaking a klunk ton of stuff,” He shared the memory with a fond tone of voice. A few of the words molded with others, but I ignored it. He went silent once again, walking over to the door and opening it, talking to someone. I looked down at my body which was covered with a thin blanket. No wonder I felt like I was freezing.

I couldn’t feel my legs, or my forearms. I could just barely feel my shoulders. Everything felt lax, it was even hard to move my head, at times, even my eyes. I gazed at the walls of the structure I was in, feeling myself slip away into something that felt like sleep. I came back when I heard the door shutting loudly, followed by harshly whispered words.

“Clint, you don’t slam doors in the Homestead dear shuck who the hell is your mother? Who taught you manners?” Someone reprimanded sharply. Clint suppressed a giggle, probably knowing the other would only get angrier with him.

“Sorry Jeff, it’s just that the only shanks we usually have in here are Gally’s boys, and we both know that they sleep like logs,” Clint defended himself, Jeff merely shook his head and shooed him off.

“Go ask one of the ITs to check our medicine stock for fever medicine, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Advil, if we don’t have it tell them to hand me some Vixx,” Jeff ordered, Clint gave him a mock salute before marching over to the door and opening it, sticking his head out to relay the message to the ITs.

Jeff turned toward me, sighing and scratching his short hair before looking at me, “How are ya feelin' Johnny-green? Headache, stuffy nose, sore throat?” He asked, I tried to think over the question he just asked but I suddenly couldn’t remember. All I knew was that my throat hurt real bad.

“How.. do you know m’name?” I asked instead, looking at him with causally wide eyes. He made an o shape with his mouth before explaining.

“Well, you passed out in the Showerhouse, Minho was bangin’ on the door like no tomorrow before he remembered he had keys for a damn reason, then he found you passed out on the floor, burnin' up, and brought you here,” Jeff quickly explained as he opened a drawer, grabbed something from the table, and put it inside before sliding it shut.

“Oh.. shower…” I muttered, mostly to myself as Jeff absentmindedly nodded with my nonsense muttering. I felt as if I couldn’t control my mouth, spewing whatever came to mind, which was mostly about stuff in the room like tables, the color of decorations, the cot, etc. Jeff could tell that I was totally out of it although I felt relatively fine.

“Johnny?.. Johnny...” I eventually spoke, louder than usual. Clint came back from the IT door and stopped immediately, looking at me in confusion. Jeff turned away from the table and did the same as Clint.

“Jeff, why's Johnny repeating his name?” Clint asked, glazing at Jeff who gave him a look of confusion before he shrugged. 

“Why the hell would I know? He’s kinda delirious so it’s to be expected, but that’s definitely somethin’ I haven’t seen,” Jeff spoke with an interestingly casual tone, only slightly disturbed as I continued to repeat ‘Johnny’ over and over again.

“Should I go.. grab someone?” Clint asked with a nervous edge to his voice, already moving closer to the door. Jeff pursed his lips and looked between Clint and I before nodding.

“Go find Alby, Newt, or Minho, Alby’s probably giving the other greenie a tour, no clue where Newt or Minho would be though,” Jeff said, Clint immediately took off once he finished speaking, the door slamming closed behind him. Jeff flinched a small bit but quickly shook his head, muttering about how Gally would have Clint’s head if he broke that door. I was reminded of that dirty-blonde-haired man who wore a mouse shirt. It was a strange thing to remember at a time like this. I pushed it to the side and spaced out once again, my eyes going void of emotion as I stared off.

“Is— wrong?”

“H– wake up,”

“Get—”

“Ay–”

“Grab A—”

“No— got this,”

“AY! JOHNNY-GREEN GET UP!” I snapped my eyes open even wider than they were before, flinching and scooting back to the far corner of the cot. Minho suddenly looked sheepish from where he stood, Newt shook his head and slapped Minho behind his head.

“Shuckin’ idiot,” Minho huffed but didn’t say anything more, crossing his arms as I tried to regain my composure. I took in deep breath after deep breath before I felt decent. I looked over to Newt who met my eyes.

“Hey, would you mind if Greenie two came in? He’s kinda tryin' to look around in here, I can see his big shank head without even lookin',” Newt asked, I took a second to process the question before I slowly nodded, rubbing my eyes with my fisted hands after. Newt nodded and turned, opening the door before speaking to the greenie outside. He came inside, peeking over Newt’s shoulder to see me. I stared back at him. His hair didn’t look too hot but that wouldn’t be the best first introduction to have with someone I’d be stuck with for Glory knows how long.

“Alright, Johnny this is Greenie two, Greenie two this is Johnny. He’s slightly delirious so watch your words, alright shank?” Newt introduced us before speaking to Greenie two. I looked at Greenie two before nodding in a way of greeting. He did the same and internally I smiled. We would get along just fine.

“Well, since you don’t seem too fit to choose where you wanna hang your hammock, we’ll leave that for tomorrow. We got some business to attend to in the meantime,” Minho said, I had totally forgotten about where I was gonna sleep, but it seemed I was gonna have to stay the night in the Homestead.

“I’ll get Alby to tour you around tomorrow, maybe, alright Johnny-green?” Newt said, smiling at me before waving, he rested his hand on Greenie two’s lower back before pushing him out the open door. He waved to me one last time before he disappeared. Minho did the same before filing out the door. I watched them from the window as they split up, all of them going somewhere separate.

“Nu-uh uh shank, you’re sick so there ain’t gonna be any movin' around for a while. We’ll let you up when you get better, though,” Jeff said, I nodded, looking out the window one more time as Jeff took the cloth on my forehead and wet it, squeezing out the extra water before putting it back on my head. Someone popped through the door with a small bag of what I assumed was medicine. Jeff turned around and they exchanged words briefly before Jeff took the bag, muttering about Clint running off. I looked over to the table Clint and Jeff were at before my eyes widened when I saw the sleeves of my jackets hanging out.

“Mm!” I hummed loudly, coughing right after that. Jeff turned to look at me and with strain, I pointed my shaking finger toward the table. Jeff walked over, putting the medicine bag down before looking back at me in confusion.

“J...Jackets,” I whispered, Jeff looked at the drawer where the sleeves hung out, and he quietly said ‘ohh’ before taking the jackets out of the drawer. 

“These are yours, right Johnny?” He asked for clarification, I nodded quickly to the point where it made my headache a bit worse, but I didn’t care because Jeff walked over to the cot with the jackets in his arms. He dropped the jackets gently on the cot. A smile twitched onto my face subconsciously and I clutched the jackets in my hands before bringing them over to my chest.

“Thank..” I muttered before my eyes fluttered and I slowly faded into sleep, “You’re welcome,” Jeff said before pushing my hair back and walking over to the table.

But before I had the chance to fully slip off into sleep, a piercing, bloodcurdling scream rang throughout the Glade. I flinched and goosebumps flew over my skin, the hair on my arms standing straight up as I stared at the direction in which the scream came from. It came from a room below mine.

I looked at Jeff with my now wide eyes. Jeff pursed his lips before cursing under his breath. He jogged over to the door and ripped it open. 

“CLINT! Go check on Ben before Alby and Newt bust in here!” He yelled, Clint yelped before tripping over the stairs, he ran up right after and I heard a door slam closed behind him. Jeff seemed to be contemplating if he should go or not, he looked back at me and I nodded and that’s all he needed before he took off downstairs after Clint. The door was held open by a stopper he nudged in at the last second.

The front door slammed open and I could hear Alby cursing loudly, Newt doing the same as they raced up the stairs to the second floor. The door opened and another scream ripped through the air. I went pale and clenched my jackets in my hands.

I heard the door close quickly, I heard footsteps outside the front door as they whispered quietly, a few even walked inside. It remained relatively quiet, though. I looked as far as I could from the bed and saw dark wallpaper curling off the walls, almost flaking off. It was quiet for another two or three minutes before there was a loud shout from outside and the front door was opened once again.

“Hey, look, it’s the Greenbean,” I heard someone older-sounding say from the first floor. It sounded like Gally, almost.

“This shank probably klunked his pants when he heard old Benny scream like a girl. Need a new diaper, shuck-face?” I quietly ‘oohed’ under my breath, going silent in favor of wanting to hear what ‘Greenie two’ would say in response to that. At least, I’m pretty sure it was Greenie two judging by the word Greenbean.

