Jina took a few weeks of laying low. A few weeks of slowly gathering more information. A few weeks of slowly gaining the trust of the three possible people who could help. A few weeks of Teresa breathing down her neck- worse than before, now that Thomas was firm with his personal boundaries. Even Janson kept an annoyingly close eye on her now. But she kept her head down and mouth closed and did her work. 

She had now been pulled from working the other mazes. Maze D and E were now fully operational with their launch date set. She was exclusively Maze A and B, mostly B now. Jina had a feeling Teresa was behind that, she kept complaining every time she was working on A, that B was falling behind, but when Jina went to help the next day they were actually well ahead of the boys.

The girls had organized faster, coming up with rules and a basic system to survive- they only had one or two days of confusion and anarchy. Harriet and Sonya seemed to take charge along with the help of a few other girls, forming a council and leaders of various groups of girls. The boys however looked like Lord of the Flies come to life. Their Glade looked like chaos.

And when Jina pointed this out during a meeting with the five of the elites and Janson, Teresa got angry and said there was a difference between how boys and girls dealt with trauma and survival. 

"Okay...ya, but I don't see how Maze B is behind. And what exactly do you think behind IS...? They have a functioning government, with established rules and the other girls follow them. Their Maze is working."

"Our Maze is harsher."

"It's the same. The Grievers came out two months after insertion day. Maze A had to wait three almost four months The psyches didn't think the guys were ready. I was in that meeting, Teresa. And didn't Peter try and stab Chris with a fork just yesterday?"

"She's got a point..." Thomas added. "There's a lot of yelling and accusing among the guys...And a lot of fist fights."

"Are you going to take your girlfriend's side every time? Why don't you just switch to Maze B!" Teresa yelled and stormed out of the meeting.

Thomas sputtered, looking very confused and bright pink. Jina rolled her eyes and Aris and Rachel sat with folded arms- quite upset that Teresa had attacked their hard work. Janson had sat silent through the exchange, his finger tips together, peering at them down his long nose, with a look Jina couldn't place. He just hummed and dismissed the others.

< • >

It was another insertion day. The girl's name was Stella. Jina had gotten to knew her a little. She was sweet and kind, quite soft and emotional. Jina had no idea how she would survive in the maze.

Aris and Jina were in charge of today's insertion. Stella had gone through the Swipe procedure earlier that morning, and now she lay unconscious on the gurney. Two doctors and Director Janson were with Aris and her in the elevator, on their way down to the basement of the facility.

What's it like? Aris asked. He was looking down at the girl's sleeping face.

What's what like? Jina asked.

Waking up with your memories erased. It's been explained to me...but like what does it feel like? Like to have a completely intact picture of the world and how it works...but with everything that matters scrubbed out.

Jina was quiet for a moment. A shiver ran down her spine.

I explained it to Thomas the other day. I can't really describe it properly... it's weird. Like you know there's something there, but it's hidden behind a wall and you can't reach it. Like trying to remember a word and you can't quite place your finger on it. It's frustrating and terrifying that they can do this.

It's fascinating and terrible at the same time. Aris answered honestly.

That should be WICKED's new logo. It's just a means to an end; it's fascinating and terrible at the same time.

Aris snorted at her sarcasm. The lift chimed, and they were there. The basement. It pricked a little at Jina's heart. It was where Thomas had brought Jina to see her brother- just down the hall to the maintenance room. Aris and Jina watched as the girl was rolled across the tiled floor.

Do you think we'll be going in? Aris asked.

Yes. Jina answered. As much as Janson and Paige say otherwise, how they brush it off, or make it seem like we're soo different. We're not. We're tested just as much as the others. We're still subjects to them. We'll be going in at some point.

Yeah...I just hoped maybe... It terrifies me. Losing memories, going into the maze. But the girls seem to have a better grip on the situation. Or so you've said.

Ya, that's true. Girls are just far superior.

Aris snorted. They reached the wide double doors that led to the chamber holding the Box. For all the sophisticated surroundings WICKED and their trials and experiments and technology wonders, there wasn't much fanfare to the Box itself. It sat in a wide, dusty room at the bottom of a shaft that led up to the Glen, connected to enormous gears on the surface by chains and pulleys.

The magical lift to a new life.

Must suck to wake up in the cage.

Janson held the door for the gurney and the kids. "Well here we are." He announced. "So we've spent the last few weeks and months randomly getting more and more subjects into the maze as the Psyches make adjustments to the program, but after Stella, we're going to become more regimented. We'll be sending one subject into the Glade-"

"The girls call it the Glenn, sir." Jina interrupted. "Glade is maze A."

"Right you are, my dear. That brain of yours, it's sure sharp. Keeping each maze separated."

Jina forced a thin lipped smile. His compliments were always slightly uncomfortable.

"So once a month from now on, one girl will be sent into the Glenn; same day, same time. Like clockwork. Unless something changes."

They always keep their options open...don't they? Jina internally rolled her eyes.

No kidding.

