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After the Banishing, her circle of friends feel very heavy, especially Zelia. She wants to be angry; she wants to scream. Why did she become part of the Med-Jacks if she couldn't save everyone?

Zelia is staying at the Med-hut. She didn't know why she came here after they ate their dinner. Their table was quiet earlier because she didn't expect one of their friends to lose.

The girl can go to her room, but she feels better being here. It was already late at night, so she knew the Gladers were all asleep. Or so she thought.

She heard a knock on the door. Before Zelia could speak, that person immediately came inside. She got up from the bed to better see who the newcomer was.

"May I join you, if you don't mind?" Minho said, standing near the closed door of the Med-hut. The girl gave the young man a short smile before nodding. He walked closer to her and sat next to her.

"Weird to stay here if you have your own room." Zelia laughed softly and looked at Minho, who was now looking at her as well.

"Don't ask; I don't even know why I'm really here in the first place," the girl said while smiling at the young man. He knew that her smile was mixed with sadness.

"Alby, talk to us, Runners, earlier." Minho took a pause for a second, trying his best to find the right word for Zelia. "That he wants to run with me at the Maze. Just the two of us."

The girl frowned. "Just the two of you? Why?"

"I don't know, actually. I didn't even ask because...I'm back for being...you know, the Keeper."

Suddenly they fell silent, trying to figure out what to say to each other. Zelia wants to just give up on life because one of her closest friends is gone, but when she does, the Creators will think they are the winner.

It's sad that one of her friends is gone, but that doesn't mean she will give up on her life. She still needs to be strong until their suffering is over.

Zelia gave Minho a smile and held his cheeks to caress it. "Tell me what's on your mind right now."

If her and her friends are sadder, how about Minho, who is always with Ben? He is the one who hurts the most, even if he doesn't show it to everyone. He has been with Ben for a long time; for sure, he has been suppressing the pain he feels until he found out the news about his friend.

He knows she won't judge him if he tells her the truth; that's why he took a deep breath and leaned on her touch while looking at her in the eyes. "I'm the last one he saw before we parted ways. This past few weeks, he told us to run by partner while mapping the Maze, but..."

Zelia saw how sadness filled Minho's eyes; anytime he will crack his voice, but still, he continues. "But I told him we need to separate our ways, so we can quickly map the way. I felt really guilty because if it's not for me—"

Minho didn't finish what he had to say when the girl spoke. "Hey, it's not your fault. Don't ever think about it like that. Ben wouldn't blame you. The one we're going to blame is the Creators because they're in control of the Griever. No one expected why he stung in the middle of the day."

Zelia couldn't stop herself from hugging Minho. The young man just let her go, and he buried his face on her shoulder.

"I know it's hard for you since you know him for a long time, but trust me, it's not your fault. Like I said, it's okay not to be okay. You can cry on my shoulder as long as you want; I'm not leaving by your side until you feel fine. You have feelings, Minho, so please. Stop acting like you are tough when you're with me. I won't judge you for being yourself. You can share your problem with me; you don't have to face that alone."

Zelia could feel how Minho's hug tightened around her, but she just let it go. She also felt that her clothes were getting wet on her shoulders. The girl slowly stroked the young man's hair and hummed a random song.

She didn't know how long they were in that position, but Zelia just noticed that they were already lying on the bed of the Med-hut while the girl's head was on Minho's chest while they were still hugging each other.

"Thank you, Lia."

-----

"There they are, the little family at the Glade," Newt said as Zelia, Minho, and Chuck approached their place with Alby outside the Maze. The girl just rolled her eyes at him.

"It's too early for you to tease us." The man just laughed at her.

"Don't worry, Daddy Minho and I will be back after lunch. We won't stay inside too long; you both might miss the father of the family," Alby said. That's why Minho and Zelia let out a scoff.

No matter what the two of them do, they will always find a way to tease them about the so-called "little family at the Glade". They won't keep quiet if they don't tease the two in a day.

"The shuck is that? Please stop calling us family," Minho said without any anger in his voice.

"Why not? You three look really cute," Newt said, and Minho was about to speak when suddenly the Maze door opened. The young man seemed to take a deep breath because his friend's teasing was over.

"Good luck guys!" Because of what Chuck said, Minho smiled secretly and ruffled his curly hair. He nodded to Zelia before patting Alby on the shoulder, and they started running inside.

He didn't know why he felt a different wind when they entered the Maze. He just ignored it and focused on running.

"What is your hunch on what happened to Ben?" Alby asked as they turned left. It's still painful for Minho to lose his friend, but there's nothing he can do if what happened has happened. Besides, he cried all the pain on Zelia's shoulder last night.

