CH. FORTY - THREE
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"Oh, wow!" Chuck gasps at all the flowers in front of them. "This is beautiful."

She smiles. By now, her cheekbones are hurting; Chuck turned into a Tool-Maker, and his first job in the short training he'll get is learn about a few flowers and make oils.

"Right?" She bents down. "Just pick out some beautiful ones."

"He knew you were going to say that!" He peeps, face lighting up.

"Gally?"

"Mhm." Chuck gives her a heavy nod. "And then he told me to pick you. Which doesn't make sense, obviously, because there's no Joan flowers."

She laughs at him and Gally's comment at once, cheeks red. "Well, just take whatever ones you want."

"Okay!" Happily, he takes his basket and starts putting flowers in it, his smile even brighter than the one he had when he remembered his name. "Also, the Box came up to deliver supplies. There was a little box with your name on it. Alby put it down in your hut."

She nods. "Alright." Must be toiletries, the pills, and maybe they finally gave her the chemicals she's been trying to get for a year. "I'll check it out later."

For the following hours, the duo picks out flowers and other plants. Chuck shares his ideas about pranking people. She tries to focus, but her mind keeps wandering to the Maze. That there's just two people left to stop.

But Minho won't quit. She knows he won't.

Yet if it already took them two years to figure out there's no way out, why would they now? With just two Runners desperate to find a way out, they'll never be able to do that.

No. More Greenies will come and might want to turn into Runners. If she quits controlling the Grievers now, the whole cycle will repeat. 

Besides, why would she even stop? She can control the Grievers with a few simple thoughts. Misleading the Gladers has this thing that makes it feel... powerful? There's just something to it.

"What's that?" Chuck touching her arm takes her out of her thoughts. "I recognize that sound."

She squints her eyes, then they wide, and her eyebrows furrow. "That's the Box. But you said it came up this morning! What— why— come on." Shaking her head, she pulls him with her.

"Our baskets!"

"They won't grow feet," she says quickly.

Once they've arrived at the Box, there's already a whole group around it. Most boys wear confused expressions. Well, all boys.

"What's going on?" She mutters, mostly to herself, but some reply by shrugging.

They don't even have to wait any longer. The familiar click makes some boys flinch, then, with some hesitation, Gally jumps down.

"What do you see?"

"Is it a Greenie?"

"More supplies?"

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, it's a Greenie," Gally announces, voice tight.

Curious, she jumps down, too. Her eyes meet a pair of brown ones almost immediately. The frown deepens as she inspects the boy. Brown hair that's matted to his forehead by sweat, blue shirt, tall but shorter than Gally, confused look.

"Thomas," she blurts out, then slams a hand to her mouth.

With wide eyes, he looks at her. "How do you— who are you? Where—"

Gally cuts him off; roughly, he pulls the kid up, and then out of the Box. Holds his hand out for Joan, but she shakes her head and climbs out on her own.

"Well, guess the patterns are getting irregular!" A Glader says.

"Damn, he ugly as shuck!"

"No worse than you!"

"I could use some help in the kitchen," Fry grins.

The boy struggles on the ground. Gives panicked glares at the boys surrounding them, then manages to get up.

"Hey! WE GOT A RUNNER!"

Her eyes wide at that.

Without hesitation, she starts running after him. Not only does she not want them to get more Runners, but she used to know this guy. Needs answers before he'll kill himself by getting lost in the Maze or something.

But he's a fast sprinter. She can't keep up with him. So instead, she rips her shoe off. Throws it between his legs, causing him to fall.

A smile of victory automatically forms on her face.

Never cheer to early.

With a grunt of anger and embarrassment, he throws the shoe right back at her. It gets tangled between her legs, and she trips. Hears a crack before pain shoots through her ankle.

He heard it, too. Staring at her with wide eyes, panic fills in them. "I'm sorry," he peeps. "I didn't want to... to— to break it. Well, maybe it's not broken, though. I don't remember but I don't think I was a doctor. So please don't kill me before we know for sure—"

"You're so gonna regret doing that," she spits out. The girl gets on her feet, even though it sends more awful shocks of pain through her leg, and moves closer. "Of course it's broken, you ridiculously stupid—"

"Alright! Let's take a deep breath," Newt interferes. "You," he takes Thomas in with his eyes.

After a few seconds, "...me?"

Newt blinks. His stern frown reappears. "Yes, you," he states, clearing his throat. "Get off the ground and..."

"...and?"

"Tell him to stop looking at me like that," Newt murmurs to Joan.

