I do not own The Maze Runner or any of its characters

Lauren
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Sure, I'm not too fond of a lot of things. Ketchup, being injured, whatever amnesia that doesn't work on me, being alone, being betrayed by a close friend, whatever's wrong with Gally and Thomas, beetle blades, WICKED, oh--and waking up early.

But I wanted to run. Scratch that, I needed to run.

And yes, I know that it would probably hurt my leg more, but I needed to be back out in the Maze. My feet were itching to trace the routes in between the stone walls that held us captive.

"Minho, I know I just injured my leg, and I've just gotten over a Sting, but can I please run today?" I tracked him down in the Homestead.

He looked me up and down. "I shouldn't allow this, but if you get hurt, it's not my fault. You can run Ben's route." Minho paused. "Don't know why, but I have a feelin' something's gonna happen today."

"Thank you. And I have that feeling too, especially with the new Greenies." We started our usual routine.

"What about 'em?"

"Well, the girl that came up yesterday had a note in her hands that said 'She's the last one ever,' and the guy seems different somehow."

"We got a girl?"

"Yeah."

"Huh." We lapsed back into silence.

"She hot?"

"She's in a coma, Minho."

"Just askin'."

I rolled my eyes and continued packing. 

Frypan was happy to see me when Minho and I got close to the Kitchen.

"Lauren!"

"Frypan!"

"Nice to see you're up and walking around. You plan on helping out in here anytime soon?" He had his famous bacon cooking up in a pan.

"I'm covering for Ben for the time being." Minho and I started packing our lunch.

"Oh. Well, maybe the first Greenie'll take your spot."

"I dunno, Frypan. I dunno."

Minho and I finished and started towards the Doors. I didn't like only seeing one boy waiting for them to open. It was still hard to believe Ben was gone.

"Hey, Joe." I greeted the other runner.

"Sup? I never got to thank you for that day off. It was pretty nice."

"No problem." I smiled.

The Doors opened, and the day officially started. I had packed some extra pain meds in my pack just in case, but I don't think I would need to use them. After some initial pain when I first started walking without my crutches yesterday, I hadn't really felt anything more. I was glad. The whole thing sucked.

I was thankful for looking over Ben's route whenever I was trying to get Stung. It definitely helped as I was trying to run it today.

The steady pace of putting one foot in front of another calmed me. Normally I would think about anything and everything while I ran, but today I just worked on my breathing. In, and out. In, and out. My mind drifted to random things, but I didn't think about them too deeply.

Is this meditating?

And nothing eventful happened while I ran. For the first time in a long time, I didn't even run into a Griever. It was nice until I ran into a dead one.

"Oh, my shucking finch." I stopped dead.

And apparently, the Griever had too.

"It's dead?" I did a slow circle around it.

After a few confusing seconds, I realized what I needed to do. I had to get this info back to Alby and crew.

So I ran. Dear lord, I ran.

The walls blurred into unrecognizable shapes, flashes of green and grey tinged my vision. No longer was I tracing my path; I just let muscle memory lead the way. I prayed it wouldn't let me down.

But for some reason, I ran into Minho.

Quite literally.

"What the shuck, Lauren? Don't tell me you're running from another Griever." He got up and helped me up.

"I'm running from a dead one, actually."

"What?!"

"Yeah." I tried to catch my breath.

"Let's go. We gotta get this to Alby." He sped off.

"That's-" I started. Then I sighed and followed after him.

Between the two of us, we got back to the Glade in record time. Minho lost his pack on the way, and I believe I dropped my quiver somewhere between the time I got to Minho and when we got back home.

We got maybe two steps in the Glade and dropped, panting.

My bow and pack were digging into my back, so I took them off and sat up. It looked like no one had noticed our arrival.

Scratch that, someone had.

Thomas called for someone and then ran over to us.

"You guys okay?" The poor guy looked really concerned.

"Sure." I sat the bow and back next to me and laid back down.