“My name’s Thomas,” He said, his voice neutral. He clearly wanted to get away from Gally, and judging by the creak, he tried to go upstairs before being stopped.

“Hold on there, Greenie,” Gally slyly said, “Newbies aren’t allowed to see someone who’s been... taken. Newt and Alby won’t allow it,” Well, you bet they wouldn’t. They sounded so damn angry when they burst through that door that I couldn’t believe it. Speaking of them, I heard a door open from the second floor and close quickly, two people walked around on the second floor in quiet whispers before entering another door.

“What’s your problem?” He had fear in his voice, just a hint. Gally had probably noticed it, judging by how he acted with Marty earlier, “I don’t even know where I am. All I want is some help,” I grimaced at hearing the words. That was the wrong thing to say, in my kind opinion.

“Listen to me, Greenbean,” Gally sounded suspicious, “I’ve seen you before. Something’s fishy about you showing up here, and I’m gonna find out what,” I’m surprised he hadn’t said the same thing when he saw me. If anything, I was the one who really didn’t belong. 

“I’ve never seen you before in my life. I have no idea who you are, and I couldn’t care less,” Thomas spat. My mouth formed an o shape when I heard that. That wasn’t half bad for someone like Thomas. But, my fun ended there when the door on the second floor opened with a muffled scream from another room. Jeff and Clint soon appeared in my view and they looked back at the yelling before pulling the doorstep and closing the door fully. A small frown slipped onto my face. It was just getting good!

“Sorry about all that yellin’ Johnny, Gally’s just roughin' up Thomas, he goes it with everyone,” Jeff waved off the behavior, ignoring the muffled tense conversation from the first floor. I was interested in hearing more, but Clint already stood in front of the door, his ear pressed to the door as he listened to the conversation. And by his expression, it was gettin' pretty good.

“Well.. ignoring them, you gonna try and sleep, or am I gonna have to sneak Tonin into your dinner?” Jeff asked, he might as well have been daring me to go against him, but luckily for him, I was feeling pretty drowsy.

“Wow! He just called Alby and Newt ‘geezer shanks’.. write that down in the book Jeff!” Clint exclaimed, Jeff smiled and nodded, running over to the table and opening the bottom drawer and pulling out a surprisingly big book. He flipped it open and grabbed a pen from inside the drawer, writing quickly before speaking, “Time?” 

“Shuck, um,” Clint scrambled to roll his sleeve up, he squinted at his watch, “Five thirty-eight PM.”

Jeff nodded and scrambled down the time and date before closing the book and locking it, “Clint, you didn’t lock the book when you last used it? Some of this stuff is banishment material!” Jeff exclaimed as he slid the book back into the drawer, pulling the key around his neck back under his shirt.

“Sorry, I was just in a hurry last time,” Clint said lamely as an excuse. I looked between the two before coughing. They both turned toward me but before they could convince me to not speak about what I just witnessed, the stairs bringing the first floor and the second floor together creaked.

The stairs groaned and creaked, geez this guy must’ve weighed quite a bit. Or maybe this place was just old/poorly built. The second one seems a bit more probable judging by the fact that teens built this place. Eventually, the creaking came to a stop.

“The Changing!” Gally exclaimed loud enough for us to hear on the third floor with a door between us. Just thinking about how loud that must’ve been with no door muffling the sound almost made my head hurt, “Look forward to it, shuck-face!”

There was now laughter coming from the first floor, the floorboards making up the story beneath us creaked along with muffled laughter. Thomas stopped in front of a door and I can assume that he grabbed the handle and opened the door. It was silent for a while longer before there was a loud noise as if someone tripped, a gurgled scream came from the second floor , but it was soon gone when the door slammed.

“What’re you doing up here, Greenie!” Alby yelled, I could only imagine the look on his face. Thomas’ tone of voice put it perfectly into perspective.

“I… uh… want some answers,” Thomas murmured, so quietly that I almost missed it. Glory he’s glad that he got sick, he might’ve done the same if he hadn’t. But, he wouldn’t sound all weak like Thomas did. Hopefully, at least.

“Get your runtcheeks down those stairs, right now,” Clint pursed his lips to stop himself from laughing, knowing that Alby would definitely hear it.

“Chuck’ll help you. If I see you tomorrow morning, you ain’t reachin’ another one alive. I’ll throw you off the cliff myself, you get me?” Thomas didn’t say anything, he was probably scared as he’ll ever be here. Somethin’ must’ve really been wrong with Benny or whoever’s in that room. And as eager as I am to find out, I do not want to face Alby.

“So.. you up for a snack, Johnny? Because judging by what just happened, I don’t know if you’re gonna sleep anytime soon,” Jeff said as he gestured toward Clint to clear everyone out of the Homestead. He opened the door with a wide, dopey grin on his face. He took a deep breath in.

“SHUCK-FACES, OUT THE HOMESTEAD BEFORE WE BEAT YOU SHANKS SO HARD THAT EVEN ALBY’LL BE IMPRESSED!” And boy if that didn’t clear everyone out! They were runnin’ to that front door like their lives depended on it! And judging by the extremity of that threat Clint just spit, their lives might as well’ve been on the line.

Clint looked mighty proud of himself for someone who could’ve caused this shabby Homestead to fall to the ground. Just a dozen more boys’ve been in here and we would’ve been saying goodbye to the Homestead.

Once everyone was cleared out aside from Newt and Alby who were still dealing with a wailing and flailing Benny, Clint walked out of the room and walked to the next room over, opening the door and walking inside. He flicked on a light switch before putting on an exaggerated thoughtful expression. 

“Clint, you grab more than one pack of those cookies Frypan likes and you’ll be the next thing on the menu!” Jeff yelled, I could hear something fall onto the floor in the next room over. Clint cursed quietly and I chuckled. Jeff smiled before looking down at his wrist.

“It’s almost time for the doors to close up huh..” Jeff said quietly, and I didn’t think anything of it. They were probably closing down the place or something. Jeff tapped his foot impatiently before slouching his shoulders.

“Sorry Johnny, I’m just gonna go check on Clint because it had now occurred to me that the shuck-head likes to stuff cookies in his shucking SOCKS,” Jeff exclaimed before stopping out to the hall and standing in the doorframe of the other room. I could hear Clint pathetically defending himself while Jeff playfully smacked him around with a pack of cookies. That’s when the sudden loud boom exploded in the air. It was soon followed by a horrible crunching and grinding sound. My previously lax hands grasped the jackets by my side and I stumbled out of the cot due to my surprise. Was there an earthquake? What was going on?! The room suddenly felt too small— as if the walls were moving in on me, about to crush me. 

So, with the jackets held firmly in my hands, I burst out of the room, practically flying down the two flights of stairs before my hands were scrambling with the door knob.

“Hey! Johnny! What are you doing?!” I could hardly hear the voice over the loud grinding and squealing of Glory knows what. Eventually, I managed to get the door open and I didn’t think twice before I ran outside of the Homestead. Glory, if I thought that it was loud inside, it was easily even louder outside. I was tempted to go back in, but it was too cramped in there. You know how I commented on how big this place was when I first got here? Well, it felt far too small now. I was shaking, and I could feel it. I felt so cold but my skin felt hot. I didn’t know what was going on, the noise flooded my senses. I heard Jeff and Clint near the front door and threw caution to the wind. My bare feet hit the dirt as I darted away from the Homestead, away from the prying eyes and hopefully the sound. There was a patch of forest I saw, and Glory that place was better than any. 

No one was able to catch me, I don’t know why I was so much faster than them, or maybe I just couldn’t remember, but I was glad for it at the moment. Once I was encased in the shadows of the forest, I allowed myself to relax a bit. But that didn’t mean that I was done going. Oh, no. They probably knew this place like the back of their hands, and I really wasn’t too eager to be found. If I was right, there should be a corner somewhere around here. I slowed to a jog and continued at that pace until I found the corner. The grinding noise finally stopped, but my eyes were still wide with the paranoia of something that I had no recollection of. It made it even scarier than it was already.

I collapsed at the corner of the Glade, treetops covered me so I didn’t have to stare up at that unfamiliar sky; that unfamiliar ceiling. I buried my face in the brown jacket, feeling warm tears slip down my face as I silently cried. I’m really good at that, but I don’t think I wanna know the reason for that. Maybe I’d been here before, but it didn’t feel familiar.