"Stop looking at Newt like he's a slug. We all know he might be, but that's not the point here. And wipe that expression off. You look like a fucking—"

"Remind me to never ask you something again," Newt mutters under his breath. "Anyways— what was I gonna say?"

"You stopped mid-sentence," Thomas says. "I had to get off the ground and—"

"Right. Get off the ground and come with me, I guess."

Her eyes narrow. "He can also come with me. I happen to have a few questions—"

"Nope. You need to go to the Med Hut for your ankle," Newt interrupts. His eyes trail back to Thomas. "And you?"

"What?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Physically, no," he murmurs. "But after her insults—"

Newt nods. "Great! Alright, come with me. What was it? Thomas?"

"I think so."

"Alright, Thomas, come with me. I'll lead you around."

Her mouth drops open. "Sorry? Lead him around? He shows up while Chuck arrived a week ago! How come we're trusting him? How come you're not worrying? How come I don't get to ask him my questions? He worked for—"

"Don't worry about her." Newt puts his hand on Thomas's back. Pushes him away from Joan, starting their walk toward the Homestead. "She has high beliefs she's a psychic. And you don't look like an idiot, don't worry."

Her mouth opens even further. "That is not true. Thomas, don't follow his orders. He doesn't know what he's doing. I know you. Would you just—"

"I'm the Second-In-Command."

Thomas's eyes wide. "Really?"

"He's actually a manipulator—"

"We've already asked the Box for medication so we can stop her from becoming a psychopath, but they wouldn't give us anything," Newt says, ignoring her comment. He attempts to walk away with Thomas again. "The only medication they gave was to grow taller. She refused to take it, as you see."

Her fists ball. She catches up with the two, still ignoring the pain in her ankle. "Excuse you? I will—"

"The shuck is he doing?" Newt shakes his head at something in the distance. "Gally— what's going on?"

Worried, she runs over to him. Gally yelps and falls to the freaking ground, groaning and grunting. "Woah— you okay?" Before she can kneel down next to him, he already speaks.

"Would you stop moving that ankle? Reminder, I can feel your pain," he grunts, breaths heaving. "And this is awful."

She clears her throat. "Oh, right." Turns to Newt. "You're not going anywhere with him. First, let me talk to him. And Gally."

"Can we go to the Med Hut first?" Gally mumbles. His face has paled.

"Ah, don't be a baby." She kicks him in the side. Then, "OW!"

He grunts again. "You had to kick with the broken ankle?"

Thomas stares. And stares. And stares, stares— "He can feel your pain? Also, where am I? Can someone answer my questions?"

"Yup. He can feel my pain. Maybe you can feel Newt's pain, and he can feel yours. Perhaps that's why Newt suddenly feels so... connected to you."

"You think that could be it?"

She nods heavily. "Yes. Wait, lemme try it out."

She elbows Newt in the side. Offended, his hands reach there. "What was that for—"

"Felt it?" She asks Thomas, who shakes his head. "Oh. Wait, maybe it needs to be more intense. Newt, get ready."

"Absolutely not— ow!"

"Felt it?"

"I don't think I share pain with Newt. Let's stop hurting him," Thomas suggests.

"Right. Sorry." But a big grin is on her face. She spins back to Gally. "Get up, you dramatic— Newt!"

"You can't go ahead and hurt me without me doing it back," he snaps. "Besides, that was just a little— stop! That hurts."

"Really? No shit." She helps Gally up. Well, it probably didn't help much, but it's the gesture. "Fine. We'll go to the Med Hut while they go make out in the Map Room."

"Wha—"

"I'll explain everything," Newt assures.

Joan nods. "Yes. The tongue has many muscles, so you can show them all."

"That's not what I meant—"

"I did," she says. "Now hurry."

"Can we also hurry?" Gally asks. "Actually, why don't you just turn this off?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I still haven't forgiven you for that pink dick. This is my revenge."

"You cut hearts in my underwear—" 

"That was a romantic gesture," she interrupts. "Not revenge. Come on. We'll survive."

"If you turn it off, I'll be able to carry you. That's also a very romantic gesture."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"I'm your boyfriend!"

"So?"

"I don't know. Show some pity! Stop sharing your feelings! Stop walking with that leg!"

"You're so dramatic."

"And your shoe is still back there on the grass."

"I'll pick it up later on."

"But your leg. You're hurting me, which is pretty rude, but hurting yourself is even worse. Don't do that! Wait, I'll just get your shoe right now."

"Wow, you're so tough and big," she mutters, not able to resist rolling her eyes to cover the blush on her cheeks. She needs to stop blushing all the time, gosh.

"You're flattered." She can hear his grin.

"I'm not."

"Woman, I can feel that you're flattered."

