NICK INFORMED OSCAR THAT TODAY, HE'LL BE SPENDING THE ENTIRE DAY IN THE GARDENS, his next trial was Track-hoes, it was one of those jobs where Oscar won't do anything much. Oscar wasn't gonna lie, he was relieved with this next trial and surprisingly, part of him was looking forward to it. And only because of Newt. Since Newt is the Keeper of Track-hoes. He'll be spending most of the day with him.

Today is day three since he woke up from a coma, adding five days because that's how long he's been in the Glade, he didn't realize that a week had already passed. The past couple of days have been overwhelming, he wasn't sure if he'll ever get used to this, seems like he has no choice but to endure this new life for who knows how long. Felt like he had only just woke up yesterday.

But you're here now and you're gonna help us do one thing we were sent here for, Nick said, getting us all out of here.

How can he help if they already tried and thought of everything he could think of? Nick did mentioned that there was one thing they haven't tried, which was climb down the Box, down that long, seemingly-never ending shaft. A lot of things could go wrong when climbing down the shaft, especially if they were to lower down one of the poor shanks. Nick didn't want to dare anyone, even himself to try and go down the shaft. Oscar hasn't seen the Box yet or the down the shaft. They described what it's like being in the Box, when they wake up in the dark and the distance they travelled upwards, it would be like going up in the elevator to the top of a skyscraper.

Nick guided Oscar to the Gardens, finding Newt waiting for them, standing in front of a field of crops, "Just the guy I've been waiting for" Newt grinned.

Oscar returned a smile, it wasn't a grin like Newt's, it was more of a greeting kind of smile and he felt his chest panged. He didn't realize his right-hand gripping his wrist on his lower back.

"You know the gist, Newt" Nick said, "show our Greenie here the job and see how he does"

"Obviously" Newt said, slightly annoyed. "Not like I haven't done this before"

"You've only been the Keeper of gardens for a few months, Newt. You haven't scored yourself a new Track-hoe"

"Maybe the third time's a charm, now let me take him off your hands" Newt grinned, he reached Oscar's shoulder, rested his arm on the Greenie's shoulder and guided him towards the field of crops.

Oscar glanced back over his shoulder, seeing Nick walking away then looked at Newt, "You've only been the Keeper for a few months?" He wasn't sure why he was surprised, maybe because that Newt was one of the first Gladers.

Newt met with Oscar's gaze with his arm remaining the new boy's shoulders, scrunching his brows together, as if offended. "You worried I'm not qualified enough or something?"

"No, just thought that you've been doing this for quite sometime"

"I did tell you I was a Runner until my accident recently" Newt reminded, slid his arm off the boy's shoulders.

Oscar forgot about that, yesterday when Newt told him about how he was once a Runner until he had an accident in the maze. Oscar shifted his glance forward, "Oh, right, of course," He looked around at the field of cornfield, the crops were the same height as him. "so, you guys just grow corns and tomatoes here, should be easy, right?"

Newt laughed, "For me, yes . . . For you? Let's find out"

The morning had become warmer as the sun rose higher and higher, slowing bringing the heat onto the Glade, it'll only get warmer then hot when morning shifts to noon. Oscar met the other Track-hoes; Zart, Adam, Louis and Kenny, all in between ages fourteen to seventeen. He thought the job would be easy as he thought, but it actually wasn't, he was nearly constantly being watched over his shoulders by Zart and Newt, telling him if he was digging too deep or not deep enough, or how the plants shouldn't be too close to each other followed by a lecture, a lesson of sort on why this or that vegetable won't grow properly. Oscar found himself snapping at them as he gave up saying "Okay, why won't you do it?!"

Newt simply chuckled, "Shuck . . . I see you get pretty easily annoyed, I'll back off" he had his hands raised up to his shoulders as he took a step back.

Oscar immediately felt shame for snapping, he sighed heavily, "Sorry, I just . . . I'm tired and I'm sick of the sun right now"

Newt checked his watched then glanced up at the sun, "Yeah, the sun can be very annoying . . . lunch is almost ready, why don't we go over the kitchens?" he gestured his hand to come follow, "C'mon, I'm sure Nick won't mind us being five minutes early"

Oscar took off the gloves, left the shovel behind, followed Newt and went to his side.

"Or he might," Newt scoffed, "but the last thing he could do is have us Banished and that would've been the worst thing to happen to us besides the Grievers tearing us apart"

"Banished" Oscar muttered in his breath, "That doesn't sound . . . fun"

"It definitely isn't"

Banished didn't sound good at all, Oscar wondered what happens if one gets banished and why. "What's that? . . . I know what it means but what happens when they get banished?"

Newt didn't answer momentarily, sullen and shame was all over him. "It only happened a few times since we've been here and I can assure you, we only do it to protect ourselves and for everyone else's safety"

Oscar could tell it was something that neither of them were proud of it and it was all guilt and shame.

