Chapter Four

A Job for a Lady

     I stepped out of the Homestead and began jogging across the field to where Newt and Thomas were working. They didn't enlighten me much about what I was going to be doing today, but apparently it had something to do with work. Everyone in the Glade played their own role, and they played it well from what I saw, they've been here for what I've deduced as years now and they were still standing and alive- well, most of them were. I tried not to recall the prior day when Newt bleakly told me there was a graveyard in the Deadheads.

     "Morning Sleeping Beauty. Ready to get your hands dirty?" I ignored Newt's nickname and grinned at him. "Bring it on. What are we doing today?" I was in a strangely good mood today.

     "Work." He stated simply, giving Thomas his hoe and stepping over the crops to get to me. "Everyone here has a role, a job is you will, and each job has a Keeper. They're kinda like the boss of that role, they watch over everyone, make sure they're doing it right." My mouth turned into the shape of an O as I finally understood what Keeper meant, 2 days I've been wondering what 'Keeper of the Cooks' and 'Keeper of the Runners' meant.

     "This morning you're gonna help out in the gardens." He beamed as he looked at everyone working, "Are you the Keeper of the gardens?" I questioned with curiosity, but before Newt could answer, a boy I hadn't met yet stepped over and stood next to Newt. "Actually, that would be me."

     He held out his hand for me to shake, and I did, glancing at Newt, weary of the boy standing in front of me. "I'm Zart, Keeper of the Track-Hoes." He corrected my statement from before, they were called Track-Hoes. Zart was quite tall, with curly blonde hair and droopy eyes, and he faintly smelled of grass and sour milk.

     I retracted my hand and offered him a small smile. "I don't really have a name yet." I stated in slight discomfort, Zart smiled softly at this. "Then She-Greenie will have to do." My smile grew into a grin, I quite liked the new nickname I was given, I would have to thank Minho for that.

     "You'll be helping out in the gardens this morning and this afternoon, and tonight you'll be with Fry in the kitchens. Tomorrow you'll work with the Builders and the Med-jacks." Newt piped up, and since I was thinking of the Keeper of the Runners, I decided to question him on it, "When do I get to be a Runner with Minho?"

     Newt and Zart seemed startled at my question, and Thomas immediately took interest in the conversation, stopping his tilling and narrowing his eyes at Newt. "Yeah... and what about the Slicers? I thought Greenies always went to the Slicers for their first job." Newt sent a glare at Thomas as a warning for him to shut up, but my interest had been peaked and this time I decided to speak up about it, "What's a Slicer?"

     "Right! Zart, if you could show She-Greenie the basics, I've got to have a chat with Alby." Newt completely ignored Thomas and I, patting my shoulder before turning away and walking towards the Homestead. I glanced at Thomas who sighed and went back to tilling, before following after Zart that lead me through the gardens.

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     The afternoon had rolled by quicker than expected.

     Zart had spent the entire morning showing me how to pull up weeds that were growing around the crops, how to till the surprisingly soft and fertile ground with a hoe, how to pick crops correctly when they were ripe for picking and to plant new seeds behind them and water them everyday so they would grow big and strong in the heat of the Glade.

     I stayed close to Thomas, we didn't speak as much as Newt and I did, but Newt was the one to give me the tour, I hadn't had much of a chance to speak with Thomas besides at the bonfire and at dinner.

     As I picked fresh crops, Thomas tilled behind me and planted new ones, effectively working the fields, though my mind wandered to last night when Thomas and Minho had a heated conversation. Apparently my curiosity couldn't be contained today, as I spoke up.

     "Thomas?"

     "Hm?"

     "What exactly does a Runner do?"

     I was met by silence, and I turned my head from my crouched position to see him staring at me.

     "Has anyone told you what's outside the walls?"

     My frown matched his.

     "Not really... I just assumed there was nothing out there since no one is allowed to go." I hummed in thought.

     I never really thought about what could be through those large doors. I turned my head to stare at them, my frown only deepening. Now that I thought about it... "Why did Gally stop me from running through the doors?" I thought out loud. If there was nothing out there, the other Gladers wouldn't have been so panicked when I had bolted.

     I turned back to looking at Thomas, now standing. "Where does Minho go, what the hell is out there?" I was growing increasingly frustrated. I had only been here a few days, but no one has told me anything. Thomas' own frustration seemed to be growing too, and I couldn't tell if it was because I was bothering him or because everyone was keeping their mouths shut around me.

     Our silent staring contest was interrupted by a cheerful Chuck who was practically gleaming to see the both of us. "Thomas, Greenie! I finished cleaning up the pens, I get to work with you guys now!" Thomas was the first to look away, now gazing at Chuck with a boyish smile that I could only describe as brotherly. I continued to stare accusingly at Thomas, but Chuck's rambling lowered my frustrations and put me at ease. I crouched back down again, pulling carrots up from the ground and looking up to smile at Chuck every so often as he spoke, pushing my worries to the back of my mind for now. We went back to working in a line; myself in the front, pulling up ripe crops, Thomas behind me, tilling the ground, and Chuck was last, planting new seeds and water the soil.

