The next month wasn't much better with the Blondie. Every time Jina was anywhere near the new girl, she would scream and cry and act like Jina was beating her with a club.

Jina finally lost it on the girl in the middle of supper.

"SHUT UP!" Jina finally yelled, slamming her hands down on the table and rounding on the girl, "I've put up with your screaming and ridiculous sniveling for four weeks! You need to stuff it or I'm locking your finchen' ass in the jail!"

When she wanted to she could be quite intimidating- despite her shorter statuer, her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched, every single muscle was tense and coiled, ready to do what it takes. She had also perfected her cold stone emotionless mask. The dinning area went silent. The happy chatter and clinking of forks and knives stopped.

"But...but you're-"

"Stuff it, Blondie. No one cares. I've been here for ever. I haven't hurt one single finchin' hair on your head, Josey. So stuff it." Jina snarled. She spun to Sonya and Taylor, "I'm coming with you guys tomorrow, I can't be here anymore!" She turned and stormed off to the Map room.

Jina threw the door open and took a few deep breaths, sinking down onto the stool. The Map Room had become her sanctuary. Her quiet place to go when the Glenn got too much. She was staring at all the papers from the last few weeks on the table. All the different sections and maze patterns, and each one said 'dead end- no change'.

There wasn't a way out. They had known there wasn't a way out, the Mappers had know for a long time. They told Harriet who brought it before the Council. And the Council of Leaders decided to keep the news quiet for now. The Mappers wouldn't give up, they were all stubborn and hopeful. That's what made them good Mappers. But right now Jina was angry, they were missing something and she knew it. Section four held an answer and she knew it. She had to get back in there and find out. No more sitting in the Glenn. She had ditched the crutches two and a half weeks ago, she would just tape up her ankle and go, ice it when she got back. She'd live. Jina couldn't figure out anything sitting in the map room. Maybe if she spent a night out there...see the walls moving - she might find some answers.

She got up from the table with a snarl, and shoved the papers onto the floor, making a big mess. All she really wanted to do was rage and destroy things. She felt so stuck, so hopeless, so confused. But there was something else that was nagging at her.

Jina held a secret.

A secret she hadn't even shared with Sonya or Harriet. And based on the reactions from the girls when Josey freaked out, the slight seed of doubt in Harriet, she was absolutely certain she would never share her secret; The Glenn, the Maze, the Cabin- all of it... she had been here before- it was familiar. She didn't recognize it, but she felt it. Deep in her gut, an itch at the back of her skull- she knew. She had been here before.

So...maybe Beth was right. Maybe Josey was right. Maybe she was bad. Maybe she did work for the Designers at some point. She growled and kicked the stool, making it topple over. That didn't make sense either, because if she did work for them, why was she here? Stuck here in this crack hole without a memory- same as the others.

The door cracked open and Sonya and Flossie came in. Jina groaned. And now she felt sheepish at the mess she had made.

"Sorry about the mess....I was just-"

"Lettin' off some buggen' steam. We get it."

"I'm not one for violence-"

Jina snorted, she had seen Flossie get protective, and it was scary. She may be a seventy year old grandma at heart, but when the kitchen knives came out...watch out.

"Fine. I'm not one for unnecessary violence, I keep the peace...but that girl needed to be put in her place. She was messed in the head, way outta line. I swear the designers are messing with her."

Jina shrugged, racking her hand through her long hair- it needed to be cut. Sonya was looking around the room.

"Well do ya feel better now, Love?"

"No." Jina answered honestly. "I feel stuck. Like a rat inside a maze, going around and around. I feel like were being played with, and....and there's just SOMETHING we're missing and I don't know what it is! And it's driving me crazy!"

"Well there's nothin' new out there." Sonya sighed sadly. She sunk down on one of the other stools. Flossie wasn't a Mapper, but Leaders were aloud in the Mapp room; it's where they kept the weapons, so they all had a key. Flossie stepped carefully over the papers scattered over the floor and sunk down on another stool.

"Okay...how about you explain it to me and something might click. Or stand out."