"Man, can you also feel my urge to punch you?"

"Why are you so moody today?" He mumbles, then limps off to go get her shoe.

With a clenched jaw from walking, Joan enters the Med Hut. Sits down as fast as she can, because her ankle is starting to hurt like... really badly. "I broke my ankle. Could you fix it, please? Unbreak it?"

Jeff sits down in front of her, eyebrows raised. "How'd you managed to break it? And no, I can't unbreak it."

"Can't you do like 'crack' and break my bones back in place so I won't be limping for the following weeks?"

"Nope," he says. "Well, I will have to do the 'crack' but you'll still have to limp for a while. As long as you don't move too much, it'll heal properly."

"I walked from the Maze Doors to here," she says dryly. "Will it still heal?"

"I may hope," Jeff replies, eyes a bit wider from her first sentence. "So I heard there's a new Greenie?" he says and starts to treat her ankle.

"He's annoying and I don't trust him, but yes. He broke my ankle, by the way. Can we throw him into the Slammer?"

"You hurt him first, so you'll be thrown in there too," Clint announces from the other side of the hut.

Joan shrugs. It might be unfair to not trust Thomas because she knows he created all of this, because Gally also didn't trust her while she didn't remember what she even did, but she can't help it. Perhaps if he wouldn't have been that focused on the Maze...

The rest of the treatment goes in silence. She leans against the wall. Closes her eyes for a second, probably at the nice feeling of Jeff spreading one of her serums on her ankle, then feels she's quite tired. Not to mention the pain, and also the fact that not only Thomas arrived, but also her period.

Well, if Gally still wondering why she's so moody, there's his answer.

She could've taken the pills, but she didn't. She figured out it's better to have like four months a year in which she does get her period, so the cause of the pills won't eventually become permanent. She doesn't want that either.

"You're exhausted, aren't you?"

"No."

"You were about to fall to shuckin' sleep."

"So what? No need to point it out," she snaps, then regrets it. "Sorry."

Clint's hands rumble in a drawer before he takes three things out. "Here."

She inspects them. A bottle of her lavender oil, a heat pad, and sleep pills. The girl inhales sharply, a sudden heaviness on her chest. "Oh, wow. You're gonna make me cry, Clint."

He chuckles. "I mean, we've got tissues too, if you need 'em."

She nods. "Honestly, just give them."

Jeff hands her the tissues. She tries to blink the sudden tears away, but it doesn't help. Just so many emotions mixing with tiredness, and then her period adding up, and maybe the biggest reason; how kind most boys here actually are. Giving her those three supplies must've been the bare minimum, but it's nice to know that after a long day, and lots of working, people still care.

And that's also why she doesn't want to leave.

Here, they're forced to hang out with each other. There's not much ways to grow apart here. It is, and always will be, just a square field.

Then Gally walks into the room, freezes, and then moves closer again. "What happened? Did they hurt you?"

She manages a laugh, but it ends up making her cry even harder. "No, just emotional. But I'm alright."

His eyes fall on the lavender oil. With a nod, he grabs it. Looks at Joan. "Want me to do the thing again?"

"God, yes."

Jeff frowns. "...what thing?"

"Massaging her stomach."

Clint covers a snort up by coughing. "Ah, right."

Gally shoots him a glare as he sits down besides the girl. "Thanks for no longer sharing the pain."

"No problem." She lies her head on his shoulder. Lets go of a breath. "Why did it take you so long?"

"Thomas might've... wanted to check the Maze out and I might've... pushed him."

"He went flying across the Glade, didn't he?"

"Yup," he confirms without hesitation.

"Well, I knew either you or Newt was gonna break his back." She shrugs. "You done, Jeff?"

He doesn't even respond. His eyes only wide, ready for gossip. "Newt? And the Greenie? It's a ship?"

"Newt had love on first sight and Thomas was already defending Newt, so yes, definitely," she says. "But are you done?"

She inspects her ankle. There's a piece of wood holding it straight. Bandages are wrapped around it so tightly that it hurts a bit.

"Yup. All done. I got crutches for you."

"She'll use them tomorrow," Gally decides. Before she even knows it, he has her scooped up in his arms. She yelps. Wraps her arms around his neck from the sudden scare.

"I don't think I like this."

"Well, then that's too bad," he replies. They easily arrive at her hut. He opens the door, puts her down on the bed, and takes the oil. "Still want me to?"

"Obviously," she sighs out. Pulling her shirt off, she lies down. "I think I'll fall asleep midway."

He smiles, cheeks gaining some redness as he sits down next to her legs. "That's alright."

"But you'll stay, right?"

"Of course."