"I honestly don't know. It's so sudden that there is a Griever on the day. I've never experienced that. But I know for sure, there is something wrong. Like there's a change." Minho answered, so his companion suddenly thought.

"Change..." he muttered to himself. "Do you think this is connected to the new Greenie?"

"Maybe." Minho gave a short answer and just looked for Ben, hoping that he's still alive, but if ever, they can't bring him back inside the Glade because he's Changing and show Alby the ways of the Maze so that he knows there is no other way out.

Minho lied to Zelia; he knows the reason why their leader will run to the Maze with the Keeper. He didn't want to say the Maze part, and he didn't say that they were going to find Ben.

They were just running until Alby said they should eat lunch first. Minho didn't argue and just agreed. They ate quietly and rested for a few minutes before running again.

"This is it, the last dead end," Minho said when they reached the last path and they could only see a wall in front of them. Alby took a deep breath.

"Let's go back. We need a Gathering once we arrived at the Glade. There's no sign for him either. We can't waste our time here."

The young man nodded, and they ran back. Left, right, right, left, straight ahead, right, left, left. Until they reached the very centre of the Maze, but they were equally stunned by what they saw.

"Interesting," Alby whispered as he looked at the Griever, not far from where they were, to their right. It had its back turned to them; they didn't know what it was doing.

Minho signalled to their leader to walk slowly. But no matter what they did, it suddenly faced them, and they heard its very loud screech when it saw the two of them.

"Run!" Minho shouted, and they started running. "Don't look back!"

Even if they didn't look, they knew the Griever was following them. They hear how it runs to chase them. They both just ran. Running for their lives. Didn't pay attention to whether they were still running the right way back to the Glade.

But Minho seemed deaf when he heard a scream, so he stopped running to see what happened. His knees seemed to weaken at the sight. Alby was now lying down as the Griever slowly left.

"Alby," he said almost in a whisper and slowly walked towards where the leader was. "Alby...There's still time. We can get out of the Glade. The Med-jacks will find a way to save you."

Minho heard him groan in pain; even though he didn't lift his clothes, he knew Griever stung him. He didn't hesitate to take his arm, put it on his shoulder, and stand up. He knew Alby was in pain right now, but he had to take him to the Glade right away.

They started walking; with every step Alby took, the pain he felt would not go away, so he found the strength to speak. "Leave...me...here."

"No. We can make it. There is still a long time. Like I said, our three Med-jacks will help you," Minho said as he continued to support Alby.

The leader did not speak, so the young man looked at him and noticed that he passed out. He just wished he didn't wake up as they walked back to the Glade.

He's trying his best not to think of any negative thoughts. He wants to blame anyone, but he needs to focus on Alby. He wouldn't just leave their leader just because he was stung. This is absurd. First Ben, now Alby? Who's next, Creators? Who's next?

Minho didn't notice that Alby was awake because he suddenly heard how he groan in pain again. Before he could react, the leader pushed him hard against the wall to get away from him, so he almost fell to the floor.

"I said leave me here!" The young man immediately recovered due to Alby's shout. He was about to run back to the Maze when Minho stopped him. He held him in his arms on his back.

"No! You're coming with me, Alby. We need you!" Their leader struggled on his arms while screaming; that's why he doesn't have a choice. The young man made him face him and punched him in the forehead to make him pass out again.

Minho didn't fail, and Alby stopped struggling. He took a deep breath and took out the clock in his pocket to find out what time it was. 2:45 p.m.

He didn't waste any more time and picked up Alby, who was now lying on the floor, to help him back to the Glade. They were still a bit far to get out, but he didn't care. He doesn't want to think those kinds of negative thoughts.

He just walks, left, right, straight ahead, left, left; sometimes Alby's arm slips from his shoulder so they almost fall down together. Minho is slowly feeling his tiredness—physically and emotionally. Anytime, his knees seem to give up on him. The young man didn't see what time it was, but he kept walking.

Minho saw a winding path to his right, but he couldn't take a deep breath yet. Even though he knew it was out of the Glade, he still needed to get Alby out of the Maze. He felt a strong wind, a sign that the door was about to close. Shuck.

That was all he could think of when he saw the Gladers outside, waiting for them. He only had one thing in mind: they would not gonna make it.

Minho could see the door slowly closing so he could hear the Gladers shouting.

"Minho, you gotta leave him!"

"You gotta leave him!"

"Thomas, no!"

With the speed of events in Minho's eyes, he just saw that the door was closed and now the Greenie was inside. He just knelt on the ground, and suddenly Thomas looked at him.

"Good job. You just killed yourself," Minho said while catching his breath.

Maybe Alby is right. Thomas is the reason why the Glade is changing.