My chest was rising up and down quickly, trying to take in air as I sobbed. Eventually, it came to a stop and I lay there with dry tears streaming down my face. I sloppily put the jean jacket over me before promptly passing out for what felt like the hundredth time.

***

“Clint, Jeff, please tell me how you managed to lose a Greenie you haven’t even been watching over for a day,” Newt said exasperatedly, looking at the two sternly. Clint looked down to the floor and kept quiet. Jeff internally cussed him out before looking at Newt and choosing to explain his side of the story.

“Well, Clint here was supposed to go get a snack for Johnny-green because he hadn’t eaten anything and all.. then, go on and tell Newt what you tried to take, why don’t you Clint?” Jeff said, nudging Clint with his elbow. The taller boy glared at him before looking up but not making eye contact with Newt.

“I um.. tried-to-take-some-of-Frypan’s-favorite-cookies—” Clint said quickly, biting his lip when Newt, Alby, and Minho stared down at him in disbelief.

“Clint.. you know that Fry would–” Newt began, only for Clint to speak up suddenly.

“YES, I KNOW! They’re just.. so good, and ever since he requested them and he let me have one I just–” Clint stopped himself, kicking his feet. Alby shook his head as Minho looked down at the floor.

“Okay, we’ll deal with that later, we just need to find the shank before he does who knows what,” Alby says, causing Clint and Minho to look up at him. They all nodded at Alby’s words.

“Alright, Newt go search the garden, Minho look around the right corners of the Glade—” 

“Whose right?” 

“My right you shuck-face,” Alby scoffed before continuing, “Clint you look around near the Blood house, Jeff look around the Showerhouse, I’ll look around the left corners of the Glade. Now, go!”

Then, they split up. Newt ran over to the garden, Minho ran to check out the right corners of the Glade as well as the Deadheads, Alby the two left corners, Clint ran to the Blood house begrudgingly, and Jeff jogged toward the Showerhouse. Surely they would find him with relative ease.. as long as he hadn’t gone and darted off into the Maze like a fool.

Minho trudged toward the Deadheads, sighing as he swatted branches away from his face. The only bright side to this is judging by their story of how quickly Johnny took off, he might have it in him to be a Runner… If they find him, of course. He wouldn’t go in the Maze at night, right?.. 

Right?

He ignored the very real possibility of that. The walls only shifted around more out in there, so why would he run in there? Yeah, see? He should be in the Glade somewhere. There seemed to be nothing in the Deadheads though. Just silence and the occasional inhumanly loud snores of Gladers, or the faint sound of the spinning Grievers outside the walls. But, still, he continued to walk.

Soon enough, he could see one of the corners that made up the Glade. He ran his hand along the wall as he continued to walk, looking up at the trees and the leaves on top of the trees. That is, until he tripped over the root of a tree.

“SHuck—” He barely managed to keep himself from yelling that out. He groaned, rubbing his ankle and knee. Someone really needs to do some yard work around here. 

He grabbed the wall with his hand, using it to help him up. He stumbled a bit before standing up straight. He shook his leg out before looking up. Right in the corner, sleeping, was the runaway Greenie, Johnny.

“Well.. klunk,” He whispered to himself as he looked around the Deadheads. What was he supposed to do? Pick up the shank?

‘He is pretty light.. so it wouldn’t be the worst thing ever, that’s for sure,’ He thought before looking down at Johnny and cracking his neck and back.

“You better thank me for this later, shank,” He whispered, knowing the boy couldn’t hear him. He scooped him up, his left arm under his neck and his right arm under his knees. He unbent his knees and groaned before turning around, and walking back to the Homestead. But, the second he began walking, he grabbed Minho’s shirt before murmuring ‘Darry.’

“Vince..” Mary muttered, her expression troubled as she looked at him. Vince didn’t bother looking back.

“Mary, you know that I did what I had to,” Vince said quietly, his voice breathing with his words. Mary shook her head, it started slowly before it sped up.

“NO! You can’t tell me that you did what you had to when you put a child in danger. You put people in danger.. children .. in danger, Vincent,” Mary said softly, her eyes only showing disappointment in her assistant. Vince said nothing else.

“They want something from those children, and you’re just going to let them have it? You’re just going to leave them to die ?!” Mary let out a strangled yell, Vince flinched, and closed his eyes, a frown on his face. A frown of regret.

“I can’t , Vince. Just, how could you? I trusted you with what happened to my child, I trusted telling you the mistake that I made when I gave her up and you want to give up two children you haven’t even met?” It was Mary’s turn for her voice to break. Vince pursed his lips as Mary turned away from him and limped toward a table, resting her hands on it. 

“I need to…” She muttered, throwing open a drawer and throwing her belongings in a bag by her side. Vince looked back up when he noticed what she was doing.

“Mary, you don’t have to do this! What about the others?” Vince exclaimed, reaching out toward Mary as she slammed the drawer shut, pulling her bag up to her shoulder.

“Can you see the sunset from where you stand?” She asked, turning her head to look at Vince. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the question, shaking his head. Mary didn’t say anything else but she looked down at the floor before walking out of the tent. Vince yelled after her but she continued on until she was out of sight.

Doctor Mary Cooper was no more.

Chapter Text

“JEFF!” My eyes snapped open when I heard the yell. The door slammed closed after Clint and I looked at him, bewildered. Clint smiled at me sheepishly while Jeff turned and glared at him, his hands going to his hips. What happened?! How did I get back here?! Was that a dream?! Am I still dreaming?! I gulped and brought my shaking right hand in front of my face. I then lowered it to my neck before lowering myself back onto the bed. I hadn’t even noticed when I sprung up in the first place.

“Johnny? You alright?” Jeff asked me, his voice was softer. A yearning feeling washed over me, my mouth tugged into a frown and I turned away from Jeff and Clint, preferring to face the wall.

“Don’ call me that..” I said quietly, closing my eyes due to the sheer amount of light that shined through the windows. Jeff and Clint silently exchanged a look before they both looked at me again.

“Alright then Greenie one, what do you want us to call you?..” Jeff asked, a patient look in his eyes that easily showed how much experience he had with things like this. I thought about the question for a second, coming up with no other name but the one I was already called. I frowned, looking over at my jackets that were laid by the cot. I didn’t know.

I shrugged at Jeff’s question. Clint suddenly perked up from his place by the door.

“Oh! I know it’s gonna sound kinda stupid, but how about we like, recite the alphabet to see if the letters maybe ring a bell?” Clint suggested, Jeff thought over the suggestion for a while before he nodded, a small smile slipping onto his face.

“Wow Clint, that was an actual decent idea! No offense, of course,” I looked between the two, are they serious? Are we really gonna sit around recitin’ the alphabet until I remember my name? There’s no way. They have jobs .

“No problem, Jeff, after all, our job is to watch over people who need it!” Clint exclaimed, smiling. I deadpanned, because of course he had to say that right after I thought what I thought. This is unacceptable.

“We gotta get some food in you J– err, Greenie one, Jeff went off to grab your food and ours from Frypan. Your fever also went down overnight, so you should be outta here before supper!” Clint exclaimed, looking up from the clipboard he was reading off of. Finally, freedom. Well, soon freedom actually. But it’s the same thing I’d say. Not like I’d have anything to do even if I did get let out. Might as well spend my time in here. Maybe I could become a medic or something. I know I really don’t want to become one. I’m way too squeamish around blood. I’d probably puke all over someone on accident and then feel horrible about it for the rest of my life. 

I nodded at Clint’s words before looking out one of the windows of the room I was in. People were milling around per usual, doing their jobs without a care in the world. Seeing some people’s jobs, I felt lucky that I hadn’t had to get to one yet. But, I’ll probably have to later today when I’m finally released from this prison known as bed rest. Well, might as well take what I can get before I’m forced to start running around out there. Man, that actually didn’t sound too bad right about now.

“Pony?” Clint said hesitantly, I snapped my head over to him quickly just to see him reading another paper from the clipboard. Why did I look back at the word pony? Did I have a pet pony before or something?

“What is it, Clint?” I asked, resisting the urge to just walk out of bed and look over his shoulder. Man, I could really go for somethin’ right now.

“Oh, it’s nothing Greenie. I was just reading this request that Fern wants to make, it’s stupid,” Clint said as he giggled, flipping the paper back over to the other one. I frowned, wanting to know more.