The kids watched as the two doctors took hold of the girl, one grabbed her ankles and the other under her armpits and lifted her off the gurney. She looked like a ragdoll, her limbs flopped and her head rolled. Jina winced watching. They carried her slowly and carefully as they walked up the rolling stepladder, which shifted under their weight precariously. They reached the top and then it became an exercise of awkwardness as the doctor holding Stella around the chest hafted her up to the top edge of the Cage, struggling until the doctor could flip the girl's arms over the lip of the metal to keep her in place. The doctor waited, made sure the girl wouldn't fall, then lean down to help the other doctor lift Stella by the legs.

This is awful. Aris winced. They really couldn't come up with a better way to do this. They have implants in our brains, flat trans little robot bugs with cameras on them..?"

It's very glamourous.

There was a loud thunk. One of the doctors let go of Stella too soon and the girl toppled over the top and vanished from sight, crashing into the bottom of the Cage. It rattled for a second, echoing off the walls. Janson clucked his tongue in disapproval.

"Is the subject hurt?" He asked.

The two doctors peeked over the top, "looks fine." The one said. "she rolled into a ball, sound asleep."

"Why don't we put a door into the side of the cage? Seems a lot easier." Jina voiced her thoughts. "Last time you dropped the finchen' girl on her head and she went up with a nasty bloody cut."

The doctors shrugged, "Was good kill zone patterns." The other doctor shrugged.

Jina growled in frustration. Janson sighed and rubbed his temple. "Everything we do is for a reason, Jina. But let's try not harm the subjects in the future, please."

The doctors looked sheepish, but nodded. As they climbed down the stepladder, the one hit the big red START button. Jina hated this next part. She had to go back with Aris to the control room and observe and take notes on the girl waking up.

Stella woke in darkness, the cameras in the cage hardly able to catch her movements. She said nothing at first, stumbled around the metal compartment. But then she became aware of everything at once. The loss of memory, the strange place, the movement, the sounds. She panicked, pounding on the walls screaming for help that wouldn't come.

The hysteria went on; a cut on her fist opened up from hitting the wall. Finally she collapsed to the floor and crawled to the corner, cradling her bloody hand. At first the tears were only a small trickle, then it was the body shaking sobs, making her body shack.

The cage came to a stop and a bubble of silence filled the air. Stella shrieked and nearly jumped out of her body when the ceiling suddenly popped and squealed. Two doors grinding as they slid open. And then bright shinning sunlight blasted into the darkness.

There was rustling and whispered, some gentle laughter which was hushed quickly. There was movement and a loud clang, making the cafe sway slightly. Stella lowered her hands, peering through the brilliance of the sun.

A bright smile and a head of long blond hair and bright brown eyes met her. Stella was meeting Sonya. Sonya held her hand out and smiled gently.

"Hey there Blondie. Welcome to The Glenn. Let's get ya outta the buggen' cage. Come on, we ain't gonna hurt ya. We've all been there. It's your day one."

< • >

Jina was not prepared for the horrors of the maze, she knew it would be hard and harsh, but she was not mentally prepared for what lay in wait.

She sat between Aris and Rachel one afternoon at the desk in the control room. They had watched the girls laughing in the gardens, and Flossie throwing flour at the other cook while they howled with laughter.

"They look happy." Rachel said quietly.

"I'm sure it won't last long." Aris muttered.

And as if the designers heard them- there was a sharp cry for help. The girls all dropped their racks and hammers and whatever other tool they had and took off for the maze door. The screaming didn't stop.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked.

Jina reached over and punched the communication button that linked to the command room- where the important people worked.

"Any way we can get a bettle blade in there?" Jina asked.

"Nope." Replied a man. One of the Psyches, probably. They didn't interact with the subjects much, if ever, even with Jina, Rachel and Aris. "We want to see how this plays out before we let them know we're watching."

That made Jina frustrated. "Can't we at least zoom in from where it's at right now?"

"We'll do our best." His replay was curt. "Command room out." There was a click and that he obviously made audible on purpose. Or in other words- leave us alone.

"Wait...what is that?" Rachel gasped pointing to the screen.

Jina squinted, and then gasped.

"That's a finchen' person!" Aris cried just as Jina let out a yelp of surprise of her own.

Sonya was hauling someone down the hall of the maze. Without hesitation three girls pushed through the crowd forming and ran down the hall to help. Two new girls grabbed the thing that resembled a person and the other grabbed Sonya, and threw her arm around her and the group all got back inside the Glen.

"What...?" Harriet asked, pushing to the front. "what the finch?!"

"Who is that?" Aris asked, as he stood up trying to get closer to the screen.

"Umm. I think...I think that's Stella!" Jina gasped, standing up and walking around to the front of the desk.

"What? No! We only sent her into the maze less than a month ago!" Aris asked, frowning. "How could everything have gone wrong so fast?"

"I think you mean what went wrong." Jina corrected him, staring horrified at the screen as someone helped Sonya sit down and handed her some water.  "I mean...what in the world is going on?"

There was a beetle blade that scuttled out of the vines by the wall and it was a perfect birds eye view.

