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

Frypan: *clearly drunk* i smell like beef.  I smell like beef. I SMELL LIKE BEEF
Lauren: ok-ok-oK-OK-OK

Lauren
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lauren, it's not that hard. You pull back the blankets, and stand up." Today, I was being woken up by not Newt, but Minho.

"I can't. The blankets have finally accepted me as their own. To leave now would be treason." I mumbled.

"Fine. Be that way." Minho left, and I snuggled in my blankets, thankful I didn't have to get up before the sun.

My happiness was short-lived after Minho came back.

"Last chance."

"No." I turned over, only to have cold water splash on my face. "Why do you have to be such a stick?!"

"Why the shuck are you talking so weird?" He retorted. "See? We both have questions. Get up. Next time I'll come in with pots and pans." With that being said, Minho left, leaving me soaked and cold.

I got dressed in dry clothes, threw my hair up in a ponytail, and walked out of my bedroom to find Minho right outside my door.

"Let's go Greenie."

Minho led the way to a shabby door in the Homestead's back that I had missed during my first inspection trying to find a broom and dustpan. He pulled out a key and opened it, and inside was a small storage closet. My eyes followed the beam of Minho's flashlight as I looked around. There were ropes and chains and other random things I saw before landing on a box of running shoes.

"I'm shocked that the 'Creators' or whatever you call them supplied you with good shoes. They don't seem nice enough." I commented.

"They didn't want us keeling over from back or foot problems. What size shoe do you wear?"

I looked at the shoes I came up in the Box in. "Uh, size 9."

He handed me a pair of silver shoes. "You only get these for today."

"You have such little faith in me," I responded.

After the shoes, Minho handed me a backpack with some essentials and something he called Runnie-undies. They looked like tightly cut underwear, made from white, shiny material.

"What are these?" I asked.

"They keep you, um, nice and comfy." Minho started shuffling from foot to foot. He tried to look everywhere but at me.

"Nice and comfy?" Then it hit me. "Do I, um, do I really need these? Since I'm a, you know," I started stuttering, something I was very sure I didn't do before.

"You'll want them," Minho said.

"Uh, ok, thanks." I took the stupid things from him, just so the conversation would be over. "You guys know what you need, don't you?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Couple of years of runnin' our butts off every day, you figure out what you need and ask for it."

"Hold up. You guys can make requests?" I was shocked. This was new information.

"Put a piece of paper in the Box, and down she goes. But we don't always get what we want from the Creators."

"Huh." My thoughts started whizzing.

"Don't ask for a map or a TV. Already tried that." Minho informed me.

I stood in silence for the next couple of minutes, putting on my shoes and watching Minho get ready. Once I was done, I looked around the room. Something was missing.

"Where are all the weapons?" I asked Minho. "You guys go out, with all of the Grievers, and don't bring weapons with you?"

"So you're not just a pretty face," Minho commented.

"What?"

"Follow me. I'll show ya." Minho walked to a corner of the room and moved some boxes to the side. Underneath them, there was a trapdoor leading underground. Minho pulled it open to reveal some wooden stairs. "We keep 'em underground so some shanks around here can't get to them. Come on."

I went first, the stairs creaking underneath my weight. It was pitch-black and cold, the air laced with dust and mildew. I sneezed.

"Don't get sick," Minho said.

"It's just the dust." I retorted.

Minho pulled a string, and a single lightbulb came to life, illuminating the basement. It was bigger than I expected, but I guess it had to be since it housed all of the weapons in the Glade. There were shelves everywhere, and blocky tables covered in weapons. Tall wooden poles, metal spikes, chicken wire, barbed wire, saws, knives, and, I laughed upon seeing these, swords.

"Does anyone actually use these?" I picked one up. The blade was dull but still deadly.

"Don't use most of the stuff in here. But ya never know. Runners only take a couple of knives."

I kept looking around and saw an entire wall dedicated to archery. I picked a bow up and turned it around in my hand. It felt right, and a distant memory of shooting arrows with someone popped up. The other person was a girl, but it seemed like that was the only other thing I could see. Shaking my head, I was face to face with Minho.

"What's that look?" He questioned.

"A memory. I'm taking a bow with me. Instead of knives." I grabbed a quiver and made my way back to the stairs.

"Hold on." Minho handed me a knife. "Just in case."

We left the Homestead to see Frypan for breakfast and lunch. On the way, I thought about my memory. It was weird how I seemed to get one almost every day. From what I could gather from everyone talking about our memories' loss, this wasn't normal. I wondered if I should speak to Newt about it.