“Geez, shank, if you’re soo eager to learn more... Fern is the Keeper of the Barners, the people who take care of the animals and stuff before they’re sent off to Winston,” Clint explained to me before continuing, “So basically, Fern’s always talked about wanting a pony in the Glade, he’d always talk about how useful it would be and klunk like that. Well, apparently he’s planning to make a request today after we eat break—” Clint’s rambling was cut off by a blaring alarm. Clint looked over to me as if he was expecting me to dart out the door, and in all honesty, I was prepared to.

“The Greenie alarm?” Clint said in confusion, muttering the words under his breath. He walked toward the window before pushing away the blinds and sliding it open.

“Ay! Zart! What’s goin’ on? What’s up with the Greenie alarm?!” He yelled down to Zart who looked up before replying, “I dunno, but I’d get down here with Greenie one if I were you!” He said loudly before joining the crowd of boys that were surrounding the Box as it blared. Clint pursed his lips and slid the window closed before turning to look at me.

“Can you walk Greenie one, or you want me to carry you over to the Box like you’re a princess,” I wasn’t impressed by his mockingly playful tone. In fact, I nodded at his technical offer, tying the jean jacket around my waist and putting the brown one on before holding my arms out toward Clint. The latter was grabbing something from the table, muttering about how Jeff was actually right, again , but I chose to ignore that. I smiled when he turned around to see me with my arms out.

“Come on now, we don’t got all day now do we?” I smiled teasingly. Clint didn’t seem to believe that I would actually make him carry me until I flexed my hands. He sighed and trudged over to the bed, hoisting me up on his back. He stumbled a bit, surprised.

“Woah, Greenie! You’re light..” He muttered before fixing his grip on my ankles and walking to the door, opening it, and walking down the two flights of stairs. He jogged over to where everyone was gathered, and we seem to have made it just in time. The alarm had stopped blaring. Clint stepped around everyone else, going to stand near the other Keepers while Alby and Newt stood in front of us all. I could see Thomas on the other side with a short kid by his side. 

The Box let out a fizzing sound. Newt and Zart walked over to the Box and grabbed the two top pieces of metal, the pieces groaning and creaking as they were moved. They dropped the metal and Alby stepped forward, the three of them looking down the Box as the thin smoke cleared. The Gladers were waiting for them to share who or what was down there. Newt turned around and faced the Gladers before speaking, his face showing his surprise.

“ Three Newbies in two days,” Alby muttered to himself, his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the Box, “Never been different for a whole two years.. and now this happens,” He snapped around, staring straight at Thomas before he spoke.

“What’s going on here, Greenie?” Thomas stared back, perplexed. He looked around to see if he was staring at someone else before looking back at Alby.

“How am I supposed to know?” Thomas said slowly, looking Alby in the eyes. They stared at each other in silence before Gally spoke up.

“Ay! Why don’t you shanks tell us what the shuck is down there?” Gally called out from somewhere near the front of the crowd. The Gladers began to murmur to each other, they shuffled forward and pushed against the people in the front. Alby grimaced at the rowdy crowd.

“You shanks shut up!”  Alby shouted before looking at Newt, “Tell ‘em what’s in there, Newt.”

Newt looked down at the Box one more time, just to make sure that he had seen it correctly, before facing the crowd and clearing his throat.

“It’s a girl,” He blurted out. The crowd took a moment to process the words before they burst up, talking loudly.

I frowned at some of the things they were saying and readjusted the jacket I was wearing. That easily made me see some of them in a new light, and that didn’t mean anything good. Newt stepped closer to the Box, shocked but not enticed or cat-calling like the other boys were. The Keepers have turned around toward the crowd of Gladers and were frowning with unimpressed expressions on their faces. 

Alby spared a glance over the Box to look at the girl before turning around and addressing the rowdy crowd of Gladers that couldn’t seem to keep it in their damn pants. I could tell that what was being said was starting to get on Alby’s nerves. I held on a bit tighter to Clint, and he dug something out of his large pocket before moving his shoulder and holding it up as far as I could. I took them from him and looked at them for a moment.

“Put 'em on, Greenie. It’s about to get loud ,” Clint said, and by the tone that his voice took on, he wasn’t jokin’, and I wasn’t about to listen to see about that. I slid the headphones on, and everything went a bit muffled and quiet, but I could still hear.

Alby’s voice noticeably picked up volume and he started yelling at the Gladers. They fell silent in no time, but Alby continued to speak before he stopped and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and popped his knuckles before speaking once again. The boys nodded quickly and when I noticed that it had gotten a hell of a lot quieter, I gingerly slid off the headphones.

“That’s not even bloody half of it,” Newt said at a normal volume, but everyone still managed to hear him, “I think she’s dead.”

While everyone started whispering, Newt seemed to be the only one more focused on the girl at the moment. He grabbed the edge of the Box before dropping himself down, he grabbed a note that was in her hands. Minho looked down at him and stuck out his hand, hoisting Newt up from the Box. The latter stood up before clearing his voice and speaking loudly.

“She’s the last one. Ever,” He said, his eyes going wide when he himself heard it for the first time. The Gladers whispered among each other once again, a wave of silence washing over them when Newt flipped over the note, his hands stopping when he noticed writing on the other side as well. He looked up, and his eyes met mine as he read the words on the card without looking at them.

“We know where you come from, Ponyboy,” Confusion washed over the crowd of people, and I staggered off of Clint’s back when I heard that. My eyes were wide with disbelief and shock. Ponyboy, Ponyboy , it felt too familiar! It felt so much like.. well, me.

Clint turned around when he felt the sudden weight lift off his back. In fact, every Glader turned to look at me. I found it hard to breathe and tears started to gather in my eyes and I felt events wash over me, forgotten memories flooding into my mind once the floodgate was destroyed. 

“Ponyboy,” I whispered, but everyone in the crowd was able to hear it due to how quiet everyone had gone. “I’m Ponyboy,” I muttered before my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I lost sight of the floor.

Chapter Text

Well, that was definitely something to add to Thomas’ wonderful list of ‘Things I Wish I Never Had to Be There For’ AKA TWNHBTF. Long, right? Yeah, and it only grew every hour. This whole Box situation only seemed to add maybe about.. five things to the list? Yeah, that sounds right.

    Thomas watched Ponyboy fall to the floor, and before he even hit the ground, Alby was staring at him, his eyes burning with questions and accusations. Thomas looked at him in confusion before Alby spoke.

    “You know her shank? You know what happened with Greenie one over there?” Alby asked, Thomas couldn’t tell if Alby stepped up to him or if he’d always been that close. He looked to the side in panic before replying. Everyone was staring at him. This ‘Ponyboy’ guy better wake up soon. Maybe they’ll stop bombarding me with accusations.

    “No? It’s my first time seeing her, and you act like I know that guy just because we were brought up at the same time. You act like I made that decision, and not whoever put us here,” Okay, maybe he was being a bit mean about it, but he was sick of being treated like an exotic animal in a small town. He was just as lost as everyone else here, actually, even more so because he was new!

    Newt looked at him with a bit of shock, but he also seemed a bit proud. Guess he knew that Alby was superstitious and tended to accuse Greenies of stuff they don’t even know the definition of. Minho seemed indifferent, but he looked as if he was ready to butt into the conversation at any point. 

    “Never mind it, Alby,” Newt was the one to interrupt their conversation instead, stepping between the two of them. He looked over at the crowd, “Go get us some vines from the walls, why don’t you boys?” They nodded before running over to the walls and pulling at the vines. They grabbed two of them, running back with them. The vines were tied around Alby and Newt and they were lowered into the Box so they could retrieve the girl laying limp.

    No one would admit that they couldn’t wait to see the girl, but they didn’t need to. It was painfully obvious by how they were kicking stray rocks around and looking over at the Box each time they made even a noise. Thomas decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and went with the hope that they were just curious like he was.

    Gally was holding one of the ropes with Fern, they and a few more boys were ready to hoist the boys out once they’d have the girl ready. From inside the Box, Alby’s voice rang out that they were ready. Gally, Fern, and the other boys began pulling, groaning with the effort. The three of them were soon out of the lift, the girl laid out on the floor. The Gladers crowded around her, their eyes boring into her still form as they stayed silent.

    Thomas was off to the side, helping Newt and Fern up. Once the two were up, they looked at the crowd of Gladers with confusion and slight disgust.