"I'm fine." Minho managed to get out. Then he finally noticed Thomas. "Who the klunk are you?"

I laughed a pitiful laugh. "Wow, Minho."

The two kept on talking, and I was finding it hard to stay awake. I knew that the best thing for me was to stay awake and conscious. But then Alby came. I sat back up. This would be fun.

"What're you two doin' back? What happened?" Yet again, Alby was angry.

"Calm your wad, Alby."

"Honestly, let us breathe for a second."

"Make yourself useful and get me some water--I dropped my pack out there somewhere." Minho requested.

I almost said make it two, but then remembered I had mine right next to me. Alby didn't move a muscle.

Then, for some reason, unbeknownst to us, he kicked Minho in the leg, harder than need be.

"What happened?" 

"Dude, chill!" Holy finch, it wasn't even that great of news. I was wondering if I had to stop a fight.

"I can barely talk, shuck-face! Go get me some water!"

I fought hard not to laugh.

Alby, apparently trying to save face, turned to Thomas and said, "Minho's the only shank that can talk to me like that and not get butt kicked off the Cliff." Then he went to get some water.

I finally laughed.

Thomas was shocked. "He lets you boss him around?"

"Well, after being locked up for having a simple conversation, you learn not to give a shuck," I admitted.

"You scared of that pip-squeak? Dude, you've got a lot to learn. Freakin' Newbies."

"Be nice, Minho. Thomas's only been here for what, three days? It took me a week before I finally gave up trying to be good."

"Look where that's got you," Minho mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"But isn't he the leader?"

"Leader?" Minho tried to laugh. It came out more like a grunt.

"Sure, in theory."

"Yeah, call him leader all you want. Maybe we should call him El Presidente. Nah, nah--Admiral Alby. There you go." He rubbed his eyes and snickered.

I held my hand out for a high-five. Minho returned it.

Poor Thomas. I knew he was trying hard to figure out Minho and me. "So who is the leader if he isn't?"

"Me." I joked. "But honestly, Thomas. Stop asking questions for a second. I'm pretty sure we're both delirious."

"Yeah," Minho added. "Why do you shanks always come in here asking stupid questions? It's really annoying." I'm not sure if he was saying it to himself, but it was loud enough that Thomas could hear it.

"What do you expect us to do?" Greenie was getting angry.

"Do what you're told, and keep your mouth shut. That's what I expect."

"And I expect you to worm information outta people. Make friends in high places. Like you've already done with Newt. Good job, Greenie."

But he apparently hadn't heard me. Minho was in the process of staring the kid down, and Thomas backed up a few inches. But then, he realized that he had a 'reputation' to uphold and moved back to his original spot.

"Yeah. I'm sure that's exactly what you did as a Newbie."

I groaned and laid back down. Boys.

"I was one of the first Gladers, slinthead." Minho started.

Slinthead? That word was new.

"Shut your mouth hole till you know what you're talking about."

I shut my eyes and tuned out the rest of the conversation.

There's a literal dead Griever in the Maze.

The ridiculousness almost made a person think that they had imagined the whole thing. But I hadn't. The thing was real, and I needed to wait patiently to tell Alby the whole news. I could hear Thomas pester Minho to tell him what he'd found.

"I didn't find nothin'. It was Lauren."

"Sup." I did a half-wave. "You'll find out soon enough. Or maybe not, if Alby's in a mood."

And speak of the devil. I heard footsteps and realized Alby must have come back.

"Hello, Alby." I finally stood up.

He did nothing and gave Minho the cup. The dude sucked it down in no time.

"Okay. Out with it. What happened?"

I motioned towards Thomas. I knew the kid wanted to be there.

"He's fine," Alby said, exasperated. "I don't care what this shank hears. Just talk!"

Then Minho leaned up against the wall and gestured, meaning I had the floor.

"Well, to save time and my throat, I'll just cut to the chase. There's a dead Griever in the Maze." I mentally went over Ben's route. "It's not that far."

