< PART TWO: ESCAPE >

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I don't like your perfect crime; how you laugh when you lie.
You said the gun was mine. Isn't cool, no, I don't like you

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The Blondie alarm went off. It was so loud; echoing and bouncing off the maze walls. Jina groaned and got up slowly from the table. She wobbled slightly, trying to get her balance. Jina was very annoyed about the crutches she still had to use. Yelena, their Lead Builder, had done a beautiful job on them, fitting her perfectly, but still- having one bummed leg makes doing anything in Gleen difficult.

"Careful there, Love. Don't need ya breaking your ankle again!"

Sonya threw a hand out and held her elbow as Jina grumbled. "Ya ya..." she tried to wave her off. "I can stand and balance on it now, and put some wait on it. Just these stupid crutches and grass..."

"How much longer do ya think?" Harriet asked, yelling over the sound of the alarm.

The Blondie alarm finally shut off and the Glenn was quiet again. Over the months of being in the Glenn, she'd gotten used to the loud horrible noise. She shivered as she remembered her awful trip from wherever to the Glenn, many months ago.

Harriet grabbed Jina's coffee mug for her. The three of them made their way over to Flossie's kitchen. They knew there would still be about fifteen minutes before the poor girl showed up, so they went to fill up.

"Jill said maybe 3 more weeks. The bone is healed, just don't want to push it and reinjure it. Cruched for another three weeks. Jill is insistent that I rest." She said miserably, shaking the wooded crutch around for exaggeration. "But seriously...I don't know how much more rest I can take! I'm gonna lose my freakin mind!"

Two months ago, Jina and Sonya and another Mapper, Taylor, were exploring section four inside the maze, where they found this section of wall that wasn't a wall. It was open space. Huge thick walls on each side and then nothingness. Like the world just ended. It was blackness that went on for eternity. Sonya, Taylor and her decided to call it the Ledge. Jina was tossing chunks of wall into the oblivion when a Griever came out of nowhere.

She had been chased and mauled by the monstrosity. It didn't sting her, which The Council all thought was weird. When a Griever got you, the girl was always stung, every-single-time. Jina had been here long enough to see a few girls get stung- none of them had made it through the changing, except one, Beth. (And as the name implies. It changed her- and not for the good)

After being attacked, Sonya and Taylor somehow managed to scare the monster away and got Jina back to the Glenn, where Jill and Kendra patched her up; she had a major concussion, broken ankle, some cracked and brushed ribs and many deep long nasty cuts- many stitches and some gnarly bruises.

But now...she was healed; scars, some awful nightmares and now all she was waiting on was her ankle to be cleared. She was itching to get back out there, for many reasons. But the big one was there was something about section four. The Griever was guarding something. She knew it- and the Designers wanted to keep her away. But until she could run again...she was stuck in the Glenn helping Harriet run things as second in command. She hadn't been here as long as some other girls, but she had the trust of the girls, and she knew how to rally them and they listened to her.

The girls plunked their coffee mugs down on the counter of the shiny state of the art kitchen.

"Hey, girl, can we get a fill up?" Harriet nodded to the white ceramic mugs, with black letters stamped on the side: W-I-C-K-E-D. Those letters were stamped everywhere and on everything- like the Designers needed the girls to know who put them there.

"You got it, Boss." the girl with a white frilly apron grinned. "Yo! Flo! We got the big wigs needin' some fuel to deal with the Blondie on her way up!"

"Bean juice comin' right up!" A younger girl with rosy cheeks and wild blond curls pulled into a messy pony, came running. She grabbed each mug and poured them coffee with a big carefree grin.

Jina liked Flossie and Flo, they always had big smiles and were always covered in flour. Flossie made the best cookies and the best coffee. Her stew could use a bit of help, but Jina wasn't complaining. Too much. Flo was just as sweet and kind. They made a great team. Flossie was an old soul trapped in a 17 year old's body. She baked cookies, and liked to knit- but she was deadly with those kitchen knives.

"So?" Flossie asked the three girls, leaning on the counter "Who do ya think it is today?"

"Dunno. Some poor Crackhead." Harriet grumbled. "the last one...she was a big sloppy mess!"

"Stuff it Harriet! The buggen' Stick was like 12! She was just a wee baby!" Sonya rolled her eyes.

"I dunno what the Designers are thinking lately. Why send us little ones?" Harriet asked.

"Who knows. The Designers are messed in the head." Jina agreed. She sipped her coffee, thinking of the last poor Blondie.

