CHAPTER SEVEN: "YOU'RE A RUNNER"

     A portion of the small group now stood in the Council Hall, explaining to Newt and Gally (but mainly Newt) what they had found. "Yeah, we found this." Thomas handed Newt the metal cylinder that was still a mystery. "It was inside a Griever."

     Newt frowned, rubbing his thumb over the device as he listened intently. "These are the same letters we get in our supplies." He realized, looking at the small label that said 'W.C.K.D.'.

     "Yeah." Thomas nodded, "whoever put us here obviously made the Grievers. And this is the first real clue, the first anything, you've found in over three years. Right, Minho?" He turned to the Keeper of the Runners.

     "Right." Minho agreed without hesitation.

     "Newt," Thomas turned back to the blond, "we gotta go back out there. Who knows where this might lead us."

     Layla glanced over to Gally, who raised a brow at Newt in disbelief. "You see what he's trying to do, right?" He sighed in annoyance. "First he breaks our rules... and then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally. What— the rules are the only thing that have ever held us together. Why now are we questioning that? If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me. This shank," He pointed to Thomas with a glare, "needs to be punished."

     Newt glanced up at Thomas, sighing as he pursed his lips with a small nod. He handed the small device back to Minho, before speaking up. "You're right. Thomas broke the rules." Gally nodded in appreciation. "One night in the pit, and no food."

     Gally's mouth dropped wide open, "oh, come on, Newt! One night in the pit? Do you think that's gonna stop him from going into the Maze?"

     Newt shook his head, "no. And we can't just have non-Runners running into the Maze whenever they feel like it. So let's just make this official. Starting from tomorrow, you're a Runner."

Gally stared for a long moment, the silence was tense, and then he scoffed, "wow." He began storming out of the room, his fists clenched at his sides.

     "Gally..." Frypan held out a hand to the boy, but it was slapped away by the Builder.

     "Nah, Fry." Gally didn't bother glancing at him, and despite Gally telling him to leave it, Frypan quickly ran after him.

     Thomas processed what he had heard, his fingers laced together as he slowly nodded before meeting Newt's eyes. He smiled a half smile, "thanks, Newt."

Newt nodded in return, and Layla looked to Thomas before sending him a nod and patting him on the back. "Nice job." She mumbled softly, before making her way towards the doors of the darkened room.

Layla was happy with Newt's decision—because Thomas reminded her of Percy. They were alike, somehow she knew that. And if Thomas was anything like Percy, she knew that he would help push the Gladers further than they've ever gone.

     Now that Thomas was a Runner, Minho decided that it would be best to show him the Map Room—and Layla wholeheartedly agreed.

The model of the Maze was covered up by a thin sheet when they walked in, which was typically there in case any non-Runners decided to go in without permission. Thomas walked around the room, his eyes scanning over every inch of the place with a gleam in them. Curiosity.

When Thomas had his back turned, Minho suddenly yanked the sheet off the Maze model, the light hitting it in an instant. Minho sighed as he rested his hands on the table, eyeing it with disappointment. It was like a constant reminder that they had nothing left, and they would most likely die in the Glade.

Thomas, however, was interested in the model, much like Layla was. He was mainly due to the fact that he had never seen it before—Layla was because it showed how far they'd come over the years. And despite being stuck in a tough spot, with nothing left to Map, she still had a bit of hope bubbling within her whenever she saw the Maze model, as if she knew that there was more to it.

"It's the Maze." Minho said softly, his eyes going over the model he had worked so hard to perfect. "All of it."

Thomas frowned in confusion. "What do you mean all of it? I thought you were still mapping it."

Minho paused, as Thomas waited impatiently for an answer. Layla decided to reply before Thomas lost his mind and said, "there's nothing left to map." And before she could stop herself, she said, "as far as we know."

A small hint to the fact that she believed there to be more.

Minho sent her a weary gaze, as if he didn't believe her, but chose not to comment on what she said. Thomas straightened as his eyes widened, but he couldn't find it within himself to speak. "I've run every inch of it myself." Minho said. "Every cycle. Every pattern." He looked absolutely defeated when he said, "if there was a way out we would've found it by now."