Alby inhaled deeply. "Ain't no time for jokes."

"Look, man, I may extremely dislike you, but even I wouldn't go this far for a joke. Just trust me. I've never lied to you before."

I quickly squashed down the memory of Crackface and the cafeteria memory.

"You found a dead Griever."

"Yes, Alby, I did. The thing didn't try to maul me, and Grievers don't sleep. Ergo, it's dead."

"Well, then why didn't you bring it back with you?"

Minho let out a quiet laugh/giggle. I just looked at Alby. He could not be for real.

He kept on, oblivious. "What did it look like? Were the metal spikes in or out of its body? Did it move? Was the skin still moist?"

"Dead, half in, half out, really, and mostly moist. Any more, your honor?"

"Dude, do you wanna see for yourself? From what Lauren said, if we haul it, we could make it back before the walls shut." Minho was done.

Alby checked his watch. "Better wait until wake-up tomorrow."

"Great. I better be going with you two."

"Sure." I uncrossed my arms.

"Fine."

Minho got up off the wall, looked at the Doors, and just shook his head. "Shuck it. I'm going to eat some of Frypan's nasty casserole."

"Have fun." I grabbed my bow and pack and headed to the Homestead to put them up. Peter found me along the way.

"What are you doing back so soon?"

"I found a dead Griever."

"A what?"

"A. Dead. Griever. Now, please leave; I'm gonna go take a nap." I moved to go to the Homestead.

"Wait! Ben's not dead."

I dropped my bow. "What?"

"Yeah, apparently, the arrow missed the important parts. He was thrown into the Slammer, so quick Jeff had to patch him up in there. There's a huge bandage around his head."

For the first time, I had no words.

"Also, Newt's looking for you."

"Where's he at?"

"Over in the Gardens."

"Thanks." I picked up my bow yet again, slung the pack across my back, and walked to the Gardens.

Newt looked happy to see me, but his eyes told a whole other story.

"Lauren, good. Have you heard?"

"Ben's alive."

"Yeah. We already had a bloody Gathering of the Keepers. He's gonna get Banished for attempted murder."

My mouth opened as if to say something but instead took a deep breath.

"Now, did you have Banishings back in your Glade? Or something of the sort?"

I scoured my mind. A wisp of memory came up, but only a wisp.

"I can't really remember."

"It's alright." He looked over at the other Track-Hoes, then moved farther away. I followed. "Since you're a Keeper, of sorts, I wanted to let you know what's gonna happen tonight."

The temperature seemed to drop.

I gathered up whatever courage I had within me and managed to say, "Yes?"

Newt explained what happened at a Banishing, and with every detail, my stomach started to drop. Why did we have this? It seemed too violent, like something a serial killer would do. Not a group of teenagers. Then he finally came to my role in the whole ordeal. 

"And when Alby says that, you'll move forward and place your hands on the pole. You'll be right in front. Just listen to him, and when he says hold, wait until the very last minute, and you'll go undo the latch that holds Ben to the pole. Got it?"

No. I don't 'got it.' This was madness. This was the furthest thing from okay. But instead, I agreed.

"Yeah. Got it."

I'm so sorry, Ben.

|~^-^~|

As all the Gladers gathered around the Doors, it seemed like no one wanted to talk louder than a whisper.

That included me as well.

"Are you okay?" Gally brushed against my arm.

"No. I can't believe I'm taking part in this. That I have to take part in this."

"You'll be fine. Just," He paused. "Just try not to look in his eyes." He said it as if he'd already made the mistake once before.

Everything felt loud and quiet at the same time. My heart pounded loudly, trying to tell me in morse code to get out of there. Leave now while you still could. But I wouldn't. My feet stayed rooted to the ground, waiting for my cue.

Alby started the whole ordeal off.

"Bring him out!"

I can't do this; I can't be a part of this, I can't just seal a boy's fate like this, I can't. My brain gave my feet the order to move.