    “Well, if we could put ‘em all in the Slammer you better bet we would,” Newt muttered before speed-walking over to Alby and nudging him aggressively. Apparently, Alby had gotten the memo before Newt even walked up to him. He stepped forward with narrow eyes, glaring sharply at the crowd that surrounded the unconscious girl. Alby took a breath and tried to keep calm.

    Thomas, on the other hand, looked over to where Ponyboy had been passed out only to find that he was no longer there, somehow. He ignored it, thinking that someone, maybe even the people who would take care of him, moved him somewhere more suitable.

    That was quickly charted off as unlikely when Alby cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Med-jacks!” Thomas wasn’t very familiar with what the word meant, but he could assume that it meant something like doctors for the Gladers. The Med-jacks, Clint and Jeff, popped out of the crowd quickly.

“So, what are we supposed to do about her?” Jeff asked, glancing down at the girl before looking up at Alby. The latter shrugged, looking at Jeff in confusion. 

“How should I know? You two shanks are the Med-jacks, you figure it out!” Alby said with urgency as Clint kneeled beside the girl, using two fingers to feel for her pulse. He then leaned over to listen to her heartbeat.

“Ay! Why does Clint get to have the first shot at her?” Someone exclaimed from the rowdy crowd. The other boys chanted their agreement, shouting and rallying with their nonsense. This caused Alby to clench his hands into fists and step out in front of everyone, his presence speaking in volumes.

    “If anyone touches the girl,” Alby’s voice echoed around the Glade, everyone stopped to look at him, their jaws going slack. Alby’s gaze hardened and he stared at every individual Glader.

    “You’re gonna spend the night sleepin’ with the Grievers in the Maze. Banished, no questions,” He turned around slowly, letting everyone see his face, testing if anyone wanted to call his bluff or go against his words. No one said anything. 

    “Ain’t no one touch her!” Alby yelled once more before breaking the crowd of people that were swarmed around the girl. Thomas looked over to where Ponyboy was last seen passed out only to find out that he was no longer lying there. He thought nothing of it, someone probably moved him back to the Homestead.

    Clint stood up and brushed off his knees before looking at Alby.

    “She’s fine, her heartbeat’s a bit slow and her pulse is a bit weak, my guess is as good as yours. She’s in a coma,” Clint said with finality that showed although his words made it sound as if he was hesitant with the declaration, he knew he was right. No one questioned Clint when he knew he was right, not even Alby.

    “Alright Jeff, let’s get this shuckin’ girl to the Homestead,” Clint sighed, rolling his shoulders back before stepping over in front of Teresa’s legs. Jeff went around to Teresa’s head and they both crouched down. Jeff looked a bit funny like that because of how tall he was. It was like seeing a bent tree.

    “One.. two... three!” Jeff exclaimed, they both darted up with the girl in their arms, so much so that she went in the air for a good second before coming back down. Seems that she was lighter than they thought. Thomas nearly yelled for them to be careful with her, but he stopped himself with furrowed eyebrows. What’s up with him? He doesn’t even know her, and it wasn’t their fault.

    “Well, seems she’s gonna be out for a while. Gonna have to break out the soupy stuff, eh Clint?” Jeff grinned as he and Clint carried the girl over to the Homestead, a small crowd following them which they paid no mind to. Clint gagged when Jeff said ‘soupy stuff.’

    “Eugh.. we really need to get some new liquid food,” Clint said, emphasizing the words liquid food. Jeff chuckled and opened the door to the Homestead, Jeff went inside first, then Clint after him. The Gladers around the door looked eager to get inside after them, but one hellish shriek from Ben and they were flying away from the door and back to their jobs. Jeff shook his head at the kids before gesturing for Clint to close the door and lock it.

    “Everyone who needs to be in here got keys, and no one ever knocks. Might as well,” Jeff shrugged as he and Clint brought the girl up the stairs. They opened the room near Ben’s on the second floor and flicked on the light switch, the bulb flickered before the light was solid. They placed her on the cot, Jeff went off to get the IV pole and Clint sighed, taking a seat on a chair as he threw his head back, exhaustion seeping into him.

    “Man carrying Greenie one.. er, Ponyboy really did it for me huh?” Clint said to himself, fixing his head before sighing once more and slouching into the chair before his eyes widened and he sat up just a bit straighter.

    Where did Ponyboy go?

    It was dark. So much so that I thought I was blind, or sleeping. The latter proved to be wrong when a door opened smoothly and voices entered the room I was in. I went limp and leveled out my breathing in hopes that they would think I was still asleep. And it worked.

    “Subject number?” 

    “He is Subject A0, sir.”

    Someone tampered with a needle that was in my arm, it burned so I yelped. I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I panicked and slowly blinked under whatever was covering my eyes.

    “Where?..” I asked, weakly flexing my hands. They were bound to the cot, bed, or whatever I was stuck on. Whoever was next to me was suddenly by my ear, their breath hitting my ear as they chuckled. I shivered and tried to jerk away, only to find that my legs were bound to the hospital bed as well. I would look down if I could, but, you know. The whole ‘found’ situation was still in play. 

    “Vitals?” The person next to my ear asked, I heard some shuffling around before another voice responded.

    “Stable, higher amount of white blood cells than normal, antibodies formed although there is no sign of illness,” They delivered swiftly. Whoever was next to him hummed happily.

    “Should we test reaction to the Flare, J—” They stopped themself, falling silent before the person next to him spoke.

    “Call me A.D. in front of the Subject when they’re being checked, please,” A.D. said, they stammered before clearing their throat, “And yes, test reaction to the Flare. We might as well use this opportunity, he won’t be missed if something were to go.. South, per se,” A.D. said slyly, and I felt my heart rate accelerate. The machine tracking said thing began to beep quickly.

    I couldn’t die! I moped around like I wanted to, everyone else in the gang always said it, but I really didn’t wanna die no, not when I just remembered them, not when I just remembered my past life; the only life I wanted to keep living! I couldn’t leave ol’ Darry and Sodapop, as much as we fought I still loved them I really did! Darry’s sad enough, Soda’s still sad about Sandy and I couldn’t do this to them...

    Two-Bit and Steve would remember our last time spent together with me being a damn idiot and I couldn’t! I couldn’t leave them like that, not after what happened with Johnny and Dally I couldn’t do that to them they’d have lost three of us in one year and I don’t know if they would be able to go on; my brothers and I only have each other left, and if I really went on and died in this nowhere lab then there’d only be the two of ‘em left!

    I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared I’m scared I’m scared— Oh Glory I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted a cigarette-more-in-my-life-than-I-do-now-I-feel-like-I’m-gonna-die-it’s-so-hard-to-breathe-it’s—

    “He’s immune!” A.D. shouted, the thing covering my eyes was thrown off and I blinked blearily, squinting my eyes in an attempt to adjust to the bright light of the room. Seems that A.D. was some tall guy with ratty gray hair, a turtleneck, and a lab coat. The person who I basically called ‘they’ had brown, short hair and that’s about all I could see. They were wearing dark glasses and a sick mask, they had a long, light gray lab coat. 

    “Immune? He’s not just immune! The Antibodies in his blood are destroying the Flare completely, and if I’m seeing this right, they’re transforming the Flare as well!” ‘They’ exclaimed, looking up from the microscope. I could tell that they were gaping under their mask because I could just barely see an outline of their eyes through the glasses. Janson’s eyes widened, and he was about to say something before he was interrupted by a chime from his watch. He puts his finger up in a motion for ‘wait’ before clicking on his watch. A hologram appears in front of him, it was of a woman.

    “So, Janson, what did your findings show you? Is Subject A0 immune, or not,” The woman spoke with authority yet she also spoke with a painful kindness to this weird man, she must’ve been the one in charge of this whole.. operation. If I could just get her name then maybe I could share it with the others back at the Glade...

    I stopped myself, furrowing my eyebrows. Since when did they matter to me? I got stuck there, and I’ve only been there for one day! They shouldn’t matter to me, but somehow, I’ve formed a bond with a few of them. More notably Clint and Jeff. Maybe even Newt, Thomas, and Minho? I hope so.

    “He’s not just immune, Chancellor Paige, he, along with Subject A2 and Subject B2 are our most promising candidates for cures,” Janson said, keeping his odd excitement contained as he spoke to the hologram. The Chancellor smiled before nodding.

    “Ah, your brilliance strikes once again, Assistant Director Janson,” The Chancellor said kindly, her smile painfully genuine.