"Hurting another Glader is something we take very serious" Newt said, he sighed sullenly, "Not long after we got here, one of us went crazy, even drove him to kill one of our own. We did what we had to do to protect the rest of us, so we Banished the guy from the Glade. We forced him out of here through the Doors when they close, knowing what happens to them out there during the night and they're never seen again"

As appalling as it sounds, Oscar remained his curious look on his face. What makes someone go insane and drive them to harm another? Did they go insane when they're in the Glade too long? Or was there something else? He can understand protecting their own. He doesn't view them as killers or anything. "Why did he go . . . insane?"

"He got Stung" Newt said.

Stung. Oscar remembered Minho mentioning about Gally getting Stung and how he was never the same since then. "Minho mentioned about . . . Gally getting Stung. He seems quite all right" besides intimidating and awfully rude.

"Oh yeah" Newt affirmed, he glanced around first before continuing, as if making sure no one was near to listen. "He wasn't always shucked in the head before, until one day, he broke one of the rules which was going into the maze when he's not a Runner. He got Stung and ever since then, he hasn't been the same. Just blurts out nonsense and paranoid at times. At least he's not trying to murder anyone. Not all of them who get Stung go on killing spree or something I guess"

As they arrived the kitchens, the cook they call; Frypan who is the Keeper of Cooks looked annoyed when Newt and Oscar stood by table, claiming the firsts in line. "You're early, you know my rules, no early birds! Early birds will get last plate next time!"

Newt sat on the table, "Oh come on, Fry. It's Greenbean's first day— well, second day . . . trials are rough for him"

"Try staying in the hut all shuckin' day and every day while burning wood to cook for a few dozen hungry people, Newt" Frypan said peevishly, "Unless Greenbean is determined to become a cook, could use an extra pair of hands here, I'll give you both a pass"

To cook for a few dozen of boys while the sun is out, Oscar can feel the heat from the tent, it was hot near as a sauna, he wouldn't think he'd last an hour in the kitchens before he gets a heatstroke. "No, Greenbean's mine, hopefully. Track-hoes is one man short, I need this one" Newt flashed a smug at Oscar then at Frypan.

"It's up to him"

Oscar awkwardly shrugged, "I— I don't think I'm fond of cooking. Nor am I good" he didn't want to come off as rude towards the cook or offend Frypan. Oscar was gonna admit that he didn't enjoy gardens so far, as much as he wanted to work with Newt, but Track-hoes just felt was right for him. He couldn't bring him to be honest with Newt. "What's for lunch?" He astray from the subject of trials.

"Beans and mashed potatoes" Frypan smiled, the smile seemed sardonic.

Oscar fought the urge of scrunching his nose in disgust when the cook said beans. He watched the cook getting two plates ready, a big spoonful of beans splatted on the mashed potatoes. It didn't look appealing, it was better than nothing, better than to starve, yet he'd rather have porridge that barely had a taste. The Glade didn't have the best food, it was all plain, canned food that can be eaten without heat, vegetables and fruits merely added on the side. Despite the unappealing and not-so-appetizing meals, a lot of the Gladers still managed to maintain or build their shapes the past nearly three years. Oscar kinda wished he was in a better shape, he could barely lift a bag full of fertilizer, or wheel a filled wheel-barrel fifty paces ahead.

He wondered how the hell he survived in the maze and likely from a Griever in his current shape.

Oscar was looking up at the sky, all in blue with white clouds around and the sun slowly scorching the Glade. Newt was eating away his lunch while Oscar had barely touched his plate, he had taken a few spoonful until he nearly gagged at the taste of cold beans. The two of them were sitting in a shade by a tree. "How often does it rain here?" Oscar wondered.

"A couple of times a month, sometimes it wouldn't for over a month. So, not much"

"No snow, no autumn, cold season at all?"

Newt was shaking his head, "No. Just rain and shine since I've been here"

Before he could ask another question, he saw Teddy coming their way with a plate, coming to join them. "Jeff said it's time to change your dressings, Greenie. You got the poor shank stressed out this morning when he saw you lifting some stuff when you're not supposed to" he looked at Newt with a disapproved look.

"Please, they weren't even that heavy" Newt scoffed.

"For you . . . Do you see Greenbean's arms? He's like a twig. You're the one who suggested the Leader that Greenbean should take it easy"

"He's fine"

Teddy ignored Newt, "Okay, let's check your stitches and hope they didn't rip"

"I feel fine" Oscar reassured, he got on his feet, besides the stinging pain that comes and goes from the wound, though he knew he had to get his dressings changed anyway, he lift his shirt to expose the dressing.

"How's gardening so far?" Teddy lowered down to the wound's level and slowly ripped the bandage off.

Oscar was hesitant to answer because Newt was sitting near, not wanting to hurt his feeling or something after what he said to Frypan earlier. He shrugged awkwardly, "It's fine . . . Not that bad" he was lying, he wanted to say how he didn't like Track-hoes much and he wanted to admit he liked as Med-jacks so far. It's only day two— second trial and there were like eight more jobs he has to try.