"Well..." Flossie shrugged. "I know we could use an extra set of hands in here... But I also know Tavia was complainin' she needed another set of hands for the Ducks. The Builders are trying to get that other wing of the Cabin up, so they've pulled a lot of Ducks in to help."

Jina still didn't understand the name Ducks for the girls who did the random jobs- Sonya had explained it to her that there were some girls, like the younger ones or the girls who had a hard time fitting into a specific job were given odd jobs to keep them busy- can't have no lazy crackheads around the Glenn. But the name Odd Jobs was a mouth full. Then one night at the fire one of the girls had said something about the girls who did the Odd Jobs were the odd ducks. And from then on "Ducks" have always been the name for the girls who...did odd jobs.

Harriet hummed nodding, deep in thought as well. They were quiet for a minute trying to figure out who would be sent up next. She shook her head and sighed, taking Jina's coffee for her too, "Thanks Flossie. Thanks Flo."

They slowly made their way to the cage hole. Half way there, Sonya waved them good bye, and dashed off the the Map Room- the small little concert building near the South entrance to the maze.

"You miss it, don't ya?" Harriet asked.

"So much it hurts." Jina said longingly. "I hate being stuck here. I feel so...useless!"

"Girl, you were mauled by a finchen' GRIEVER! You know how lucky you are to be actually alive?"

"Ya. Thrilled. So lucky. It's the best." She rolled her eyes.

"Ah, soon enough. I'm sure you'll be fine. You can slowly walk on it... When they brought you back, we thought you were dead. Somehow you pulled through. The Cage even sent you something to speed recovery- so the Designers want you alive..."

"Just what I want. My life owed to the bastards that put us here."

"Man, girl," Harriet chuckled, "who spit in your cheerios this morning?"

"Sorry." Jina grumbled. She stopped and rubbed her eyes, "truthfully? I had another weird dream."

"Ya? Same as always?"

"Ya. Two faceless people yelling in some white shinny hall. And the names Thomas and Minho float around my head, then some monster is chasing me down a hall and then a Griever shows up to use me as a chew toy. This time though there was some kind of bed and a bright light and some weird like space alien contraption over me...and then pain and then I woke covered in sweat."

"Well, that'll just about do it..." Harriet nodded. "You sure you weren't stung?"

"Ya! I mean I was being mauled...if it poked me I doubt I'd have felt it...but I didn't go through the changing...so you all say. I don't remember, I was out for like 2 weeks."

"Definitely not. But they sound a lot like Beth's memories after her changing."

"Ya...I tried talking to her about it. She just told me to finch off and if I ever talked to her again, she would rearrange my face."

"Ya...she ain't the most approachable." Harriet sighed.

They had made it to the Cage hole, the crowd of girls parted and let them through to the front. Harriet handed the coffee mug to Jina now that she could balance with the crutches under her arms, she had a free hand. There was another buzzer and a green light. The cage came to a gear grinding halt. There were sounds of crying and screaming for help.

"Finch it. I need Sonya, she's the best with Blondies." Harriet grumbled.

"Hey! Someone go get Flossie!" Jina yelled. A girl dashed off to the kitchens. In the mean time Harriet and Hannah, the Glenn Butcher Leader pulled the big metal cage doors apart. The screaming down in the cage got worse. Jina groaned, this girl was going to be a handful. This is why she also missed being out in the Maze- she didn't have to deal with the Blondies. The girl who ran off came back with Flossie in toe.

"We got a screamer... Sonya's off in the Maze- sorry Floss, we need your calming skills." Jina explained.

"On it Boss." She grinned and without hesitation she hopped down into the cage. It took a solid ten minutes for Flossie to talk the girl into coming out of the cage. The ladder was lowered and the new Blondie climbed out. She was tall and thin, like a willow. She had big eyes that took in her surroundings, her mouth was open in shock. Harriet stepped forwards.

"Hey Blondie. Name's Harriet. Welcome to the Glenn, its your day one. We know it can be overwhelming showing up here, but we'll do what we can to help ya out, all right? We've all been there and we understand." She gave her typical speech, but the girl didn't seem to hear. She was trembling and her chin quivered.

"Hey..." Flossie said coming up beside her, "It's all right Blondie."

"Where...where am I?"

"Well...we call it the Glenn. No idea where we are..."

