❝just a memory of a kid❞

"OW!" JEFF EXCLAIMED AS ANOTHER rock hit his head. Most of the Gladers were standing under the scaffolding, trying to calm the new girl down as she threw rocks down at them. Iris had been hit about three times, but luckily for her, they all hit her arms or her legs and only one nicked her cheek.

As they ducked when she threw the next one, landing on top of the board that Winston was using as a shield, Gally yelled up angrily to the girl, "Hey! Throw one more of those things, and I'm—"

He was cut off by another rock bouncing off of his head as he grunted. The girl next to him began giggling at the timing of it, and then she got hit on the top of her head right after that. Thomas and Minho joined them and began ducking with them. When Iris thought about it, she realized that it probably was not the best way to go about things.

Jem looked worried for a moment until he realized that the blonde girl was all right, and then, he chuckled. As she rubbed her head, Newt pointed out, "I don't think she likes us very much."

"That's such an amazing observation, Newt," she commented sarcastically as Winston used his cover to keep her from getting hit. She shot him a thankful look and hid under it with him. "I never would have figured that out by myself."

"We just wanna talk," Thomas called up to her, but she did not listen to him.

She just kept throwing rocks, successfully hitting people as she shouted, "I'm warning you!"

"God, how many of those shucking things does she have up there? She's gotta run out at some point, right?" Iris questioned. How the hell did this girl gather millions of rocks and carry them up there without a single person noticing?

"Hey, woah, it's Thomas! It's Thomas!" That made the rocks stop, or maybe, she just ran out. She poked her head over the side of the railing before retracting it again,"I'm gonna come up, okay? Okay. Just me. I'm coming up."

They waited for a moment after he climbed up there, but Gally grew impatient and called up. "Hey, what's going on up there? Is she coming down?"

"Listen, you guys just give us a second, okay?" They groaned before retreating and going back to whatever they were doing.

"I don't like her," Jem informed Iris once they got far enough back that they could watch the two talking on top of the scaffolding. She had him sit down on a log because he took a rock to the head. She was kneeling in front of him and dabbing at the blood with a cotton ball.

Her eyes were focused on the cut because she did not know what would happen if she looked him in the eye. She felt him watching her intently as she worked. "She threw a rock at my head after I watched her for hours. I'm not very fond of her either."

"She's the only one of us to remember anything when she came up, and she's apparently the last one they're sending up," he reminded her, glancing over to where the new girl was talking to the new guy and wondering what the hell was going on. "Plus, she just happened to remember Thomas."

"What does Thomas have to do with it?" she questioned, confused. Of course, it was weird that she remembered him, but it would be just as weird if she remembered any of the other people on the Glade.

He shrugged and sighed when he realized that he sounded like his best friend, strangely paranoid about the whole Thomas thing. "Gally hates him."

"Gally hates everyone," she pointed out, putting down the dirty cotton ball and pulling out a bandage that she was planning on taping to his face.

She was definitely right. Gally was weirdly suspicious about everyone and everything at first until he made sure that there was no reason to not trust them. It was kind of odd because he is exactly the type of person that a new guy would not trust either. "That is also true."

"I'm sure she's not some spy. I bet she's just as confused as the rest of us, if not more," Iris told him. She could tell by the way that the girl chucked rocks at them that she was scared. If she was a spy, then she probably would have tried to get close to them and not push them away.

"If you say so," he breathed out, and he pointed up at the light cut just next to her ear. "How's your cheek doing?"

She reached up and touched it because she had honestly forgotten that it was there. She shrugged as she began packing up her first aid kit because she was done fixing him up. "Fine. You should be good."

"Hey, uh, thanks," he told her.

She was surprised because she had thought him too proud to say thank you, but maybe that was just to her. He had been a lot less annoying lately, and he had been surprising her a lot. They still had not spoken about the whole thing that happened in the Med-Jack Hut when they were helping Ben. "It's my job."

"It's not just that," he responded, and she took a moment to actually look at him and not just cast him glances.

She furrowed her eyebrows, not really understanding what he was trying to say. She placed her hands in her lap and questioned, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Uh, bye," he said, and he climbed to his feet and began walking away. Still confused, she got up as well and headed back to work to return the kit and see if anyone else was facing rock injuries.

《 ✢ 》

THOMAS HAD FIGURED SOMETHING OUT, SO THEY WERE IN THE MED-JACK HUT. Iris was standing with him, Newt, and Teresa, the new girl. They were all staring at the syringe on the table next to their unconscious leader, unsure of what to do. Thomas was trying to convince them to stab him with the syringe that they found inside Teresa's pocket, but there was no telling whether it would help or seriously hurt.

"We don't even know what this stuff is," Newt reminded them. It could definitely be poison that the Creators were trying to get them to give to Alby, see if they could trick them. "We don't know who sent it. Or why it came up here with you. For all we know, this thing could kill him."

"He's already dying. Look at him. How could this possibly make it any worse? Come on, it's worth a try," Thomas tried, gesturing to the boy on the table that seemed to be in a great amount of pain. His chest was covered in dark veins that were poking out and spreading to other parts of his body.

Newt, seeing his friend be in so much pain, finally nodded. "All right. Do it."

"Okay," Thomas responded, and he made his way over to the boy with the syringe in his hand. He glanced over at Iris, and she pointed to a spot on his shoulder where injecting the serum would most likely have the best effect.

He was about to use the syringe when, all of a sudden, Alby jerked awake and immediately grabbed him by the collar, pulling him down towards him threateningly as he began shouting. Newt and Iris grabbed Thomas and tried to wrench him out of the guy's grip. "You shouldn't be here! You shouldn't be here! No!"

"Get the syringe!" Thomas shouted because he had dropped it as he was trying to get away. Teresa was quick to snatch it up from the floor. She pushed past Thomas and then slammed it into Alby's shoulder.

He calmed down almost immediately, and within seconds, he was unconscious once again. Thomas and the others backed up as they stared at him, as if waiting for him to die or freak out again. However, whatever was in the syringe seemed to be working. Iris took a couple deep breaths before saying, "Well, that worked."

"Okay, from now on... someone stays here and watches him around the clock," Newt ordered. Iris nodded, and she made a plan to stay with him that night. Jeff and Clint would be able to watch him a lot because they worked there and spent a lot of time there, and they could get people to take a night shift every once in a while until something happened.

"Hey. Sundown, Greenie," a voice called, and they looked to see Gally standing in the doorway with Jem waiting behind him. The blonde girl remembered Thomas's punishment that was not even that bad at all, and Gally gestured for him to come with them. "Time to go."

Thomas nodded and joined them, and Jem trudged behind the other two as they headed to the Pit. Gally had insisted that he come because he was sure that the Greenie would freak out and try to attack them. As Gally opened the doors of the Pit for him, Thomas jumped in before looking up at the Builder. "Hey, what is your problem with me?"

"Everything started going wrong the minute you showed up. First Ben, then Alby... and now the girl," Gally explained, and Jem was kind of surprised that he was opening up to the guy so easily. He expected his friend to just tell him to go to hell or something. "Everybody saw she recognized you. And I'm betting you know who she is."

"Gally... you know we can't stay here forever, right?" Thomas asked, and the guy was silent for a moment before closing the door. Jem glanced at the guy, awaiting an answer that never came, and that was an answer for him.