Jina rolled her eyes. Flossie was always one to try and help, be the sunshine in the dark. Sonya perked up. She reached over and grabbed a pencil. She started to explain the maze workings. Jina stopped listening, she had heard this enough times, and it was ingrained into her head- it was familiar- even before she went into the maze for the first time. The changing walls, the different sections opening up, creating a pattern that was the same- no changes always the same sections, the same walls. Everything was repetitive, so that's how she knew they were missing something.

"JINA!" Sonya yelled.

"Huh? What? Yep, That's totally fetch."

"You weren't paying attention, off into buggen' space again. I asked if you could turn the big light on. It's dark in here" Sonya chuckled, she had got up and knelt down to clean up the paper mess.

"Oh...yeah. Ya sure." Jina climbed up onto the table, their chain had broke, and they were waiting for Yelena to find a new one so they could turn the light on probably. So in the meantime someone had to climb onto the table to reach the itty bitty string to pull the light bulb on.

Turning it on, the cement room flooded with warm light. Jina was about to hop off when she froze. "SONYA!" she shrieked. "DON'T MOVE!"

Sonya froze, a hand over the paper she was about to grab. "What?" She sputtered, "What's wrong?"

"Come up here! Right now! But don't touch anything!"

Sonya turned her head to look at Jina standing on the table. "Up there?"

"Yes." She nodded, her stomach was twisting and her mouth was dry. But her heart was slamming so hard in her chest it hurt. "Flossie, go grab Taylor! NOW!"

Flossie dashed out of the room, and Sonya slowly stood up and climbed up onto the table with her. "Okay, Ji, I'm on the finchen' table...now what?"

Jina pointed to the floor. "Look, at the papers. Tell me what you see?"

Sonya looked, and frowned. Her blond head tilting back and forth. "Ji, I don't- I don't see anything!" She tilted her head again and then gasped. "NO WAY!"

"RIGHT?" Jina cried.

"That's a letter! That's a clear as day letter!"

"But how does the letter B get into the middle of the maze walls?" Jina asked.

The door to the Map room opened. Taylor was looking at them, "Another spider?" she groaned.

"No!" Sonya cried, "Get your finch ass up here!"

Taylor gave them each a look, shrugged and climbed up onto the thick wood table. "Why?" She asked.

"Look! In the middle of the papers there....what do you see?"

"A mess."

"Hardy har har." Jina, laughed dryly. "Try again."

It took Taylor a few more minutes to figure it out. But she also gasped. "NO! HOW?"

"What if...what if we've been looking at the Maze wrong! What if instead of trying to solve the maze, find a clear exit out...its actually like a code?" Jina exclaimed, almost jumping in excitement.

"This is big!"

"But we only have one letter." Sonya frowned at he papers scattered everywhere.

"Ya...now we need to figure out how you found this letter!" Taylor said.

"I uhhh...threw paper on the floor?" Jina answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Well...lets go see how it's lined up-" Taylor said slowly, and Jina cut her off.

"-We have dates and numbers and the sections on each page. We'll start there."

"Exactly." Taylor nodded.

The three of them spent the rest of the evening and a good chunk of the night trying to work out how Jina got the letter. Jina finally grumbled and rubbed her eyes, "I'm so tired, my eyes are burning."

"Same."

"Yep."

"Let's go to bed. I'm sure they will be here tomorrow." Sonya yawned. She ushered the girls outside, Sonya and Taylor wandered back to The Cabin. Jina was locking up the Map room when something strange happened. It scared her so bad, her knees gave out.

Her head buzzed.

Not like a ringing in your ear, this was like a full vibration she felt in her skull. And then something, like a presence appeared inside her head. Not like she was being possessed, but she felt like someone else was inside her mind.

Jina

She yelped. Her head vibrated with the voice. Someone or something spoke in her head. She scrambled to her feet and pressed her back into the door, looking around frantically, making sure Liv wasn't trying to prank her or something. Her chest was rising and falling so fast it was starting to hurt.

Jina, Honey- I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I did. What they made me do.

"What the finch is going on?" She gasped.

Jina. Her head vibrated again, almost immediately, a little more urgently this time. A male tenor voice floated through her mind. It wasn't as startling as the first time. What shocked her was it felt comfortable. Familiar. It felt safe.

You're on the right track, Boss Lady. Help is coming. Just hold on.