The girl spun in a few more circles, trying to see everything. She slowly scanned the crowd of girls, despite this happening every month, the girls were curious of the Blondie. Sometimes they ran, (or tried to anyways) sometimes they fainted, sometimes they sat in a puddle of overwhelming emotions and cried and sometimes they come up swinging.

This girl was shaking like a leaf. The other girls in the crowd smiled and waved. For the most part these girls in the Glenn were kind and helpful and understood- sometimes there were spats and arguments; with almost 60 girls, fights were bound to happen, but they were pretty petty and Harriet, Sonya and Jina could deal with them if the girl's Leaders couldn't.

The Blondies eyes landed on Jina. She froze, her eyes, if possible went even bigger. She opened her mouth a few times.

"This here is Jina, she's the second in command, she's normally not around much, but you'll see her about as she heals up." Harriet gestured to Jina.

Most Blondies just nod or something- this one, however, screamed. It was a loud ear splitting terror filled scream, like she had just seen a Griever. She scrambled backwards, freaking out, flailing wildly and screaming. Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"I didn't think your scars were that hideous." Jill frowned at the girl and looking to Jina, "I think Kendra and I did a good job piecing you back together!"

"Blondie, what the finch is your problem?" Harriet roared. Her kind smile and pleasant demeanor was gone.

"DON'T TRUST HER! SHE'S ONE OF THEM!" The girl screamed, throwing a finger out to Jina, looking wildly around at the girls, "SHE'S ONE OF THEM! SHE DID THIS! DON'T TRUST HER!"

She screamed and then like her brain shut down, her eyes rolled into her head and she collapsed. The girls were silent, looking back and forth between the Blondie on the ground in a heap and Jina who stood utterly bewildered.

"Now you believe me?" a girl from the back snapped. The crowd of girls parted, and Beth shoved her way through. She was scowling at Jina like she just kicked a puppy. She stormed up to Harriet and hissed, "Now you believe me? I ain't the only one who says she's one of 'em! One of the messed up crackheads who threw us in here!"

"What the actual fuck?" Jina asked, looking up, waiting for someone to yell GOT YA . "If I was one of them, why am I here?"

"Language, Jina!" Flossie scolded.

Jina rolled her eyes. Harriet looked down to the girl with a frown, and knelt down beside her unconscious body. She looked up at Jina, "What's she talkin' about?"

"How the hell do I know?" Jina frowned back, feeling defensive. "I ain't got memories! same as the next crackface."

"But you remembered two other names!" Harriet countered.

"Oh yeah, and a lot of good that does me! Look, Harriet, I have zero clue what they're talking about!"

"LIER!" Beth yelled.

"Beth." Flossie soothed, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Stuff it. Jina has been with us for like a year and nothing out of the ordinary has happened- she was even attacked by a Griever. If she really was one of the messed Designers... why wouldn't they intervein?"

Beth scowled again at the crowd looking at her, shrugged Flossie's hand off and stormed away, towards the forest. Jill and Kendra picked up the girl and carried her away to the Healers hut. Harriet shooed the girls away, back to their work stations. Flossie gave Jina's arm a gentle squeeze and headed back to the kitchen.

"Hey Liv!" Harriet bellowed, the young girl came scampering over, she was the young Blondie last month. Jina liked her, she was shy and quiet, but a hard worker for being only about twelve. Jina enjoyed her darker sense of humor, for such a young girl.

"Can you keep an eye on the new Blondie, explain things to her, help her get used to the Glenn?"

"Yes ma'am!" The girl saluted Harriet. She winked at Jina and then skipped off to the Healers Hut.

"Do you actually believe them?" Jina asked Harriet, now that they were alone.

"It's not a coincidence that two girls knew you before all this." Harriet sighed. Jina went to protest, but Harriet held up a hand. "Before you get your panties in a bunch, hear me out!"

Jina snapped her mouth closed and glared at Harriet, waiting.

"Is there truth to it? No finchen' clue. Could it be a trick of the Designers? Probably. Tryin' to make us turn on each other. I dunno. We probably all did know each other before this...so who knows what's true and what's not. Fake memories? Partial memories that we don't understand? There's something different about you, but whether that's a bad thing? Doubt it. You've been here long enough to prove you're good. We trust you Ji. Don't doubt that."

Jina deflated. "Thanks." She grumbled reluctantly.

"So Fetch." Harriet nodded. "Now you done with your coffee? I'll take them to Flo before I make rounds."

"I'll be in the Map Room if you need me." Jina said and slowly hobbled her way towards the Map room for some piece and quiet so she could think.

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