Thomas finally seemed to gather the strength to speak, and asked, "why haven't you told anyone this?"

"It was Alby's call." Minho informed, lifting his hands from the table as he walked closer to Thomas. "People needed to believe we had a chance of getting out." Suddenly, Layla saw hope spark in his eyes. "But maybe now," he held the device from the Griever in his hands. "We have a real chance." He then handed it to Thomas.

Layla knew what he was getting at now. She had seen the number 'seven' on the device the same as he had, which Thomas was examining now. "Take a look at this." Minho got his attention. "About a year ago, we started exploring these outer sections." He pointed to the perimeter of the model, "and we found these numbers... printed on the walls." Each section had a rock at the edge of it, with a number painted on it. "Sections one through eight. See, the way it works... is every night when the Maze changes... it opens up a new section. So today, section six was open, tomorrow will be four... then eight... then three. The pattern always stays the same."

Thomas held the device in his hands carefully, rubbing his thumb over it as he eyed the small glowing number on the screen. "What's so special about seven?" He asked.

Layla sighed, glancing at the model before looking up to the boys. "We don't know." She said softly, too far in her head to really talk much. All this... planning and solving... it reminded her of someone.

Minho continued, upon seeing her lost in thought, "but last night, when you killed that Griever... section seven was open. I think it must be where it comes from." He then met Thomas' eyes. "Tomorrow we're gonna take a closer look." He gestured to the three of them, causing Thomas' brows to raise in surprise.

     Suddenly, to everyone's shock, Clint and Jeff burst into the room unannounced. Minho and Layla quickly rushed to stand in front of the Maze model in an attempt to block it from the Med-Jacks' views. "Hey!" Minho called out, "what are you guys doing? You're not allowed in here!"

"Sorry, it's just, the um..." Jeff pants, clearly exhausted from running. Why was he running? Layla thought. What could be so important?

"It's the girl!" Clint interrupted.

Thomas raised a brow in surprise, "what? Is she awake?"

Jeff sighed, "you could say that."

"Chuck, what's going on?" Thomas asked as he, Minho, Jeff, Clint and Layla made their way towards the small boy. His eyes barely met Thomas' as he grinned, looking back ahead.

Chuck could only laugh, his smile somehow widening. He then pointed to something off in the distance. "Girls are awesome."

"Leave me alone!" A shout broke through the Glade.

Layla furrowed her brows with a tilted head as she saw that the new girl had climbed multiple ladders to get to a higher ground as she threw countless rocks at the boys below, who were shielding themselves with buckets and other items.

"Hey!" Gally shouted, "throw one more of those things and—" Layla bit back a smile as a rock hit him directly in the head, "ow!"

Layla quickly rushed over and picked up a large bowl that someone had discarded, holding it above her head as she tried to get a good look at the girl. "Go away!" She shouted furiously, or was she scared? It was hard to tell when Layla was busy dodging all the rocks that she was throwing at them.

Frypan held up another bowl, "we come in peace!"

Newt chuckled softly as him and Winston hid behind a piece of wood, "I don't think she likes us very much."

     Layla rolled her eyes, "you think?"

"What do you want from me?" The girl shouted.

"Hey, look, we just wanna talk!" Thomas shouted back at her, but she threw more rocks their way. He quickly ducked to avoid being hit.

"I'm warning you!" She called out, while Layla quickly held up her bowl as a rock hit it.

Fry ducked, "take cover, y'all! Take cover!"

"Hey, hey, whoa! It's Thomas! It's Thomas!" Just as Thomas shouted his name, the girl stopped throwing rocks, while peaking over the edge of the railing to look at him. "Okay, I'm gonna come up, okay?" She slowly backed away, "okay." He turned to face Gally, "just me."

Thomas began to make his way up the ladders, "I'm coming up." He announced. His voice began to grow quieter as he made it to the top, and Layla remained standing next to Newt as she waited to see what would happen next.

Layla struggled not to get lost in her thoughts as she waited.

A few minutes of silence went by, with the boys and Layla just standing on the ground waiting for Thomas to say anything. He seemed to be in no rush, and Gally was growing upset. Layla jumped as Gally suddenly shouted to Thomas, "what's going on up there?"