Stella was a mess. She squirmed on the ground, her muscles clenched as if they'd been permanently locked that way, cramped and tight. Her eyes budged; her lips pressed together into a pale line; the skin of her face looked as if it had been ripped off, boiled, then stappled back on. Jina sucked in a breath and rubbed her eyes, shocked at what she saw. Stella looked almost animated, a product of studio special effects. As she withered on the ground, like she was in the worst possible pain, she let out sharp moans through her closed mouth that sounded rabid.

Harriet knelt down to see the girl, who then screamed and punched Harriet in the face. Instantly there were girls on her, holding her down as she twisted and screamed and tried to bite.

"What. The. Finch. Happened?" Harriet growled.

"We were out exploring. She's a fast runner, she rounded the corner before me and then all I heard was some kind of mechanical sounds and then she was screaming. I could barely get her back." Sonya panted.

"Okay...what do we do?" Another girl asked.

The girls stood over Stella, who'd got worse. Her head actually looked like it might explode from swelling. She was beetroot read and puffy. Veins bulged along her forehead and temples. And her eyes....Jina shivered. Her once ocean green eyes full of a sweet innocence were blood shot, but the pupils were dilated and solid black. And they were enormous, bulging out of her head. Jina had never seen anything like this.

"Did you see what attacked her?" Flossie, the Glen cook asked.

Sonya shook her head. "No. Just heard those mechanical noises. We've heard 'em before...but this seemed... different. Like it was buggen' waitin' for us!"

"Did she say anything?" Someone else asked.

"She kept whispering 'it stung me. It stung me. It stung me.' the whole way back- when she wasn't tryna bite me or rip my finchen' face off!" Sonya's British accent was thicker with her stress. "It was weird. Like she was possessed or somethin'. What're we gonna do?"

"Oh! Harriet...Sonya! That weird looking syringe we got with the Blondie."

"Go! Now, go grab it." The girl dashed off leaving the rest of the girls standing around watching horrified. 

"It...it must be those monster creatures, you told us about, Sonya... It has to be!" Another girl called.

It only took a few minutes for the girl who ran off to come back, griping a metallic cylinder held tight in her hand. But in that time Stella had gone from bad to worse. Jina shivered. She had both hands over her mouth watching horrified. Stella had gone from worse to worst. She had gone still, except for her chest, which moved rapidly as she gasped for air. The girls had let go of her and backed up. Her jaw had gone slack and her limbs loose, her muscles relaxed from their clenched- state. Stella was dying.

Jina was frozen to her spot her eyes glued to the screen.

"WICKED won't let her die...will they?" Rachel whispered.

"That's what the syringe is for..." Aris answered, he was pale and looked sick, he was gripping Jina's arm so tightly she was going to have marks.

"They made us kill people Rach. Don't hold your breath." Jina answered coldly. She had a ball of icey dread forming in her stomach. It was spreading through her body. This wasn't just to test killzone patterns- this was a whole other experiment. They were testing some kind of poison.

Stella...she had been stung. Stung...by something inside the maze ...monster creatures. The reality hit Jina so hard she stumbled back into the desk. The other two looked at her funny. WICKED not only equipped the Grievers with horrible killing appendages, but now it had some kind of stinger and clearly some kind of poison. What kind of sick horrible twisted humans did this?

The girl, the Lead Healer, Jina remembered her name was Jill, she skidded to a stop on her knees and jabbed the syringe into her arm with no hesitation. There was instant silence among the girls. Everyone held their breath. Waiting.

"Come on Stella." Sonya whispered.

Then the girl laying almost dead on the ground let out a horrible inhuman screech. Her eyes flew open, and she leapt to her feet. "IT WAS A DAMN GRIEVER!" she screamed, her eyes were wild. "THEY'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

She suddenly lunged, taking the closest girl to the ground. Scratching and clawing at her eyes. She threw a few punches. She howled like an animal, she was foaming at the mouth. Her head twitched in an awkward way.

It was something out of nightmares. And Jina felt her stomach twisting, she felt physically ill. Ready to throw up, she pressed her hand to her mouth, as tears burned her eyes.

Girls tried to yank Stella off, but whatever was in the poison or the syringe, gave her inhuman strength. She threw them off without an issue.

"MOVE!" Someone came through the crowd, Sonya. She ripped a pitchfork from one of the girls who worked in the Barn, and with a scream of pain, anger, fear and defiance- she raised the fork, and slammed it into Stella. She collapsed in a spray off blood. Her leg twitched, she gurgled something and then her eyes rolled into her head and she went still.

Sonya collapsed to her knees and let out a sob. A few girls pulled the injured girl away and carried her to the medical hut. Harriet pulled Sonya into a tight hug. And a few girls ran for a sheet and covered Stella's body and carried the girl away.

Jina stayed stuck to the wall for a minute. What the hell had she just witnessed? She felt anger bubbling up, her whole body was shaking with white hot anger. She pushed herself away from the desk and stormed from the room.

"Jina? Where are you going?" Rachael called.

"To get some finchen' answers!" Jina snarled.

"Wait! We'll come too." Aris added. His face was set in tight controlled rage.

The three of them stormed down the hall.

< • >