I grabbed the bow from my back and studied it. It was normal-looking; there was nothing extraordinary about it. The bow itself was wooden, with a string connecting the two ends. Just a regular bow. So why did the thing trigger a memory? Before I could think any further, we were at the Kitchen.

"Lauren! You runnin' today?" Frypan was his usual cheery self.

"Yeah! My last day working with Keepers, then I figure out where they put me."

"I hope you end up a Cook, I need some training on how to be petty." Frypan laughed.

"Nah, that's my role." I copied Minho as I was packing my lunch, then ate breakfast. Once I was done, I said bye to Frypan and followed Minho out into the Glade. Boys were waking up, and soon the place would be alive.

"We heading out?"

"Yeah." Minho started jogging towards the door.

The shoes Minho supplied me with were excellent. They were nothing like the ones I came up in, and I found myself hoping I would become a Runner. It was weird. I never really wished to become anything. I just hoped that I wasn't going to end up a Slopper, Bagger, or Slicer. What was I going to end up doing? A couple of guys were rooting for me to become one of them, but what am I hoping to become? It was weird that I hadn't thought about it.

"Yo! The girl Greenie gets weapons? I wasn't even supplied with shoes!" One of the Runners yelled as Minho and I got closer to the Door.

"Ben, she actually did good in her fight." Another Runner said.

"Slim it, Joe."

The Runners all chatted amongst themselves while we were waiting for the Doors to open. I didn't chime in a lot, it seemed weird if I did, but they were like a little family.

The doors opened, and we all left. I followed Minho, like I had been doing all day, and watched what he did. Every couple of turns, he would take out his knife, cut a rope of ivy, or make a nick in the wall. It seemed like second nature to him.

We didn't talk, and every couple of minutes, Minho would look back to make sure I was still behind him. Some people might find the whole thing boring, but I found it calming. The exercise was lovely, and being alone with my thoughts was great. I thought about my time in the Glade, my memories, and what role I wanted to be.

After maybe two hours, Minho stopped. He checked around the corners and then settled down against a wall.

"Break time, Greenie." He grabbed an apple from his pack.

"All right." I sat opposite him and took out my bottle of water.

After a couple of minutes, Minho broke the silence. "What role you think you're gonna get?" He asked.

"I don't know. I did good at a lot of things, but I can't do them all, can I?" I had thought about an answer while running, but I kept drawing blanks.

"Sure. Don't see why not. You could be like Newt. He helps out wherever."

"Really?" The answer seemed so simple.

Minho shrugged as an answer, then stood up. "Come on, we gotta keep going."

With that being said, we kept on running. I thought about what Minho said of me being like Newt. The more I thought about it, the most it seemed to make sense. Newt didn't have a set job. I'd seen him around doing lots of things. Could I do it? I'd have to talk with Gally and Peter once I got back. I thought about it as I ran.

I started getting tired right as Minho said, "Lunch break."

"Thank you. I'm out of practice." I said, breathless.

"The shuck you say?" Minho turned to face me.

"Uh, nothing?" I wanted to shove my fist in my mouth. What was that? It seemed such a natural thing to say.

"Whatever." Minho did his usual thing of checking around the corners. "After we eat lunch, you're taking us back home."

"The finch you say?" I mimicked. "You really wanna risk our lives like that?"

"Why not? You watched where I made marks. I have a little faith you can take us out of here." Minho sat down and pulled out his lunch.

"A little faith. Great." I muttered. I grabbed my lunch as well.

We ate in silence before I broke it. "How many times do you usually see a Griever on a run?"

"Not too often."

"Good. Just to let you know, I will leave you behind if you try to fight one on our way back."

"I'm not that stupid, Greenie."

All too soon, we were packing up and heading back to the Glade. I was fine for the first couple of turns, I hadn't gotten lost yet, but then something terrible happened.

Whirrrrrrr
Click-click-click
Whirrrrrrr
Click-click-click

"You've got to be kidding me."

"It's like you summoned it, Greenie." Minho's voice was quiet.

I slowed down and turned around the corner. The Griever was right in our way.

"Are you getting déjà vu right now?" I asked Minho.

"No, but I'm wonderin' what the shuck we're going to do." His face was slowly draining of color and I saw him slowly back up.

"Can we backtrack?"

Minho thought for a second. "No. We're not late, but we don't got a lot of time. There's no way we would make it."