Thomas peaked his head over the railing, glancing back at the girl for a moment. "Is she coming down?" Newt asked, squinting his eyes from the sun.

"Um..." Thomas glanced back at her once more, "Hey, listen, you guys just give us a second, okay?"

Gally sighed as he put his hands on his hips, but Newt nodded, waving the others over to follow him. "All right. Come on."

"Is this what all girls are like?" Fry tilted his head up at the girl, slowly backing away.

"Uh—" Layla furrowed her brows, "excuse me. I'm right here."

Frypan began to walk in step with her, "who said you were never like that?" He joked, causing Layla to roll her eyes, as she mumbled a soft 'fair enough' as they continued walking.

     "We don't even know what this stuff is." Newt held a small syringe that had a blue liquid inside. As far as Layla knew, the girl—whose name was Teresa—found it in her pocket when she woke up, and Thomas believed it was meant to save Alby.

     Layla glanced down at Alby as he shook violently in the bed that he was strapped down to in order to keep him from attacking them. "We don't know who sent it." Newt continued. "Or why it came up here with you. I mean, for all we know, that this thing could kill him."

     Thomas' mouth dropped open in disbelief as he pointed to Alby, "he's already dying. Look at him." Layla struggled to look away from the boy as he groaned in pain, a frown made it's way onto her face. She tried not to let her discomfort show—because the feeling of death had returned the second she walked into the room. "How could this possibly make it any worse? Come on, it's worth a try."

     Newt sighed softly, pursing his lips as he realized that Thomas was right. "All right." He held out the serum to Thomas, "do it."

     Thomas quickly took it into his own hands, making his way over to Alby. He held the serum over his chest for a few seconds as he inspected the black veins showing through his skin. He looked up at the rest of the Gladers, sending Layla a weary glance, but she only nodded. "Okay." He mumbled.

     Suddenly, Thomas looked down at Alby to see the boy already glaring at him. Layla gasped as Alby clamped his hands around Thomas' shirt, pulling him down towards him in anger. "You shouldn't be here!" He shouted, "you shouldn't be here! No!"

Layla felt a headache wash over her, the pain dulling her senses momentarily. The cold feeling was growing stronger. Alby was getting worse and worse—and it was hurting Layla. The Gladers had never kept someone who had been stung for so long—usually they were banished by sundown—so to have someone become so sick from a Griever sting was new to Layla, and she just wanted the feeling that had settled deep in her gut to go away. She felt sick to her stomach.

     But she had to help Thomas, so she rushed over, attempting to pull Alby off of him. His grip was stronger than expected, as she could barely loosen it. Alby's eyes then met hers, and that was when Layla knew that she fucked up. "You!" He cried, "why didn't you help us?"

Newt suddenly rushed over, ripping Alby's hands off Layla. "Watch out!" He called, before pinning down Alby's hands.

"Get the syringe!" Thomas called, and Teresa quickly complied.

     Layla jumped as Teresa jabbed it into Alby's side, and he instantly let out a breath of relief as the pain began to fade. His struggling stopped as he laid in the bed, his eyes shut. Layla's headache finally faded.

     The group had backed away from him to give him some space. Layla let out a shaky breath as she put her hands on her hips, relieved that whatever had just happened was over.

Jeff looked over to the others with wide eyes, "well, that worked." Layla could only nod, deciding to catch her breath rather than speak.

"Okay, from now on..." Newt interrupted, pointing to Alby. "Someone stays here and watches him around the clock." They all nodded, silently agreeing with the blond.

Layla furrowed her brows at the sound of footsteps behind her, "hey." A voice rang out, and she turned around to see Gally standing there. "Sundown, Greenie." He said to Thomas, and Layla sighed as she remembered his punishment. "Time to go."

Thomas sighed softly, nodding his head. "See you later, Thomas." Layla mumbled softly, but he didn't answer. He only nodded once more.

—————
lizzie speaks...

are you guys liking this fic so far? is there anything i should change? feedback is always welcome <3

Frypan: Is this what all girls are like?

Layla: