Newt’s POV:

It had been a few weeks since I tried to fly. I had to switch jobs, since I couldn’t run without my leg hurting. So now I was a track-hoe. Soon we would be getting a new greenie, and I guess that was cool, but I didn’t really care. Life had gained a system for me that almost never changed. Wake up, eat breakfast, say goodbye to Minho, work, eat lunch, work, greet Minho at the door, eat dinner, talk with Minho, go to sleep, repeat. Thrilling, huh? At least I could walk without crutches now. The bad part was I still had a limp. Maybe a greenie would add something to the schedule. The box siren went off right after lunch like always. We gather around the box hole, like always. A greenie appears like always, and this one decides it's a good idea to run. If you were just kidnapped and put in a maze, the best thing to do would be to get away, right? Yes, if you don’t face plant like the greenie here. I hobble over, and offer him a hand

“Well,”

I say as the greenie stands up

“Welcome to the glade, greenie.”

I show him around the glade like I do for all the others, but this ones different. This shank seems really interested in running the maze.

“C’mon, greenie, time for the bonfire.”

He huffed

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

I rolled my eyes

“Well, once you remember your name, maybe we’ll call you that.”

The greenie said nothing but followed me to the bonfire. I left him there with Chuck, and went to find Minho, who was sitting away from the crowd. That was a first. I got my drink from Gally before walking over to him

“Hey.”

Minho looked up

“Hey. How's the new greenie?”

Then I noticed that Minho had a strange expression. I sat down next to him

“He’s alright.”

Minho still had that expression

“You sure you think he’s just alright?”

Oh, was that what this was about?

“Minho, geez, I would never, I mean, I don’t like him Minho”

He didn’t look convinced

“Minho, come on. The only person I have and ever will love is you. You know that. And, if I’m being honest, the new greenie is kind of an idiot.”

Minho finnaily smiled

“Yeah, I guess no one can compete with my amazing wits and awesome hair.”

Minho leaned in and continued in a low voice

“Well, except, maybe you. . .”

We kissed then. We pulled back, and looked into each other's eyes. We were about to kiss again, when a loud thump sounded from where the bonfire was. We both jumped up, and looked over, but then heard a joyous shout

“My name is Thomas!”

I pulled Minho back onto the ground.

“The greenie just remembered his name. Now where were we? Ah, yes.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

We kissed again. A couple hours later, we had to leave our spot and go to the hammocks. Well, I was right, that did change my schedule a bit.

Minho’s POV:

After the bonfire was over, me and Newt started heading back to the hammocks. Even though I was the new keeper of runners, I couldn’t, just couldn’t sleep so far away from Newt. Not after what happened. I reached into my pocket, and felt the crunch of a long dead leaf. Even if it was dead, you could still see the words and the heart. Before climbing into my hammock, Alby came over.

“Hey, Minho. So I was thinking, the new greenie really wants to run.”

“Yeah, Newt told me about that.”

“Well, I was thinking that we could give him a trial, just to see if he can, and he would run with you for a day.”

I nod

“Sure I could do that.”

“Hey, thanks!”

Alby walked away, and I lay down in my hammock next to Newts. I was facing him, and he was facing me.

“What did Alby want?”

“Oh, he just wanted me to take the greenie on a trial run tomorrow.”

Newt nodded, and closed his eyes. I closed mine. I went to sleep. In the morning I went and got the greenie, who someone had helped get the running gear on himself.

“Ready to go?”

The greenie looked like he was about to burst

“Yeah, I can’t wait!”

We ran together to the maze doors, then I turned to him

“Alright greenie. Let's go.”

He didn’t move

“Why do you keep calling me that? My name is Thomas.”

I rolled my eyes. Greenies were all the same

“Fine Thomas. Let’s go.”

We ran for a while, before we got to the cliff. A more recent discovery. Shuck, am I glad we didn’t know about this when Newt jumped. If he jumped off that, he’d be dead and gone by now. Time for more greenie questions

“What is that?”

“The cliff.”

“What is it?”

Man, Newt was right. This kid was a real slinthead

“A cliff, what else would it be?”

“Why is it here?”

I stood up and patted him on the back.

“Ding, ding, ding! That, my shank, is the million dollar question we all ask about everything and everyone, every day.”

The greenie, Thomas, pushed me off

“Why do you have to be like that?”

I smirked

“What? Sassy? If you missed it, that's kind of my thing.”

The greenie just looked at me like I was crazy. I smiled at him

“Anyway, Thomas, we have to go.”

If I had to call this greenie by his name, I would put as much attitude as I could in it. He nodded, and we started running. We were almost back, when we turned a corner and saw a griever. I backed up, muttering

“Shuck, shuck, shuck.”

Thomas just looked confused

“W-What?”

“It’s a shucking greiver, now run!”

I turned and bolted. I had already turned a couple corners, before I realized the greenie wasn’t with me.

“Shuck, this idiot’s gonna get us both killed. . .”

I turned and ran back to the spot I had stood moments before, and saw him just standing there.

“Thomas, C’mon! We have to go!”

No response. I pulled on his arm. Shuck, the griever was only a couple feet away.

“Run, you slinthead, run!”

He finally snapped out of it, and ran. I turned after him, and started to run, but not soon enough. I felt the swipe of a grievers stinger on the back of my upper arm. I felt my shirt sleeve rip. I felt the tingling sensation of the needle piercing my skin. Then I was running. I was running hard and fast. I ran till I forgot why I was running. Eventually Thomas stopped, and I stopped next to him. At some point the griever must have given up. He looked scared out of his wits.

“W-What was that?”

Deep breath. Time to explain

“That was a griever. They walk, no, crawl, no, whatever you wanna shucking call it, around the maze, and more come out at night.”

A petrified look. He started talking again

“What happens when they get you?”

“They sting you. If you can’t get back in time, then you die. If you do get back in time, you get a serum. A serum that makes you go crazy for a while, but keeps you from dying.”

Thomas nodded, and started to ask yet another question

“What happens wh-”

The rest I couldn’t hear. I heard a buzzing instead. The whole world tilted, and I grabbed on to a wall for support. Suddenly, the world flipped and I fell to the ground, onto my knees. I struggled to get up. The buzzing intensified. I clutched a vine that was close to the ground, and tried to haul myself up. This time the world went in and out of focus, but allowed me to stand up. The buzzing had only grown louder. Thomas was by me now, holding onto my shoulder. I pushed him off. I started walking, but only made it a few steps. Almost the instant my foot hit the ground to take a step, the world moved upside down, and I fell again. The buzzing is so loud now that it hurts. My eyes are wide, as I try to stand again. It’s no use. The world spins faster and faster, and I collapse. This time I didn't get up. This time all I could see was nothing. All I could hear was the buzzing.