"Light 'em up!"

On Alby's call, we lifted the torches and threw them into the heap of dry wood, which caught fire immediately. Bright golden flames flicked up the wooden spears, winding around them like burning snakes, coiling into a tall bonfire.

Almost instantly, burning heat flushed over my bare arms as the light crept through the thick darkness of the night.

The boys who had collected themselves around the torches started to cheer with wide grins on their faces, and I could feel my face heating from uprising excitement.

I loved the bonfire. The nights after a new Greenie came up in the Box, where everyone celebrated nothing in particular, yet everything at the same time. That made you forget about the worries of the daily survival game we were forced to play.

Letting out a high-pitched laugh, I threw my fist into the air.

Fire made me feel vigorous. The searing yellow and orange flames never failed to hypnotize me with their mesmerizing dance and the subtle power they held. A symbol of hope in darkest times but once they get out of control, they could destroy worlds.

Who knew I was such a poet?

The boys shouted in rejoice.

"Gladers! Gladers! Gladers!"

It was like they were encouraging the radiating glow of the fire to grow even more. Even stronger.

It was always amazing to observe a bunch of teenagers getting a thrill out of committing arson.

I closed my eyes and fully embraced the feeling of a thousand little sensories tickling over my skin. I let out a shout of joy.

Third person POV

Newt and the new Greenie sat a little offside the bonfire, leaning their backs against an old log. Quietly staring at the closed walls of the Maze, none of them spoke much, until Newt broke the silence.

"Hell of a first day, Greenie"

He took a small glass cup, which was filled with a honey colored liquid.
Handing it over to the boy next to him, he propped his arm on his knee.

"Here. Will put some hair on your chest"

Hesitantly, the new boy grabbed the cup after a reassuring nod from Newt and took a small sip. But before he managed to gulp it down, the boy choked and spit it out with a gag.

Groaning, he quickly put back the cup, wiping his mouth with the back of his hands, with
Newt laughing at his reaction. It apparently was some kind of inside joke for every new Glader.

"God, what is that?", the Greenie asked between two coughs.

Chuckling, Newt took back the small jar.

"I don't even know. It's Gally's recipe"

He turned to look at the boys who were still collected in small groups around the bonfire.

"It's a trade secret"

Gally and another boy were play-fighting and wrestling each other down, encouraged by a clamoring crowd.

The Greenie turned back with a frown.

"Yeah, well. He's still an asshole.", he murmured.

Newt looked at the boy, a small crease between his eyes.

"He saved your life today...trust me. The Maze is a dangerous place"

He took an ominous sip from the drink to ease the silence while the new boy seemed to be thinking.

"We're trapped here, aren't we?"

It was a quiet question, even if the look in his eyes proved that he already knew the answer.

They both looked at the ivy covered doors which were now sealed shut, not even a slight crack to indicate that they existed at all.

Newt nodded.

"For the moment. But, you see those guys, there, by the fire?", he pointed at a small group of people, who were laughing like a group of dads at the family barbecue.

"Those are the Runners. And that guy in the middle there...", they both looked at the black haired boy, who was quietly eating from a small bowl.

"...that's Minho. He's the Keeper of the Runners.", Newt finished.

From the darkness where the light of the fire didn't reach anymore, a tall girl appeared, carrying a similar plate which she had apparently just filled up.

She had her long, chestnut brown curls bound up in a soft ponytail, to keep the streaks out of her face while eating.
Her eyes were sightly glowing with the golden light reflecting off of her face, as she told her stories, wildly waving and gesturing to fully capture the weight of her words and to keep hold of her audience's attention.

She had an excited smile and her expression was filled with ardor when she twisted the fork in her hands to simulate what seemed to be a sword.
Some of the Gladers looked at her in childlike awe, like the kids they once used to be, listening to fairy-tales of great heroines and kings.

Newt noticed the Greenie's confusion.

"That's Grace.", he explained with a nod towards her direction.

"She was the first girl in here. Was a bit of a nasty shock when she came up in that Box. Great confusion, you can imagine. We thought this would be the part where we'd die", he laughed to himself, as if the memory of it had unlocked a funny story.

Then he shrugged.

"But nothing's really changed. Took her a while to become part of the group, but now she's fine"

Newt had a lot to say about her.
It had been a change for the Gladers after all, even if it was only a small one.

"She's a Runner too, except for every once in a while when she'll stay here to help elsewhere. She wanted to be good at everything to have a... how'd she call it- 'universal education', you know?"

He finally finished his explanation.

When the Greenie didn't answer, he followed his gaze and caught him staring, a slightly confused look on his face.

"She's pretty, isn't she?"

"Wha- no! That's not, no-"

Newt laughed at the Greenie's stuttering.

"I wasn't staring because of that. It's just...", he frowned, like he was watching a movie and trying to remember where he'd seen the actors before.

"...how is she the only girl?"

"That's one of the many questions, we can't answer."

With a sigh, Newt looked back at the girl.

"But you might wanna be careful. She attacked one of us even before she set one foot into the Glade. He was never seen again", his eyes had darkened and his lips were pressed into a thin line as he stared at the boy.