"Blink if you need help getting out of it" Teddy joked, "I'll rip off your stitches myself, say it was an accident, that way you stay with me in the Med-jack bay to avoid your trials"

Oscar couldn't help to let out a soft chuckle, Newt turned his head and scowled at the Med-jack. Before Teddy put on new dressing, he coated the wound with some antibiotics cream using a q-tip.

"Jeff thinks that the stitches should fall out on their own in a week or so" the Med-jack said, "With no sign of any infections, it's healing slowly. However, I doubt you should be doing difficult trials, jobs that involves heavy lifting, it could compromise the healing process. Perhaps make suggestions with Nick about skipping Builders, Slicers, Bricknicks and . . . Baggers"

"Nick is stubborn, he's a bit religious about rules and traditions around here" Newt said, "He's not a fan of change"

"I'm not implying changing the rules or the dumb traditions, mate. Just make an exception for the poor scrawny shank here" Teddy gestured at Oscar.

Newt shrugged, "Why do I have to talk to him? If you and Jeff are so concerned for your patient, you guys talk to him and maybe he'll listen to you since you seemingly have good reasons why Greenie should skip trials"

"All done here, good and new!" Teddy stood up.

"I love how a lot of you talk about me like I'm not even here" Oscar smiled, hinting a sardonic tone in his voice and smile.

"Oh how can we not?" Teddy cooed. "You are in fact the luckiest shank in the Glade"

Something Nick said to him before, he wasn't quite sure he considered himself lucky. To be alive? Perhaps. But to end up in a place like this where death happens sometimes? No. Perhaps he's better off out here than wherever he came from, wherever he was before the maze almost got him killed. At least out here, he's surrounded by people who trust one another . . . and he was slowly making friends.

He noticed something about Teddy, something he couldn't dare himself to ask the Med-jack about it . . . he had a scar on his neck— around his neck. Like something wrapped around his neck then left a mark. Oscar had assumptions but he didn't want to ask what happened.

"Ugh," Teddy groaned in disgust as he was eating. "This stuff is disgusting, couldn't Frypan at least warm up the food?" His plate was empty, still he managed to finish his plate. "Anway, I gotta look for Jeff, I'll let you know what Nick thinks about what we talked about"

As soon as Teddy was further enough to not hear what Oscar was about to ask. "What happened to him? Teddy . . . I noticed he has a scar"

Newt sighed sullenly, shifting his gaze towards where Teddy had gone to. "That's another story for another day . . . but this story is not mine to share"

Oscar understood, there must be a lot of stories here in the Glade that don't want to be told or better off to be untold. Maybe it's better he don't know. Not now, not soon, maybe one day.

Once lunch was done and gone, Oscar continued working in the gardens, this time he was getting the hang of it, but it didn't mean he enjoyed it. Track-hoes might as well be his second option if Med-jacks didn't need him. Nearly most of the afternoon, he was lightheaded, almost dizzy at times and there was headaches. His ears were ringing once and for a second, he thought he was having a stroke until it faded away. It was just light migraines and lightheaded. It could the lack of sleep as he woke up very tired in the morning.

Didn't he get nearly a week worth of sleep?

There was something he noticed, when is hand was on his head, rubbing his head as if it would make the headaches go away, while he was running his fingers in the back of his head, he felt a small line of bump in the middle of his head, near the back neck, and even felt a bald spot. That bald spot couldn't be seen with his hair covering it. When he pressed it, it felt like a bruising pain that travelled like a wave all over his head, that must be the source of all the headache.

Oscar.

The voice was hollow and soft, voice of a boy. Yet it startled him that he whipped around, let out a soft gasp, looked behind him and only to meet Newt being startled by Oscar's jump.

"Whoa, you okay?" He chuckled and had his hands up to his shoulders. "You jumped before I could even say something"

Before he could say something? Oscar was baffled. "You didn't say anything?"

"Say what?" Newt wrinkled his brows as his smile remained. Looking a bit confused.

"My name? You said my name? Just now?"

"No . . . " Newt smile was almost faded. "I was coming to check on you, you didn't look well . . . Headache?"

Oscar didn't answer right away, instead he nodded. "I think . . . I think I need to go see Teddy or Jeff. Ask something for the pain, do you mind if I go?"

"No, of course. Go" Newt gave a nod, gesturing him to go.

Oscar made his way to the Med-jacks' hut, hoping they have something for the headache, and what was that voice? Maybe headache talking? Maybe he's losing his mind from the lack of sleep, the exhaustion, sick from the sun . . . Hearing a voice coming from behind, that was so hollow like it was in the back of his head as if it was empty was such a strange feeling. It wasn't Newt, that didn't sound like him at all, unless it was him, lied that it wasn't and was just pulling a stupid prank. Better if he was than Oscar going crazy.

Is he going crazy?

AUTHORS NOTE
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Damn . . . I actually wrote a chapter and it's been like 14 months since I last updated this lmao... rip . . . I'm curious to see if anyone's still around lol