Disclaimer:

I do not own The Maze Runner or Minho's sass. But I wish I did.

(admit it- you read that as "Minho's ass")

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...

(i wish i owned that too)

EDIT: still the truest thing i've ever written

-✼-

Someone was shaking me awake. I brushed it off, thinking it was Minho complaining that I was snoring too loudly or something- at least, I hoped I didn't snore.

Imagine my surprise when someone started ticking my sides. My eyes shot open and let out a giggle, but a hand slapped over my mouth before any more could escape. I panicked, but then my eyes adjusted to the dark and I noticed it was Newt who was hovering over me. His finger was pressed over his lips, a signal for me to be quiet.

"C'mon, Greenie," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I gotta show ya somethin'. Be quiet and don't wake Minho."

I nodded and he took his hand off my mouth, backing up so I had space to climb out of the cot. It was surprisingly comfortable for a handmade bed, and I had slept lightly with no interruptions whatsoever.

Then Newt just had to ruin my peace.

"Hurry up," he urged. "Supposed to show ya somethin' before the wake-up."

"Okay," I murmured, yawning as I did so. I was weary of following him, but he seemed pretty trustworthy, and I felt better about the situation when I noticed Thomas' figure in the doorway.

"Follow me, Greenies," Newt instructed as we crept silently down the hall, trying not to make the floor creak. "And stay close."

We exited the Homestead and walked out into the crisp, early morning air. It was barely light enough outside to see. I got just enough time to look around at the tons of tightly-packed together, sleeping bodies wrapped in sleeping bags on the ground. Newt broke into a run toward the East Wall, giving me and Thomas no choice but to follow along with him, the dewy grass tickling our ankles as we did so.

When we reached the wall, I noticed tiny red lights on the face of it that were blinking on and off. Thomas must've realized them, too, because he asked, "What are those?"

Newt stood by a thick curtain of ivy and responded vaguely, "When you bloody need to know, you'll know, Greenie."

"We'll it's kind of stupid to send us to a place where nothing makes sense and not answer our questions," I pointed out in a quiet voice as I folded my arms across my chest. 

"Shank," Thomas added, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I stifled a snort. He sounded really dumb with the slang.

Newt laughed, but quickly cut it off in fear of waking the Gladers. "I like you, Greenies. Now shut it and let me show ya somethin'."

He stepped forward and dug his hands into the ivy, then pulled, spreading the ivy apart. The action revealed a dusty window I could barely see out of because of the dark. It was covered in a slight green pigment from the ivy as well as dirt that smudged the glass. 

"What are we looking for?" I asked quietly, starting to wonder if this was a waste of my time.

"Be patient. One'll be comin' along soon enough."

One minute passed. Two minutes. Nothing. More minutes ticked by. I didn't understand why we were standing there early in the morning, staring into darkness, when I could've been sleeping.

Then, things changed. The darkness slowly emerged into light, and Newt was bathed in a strange glow that made him look like he was staring into a lighted swimming pool. It made his brown eyes shine and sparkle, and his face had this emotion on it I couldn't place. It was like he was awestruck, yet terrified, like a toddler approaching Santa for the first time. 

"Out there's the Maze," Newt whispered after swallowing. "Everything we do - our whole life, Greenies - revolves around the Maze. Every lovin' second of every lovin' day we spend in honor of the Maze, tryin' to solve somethin' that's not shown us it has a bloody solution, ya know? And we want to show ya why it's not to be messed with. Show ya why them buggin' walls close shut every night. Show ya why you should never, never find your butt out there."

Okay, Newt was freaking me out. What would possibly be in there that was so bad? He seemed terrified of the Maze- almost like something bad had happened out there.

Then it hit me. His limp. Why did he have his limp? I hadn't gotten a chance to ask him about it, but I was almost certain that the Maze was the cause of it. I decided I would find out soon enough.

Newt stepped back, giving us room to look out. He gestured for us to look. Of course, we did. We stupidly pressed our noses onto the glass, trying to get as good of a look at the Maze as we could.

And then I saw it.

The creature was large, about the size of a cow, but it had no particular shape. It writhed and seethed along the wall opposite the glass, then leaped at the window with no warning. Thomas and I couldn't stop the shrieks from coming out and we jumped away. However, whatever that thing was bounced back off the glass, giving it no harm. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Newt instinctively move toward me like he was going to catch me if I fell backward, but quickly moved away with an embarrassed look on his face.

I was the first to look out again. I now knew we were safe inside the Glade, that nothing could hurt us as long as those doors were closed. Thomas joined me soon later, and we both watched the creature again.

Eerie lights flashed out from an unknown source on its body, revealing spikes and slimy-looking flesh. The thing had metal appendages coming out of its arms, topped with random things- a chainsaw, shears, and more. It was an awkward mix of animal and machine that was just horrifying enough to scare me, and soon I felt it- the fear, bubbling up inside of me and spreading through my body like frost until my whole body was cold. Nothing could be worse than the image of...whatever that was.