The Greenie looked horrified, before he saw Newt's face suppressing a grin, and he let out a sharp breath.

"I'm messing with you, Newbie, don't you worry", Newt slightly punched his neighbor's arm, who shook his head, but let out a small laugh too. 

"Brighten up a little, we've got enough to worry about already"

The new boy once again looked at the Maze.

"Okay... and what do the Runners have to do with the Maze?"

Newt also turned around, clearing his throat.

"Every morning when those doors open, they run the Maze, mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out.", he pointed towards the looming barricades.

"How long have they been looking?", the Greenie asked quietly.

The blond boy hesitated for a second.

"...Three years"

The Greenie frowned, a shadow of worry glazing over his face.

"And they haven't found anything?"

"It's a lot easier said than done", Newt said with a weak smile.

"Listen..."

He put his finger up to his ear, signalizing for the Greenie to quiet down.

A deep, eerie sound, like two heavy rocks being forcefully rammed against each other, erupted from the distance of the Maze. Then a dark growl, almost like a huge animal, howled through the echoing halls.

The closest way to describe the way the vines shuddered every time that short, yet uneasy moment happened, would be the visual results of an earthquake.

"Hear that? That's the Maze...changing.", Newt looked at the Greenie, his expression serious.
"It changes every night."

The new boy looked at the Maze, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

"How is that even possible?", he softly shook his head.

Newt leaned his back against the log.
"You can ask the people who put us in here if you ever meet the bastards. Listen, the truth is, the Runners are the only ones that really know what's out there." 

He shifted a bit, not taking his eyes off the curios guy next to him.  

"They're the strongest and fastest of us all, and it's a good thing too because if they don't make it back before those doors close, then they're stuck out there for the night... And no one's ever survived a night in the Maze." 

As if to confirm his words, the Maze once again rumbled threateningly, daring anyone to question what the boy just said.

The Greenie was anxiously fidgeting with the tips of his fingers, twisting the skin with his nails until it was red.

"What happens to them?", he asked quietly.

"We call them Grievers" 

A sudden, female voice made both of them startle and turn around.

The girl, Grace, was standing behind them, yet her eyes were fixed staring at the walls of the Maze.
Her facial expression showed how she was balancing on the thin line between rage and fear, as she narrowed her eyes in a frown. Her bruised arms were crossed in front of her chest. 

"Care to join us?", Newt was leaning onto his elbow for support while looking up at her.

"It would be my pleasure"

With a click of her tongue, she sat down next to the blond boy, taking hold of the glass cup but quickly putting it back after a sniff at the liquid. 

The Greenie looked impatiently between the two Gladers. 

"What do you mean 'Grievers'?", he shuffled with his feet on the dirt.

Grace was drumming small rhythms on her thighs when she answered.

"Well, no one has ever been attacked by one and lived to tell the tale. 'Course you hear them sometimes, that's enough to imagine them for yourself.", she shrugged.
"But they're somewhere out there... somewhere in the depths of those endless halls. Like spiders when you smack them with a slipper and they fall behind your bed. They might be out of sight, but in your mind, they're more present than ever"

A crease appeared between her eyebrows and the three of them fell silent, all lost in their own twisted thoughts. 

After a few seconds, Newt was the first one to speak again. 

"Well. That's enough questions for a night. C'mon, you're supposed to be the guest of honor. I'll show you around." 

Ignoring the boy's soft protests, Newt patted his shoulder and pulled him up to his feet.

Grace also seemed to wake up from her trance, clapping her hands once. Newt stood up and held out his hand, helping her to get up, which she returned with a curtsy. 

Brushing off the dirt on her clothes, a smile fought its way to her face again. 

"My name's Grace, by the way"

She held out a hand for the Greenie to shake. 

"But...I get the feeling, that you already know that" She glanced over to the blond boy for a split second, before their attention was directed towards something else.

"Oy, Grace!" 

Gally's voice made them all turn around.
The tall boy was rolling his shoulders, slowly approaching the small group.

"Seems, like you've been subsiding, huh?" 

He glanced at her scratched appearance, eyebrows raised. 

Of course everybody knew what had happened in the Maze today. Or, at least, what the Runners had told the others.

Which has created an amazing new field of inside jokes for them. 

Nothing was funnier than people falling onto their face because they stumbled over a root, especially when somebody told you the story in form of a little drama show.  

Which was exactly how Minho, Ben and Grace had handed the situation over to the others.

Gally was now close enough so that he didn't have to shout anymore, especially because everyone was paying attention to what was happening now anyway.

"Maybe you need to make another request for the creators to send you glasses into the Box next time", he chuckled, accompanied by a few of collective laughs.

"You're right, maybe I went blind by the sight of you trying to make a good insult", Grace calmly snapped back, the grin on her face revealing the little gap between her front teeth.

Her stare never left Gally's eyes as the flames made her face light up with a feral expression. She tilted her head to the side and squinted a bit.

It went quiet around the fire.  

The Gladers formed a circle around the two of them, almost shaking in anticipation, like fans before a concert started.

Newt glanced at the girl. 