Gally must've noticed the look of horror on my face, the tension in my legs, and grabbed my hand.

"It'll be over before you know it." He whispered.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I wished Peter were here. But he had to stay near the back, and Gally and I had to be in the front to take part in the Banishing.

Why couldn't I be with Peter?

Alby said something quietly to Newt, and if I listened closer, I would've caught it. Newt turned and left the crowd.

Realizing I probably should listen to Alby, I brought myself out of my thoughts.

Three Baggers burst through the crowd and deposited Ben by Alby's feet. He didn't even look up, just kept staring at the ground. It was probably for the best.

Maybe two minutes passed, and Newt came back with a big pole. For some reason, I decided to study it. The thing had many metal poles that came together to form one big one. And at the end, it held a leather collar. I looked even more closely and saw the latch that I was supposed to undo.

I shivered from fear, horror, or just because I was cold.

Alby took the pole from Newt and started to fasten the collar onto Ben. Now he decided he wanted to talk.

"Please, Alby. I swear I was sick in the head from the Changing," For a sick second, I felt angry. I didn't decide to go on a killing spree and blame it on the Changing, did I? "I never would've killed him. Just lost my mind for a second. Please, Alby, please."

Every please from him shattered my heart.

But our leader didn't hear a word of it. Once Alby decided the loop was secure, he walked back to the end of the pole and held it tightly.

"Ben of the Runners, you've been sentenced to Banishment for the attempted murder of Thomas the Newbie. The Keepers have spoken, and their word ain't changing. And you ain't coming back. Ever." There was a very long pause.

Then he said my cue. "Keepers, take your place on the Banishment Pole."

Gally squeezed my hand and then let go. I slowly walked to my place at the front and gripped the Pole tightly. I couldn't see any of the other Gladers: just Ben and the Maze from my placement. I don't know which was worse.

Ben tried to plead with Alby some more, his voice getting more and more desperate with every please he cried. I had to blink hard to stop the tears. Alby yelled at him to shut up.

"Someone stop them! Help me! Please!" The Runner started to make eye contact with every boy, and when he landed on me, something in his brain clicked.

"Lauren!" He cried. "You said you owe me that day! Help me. They can't do this! You know how it is!" Ben had a manic smile on his face as if he had finally figured a way out of his punishment.

"I'm so sorry." The tears had come loose. I tightened my grip on the Pole and looked down.

"If we let shanks like you get away with that stuff, we never would've survived this long. Keepers, get ready." Alby instructed.

Ben kept pleading, and I looked down at my watch. Any minute now.

The Doors cut his latest please off.

"Keepers, now!"

I started taking steps forward, looking behind Ben at the dark Maze. The sun had started setting, and the shadows were getting longer and longer. An ominous breeze started blowing, ruffling my hair. I was thankful I put it up into a ponytail.

The Runner started screaming no as if he now knew he had no hope. Ben tried to dig in his feet but to no avail. Someone behind me shoved the Pole forward, and I was afraid for Ben's neck.

"Hold!" Alby yelled.

Thinking about Newt's words, I knew I had to wait until the last possible second to let Ben free. The Doors kept getting closer and closer, the metal not even beginning to drown out Ben's screams. I knew this whole thing was going to haunt me forever.

Finally, I unlatched the pole, and Ben became part of the Maze.

Alby took the Pole back, and he and Newt started to take it apart. I stood at the Doors in disbelief. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Gally and Peter.

Peter gave me a sad smile and opened his arms up.

The three of us stood in a huddle, not letting each other go.

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Upon rereading the Banishing part, I just realized that the book says Ben's a Builder.
oh well

But this chapter was great and awful to write.

It HURT to write Lauren sad. Also, when Ben starts pleading with Lauren?
😭

Questions!

-Did y'all hate me when I brought up that Lauren still owes Ben?

-Did you like reading Lauren, Minho, and Thomas as much as I liked writing it?

-Would you like to see more Lauren and Minho sass in the future?