    “You really do flatter me, Ms. Ava Paige,” Janson said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. A gross thing, to be brutally honest.

    “No matter that, you must return the boy to the Maze immediately, they’re starting to get suspicious. Just be lucky that no one saw you grab the poor thing out of thin air,” She said before the hologram glitched and flickered away. Once The Chancellor was gone, Janson dropped his arm and smiled, an uncharacteristic grin on his face.

    At this point, I was pretty sure that they’d forgotten about me even with her telling them to bring me back to the Glade soon. They called it the Maze. I remember Newt telling me about it. If I asked more questions, would they answer them? I looked at the ceiling. It was smooth, unlike the one back at home that looked more like a bowl of popcorn exploded over it. It reminded me that I wasn’t home, so I looked away, a bit uncomfortable.

    “Now, Remus, if you would, escort A0 back to his Maze and then you can return, alright?” Remus nodded, adjusting their sick mask before approaching the bed and unhooking the wires and needles that were pricked into my arms. Janson unpeeled the bandaids and stuck them onto the bleeding dots. Janson patted my back and looked down at me with a smile. I didn’t return it, though. Mainly because this guy was weird as hell, even more so than the members of the gang, which meant quite a lot if you really thought about it.

    Remus helped me up off the bed, then, unexpectedly swept me off of my feet, literally. They readjusted me in their arms before gripping me a bit tighter and marching down the empty, white halls. I looked around as we walked, looking through windows and the windows of doors, even through a few open doors. Nothing too interesting. I was more interested to see how they would put me back in the Glade. Maybe we could get out from—

Chapter Text

    When I finally woke up, it felt like I’d been asleep for years. Maybe even forever, I Would believe it too. It was dark where I was, like it had been when I woke up in the lab. I blinked slowly, there was dirt around me, under me, and... I jolted up, and clobbered out of the hole. I was in a forest, the treetops made it look darker. I grabbed onto a nearby tree and used it to steady myself, standing up I looked around the Deadheads to see if anyone was near. I heard nothing but crunching leaves further away. I sighed in partial relief. No one was near.

    Just as I was about to stumble out of the Deadheads, I heard a piercing scream cut through the woods and I saw a flash of silver and red like I had seen before, when I first got here. I ignored it though, choosing to focus on finding whoever had let out that high-pitched scream which could mean nothing other than trouble.

    “Huh.. what a great second day,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes and my hand scaled along the tree while I ran as fast as I could toward the scream, and as Dally would say, “A fucking idiot who’s gonna get himself killed.”

    Well, guess who’s the dead one? Hint, it isn’t me. I was about to chuckle at my own joke but I stopped, pursing my lips as I continued at a slightly slower pace. That was a bit rude of me, huh? Disrespecting the dead like that and all. This time I couldn’t help but chuckle. Come on, gimme a break! Johnny would’ve also laughed at that, you can’t tell me I’m wrong.

    But my happier thoughts soon came to a quick stop when in front of me was a scene that felt much too familiar. That guy on top of Thomas.. that was Ben.

    I didn’t care if I knew who he was or not at that moment. No. because all I saw was Johnny under the Socs that jumped him and left his face scarred up and caused him to start jumpin’ at his own shadow. I lost it at that moment.

    I was pouncin’ on Ben before I knew it, we went rolling in the dirt for a while, the older boy growling at me, his eyes wide and veiny while froth bubbled up at his mouth. I had to admit that he looked totally crazy. At that moment, I thought back and wished I had gone against Darry’s wishes for me not to carry a switchblade. It would’ve really helped me out right about now.

    My head hit a tree and my arms were quickly the only thing stopping Ben from goin’ absolutely berserk on me. He had his hands on Dally’s jacket, looking like he either wanted to tear it up or choke me with it. If he had the chance, I’d have rather he went with the latter. While he was roughin’ me and the jacket up, a switchblade tumbled out of a hidden pocket from the inside. Ben hadn’t noticed. I remember that blade, it was Two-Bit’s, the one that Dally had asked to borrow and used against the nurse to make it to the rumble!

    Ben hadn’t noticed the blade fell out yet, so I had an advantage. The only disadvantage that I seemed to have was that Ben was fighting like it would be his last. And when I flicked the switchblade out, just like how Two-bit would do it, I even thought it would be his last. I tried my best to kick Ben off of me, but he was bigger than I was, so he easily got me under him, and boy was he close to my face. 

    I felt a searing pain explode by my collarbone and I let out a strangled yell, my eyes going wide as my hands scrambled to Ben’s head, dropping the blade in the process. Thomas was behind him, he was approaching slowly. He met my eyes and I knew damn well that he was flinchin’ at the first bite that Ben had left on me. But, apparently, that wasn’t enough for him because he only chomped down again, this time on my neck. I yelped, thin tears streaming down my face. Holy mother of GlORY this hurt— I could feel the blood racing down and dripping, he pulled away again and looked at me with crazy eyes, he seemed to be enjoying this, the damn demented, mentally insane sonofa—

Thomas reached over and grabbed him by the rim of his shorts and threw him away from me. I groaned and gingerly brought a hand to my collarbone where one of the bites were. I touched around it and pulled my fingers back to see blood. I inhaled sharply and wiped the blood on my pants before grabbin’ the switchblade off of the ground. I then looked up just in time to see Thomas smack the hell out of Ben with a wooden board he found laying around. Ben clumsily took a few steps back, his eyes cloudy and confused.

Thomas and I looked at each other and I instantly knew that we were thinking the same thing. We looked forward where the forest thinned out, and neither of us looked back as we ran out of the woods, the trees quickly thinned and Thomas began hoarsely screamin’ for help. I could already hear Ben gainin’ on us quickly, so I nudged Thomas forward before going as fast as my legs could take me. Thomas saw this and did the same, and soon we were both shooting off like rockets while he screamed for help. Ben leaped at us, but he quickly stopped his motion when he heard a stern voice speak up. It was Alby.

“Ben. You put that knife down and walk over to us with your hands up, or else you don’t wanna know what’ll happen,” Alby said, and everyone knew he meant every word he spoke. Once he finished his demands, Newt, Zart, and Fern stepped out behind him, each of them holding a bow and arrow. Newt handed a bow to Alby, and he took it before quickly pulling the string back and aiming it right at Ben’s head. He growled and stared viciously at Alby, and for a second I didn’t know if he recognized him or not. He was surprised when Ben spoke, and Thomas was too.

“No no no no no! If you kill me..” His eyes went wide and he looked around everyone, his hands beginning to shake as if he was about to have a seizure. It wasn’t off my list of possibilities. I gripped the switchblade in my right hand just a bit tighter before flicking it shut. Wouldn’t want to get in more trouble than I already have, after all.

“You’d be getting the wrong guy if you kill me! Them! Let me kill them, let me gut them Alby PLEASE!” Ben shrieked, his eyes wide with panic as he gripped the knife in his hands tighter, his fingers readjusting around the handle. I looked at him carefully as if he was about to pounce on one of us. Which was number one on what was most likely to happen at the moment, with Alby shooting him being the second possibility.

“I-I saw them in the changing please-believe-me-Alby they’re gonna try to get us all out of the Maze, and– and– THE FLARE!” He screamed, his voice cracking as he fell to his knees, jerking and grunting. He snapped his head up and I couldn’t tell if he was looking at me or Thomas. We looked at each other and once again, he was thinking the same as I was. This shank was absolutely bonkers.  

Alby hadn’t said anything in response to Ben’s cries, only glaring him down harder and taking a few deep breaths.

“PLEASE please-please-please-please-please Alby they-they wanna get us outta the Maze and bring us home but PLEASE it’d be better for us if we tore each other’s guts out!” Spit flew from his mouth, froth bubbling and popping as he yelled out, dark, prominent veins bulging with each scream and plea that tore itself out of his throat. No one standing with the bows showed even an ounce of emotion on their face. I had to give respect for that. I ran my thumb over the switchblade. It’d be so easy to just.. knock him out and get this done with. I could already feel myself going lightheaded due to the blood loss from that nasty bite Ben gave me... I pulled a face. It was probably, most likely infected.

Thomas didn’t look too hot either, he had scratches, scrapes, and even a shallow stab wound from what was probably Ben pulling his knife on Thomas. He also had a bite on his neck and I could only think about the pain that Ben would be going through if the gang were here— he’d be in the back of an ambulance right now on the way to a hospital, but not to lay in bed and heal because he would be long dead.