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     Much like the afternoon, the evening came by and the sun was slowly setting. Newt had come back over to pick me up from the gardens and bring me to the Homestead where the kitchens were, but unsurprisingly, Newt and I didn't speak much on the way. He was frustrated at Thomas and I, and I was annoyed that I was being kept in the dark.

     I was carrying the carrots and other crops I had gathered during the day, and as soon as I stepped into the kitchen, I was met by Frypan's warm smile that invited me in. "Come on in, She-Greenie, we were just getting started. Don't worry Newt, she's in good hands!" He called out to Newt who was leaving without a word. "You two fight or something?" Fry asked sheepishly, and I pursed my lips together, turning me head away stubbornly. "He won't tell me anything. No one will." I huffed, placing the large sack of crops on one of the tables.

     Frypan didn't look surprised, in fact he let out a chuckle. "From what I've seen, you're perfectly fine at handling yourself." He tried to cheer me up, and I looked at him with relief and exasperation. "Thank you!" He chuckled, walking over to the bag to look in, nodding in approval at what I brought. "Looks like we're having stew tonight!" A few of the other cooks replied and a few others cheered, stew did sound nice.

     I started off by peeling potatoes and carrots with Frypan by my side, doing the same. I watched meticulously as he did it, trying to imitate his movements, and even if they weren't as perfect and precise as his, they weren't half bad. We put the scraps in a wooden bucket, Fry explained how they would feed it to the hogs, nothing went to waste in the Glade. Next was chopping, cutting the now skinned crops into smaller blocks for the stew, Fry left that to me as he got a large pot full of water onto the stove lit with wood and fire, there were a lot of boys and that meant a lot of stew and a lot of carrots and potatoes. I was far from done with cutting everything, it was only the beginning, and Frypan came back over, cutting one or two pieces smaller and giving me notes on where I was doing good, and where I could do better.

     After an hour of cooking and simmering, the stew was done, and Fry looked at me proudly, patting my shoulder. "Not too bad, She-Greenie. Not bad at all." I grinned up at him, following him as he took the large pot and made his way over to the open wall where the Gladers came up and asked for food. The only thing separating the kitchen from the outside was a long wooden table, covered in bowls, spoons and three loafs of bread leftover from yesterday.

     Looking outside, a few boys were already starting to gather around the tables on the dirt, and I could see Minho jogging to the Deadheads with the other runners, the doors of the Glade closing behind them, as if perfectly on cue. I would have dropped everything I was doing, but Fry stood next to me, placing the large pot at the end of the table, picking up a bowl and handing it to the boys that were slowly forming a queue. "Get at it, She-Greenie." Fry piped up, and soon the queue was in front of me as I picked up bowls, filled the with stew and handed it to a boy whom I didn't meet yet, along with a spoon and a small slice of bread.

     The queue was seemingly endless. How many boys were in the Glade? It was long, but it was somewhat warming as I got to meet most of them, even if I didn't know their names. A few said thank you, others simply nodded their head, and there were the odd few who gave a timid smile before scurrying off. I guess it must be weird for them too, it's the first time they've ever met a girl- well, from what they remembered at least.

     I filled up a bowl with stew effortlessly, as if it were the thousandth time I was doing it because honestly it was starting to feel like it, and I looked up, my smile being met with a deep scowl. "Hurry up, would you?" Gally glared, and I raised a brow at him, placing the bowl on the counter and moving to cut the bread, making sure to slice it as slow as possible. Yet again, riling him up was as easy as breathing, his face glowing red, and Frypan came over to pat my shoulder, something he had a habit of doing. "C'mon Greenie, he's probably starving." I nodded with a grin and finished slicing the bread faster than before.

     "Since when are you two shanks so close?" He grumbled as I grabbed his spoon, looking at Fry who was already looking my way. We turned our heads and shrugged at Gally in perfect sync, before laughing with each other, holding up his dinner. He snatched it from my hands, raising his brows but lowering his voice. "You better not mess up the barn tomorrow." It sounded almost like a threat, and he turned away swiftly to join his table of builders.

     "What an asshole." I huffed, picking up another bowl and filling it up, passing it to the next boy as I heard Frypan chuckle from behind me. "You really need to start learning Glader slang. Newt would have a fit if he heard you talking like that." My smile returned at that comment, giving out bowls of stew with the same joyousness as before Gally had come along.

     "Besides, he's not that bad once you get to know him." I turned to see Fry cleaning up the kitchen with a small smile. I never figured someone as open and kind as Fry would be friends with someone as... well... someone as Gally as Gally.