/////

Minho said, and he pulled Zelia closer to her, and she started to caress his hair just to calm him down. She can feel how tensed he is while telling a story about what happened. She can feel that he's really worried about her.

Zelia can imagine how Minho felt when he found out there was no reason for her to pass out. She simply smiled, knowing that he really cares for her.

"And in the middle of the Gathering, the Box suddenly alarm and we saw the Greenie girl. The Gladers took her to the Med-hut and the Med-jacks said the same; they didn't see any injuries on her why she passed out. After that, Thomas and I need to check something on the Maze—we went where the Griever he killed—and we have found a first clue. Once we go back, Gally called a Gathering without us, and that's why Newt told everyone that Thomas will be a Runner. Well, of course, we told them what we found; that's why Gally got mad at Thomas again. After a few hours, the girl Greenie woke up throwing rocks at us."

Zelia laughed softly because of Minho's story. She could only imagine; she might have laughed when she saw what happened. The young man smiled because he heard her laugh.

"She knows Thomas though, but he doesn't remember her, perhaps. I ignored them and just waited for you to wake up in the Med-hut. In a few hours, I saw them go inside—Thomas, Greenie, Jeff, Clint, and Newt. Thomas said something about the medicine, serum, whatever. He convinced Newt that there's a chance that serum is for Alby, and Newt agreed that's why they injected Alby with that liquid thing. Alby suddenly stopped groaning in pain."

Zelia hummed when Minho finished talking. "Did you carry me again so I'm here in my room?"

Minho nodded slowly. "It's okay with Jeff and Clint when I told them that I'll let you sleep in your room. I'll just call them if anything else happens."

Zelia hugged Minho tightly, and the young man did the same. "Glad you made it back again at the Glade."

The young man smiled because of what he heard. "We still need to get out of this place. We can't just live here."

Zelia just hummed, and she didn't realize that she was slowly enveloped in darkness again, but before she fell asleep, she heard Minho speak.

"I meant it. I promise you that we will get out of this place. Good night, Lia." And she can feel his lips on the top of her forehead before she sleeps again.

-----

Even though Zelia was thinking a lot, she still woke up early to go outside the Maze, and when she woke up, Minho was no longer by her side. She must have gotten used to the fact that before the young man ran inside, the girl and Chuck had to be there.

When Zelia reached her destination, she saw Thomas, Chuck, and Minho waiting for the door to open. Suddenly the three turned around when they felt someone walking towards them.

"Zel, I thought you were still sleeping; that's why I didn't wake you up," Chuck said while rubbing the back of his neck. She gave him a smile.

"Don't worry about it, and besides, I've been out for almost 16 hours. I also missed a lot while I was unconscious," Zelia said while smiling. She noticed Thomas staring at her, so the girl looked at the young man.

Thomas cleared his throat. "I heard what happened; I hope you're okay now."

"I feel fine, actually. Congratulations for being a Runner though." The man just nodded at Zelia. Even though he and Thomas had just talked, she felt comfortable talking to him.

She doesn't know why, but she realized that he looks familiar to her. This is the only time she stared at him for a long time, so maybe she's just thinking too much.

She just took a deep breath and was thankful that the door of the Maze opened so the two of them broke their gaze.

"Good luck, guys! Come back safe." Chuck said the joy in his voice was obvious. Minho ruffled his hair and smiled at him.

"Who knows this shank find something new at the Maze," he said, and Thomas just scoffed. Minho looked at Zelia and gave her a nod before they ran inside.

"Do you think we can really get out of this place?" Chuck randomly asked; his voice had a hint of sadness when the two men disappeared from their sight. Zelia wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and they turned their backs on the Maze to walk to the kitchen.

"Of course! This place is not permanent, obviously. I don't know what the reason is why we're here, but for sure we can get out," Zelia said, so Chuck smiled and continued walking to the kitchen to eat their breakfast.

-----

Zelia and Maggie told Newt that they were going to the Med-hut to say hello to the Greenie, whose name was Teresa. The young man immediately agreed so that the newcomer would be comfortable inside the Glade. Zelia brought food for Teresa because she didn't come out of the Med-hut. Maggie knocked on the door first, and they heard the woman's voice letting them in.

"Hey, we bought you some food. We probably think that you're hungry," Zelia said while holding a tray as the two of them approached Teresa. They saw the girl with Alby by her side while she was reading a book.

"Thank you," Teresa said with a smile on her lips and took the tray. "Maggie and...?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm Zelia," she introduced herself while smiling. Teresa first placed the tray on the table to her left to shake hands with the girl, who immediately accepted it. "I'm not awake when you're here. I fainted somehow, and everyone told me what happened, so Maggie and I thought about coming here."

"Teresa." The new girl gave a short answer and motioned for the two to sit in front of her. "What's brought you here aside from the food?" she asked before starting to eat.

They sat down before Maggie spoke. "Well, we just wanted to talk to you. I know there's something weird going on right now, but for sure it will disappear soon. We want to be close with you since we are the only three girls here." It was obvious in her voice that she was happy that a woman had come to them again.

Teresa smiled. "It's fine with me. I thought there's no girl here. I just woke up without remembering anything, and suddenly I saw the boys who suddenly looked at me, so I ran to the tree and threw stones at them."

The two girls smiled at the same time before Zelia spoke. "Sorry about that, but that's a normal reaction to throw stones at them without remembering anything. I'm also a doctor here; if I didn't really faint yesterday, I'll explain everything to you."

"Take note, she's the first girl at this place. I've only been here for 4 months, and Zelia is almost 1 year." The girl rolled her eyes because of what her friend said. Teresa did not expect what she heard.

"Really? How did you put up with the men here? How did you adjust in this kind of environment, full of men?" Teresa asked after drinking her water.

Zelia took a deep breath before telling Teresa what happened to her inside the Glade. She talked about how she accidentally punched Newt, what she did on the first day, how she became close with Kendrix, the way Minho and Zelia are ignoring each other, what happened to her in the Deadheads, the Banishment of Minho, how she became Keeper, Maggie's arrival, Minho's return, her being close to Chuck, and how close she and Minho have become these past few weeks.

When Zelia finished telling her story, Teresa also finished eating while she and Maggie quietly listened to what the girl was telling. Zelia doesn't know why she feels so good about Teresa. Maybe it's because she's a woman that she has a close heart like Maggie.

"You've been through a lot. I kind of didn't expect the ending though. But good for you. Somehow you still have true friends," Teresa said, making Zelia smile at her.

Suddenly they heard a noise outside, so the three of them looked at the door of the med-hut with a mixture of surprise. They think the noise is coming from the Maze.

"What is that?"

"We don't know."

"I'll go check what's happening out there," Maggie said, and she didn't wait for the two to talk anymore and went out to find out what was going on. Zelia and Teresa looked at each other.

"Do you think that's a good sign?" Teresa asked, and Zelia just shrugged.

"I don't know, honestly. I never really expected the Glade to be this chaotic." Teresa was about to speak when they suddenly heard a low moan, so they looked at Alby, who was slowly opening his eyes.

Zelia immediately stood up from her seat. "Alby? Alby. Can you hear me?" She asked, and they heard soft moans again.

"Go find Newt or the Gladers, I guess. Tell them that Alby is awake." Zelia ordered Teresa when she saw her stand up. She nodded and went out to find Newt. The girl turned her gaze back to their leader.

"Alby? How are you feeling?" Instead of answering her question, Alby tried to sit up. Zelia helped the man sit down.

The girl was about to speak again when the Med-hut door suddenly opened and she saw Teresa, Thomas, Minho, Newt, Gally, and Jeff. Thomas slowly came in front of Alby, and Zelia just let him.

"Hey, Alby, we might have just found a way out of the Maze." The man started, so the girl looked at Minho, who just nodded to say that what Thomas was saying was true. "Do you hear me? We could be getting out of here."

"We can't leave," Alby said and looked seriously at Thomas. Zelia frowned because of what she heard from their leader. "They won't let us."

"What are you talking about?"

"I remember."

"What do you remember?" Everyone is waiting for Alby's answer.

"You. And Zelia." The girl was even more confused when her name was mentioned. "I remember that you were never separated, so they made a way for you to be their favourite."

Sadness was evident in Alby's voice. Thomas didn't know what to say, so he and Zelia stared at each other. Both were wondering what their leader meant.

"Why did you do this? Why did you come here?"

Their attention on Alby was only interrupted when they suddenly heard a noise from outside, so they all went out, except Jeff, who was ordered by Newt to keep an eye on Alby to find out what was going on. They saw that the sky was dark, but the Gladers spread out while holding a piece of wood with a light on it.

"Winston, what's going on?" Newt asked when he saw the man going somewhere; Maggie and Chuck were with him.

"It's the doors. They aren't closing." It was as if cold water was poured on them all because of what they heard. They looked around, and what Winston was saying was true; the Maze door had not yet closed.

"Chuck, go to the Homestead and start barricading the doors," Thomas said, knowing what was going on. "Winston and Maggie, you go with him."

"Got it," the man said, and the three of them ran to the Homestead.

"Get the others. Tell them to go to the forest and try to fight the Grievers if they can. Go hide now!" Thomas said, and Newt started running.

"Minho, I want you to grab the weapon in the Armoury. I'll meet you at the Homestead. Teresa, Zelia, and I are going to go get Alby, all right?" No one complained to one of them and ran to where they were going.

Zelia just wished the Gladers knew what to do. She didn't expect this scenario—that Grievers would attack them. She hopes that teaching them how to defend themselves makes sense.

Everyone stopped running when they suddenly heard screeching, a sign that the Grievers were entering the Glade. Did I really predict the future? But hopefully, I can help a lot as a Keeper of the Defense.

"Come on! Run! Just focus on your task while the Grievers are coming!" Thomas shouted, and they started running again. Zelia also sees other Gladers running with them.

Gradually, they also heard the loud noises coming from the Grievers. The girl didn't want to look at what was happening behind her. All she could think about right now was getting to where the Med-hut was.

Zelia felt as if the Med-hut was far away. They have been running for a while, but they don't seem to be moving from their place. The girl heard a cry asking for help. She wanted to stop to help whoever it was but all she did was run. I'm sorry; please forgive me.

In a few minutes, the three of them arrived at the Med-hut and saw Alby and Jeff already outside.

"Alby! Are you okay?" Thomas asked as they approached the two men's place.

"What's going on?" Alby asked, curious as to what was happening.

"They're here."

"Grievers?"

Before Thomas could speak again, they suddenly heard a noise again. This time, it was louder than what they heard before, as if it were close to them.

"We need to run! Now!" Teresa shouted, and they gave the sign that they ran. Both Thomas and Jeff supported Alby to run while Teresa followed.

Zelia purposely slowed down so that she could see that the four in front of her were safe. The five of them just run to get to the Homestead.

The girl saw in her peripheral vision that the Griever was chasing them. It moved like shadows, their dark, mechanical bodies blending with the dim Glade, and their sinister clicking echoed off the grass. Zelia’s heart raced as she ran, her breathing ragged, every muscle in her body aching. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her.

"Run! Don't look back!" Zelia shouted, and her friends did the same. They ran faster and faster, immediately supporting Alby when he almost fell.

Zelia noticed that her pace seemed to slow down because the four in front of her were moving fast away from her.

She heard a screeching again from the Griever who was chasing them before she felt a pain in her right ankle, which made her fall to the grass. Now, I'm not expecting this.

Little by little, she felt pain in her leg, and Teresa noticed it. She saw her, shouting her name, and ran back to her. Zelia knew that she was not going to make it to help her because the four of them had already run far from her.

"Zelia!" She heard Teresa scream with fear in her voice.

She rolled to the side so she could lie down on the grass, and she saw the Griever who was chasing them, one of it tentacled hands stretched out, anytime it could get her.

But before Zelia was captured by the Griever, she saw the other Gladers throw spears at its head, including Minho, to stop from taking her. The young man saw her and ran to where the girl was.

Before Minho could reach Zelia's place, Teresa immediately helped her stand up and started running towards the Homestead. She could hear Teresa talking, but she couldn't understand anything. The last thing she saw was her friends waiting for them outside the Homestead.

This is it; I'm done. I also had fun with my friends inside the Glade, especially with Minho. It's a good thing I confessed to him; maybe I'll just regret it if I didn't say my feelings.