This time instead of out loud, she yelled in her head, WHAT'S GOING ON?

It's Tommy...

Jina gasped, yelped and squeaked all at the same time. Who was this voice? Where was it coming from, so many questions. But the straight confession of love threw her mind for a loop.

What the finch?

Listen Ji, I don't have much time, but help is coming. And you're right, it's a code Ji, the maze is a code...everything is gonna change. Just hold on. I love you!

The vibrating stopped and the familiar presence was gone, leaving her shaking, confused and lonely. That voice- Tommy. The strange faceless Thomas, could they be the same? What weirded her out wasn't the fact a male voice spoke in her head, it was the fact it was familiar, comforting...and now she missed the mysterious voice who claimed to be Tommy, who might possibly be Thomas. She slid back down the door to sit on the grass.

"Tommy.." she whispered, she felt a deep ache in her chest. She was positive Thomas and Tommy were the same person. Jina didn't remember him, but she knew he meant a lot, she could feel it in her gut, in the way she felt like part of her was missing now. What about Minho? Who was he to her? He never buzzed her head...never heard his voice, but there was another piece of her missing. She placed her head on her knees and closed her eyes, she took a slow deep breath.

Then her head shot up and her eyes flew open. Tommy's voice had said the Maze was a code. She was right...she just needed to figure out what the code WAS. Too bad he didn't tell her. She didn't bother trying to talk to the voice. She knew it wouldn't work. The Designers would somehow know, and that's why he was so urgent- and didn't stay long.

A code...with letters, she had to try and figure it out. She scrambled to her feet opened the door again and went inside. She pulled more papers out of the trunk. They had gone through the ones on the floor already, trying to rearrange them to spell something, but there was no progress. But what if...she used other days, other sections...

It was slow work, she had papers scattered everywhere, and her hair was a mess from running her fingers through it, her eyes were blood shot and she had a slightly crazed look in her eyes. She banged her head on the table after another dead end.

"Tommy, that was the worst advice ever. You finch face- you couldn't have given me something useful?" She grumbled as her eyes slid closed.

< • >

She woke up when someone shook her. She shot up, arms flailing.

"Whoa whoa- slow down slugger. Sheesh!"

Jina peeled her eyes open, Harriet and Jill hovered over her with small smiles. Jill looked more relieved than anything. Harriet had worry lines and her mouth was pressed into a tight line.

"What? Where-how? Huh?" Jina rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was laying in her own bed inside the Cabin.

"The girls found ya passed out on the map table. You were muttering about codes and kept repeating those boys names. But you wouldn't wake up, you also had a fever- so they got a board from Yelena and some of the Muscles brought ya to see Jill, and we brought ya here. We're about to get the Blondie."

"Wait...it's mid morning?" Jina sputtered.

"Ya, girl you were out HARD." Jill said coming over to sit at the side of her bed. She held the back of her hand to Jina's forehead, "and your fever only broke about an hour ago."

"Would explain why I feel so...messed." Jina groaned. "I was supposed to go out into the Maze! Now I'm stuck for the finchen' Blondie!"

"Great." Harriet smiled sarcastically "You can help me with her."

"Not if she's like Liv or Josey!" Jina wrinkled her nose.

"Right you are." Harriet muttered. She sunk down onto Jina's bed.

Jill got up, "have a shower, get some breakfast from Flossie or Flo. Looks like you just overworked yourself." Jill nodded and then left Jina's room. Jina groaned and flopped backwards.

"You gonna tell me what actually happened?" Harriet asked, folding her arms and giving her a pointed look. Before she could there was a knock on the door. It opened and Sonya walked in.

"Ahh the dead lives." She chuckled. She flopped onto her bed on the other side of the room.

"Hardly. I thought you'd be in the maze."

"Well, with you outta buggen' commission, on Blondie day...we weren't sure how long you'd be out, so I stayed." Sonya shrugged. "Blondie's have been unchecked the last few months."

"She was gonna tell me exactly what happened." Harriet said sharply.

Jina felt guilty keeping secrets but she was nervous. She peeked out from under her arm. They both sat waiting for her to explain. She puffed her cheeks and then pushed herself up. She got up and started pacing. She did feel like she had just been sick. She rubbed her forehead trying to figure out how to explain this.

