Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve Wrong Moves
For several seconds, the boy curled up in a ball, motionless.Thomas didn't know what to do, he froze on the spot and didn't dare to help.What if there is something seriously wrong with this person?What if he's already been stung by...?if……
Thomas snapped back to his senses—Walker clearly needed help.
"Alby!" he yelled. "Newt! Anyone? Come and see him!"
Thomas rushed to the boy and knelt beside him. "Hey, are you okay?" Walker's head drooped on his outstretched arms, panting, his chest heaving.He was conscious, but Thomas had never seen anyone so tired.
"I'm... fine." He said between breaths, raising his head, "Who are you?"
"I'm a rookie." Only then did Thomas realize that the traveler was in the maze during the day and had no chance to witness what happened recently.Does this guy know about the girl?Maybe... of course someone would tell him. "I'm Thomas, and I've only been here two days."
Xingzhe propped up his body and sat up, his sweaty black hair sticking to his scalp. "Oh, yes, Thomas," he said breathlessly, "you and that chick, rookie."
Alby came running all the way, looking very angry. "What are you doing back here, Minho? What happened?"
"Calm down, Alby," replied Walker, seeming to recover a little strength, "do me a favor and get me some water—I left my knapsack outside."
But Alby didn't move, he kicked Walker's leg hard, as if he was joking. "What happened?"
"I can hardly even speak, idiot!" Xingzhe yelled, his voice a little hoarse, "Bring me some water!"
Alby glanced at Thomas, and Thomas was surprised to see that a subtle smile appeared on his face, but it disappeared into a frown immediately. "Minho is the only Shank who can talk to me like that without getting kicked off a cliff."
Immediately afterwards, what surprised Thomas even more was that Alby turned around and ran away, probably to fetch water for Minho.
Thomas turned to look at Minho. "Can he tolerate you bossing him around like this?"
Minho shrugged, wiping the newly formed beads of sweat from his brow. "Are you afraid of that useless guy? Dude, you still have a lot to learn, goddamn rookie."
Such accusations hurt Thomas more than normal, since he'd only known the guy for three minutes. "Isn't he the boss here?"
"Boss?" Minho murmured, maybe laughing, "Yeah, if you want to call him Boss, it's up to you, maybe we should call him Mr. President. Forget it, forget it—Admiral Will Alby, now you understand." He rubbed his eyes, covered his mouth and smiled.
Thomas didn't know how to continue this conversation - it was hard to tell when Minho was joking. "If he's not, who is?"
"Rookie, shut up before you fool yourself." Minho sighed, seemed annoyed, and then muttered, as if talking to himself, "Why do you shinkers always ask questions?" What about stupid questions? Really annoying."
"So what do you expect us to do?" Thomas raged.He wanted to say, as if it wasn't like this when you first came.
"Do what you're told and keep your mouth shut, I expect that to be the case."
When he said this, Minho looked Thomas in the face for the first time, and Thomas subconsciously moved back a few inches.He immediately realized that this was a wrong move—he couldn't let this guy think that he could talk to himself like this.
Thomas got to his knees and looked down at the boy. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what you did when you were a rookie."
Minho looked at Thomas carefully, then looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I'm one of the first here, idiot. Before you figure out what you're talking about, shut your stinky mouth."
Feeling a little frightened of the guy, but more of an annoyance with his attitude, Thomas moved to get up.Minho suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Dude, sit down, I'm just testing your mind. It's so interesting, you'll know when the next rookie comes..." His voice trailed off, his frown showing a thoughtful look. Look, "I guess there won't be any more rookies, right?"
Thomas relaxed and sat down again.He was surprised at how easily he could relax.He thought of the girl, and the note saying she was the last one. "There won't be any."
Minho narrowed his eyes slightly, as if looking at Thomas. "You've seen that chick, haven't you? Everyone says maybe you know her."
Thomas immediately became more alert. "I've met her before, and it doesn't feel familiar at all." He immediately felt guilty for lying, even though it was a small lie.
"Is she hot?"
Thomas hesitated. He had never thought of her in that way.She was unconscious, brought the note, and said only one sentence—everything would change, but he still remembered her beautiful appearance. "Yeah, I think she's hot."
Minho fell backwards, flat on the ground, and closed his eyes. "Yeah, you think. What did you do to the unconscious chick, right?" He snickered again.
"Yeah." Thomas had a hard time judging whether he liked Minho or not - his personality seemed to change every minute.After a long silence, Thomas decided to take a risk. "So..." he asked cautiously, "Did you find anything today?"
Minho's eyes widened, staring at Thomas intently. "You know what, rookie? That's usually the dumbest, most idiotic question you can ask a walker," he closed his eyes again, "but today is an exception."
"What did you say?" Thomas ventured, hoping for more information.An answer, he thought, please give me an answer!
"Just wait until the great admiral returns. I don't like repeating the same thing twice. Besides, he might not want you to hear it."
Thomas sighed, the answer coming as no surprise to him. "So, at least tell me, why are you so tired, don't you run outside all day?"
Minho groaned, straightened up, and sat down cross-legged. "Yeah, rookie, I run outside every day, I get excited, run super fast, and I'm exhausted."
"Why?" Thomas was eager to know what was going on in the maze.
Minho raised his hands. "Man, I told you, be patient and wait for General Alby to come back."
His tone seemed to ease a little, Thomas made a decision, he likes Minho. "Okay, I'll shut up and just make sure Alby lets me hear from you."
Minho sized him up for a second: "Okay, rookie, you have the final say."
After a while, Alby came over with a big plastic cup filled with water and handed it to Minho.He gulped down the water in one gulp without even taking a breath.
"Well," said Alby, "tell me what's the matter?"
Minho raised his eyebrows and nodded at Thomas.
"He's fine," Alby replied, "I don't care what this Shank hears, just say it!"
Thomas sat quietly, expecting.Minho struggled to stand up, frowning every time he moved, showing extreme fatigue in every move.Xingzhe leaned against the wall and gave the two people a cold look. "I found a dead one."
"What?" asked Alby. "Dead what?"
Minho smiled slightly: "Dead Griever."