Alby seems to have seen the switchblade that I was fidgeting with in my hand, I looked over at him and made a motion with my hand, Alby nodded, a small movement that Ben didn’t notice and suddenly it was like I was back in Tulsa fightin’ Socs at a rumble. The blunt end of the switchblade hit Ben’s head with everything I had, and soon the lunatic had dropped down limp to the floor, his voice trailing off with murmurs before he fell completely silent. He was unconscious.

Fern and Zart aimed their arrows down, Newt dropped his completely and practically flew over to Thomas, that’s what he looked like he wanted to do when he first saw the bloody scratches and all that. He jerked back when he saw the messy bites on my neck that were probably gushing blood out. I grimaced at the thought and shimmied Dally’s jacket off, tying it around my waist with Johnny’s jacket. I tried to move my head to look at the cuts but I was quickly hit with overwhelming pain. OKAY! That was not a good idea, and I should’ve known that judging by the fact that I literally have multiple bites on my neck which I just tried to move like a shuckin’ idiot. I stopped, blinking thoughtlessly for a moment. Huh, guess the Glader slang was growin’ on me a bit.

I didn’t notice when Alby whistled and yelled for the Med-jacks, but he must’ve at some point because soon I was in Clint’s arms being carried back to the Homestead. He looked down at me, grimacing at the nasty bites on my neck and collarbone.

“So kid, you know what I said about you getting released today? Yeah, you’re gonna have to forget about that for a bit..” Clint trailed off, Newt and Thomas were flanking us to our right, the older boy muttering to himself as he looked over Thomas as inconspicuously as he could manage, which wasn’t very sneaky considering that he might as well be blinded to his panic. Jeff walked on Thomas’ right, the latter’s arm thrown over his shoulders as he helped Thomas walk over to the Homestead. I looked up at the crooked, four-story building before throwing my head back and groaning. Not the Homestead again! You know, I had to admit that I was starting to get real sick of this place. Although I’ve only been here for a grand total of around one day. It just wasn’t like home. I hated staring up at that ceiling. 

I covered my face with my hands and yawned. What time was it? “It’s ten twenty-four PM, Ponyboy. You’re gonna have to go right to bed when we get you back to your room,” Clint said in a stern tone. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. As he opened the door to the Homestead, I lolled my head back and stared up at the stars. They were nothin’ compared to the stars that I used to see back in Tulsa.

No. Not used to. I will see them again, I have to. I didn’t know if I was talkin’ about stars or Johnny and Dally. My eyes slowly drooped, and I came to a conclusion that was a result of my sleep-needy brain. I would find Johnny and Dally again, then we would go to the movies and smoke weeds while we watched the sunset. Surely Darry would let me stay out after curfew for that. Actually, judging by how painfully desperate Darry sounded the last time I saw– er, heard him, he might just extend my curfew or shorten it. Depended, honestly. 

“G’night..” I muttered to no one in particular before I went limp in Clint’s arms, sleep washing over me in waves as I relaxed for what felt like the first time in forever.

Chapter Text

Thomas cracked one of his eyes open. Someone was shaking him awake, again. Looking right above him, he saw Newt hovering over him. He smiled when he noticed that Thomas had woken up. 

 “Mornin’ Thomas,” Newt whispered to him. Thomas squinted his eyes in confusion, slowly elevating himself off the cot. Newt moved away from his face to allow Thomas to get up, and he looked around the room with tired eyes. On a cot on the other wall lay Ponyboy, the bites on his neck were bandaged, and they have only tinged a light pink. Clint was sitting by Ponyboy’s bed and was looking over at Thomas.

 “Hey, how’d you stop the bleeding on him? It was real bad,” Thomas asked because he had nothing else to say or ask. What was he supposed to do now? He was supposed to have his first training session with a Keeper today. Would he even be able to make it at this point?

 “Oh, we packed the wounds! Bleedin’ stopped pretty soon after that, so there wasn’t much to worry about,” Clint shrugged, and Thomas blinked before looking away and deciding that he didn’t want to know what ‘packing a wound’ meant.

 Ponyboy chose that moment to dart up from bed, his eyes wide and his chest heaving as if he’d just woken up from a nightmare. Didn’t seem like it while he was sleeping, though. His eyes were wide with recognition, as if he’d just remembered something important. He opened his throat but immediately coughed. Clint got up, about to grab a cup of water, but Pony motioned for him to sit, which he did.

 “I– uh my throat’s killing me. Something happened— when I got taken after the Box made that alarm, someone took me and—” Newt put his hand up, walking toward Ponyboy’s cot.

 “Is it important? Like, all the Keepers should hear it important?” Ponyboy didn’t hesitate before nodding vigorously, his eyes abnormally wide. Newt hummed before walking toward the door. He looked back at Clint.

 “Ay, ready yourselves for a Gathering. I’m gonna go tell Alby, Minho probably hasn't left yet so I’ll go grab him before he does,” Newt said before opening the door and walking out. The door closed softly behind him. Thomas and Ponyboy looked at each other, Ponyboy having an expression of slight confusion on his face. Clint chuckled, pushing his hair away from his face with his hand.

 “Forgot you don’t know what a Gathering is, shank,” Clint said, looking at Ponyboy, “A Gathering is where all the Keepers come together to discuss something important. They’re pretty occasional I’d have ta say.”

 Ponyboy nodded at that, this was good, because he really didn’t want to forget this before he was able to tell the Keepers. This could potentially help them escape this damned Maze!

 “Speaking of a Gathering..” Clint trailed off, standing up from his seat, “We gotta get you shanks up and moving, get some blood pumping through your veins! Wouldn’t want you guys to fall flat on your faces in front of Gally. The Keepers can be so cruel when they sense weakness..” Clint said the last part with a joking tone, but it looks as if he’s embarrassed himself in front of the other Keepers before. Thomas chortled before clearing his throat.

 Clint grabbed Ponyboy’s hand as his legs slid to the side of the bed. Clint pulled him a bit further until his legs slipped off the bed and touched the cold floor. Ponyboy flinched before landing himself in the chair Clint was sitting in and pulling his legs up. Clint laughed at this.

 “Alright, maybe I should’ve warned you that the floor is real cold in the morning, but I figured that was part of common sense!” Clint exclaimed, causing Ponyboy to glare at him sarcastically, his lips pursed. Clint waved him off before making his way over to a table in the room and pulling open a drawer. He took two things out and closed the drawer. He threw socks at Ponyboy, and he caught them, looking down at them before looking at Clint. He looked perplexed, but I mean, who expects to have socks thrown at them when it’s five in the morning?

 He then walked over to Thomas and threw the socks at him as well. He grabbed them, and they were pink. He gave Clint an exasperated look before putting the socks on, Ponyboy did the same, but his were green.

 “Okay, put your klunk shoes on then we’ll get going,” He gestured toward the door, where their shoes were lined on the side. Clint let out an ‘oh’ sound before turning back to Thomas, grabbing his hands, and yanking him out of bed softly. Thomas yelped before stumbling on the floor. He grabbed onto the ledge of the table and took a few breaths in, his eyes wide as he looked up from the floor to Clint who was smiling cheekily. Thomas didn’t say anything but stick up his middle finger. 

 Ponyboy rolled his eyes at the exchange and gingerly got himself off the chair, his hand scaling the wall as he walked over to where his shoes were, he slipped on his shoes, not needing to retie them. He then moved and stood by the chair. He had a feeling that if he sat in it, he would fall back asleep and he couldn’t afford to do that right now.

 Thomas groaned before walking over to where his shoes were. He slipped them on quickly before turning to look at Clint, a frustrated look on his face.

 “Can we go now?” He asked, sarcastically. Clint rolled his eyes, a smile on his face before he walked toward the door and gestured for them to follow, Thomas and Ponyboy did so without a word. They walked down the two flights of stairs until they got to the front door, Clint opened it and light bled inside immediately. They breathed in the morning air. It was just a tad bit cold outside. Clint rolled his shoulders back before they continued on toward a structure that neither Ponyboy nor Thomas have had the time to go see. That was where the Gathering would be held.

 Ponyboy looked thoughtlessly at the building as he continued walking. He needed to get his thoughts in check. Okay, the hospital place, A.D. Janson, Remus, the subject numbers... A0, A2, B2, the Chancellor Ava Paige, she was acting weird, and the Flare. He nodded, pursing his lips as they neared the door of the structure. 