She could take a punch, that was for sure, but things between her and Gally tended to escalate quickly like fights between siblings, that always seemed like they were about to end in carnage.

Gally was the one with the physical advantage, but Grace had the determination to never back down out of sheer spite, even if she were spitting out blood.

"How about a little challenge?", Gally laughed and started to circle the girl. 

She mimicked his movements, her feet softly scratching over the muddy ground. A smug grin had appeared on her face as her eyes flickered, challenging his ego. 

"For you maybe"

Gally attacked first. 

He sprinted towards her and tried to tackle her down, like a Rugby player might've done it thirty years ago. She ducked away beneath his arms and kicked his unprotected back.
With a loud grunt, the boy landed face first. 

Loud cheers chimed through the crowd. 

Gally quickly got up and chuckled with a nod of his head. 

"Nice one" 

The girl bent her knees, slightly jumping from one foot to the other.

"Unfortunately, I can't say the same for you"

Gally charged at her again.
She blocked his arm with her own and elbowed him in the ribs.

They both threw swift punches at each other, each keeping themselves steady, until suddenly, Gally's fist connected with her nose. With a sickening crunch, her head snapped back from the impact.

It went deadly silent among the Gladers around them. 

With guilt in his eyes, Gally took a few steps back, his both hands still balled into fists. 

It wasn't supposed to escalate like that. 

With a heaving breath, Grace cocked her head to the side. Her nose and upper lip were slightly bleeding, small drops of both blood and tears of pain dripping from her chin. Strands of dark hair fell into her face, dangling in front of her madly glinting eyes. 

In that brief moment of seconds, when the flaming sparks lit up her reddened face and revealed the white behind her eyes, she looked as if she were on the brink to madness.
Almost crazy. 

Almost wicked.

But when she blinked away the beady tears, her expressions changed so quickly it could've been pure imagination. A cruel trick where the glowing fire fooled the mortal eye. 

Grace wiped away the blood from the crook of her mouth, which pulled into a sudden smile.

She attacked Gally. 

The girl acted like she was going to hit his left side with a punch. But when he tried to block her arm, she spun on her toes and slammed her outstretched foot into his unbalanced upper back. 

With a wild expression on her face, Grace roundhouse kicked him to the ground. 

The Gladers went wild, cheering and shouting when she threw her fist into the air, victorious.

Laughing with sharp breaths, she helped Gally to get up, who fought off a bitter expression. 

"You secretly practiced, didn't you?", he groaned, slightly smiling in defeat.

Grace nodded, her curls jumping up and down. 

"I watched how Theo did it last time"

Lively chattering filled the crowd once more and someone started to drum on the self-made instruments again. 

It wasn't the first time Grace had to fight against one of the boys. Back then, when she had been the Greenie, she would keep picking fights with some of them, even if she usually ended up eating dirt.

At first, it was to prove them wrong about some of the comments they used to make.

Then, after they all grew used to each other, it became part of the Glader's routine to teach her new skills to protect herself, which she liked to call 'Big brother instincts'

After months of trying out new jobs, she'd started to run from corner to corner of the Glade every time the doors opened and closed again, to make sure she was prepared for the tasks of a Runner, which she then soon became.

Her skills in hand– to-hand combat were useful, but also the way she handled weapons with such respect and finesse. 

When she got up into the Maze, it was the first and only time the creators put a gun in the Box.

After many weeks of arguing that they must've known what they were doing, the others eventually agreed to the fact that the creators probably meant for Grace to have it.

She shook her head to pull herself out of her thoughts.

"You. You're crazy", Newt grinned proudly and put his arm around her shoulders, shaking her slightly, "The way you just kicked him-how did you even do that?!" 

Grace was excitedly jumping on her tiptoes, grinning widely. 

"I know, right?! I've never done this before! I had that cool music in my head that got me super pumped up-"

Still not believing herself, she laughed brightly, accidentally inhaling too much air that made her cough. 

Yet she smiled, like the blood on her cheeks didn't bother her at all.

Newt on the other hand, had a hint of worry flash across his eyes as he carefully cupped the girl's face.

"Your nose... it's not broken, is it?"

She softly shook her head, wiping over the smears on her face.

"Newt, that's really sweet, but I think I can handle a little blood." She smiled, ignoring the warm feeling she had gotten when he'd looked at her with that small crease between his eyebrows. 

"I'll just need to pinch it for a few minutes, y'know? To put pressure on the blood vessels"

She nodded firmly, as if that statement explained it all.

The smile slowly returned to the boy's face when he slightly nudged her shoulder, before wandering off to find the new Greenie, who had been watching the fight from a safer distance.

"See Greenbean, nothing to worry about. You've got some bloody karate fighters in here", he joked, the bonfire crackling happily in the background.

The new boy frowned but couldn't help the small smile that fought its way up his face too. 

A/N: I've never done fight scenes before, don't come at me for that. I also cringe after rereading this, it's okay. I can't write badass or smug characters, you see. 

Btw, I was *this* close to dropping the whole story and just writing about Newtmas because the tension in this scene was exquisite, they definitely knew what they were doing there.