"Okay...you guys need to keep an open mind. And..."

"Ji. You've been with us for like a year, give ot take... If you were some Crackhead loonie, I'm sure we'd buggen' know about it." Sonya soothed.

Jina stopped walking and turned to look at them, and with a deadpan face said, "I heard a voice in my head."

"Ummm...Son? You were saying?" Harriet asked, raising an eyebrow. "What was that about not being a crackhead loonie?"

"I told you to keep an open mind!" Jina shot back. "Look, I don't understand it. But... after last night, after we were locking up the map room, I got like, this voice call- my head vibrated and I heard someone talking."

Sonya was sitting at the edge of her bed, rubbing her bottom lip thinking. Harriet frowned. Jina ran a hand through her hair and paced up and down her room.

"Okay...just listen and save your questions until the end..."

Jina told them about the maze code and how it's gotta be letters, formed by the shifting walls- how? She wasn't sure. And then the voice in her head and what it said. Well...not all of it. She kept who it was and the 'I love you' to herself. And his odd apology about someone forcing him to do something.

"So this voice....said help was coming?" Harriet asked.

"Yes." Jina nodded.

"And...we trust the voice in your head?" Harriet asked.

"Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?" Jina asked.

"No. No you haven't, love." Sonya said firmly. She stood up and placed both hands on Jina's shoulders. Jina looked up at her friend and room mate.

"You haven't once given us a reason to doubt. You're the best Mapper I have, you're the second in command when I'm not around, you're a leader Ji. And the girls follow you. And. If you said you're hearing some blokes voice in your head I believe you. I mean why not? We're sent up in a cage without our bloody finchen' memories. We got little lizard cameras that scurry around watching us. We live in the middle of a buggen' maze. Not the weirdest thing in the world."

Jina exhaled the breath she was holding. She didn't realize how nervous she was.

"So fetch." Harriet nodded solumly.

"If they say help is coming then help is coming!" Sonya nodded.

Jina nodded feeling grateful tears sting her eyes. "Thank you."

Sonya nodded. "Good. Now, go bloody shower and get some food. We'll see ya downstairs."

Jina grabbed some clean clothes and made her way to the shower. Some girls waved and asked if she was feeling better. And after a good shower and clean clothes she did. Tired. But she did feel better. She wiped the steam from the shower off the small cracked mirror and studied herself.

She was still short. But her time running the maze had made her muscly. Not big and beefy like the builders or Muscles...but she was built like a runner; strong and agile. She wasn't the only girl in the Glenn with Asian features, but hers were more distinct. Her eyes were dark and almond shaped, they held a deep sadness, they were framed in dark thick lashes that matched her black thick hair. Her lips were naturally pink, and the sun had given her pink cheeks. She had a dimple in one cheek when she smiled, but that was a rare occasion lately. The Griever that attacked her had given her quite a few scars, many of them puckered.

But thankfully none on her face, except for one; on the side of her face by her ear that went the length of her jaw. It was a thin white line. But that was from someone who was messed from the changing. The girl had gotten free from her bonds and attacked anyone who came near, like a feral animal. The girl had gotten a hold of Jill's scalpel and given her a nasty slice on the face.

She turned from the small mirror and left the shower stall. Flo gave her a muffin and an apple and a cup of coffee just as the Blondie alarm went off.

"Here we go again." Jina grumbled.

"Ah, come on ya Stick, let's go meet the Blondie." Flossie chuckled. Jina walked slowly between Flo and Flossie.

The cage clanged to a stop and it was quiet inside. Meg, the Lead Muscle helped Thea, the Lead Farmer open the cage. Jina didn't hear any crying, so she hopped down into the cage- still careful of her ankle. And slowly stood up.

Sitting in the corner her eyes wide in terror was a girl about seventeen. But what caught her attention was what was in her arms.

"What's going on down there?"

"Uhhh girls?" Jina called up, without taking her eyes off the Blondie. "We got two Blondies!"

There was instant chaos.

"ALL Y'ALL STUFF IT RIGHT NOW!" Harriet roared.

"What do ya buggen' mean two?"

"I mean...we got two Blondies....but uhh, that's not all. She looked up to see all the faces, "one's a Boy!"

< • >