"It looks kind of like Gally," I blurted out casually without thinking. Thomas burst out laughing then quickly covered his mouth, but his eyes glistened with tears and I heard the muffled chuckles from behind his hand.

"Now, no makin' jokes about other Gladers like that, Dylan," Newt warned even though he, too, was smiling. "No matter how much they look like one of those- Grievers, we call 'em. Nasty bugger, eh? Just be glad the Grievers only come out at night. Be thankful for these walls." He looked out the window absently. "Now you know what bloody lurks in the Maze, my friends. Now you know this isn't joke time. You've been sent to the Glade, Greenies, and we'll be expectin' ya to survive and help us do what we've been sent here to do."

"And what's that?" Thomas asked curiously. 

Newt looked him dead in the eye, then me. I shifted uncomfortably at his harsh gaze. "Find our way out, Greenies. Solve the buggin' Maze and find our way home."

A few hours later, after all the Gladers had woken up, the doors reopened, and the Runners had gone into the Maze, I was still thinking about that thing Thomas and I had seen. What had Newt called it? A Griever? Yeah, that's what it was.

Well, the name surely fit. Thomas and I were still grieving after seeing it, picking at our eggs and bacon silently and not speaking a word to anyone- not even Chuck, who sat there across from us. He had been trying restlessly to start a conversation with us, but he failed every time. As much as I wanted to converse with him, I just couldn't do it. 

Chuck finally gave up and left, carrying his empty plate with him to where Frypan was. I looked down at my own plate that was still pretty much full. I had only picked at my meal.

I then noticed Thomas was sitting there quite solemnly so I asked him what he was thinking, my voice hoarse and cracking from lack of use.

"I just don't get it," Thomas replied quietly so only I could hear. "How could a maze be so big that dozens of kids couldn't solve it after who-knows-how-long of trying? How does that work? How long could they have been here?"

I shrugged. "Maybe it's more than just a maze. Thomas, you saw that thing out there. That proves it isn't just a normal, everyday maze. It's something more. There's more to it. There has to be, or else we wouldn't be here."

Thomas barely nodded, the slightest of indications that he agreed. We didn't say anything else and stabbed at our now cold breakfast, but not eating it. I figured that if I ate, I would just throw it all back up again.

I glared at Newt, who was sitting at a table a couple of yards away and talking to some other Gladers. If he wouldn't have shown us that stupid Griever, we could've been eating right then, but instead we were plagued by the memory of the creature and starving, too afraid to eat. But, of course, I guess if we hadn't been shown that, we could've been asking question after question after question - or at least Thomas would've - and they'd just show it to us anyway, so really, there was no way out of it.

Someone put their hand on my shoulder and I nearly jumped a mile into the air before spinning around, almost smacking them. Luckily I didn't, because it was Alby standing there, and I would've been in deep trouble.

"Ain't you two lookin' fresh?" Alby teased. "Got a nice view out the window this morning?"

I pushed his hand away, not comfortable with the feel of it on my shoulder. He glared at me, and I glared right back, showing him that if he thought having me see the Griever would make me any less defensive, he was wrong. Very, very, wrong.

Thomas stood. "Enough to make me want to learn about this place."

That's right- the Tour was today! How could I have forgotten? Oh, right. Someone decided to scar me forever.

Alby nodded in agreement with Thomas. "Me and you, shanks. The Tour begins now." He started to move but then stopped, holding a finger up and shooting us a warning look. "Ain't no questions till the end, you get me? Ain't no time to jaw with you all day."

"But-" Thomas started to argue, so I elbowed him in the ribs. "But tell us everything- I wanna know everything, and I'm sure Dylan does, too."

"I'll tell ya what I wanna tell ya, Greenies. Let's go."

"Can I come?" Chuck asked, suddenly popping out of nowhere as usual. He wore a hopeful expression that was adorable and made some of my displeasure disappear. I didn't want to be dragged around by Alby with only Thomas. Maybe Chuck would make it more fun. 

Alby reached down and tweaked the boy's ear.

"Ow!" Chuck shrieked in pain, jumping away from the leader as he rubbed the spot. He appeared offended at the leader's action. 

"Ain't you got a job to do, slinthead?" Alby asked with an expression of disapproval. "Lots of sloppin' to do?"

Chuck rolled his eyes, obviously not pleased with how Alby had announced his job in front of us like that. Or maybe it was because everyone treated "Sloppers" like they were unimportant. I felt a pang of sorrow for him- Chuck seemed like a wonderful person and Alby had no business making him feel bad about himself. 

"Have fun," he grumbled, eyes cast downward.

"We'll try," I promised gently in an attempt to cheer him up. I lightly bumped his arm with mine, causing him to send a small grin my way. 

Thomas and I walked away with Alby, both of us desperately wanting answers, no matter how big of a jerk the guy was.

gif is the glade

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yayyyy another chapter!

decicated to olivia bc shes amazing and she got her story, instinct, back and im so happy and yay

k byee

-kristyn