I paced. Minho stood scared. Leaning into my sense of déjà vu, I got an idea. "Grievers are kinda blind, right?"

"I'm ignoring the fact that you know a lot about Grievers, but they're dumb. What's your idea?"

"Well," I told him.

"No."

"Well, I don't see you spouting out any ideas. This is the only plan we've got."

"I'm not going to shucking climb above a Griever, Greenie. That's the worst idea I've ever heard." Minho kicked a rock far too aggressive for my liking.

A couple of minutes later, I had finally convinced Minho. It was a long and hard battle, but I won.  He grabbed a rope of ivy and started going higher and higher. I grabbed a rock and tied it onto an arrow. I looked up, and Minho was high enough.

"3, 2, 1. Go go go!" I called. He turned the corner.

I notched the arrow and let it fly. It hit the wall on the other side with a loud thud. I held my breath as I waited for the Griever to start moving.

Whirrrrrrr
Click-click-click
Whirrrrrrr
Click-click-click

"It worked." I breathed out.

I started climbing after Minho. I turned the corner at the same time the Griever did, and it followed where I shot the arrow. This was good news. I kept climbing the ivy to where Minho said we should rendezvous. I turned the next corner and dropped down, almost on top of the guy.

"Holy shuck. It worked." Minho was far too in awe than I liked.

"Yeah. But not for long." I started running, Minho on my tail.

Left, right, straight, right; the Maze passed by in a blur. No more rest stops, just keep running. Minho said the Griever wouldn't be distracted for long, and I had hoped we would be long gone before it realized what happened.

"Go faster Greenie!" Minho yelled.

"Thank you for that fabulous dosage of stress!" I yelled back.

I slowed down and let Minho take the lead. The last thing we needed was to be lost. After a couple of minutes, we turned the corner to see the Glade. A small group of boys surrounded the massive Doors, and I looked up at the sky. Looking for the sun, I realized the walls of the Maze hid it. Finch. It was late.

"Minho, I thought you said we had time!" I yelled at the Keeper.

"We did, but you took forever!" Minho shot back.

"Well, I'm sorry for wanting to make sure the Griever took the bait!" We made it into the Glade.

"Griever?" Newt said.

"Did I say, Griever? Uh," I tried to say. Everyone in the crowd was looking at Minho and me. I didn't like the attention.

"We met a Griever on our way back. But the Greenie here had an idea that got us past it." Minho supplied.

"Why did the Greenie get a weapon?" Alby asked, motioning to the bow slung across my back.

"The Greenie having a weapon saved us." Minho retorted.

The two got into an argument.

"Hey! The Greenie is hot and sweaty, so she's going to take a shower if you two don't mind." I pushed my way out of the crowd, knowing I'd pay for it later.

I walked to the Homestead, still in shock that my idea worked.

"Lauren, are you ok?" Peter had caught up to me.

I turned around. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just outsmarted a Griever, which isn't really that hard, but an actual Griever! I'm pretty sure I upset Alby back there, but who cares, I'm really sweaty because I ran from a Griever, and I had an existential crisis inside the Maze." I laughed way too hard at myself, but I blamed it on stress.

"I'm gonna say no."

"That's a good assumption." I turned back around to go to the Homestead.

"I'm sure you don't wanna hear this now, but there's a Gathering tonight," Peter said hesitantly.

"What's a Gathering?" It sounded familiar.

"It's when the Council gets together to figure out stuff. It only happens when something bad happens, or they're figuring out where a Greenie goes." He informed me. At my look of confusion, he went on. "The Council is made up of Keepers."

I nodded. I had figured out I wasn't a shy, timid person, but for some reason, when Peter said there was going to be a Gathering, my blood ran cold. "I thought it was going to be tomorrow."

"No. They figured they could do it tonight and get it done. Take a shower and then meet them in the Homestead. I heard that the door'll be open." With that, Peter left, heading back to the crowd.

"Why are so scared of a Gathering? They don't hate you. They're not going to throw you out." I whispered to myself. But did they?

The thought stuck with me while I had my shower. With my hair slightly damp, I threw it into a loose braid and headed to the Gathering.

|~^_^~|

Alby started. "I declare this Gathering begun. We're here to discuss where we should stick our latest Greenie, Lauren." He turned to look at me. "You're not to say anythin' unless we tell you to."

I just nodded. My hands were shaking, and I felt sick.

"Zart, you start. Tell us why Lauren should be with you or recommend her for something else." Alby told a guy sitting on the far right.