 People were talking inside of the circle-shaped building, a few of them talking in quiet whispers. Clint opened the door and everyone looked over at them. Alby, Newt, Minho, Zart, Winston, Frypan, Fern, Billy, and Gally were seated inside. Jeff had gotten there before they had, which is why he wasn’t at the Homestead. He looked over and waved before he noticed the tense atmosphere in the room. He pursed his lips and quickly yanked his hand back down. Alby looked more tired than anything, he was looking at Thomas and Pony like he really did not want to be there. Honestly, no one looked like they wanted to be there except maybe Clint and/or Jeff.

 Clint took his seat over by Jeff who smiled when Clint did so. Thomas and Ponyboy took two empty seats by each other and soon enough, Alby, who was sitting in the middle of the Keepers, stood up and slammed a small hammer on the table.

 “I, Alby, Leader of the Glade, declare this Gathering beginning at 5:23 AM,” He said, his voice holding just a pinch of the grogginess that comes with waking up early. Alby then sat back down in his seat and all the Keepers stared at Ponyboy, waiting for him to talk while Pony waited for Alby to allow him to talk. It was a bit like the hearing they had for Bob’s death.

 “Ponyboy of the Glade, you may speak,” Alby said, now realizing why he wasn’t talking. He had to admit that he loved being able to tell people when to talk and when not to when they had Gatherings. It really helped keep some order around here.

 Ponyboy cleared his throat before speaking, standing up in the process. Thomas looked at him in confusion but Pony ignored it. He really needed to share this, and quick.

 “The reason I’ve requested this ‘Gathering’ is because of what happened while I was gone,” A few of the Keepers looked confused at this. Newt, Clint, Jeff, Alby, and Thomas seemed to know what he was talking about, though.

 “If you didn’t know he disappeared, he passed out after Newt read the note, then I looked over while Clint and Jeff were dealing with the girl to see him gone. I thought someone moved him, but I guess not,” Thomas said, filling in a few blanks before going quiet. He should’ve noticed that something was up, nothing seems to have a normal explanation in the Glade.

 “So, I woke up and I was in this.. hospital type room. I couldn’t see because something was covering my eyes, but there were—” Ponyboy was suddenly shushed, Minho’s chair scraped against the floor and he almost looked frantic. He looked over his shoulder, and at the door, there was a beetle blade. Something told Ponyboy to stay quiet, but that would seem suspicious, so he decided to act like he was talking but not say anything. Maybe the people would think there was a malfunction with the technology or something along those lines.

 He went quiet, but continued making motions and moving his mouth as if he was talking. The Keepers and Thomas looked at him in confusion before they caught what he was trying to do. None of them made a sound if they could help it, Alby would ‘butt in’ while he was ‘talking’ and move his arm around, his mouth moving but no words coming out.

 The beetle blade scuttled over the walls of the structure, scampering until it reached an angle where it could see Ponyboy’s mouth moving. A whirring sound was heard as it zoomed into Pony, but he acted normally. Eventually, the wings of the beetle fluttered before it zipped out of the room. After a few beats of silence, Minho fell back in his chair sighing heavily and they all untensed. Ponyboy sat down and rested his head on the wood.

 “Good thinkin’ Greenie, now, I recommend that you hurry with what you were gonna say because the little shank might be back soon,” Alby said, readjusting himself in the chair. Pony nodded before scooting his chair in and starting again.

 “Anyways, like I said I was in some hospital-type room, I couldn’t see ‘cause they had something coverin’ my eyes, but I heard people talking. One of them was named uh, Assistant Director Janson, they didn’t want me to know his name so they called him A.D, he had an assistant, Remus, and they called me Subject A0,” Ponyboy said quickly, Alby began writing down the important points of what he was saying, he ripped out a piece of paper and grabbed a pen before handing it to Newt. This really was important.

 “Janson was asking Remus about my vitals and stuff, Remus said that I have more white blood cells than normal and I also had an unusual amount of antibodies even though I don’t have an illness because apparently antibodies are made by white blood cells for defense against viruses or illness,” Ponyboy muttered that last part to himself before speaking up. He was connecting dots that he hadn’t thought of before.

 “A-And that Flare thing that Ben was talking about! Remus said I was immune to it, and that the white cells and antibodies were destroying and transforming it! So, the Flare must be a sort of virus and or illness. Then, they took the thing off my eyes and Janson got a call from the Chancellor, who I’m pretty sure is in charge of their organization. Her name is Ava Paige. After that, Remus brought me back here and I woke up in the Deadheads, in a hole in the ground.”

 Once Ponyboy finished his mini-rant/explanation, the Keepers were looking at him as if he was insane. Gally had tensed up at the mention of The Flare. Gally had seen Thomas during The Changing, he’d seen Ponyboy as well, but he wasn’t able to recognize him. And, he went by Johnny at first.

 “The Flare.. it is a virus from the outside world,” Was all that Gally could mutter before his hands were suddenly around his neck and he was choking himself out. Winston and Frypan jumped out of their seats, having been the closest to Gally. Minho grabbed Gally and was trying his best to pry the fingers that were around his neck. Gally was trying to heave in air while he choked and gagged on his own saliva. Eventually, Alby joined in and helped Minho pull Gally’s hands away. Once they broke away, dry tears that none of them had noticed were on Gally’s face. His eyes were drooped and he looked as if he was about to pass out, but he spoke once more.

 “Shuck— ugh, of course, you get memories without havin’ ta go through The Changing. It all makes sense now.. those shuck-faces.. the Grievers.. the Changing... It's just like my memories. The Flare, they must be changin’ it or something like that and using it on us... they’re tryna find a cure, and you’re immune to the Flare, Ponyboy,” Gally said, his eyes wide and his shaking as his head slowly craned toward Ponyboy, who was shocked into silence.

 “W..What? No, I— I’m not from here—” Ponyboy stuttered out, “NONE OF US are from here, you damn shank,” Gally spat as if he was insulted.

 “No, that’s not what I mean! I have memories, I remember my life before this, I-I had two brothers, Darry and Sodapop, our parents died in a crash and I lived in Tulsa Oklahoma; we had a gang of Greasers! Their names were uh, Keith Matthews but everyone called ‘em Two-Bit, then there was Steve Randle who is Sodapop’s best bud—” Alby slowly put his hand up, his expression of confusion.

 “Why.. why do you have your memories? You haven’t been through the Changing, shuck, you haven’t even been NEAR the Maze!” Alby exclaimed, grabbing the rim of his chair as he waited for Ponyboy to answer. He clenched his hands into fists.

 “Oh my Glory I just said that I’M NOT FROM HERE! I mean that! I am genuinely not FROM HERE! I might as well be from, like, another UNIVERSE or something!” Ponyboy exclaimed, stomping his foot as he yelled and stressed certain words. He was SICK of them not getting it! Not understanding him! It seemed that no matter how many times he would repeat it, they just wouldn’t get it!

 “Okay, okay Ponyboy calm down shank,” Newt said as he slowly stood up from his seat, “Let’s say I believe you, alright? In fact, let’s say that we all believe you, yeah?” Ponyboy looked at him with confusion but slowly nodded, sitting back in his seat. The Keepers untensed a bit as Newt continued.

 “We have the information, we’ll look it over, but right now, I suggest that Alby gives you the tour and I show Thomas where he’ll have his first training session. We’ll go along normally, then if we have any theories or something, we’ll hold another Gathering. Good that, everyone?” The Keepers nodded, Ponyboy and Thomas were a bit more hesitant but they nodded as well. Newt relaxed fully before smiling.

 “Right, then. Alby, if you’d please go give Ponyboy the tour and Thomas, come with me,” Newt walked out from behind the table and smiled at Thomas, the latter following after Newt immediately, “First thing’s first, you need ta shower, get dressed, then we’ll have breakfast, yeah? I don’t recommend that you eat a lot though, okay?” Newt’s steadily fading voice chimed out to Thomas.

 Alby stood up as well and grabbed his notepad, tucking Newt’s piece of paper into it before slotting it in his pocket. “Well, shank, let’s get a move on because you’ve got quite a bit to see. After this, you’ll shower, and change. What Newt said basically. I wouldn’t eat too much either, it smells like klunk where you’ll be havin’ your first training session.”

 The other Keepers filed out after them and Fern shot Alby a playful frown.