"Well, she left after lunch to go beat Zeus up, so I didn't really get to see much of her skills. But she's got a heck of a punch." He paused. There was polite laughter. "I say stick her where she can use her strength."

Newt wrote something down.

"Frypan, you're up." Alby motioned.

Frypan smiled and sat up straighter. "Well, I want her to be a Cook. She's one of the few people who've come here and I've let her make a meal. You guys know how protective I am of them. That's my opinion." He finished with a wink thrown at me. I gave a small smile, and some of the anxiety I had disappeared.

Winston went next and agreed with Zart. "She's not a Slicer."

Both Keepers of the Baggers and Sloppers said I was better used somewhere to use my strength. Lee, Keeper of the Sloppers, said I would be a good Builder.

I looked at Gally and smiled.

Newt wrote all of the opinions down on his notepad and caught the smile I gave to Gally. He just shook his head and looked at Alby.

"Right. Johnathan, your turn." Alby said, oblivious to everything.

"Lauren would make a good Bricknick. She gave me 3 ideas of the top of her head on things we could do better for the Homestead. That's 3 more than all y'all could give me. I want her." Johnathan pointed at the Keepers. I gave a small chuckle.

Abra went next, but I could see it was just a formality. "They're right. Lauren is strong." He agreed.

Silence filled the room. I think everyone was either in awe or scared.

"Holy shuck. He can speak." Frypan muttered.

"Thank you, Abra. Newt, you got that?" Alby asked.

"Yup," Newt responded.

"Clint, any words?" The leader moved on.

"A few." There were a few chuckles. "The Med-Jacks need her. We're understaffed, and you shanks keep getting hurt. I want her to become a Med-Jack, and you guys will have to fight me on that." Clint declared.

"The Builders need her too. Besides hittin' Henry with a hammer, she fits really well with us. But the shank had it comin' to him. After Zeus left to join the Track-Hoes with his friend, we've been short too. I want her." Gally finished, sitting back in his chair.

"Minho, you're up," Alby said.

"Well, I'm not gonna waste my breath. I also want her to become a Runner, but apparently, a lot of people want her, so I say she becomes like Newt. Helps out wherever." Minho looked exhausted and like he didn't want to be here.

I tried hard to keep a smile off my face. I wasn't going to be thrown out, and apparently, I was in high demand.

Newt finally spoke up. "Well, 5 Keepers want her, and the other ones say she's strong. It looks like the best idea we got is Minho's. Alby, your call."

"All in favor of Minho's idea?"

Everyone raised their hand. I caught Frypan's eye, and he gave me a thumbs-up.

"All right. Looks like we got ourselves a," He paused. "Helper. Lauren, you all right with that?" Alby looked over at me.

"I can talk now?" I blurted out. Finch. I cleared my throat. "I mean, I guess so. How does this thing work, exactly?"

"It seems like you just help out wherever. Unless you're seriously needed. Either you go over to a Keeper, or one comes and gets you." Newt supplied.

"Ok then, Gathering adjourned," Alby said.

There was a scuffle of chairs and voices. I got a couple of congrats and good lucks on my way out. As we all made our way out the door, Frypan threw his arm around my shoulders.

"Allow me to officially welcome you to the Glade. You're one of us now, Greenie!" He yelled.

"Yay?" I slipped out from under his grip and tried to find Peter to tell him the news.

"Lauren! What's up? You a Builder or a Runner?" He asked when I found him near the trees.

"I'm a Helper. I help out where I'm needed. I could choose where I'm at, or a Keeper asks for me."

"That's new. Anyway, congrats!"

"Thanks!" I stayed there for a little longer, chatting with Peter.

I headed back to the Homestead, a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.

"Looks like they weren't going to throw you out, Lauren," I whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heyyyyyy!
How's it going? This chapter was SOOOO fun to write but also one of the more challenging ones.
It's really really long bc I kinda had to write more details and stuff to balance out all dialogue.

I hit a new record for word count!
The chapter itself is like 3,309 ish words, and I'm here like "I shouldn't have made that comment last chapter"

Well, question time!

-Which Keeper did you like the most during the gathering?

-What sentence made you laugh the most between Minho and Lauren?

-Which Keeper is Lauren going to work with first? (teehee it's not who you think)

-ISN'T FRYPAN THE BEST?!?!?

Leave your questions, comments, and CC here!
[CC=constructive criticism]

Bai~~