The next morning I was sitting alone at the table drinking my coffee and contemplating life, life in the Glade, life in the maze. I'm not sure what's going to happen. We had known there was no way out for a while now. We kept it quiet. The others didn't need to know. Minho, me and Alby were the only ones who knew there was no escape. The runners also knew, I'm sure they did, we just never told them.

I woke up in a good mood, even though my fears and my past came slamming back hard. Minho was so sweet about it last night.
We still fell asleep snuggled together, and he kept reminding me that just because we haven't crossed that line yet doesn't invalidate our relationship. He kept reminding me he was in this for more than the physical stuff. It was just bonus.

I was staring off into nothingness, but my senses were always on and I heard footsteps.

"Don't even try it Baby Shank." I warned.

"Dang! Jessie how'd you know it was me?"

"'Cause I know everything. And you brought the shucken Greenie!"

"You got some crazy skills." Chuck plunked down beside me. And the Greenie sat across for us. I narrowed my eyes. This guy stared without shame. It was annoying.

"Would you cut that klunk out? I'm not an animal in the zoo." I snapped.

"Where'd you go last night?"

"Away from you."

"But where?"

"Off..." I waved my hand.

He frowned, and pulled his eyebrows together. He was looking at me as if I was a puzzle.

"I heard stories about you." He challenged.

"They're probably not true."

"Really?"

"I'm much worse."

Chuck was sniggering beside me. I gave the Greenie a twisted smile. And picked up my coffee and took a sip. The Greenie looked so confused and frustrated.

"So...what's out there?" He asked, looking past me and to the walls.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself about."

"But you know!"

"If course I do. Better then anyone."

"But you won't tell me?" He huffed.

"You know the answer already."

He threw his hands into the air. This greenie was going to be a handful. I watched him for a moment. His eyes flicked all over the places, like he was trying to figure out how the maze worked from the picnic table. He was curious, and wasn't happy with the answers like everyone else. He didn't accept the answers, always challenging the answers.

"So...." He finally shook his head and looked back at me.

I rolled my eyes. This Greenie was going to be the death of me. He was trying to make small talk.

"Some crazy skills ya got Jess!" Chuck grinned, "I doubt anyone will try anything on you!"

"Have the idiots left you alone?'

"Yeah. Since you kicked the crap out of those builders... I mean Dug is still...Dug..."

"Yeah he's on my hit list." I growled, "but your good? No nightmares anymore?"

Chuck shook his head, making the curls bounce. I nodded in satisfaction. I turned back to my coffee and the Greenie was staring at me again.

"What is your shucken problem?"

"I don't understand you."

"Good."

"You're mean and rude...but now you're beating up bullies and being kind to Chuck.."

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "And your shucken point, Greenie?"

"I wanna know the real you. And it's not Greenie!"

"It's Greenie all month. And you don't get to know the real me."

"I have a name."

"Greenie."

"Thomas."

"Greenie. Or shank."

"Are all girls like this?" He asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Like what?"

"Stubborn but beautiful?"

"Dude. You got a death wish!" Chuck gasped, leaning away from them slightly. I gave him such a glare he paled slightly.

"I told you yesterday. Stay the shuck away from me."

"Why? Do I make you nervous?" He asked raising an eyebrow and a smirk on his face.

I looked back at him horrified. I slowly looked back at Chuck who looked just as shocked.

"This shank serious?" I asked.

"Apparently."

"Next time you come see me, leave the idiot behind."

"Guys? I can hear you!" Greenie, whose name is apparently Thomas pouted.

"He seriously has a death wish!" Chuck winced.

"Well time for me to go." I downed the rest of my coffee. Slammed the mug down and got up.

"Wait! You're leaving?"

I turned, looking over my shoulder with a scowl.

"I have a job to do Greenie."

I turned and walked away, towards the Map room. To my horror the Greenie got up and followed me.

"Where ya going?"

"Away."

"Can you tell me something about yourself?"

"Sure."

"Wait... really?"

"Yeah. I don't like you."

He opened his mouth but closed it again. He frowned. He was quiet for a moment and then jumped back into questions.

"What's it like being the only girl?"

"Great. I have my pick of all the guys."

"What?"

"I sleep around Greenie, a different guy each week."

He looked at me like I was serious. I exhaled with frustration.

"Are you going to answer any of my questions without a sarcastic comment?"

"Don't like the sarcasm? Don't ask stupid questions."

I got to the map room opened the door. He tried to follow me, I turned and held a hand up.

"Nope. Only Runners. Go away." I snapped.

He was trying to look into the room, twisting his head around. I felt Minho step up behind me. His sudden appearance made the Greenie take a step back. Minho reached around me and slammed the door shut on the Greenies face. The moment the door was closed I turned with a groan and placed my forehead on his shoulder.

"I don't like the Greenie. He won't leave me alone!"

"I'm sure he's harmless." Minho wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest.

I pressed my face into his shoulder, my words came out muffled. "I don't care. It's annoying and I hate it."

"Want me to do something about it?" His hand slid up and down my back.

"Well I've contemplated murder..."

"Not what I had in mind." Minho chuckled.

"Then I'm out of ideas." I shrugged pulling away.

"Well he held his own pretty good in the sand pit last night."

"Who was he fighting? Chuck?"

"Ha. No it was Gally."

I just hummed. I didn't want to say it, but if he impressed Minho a bit, then he must have been half decent. But I didn't want to say it out loud. I just placed my forehead back on his chest.

•×•

I turned another corner. I was paired with Ben. I internally grumbled. But I knew it was either Minho or me on the day after Greenie bonfire. But Minho wanted to check section 7 again. So it was me and Ben in section 4. Four is a relatively easy section, and because Ben was still hungover from the party he couldn't keep up with Minho in 7. You needed to be on your A game.

Ben wasn't as bad as last month. But it was still annoying that he was slow sluggish and cranky.

"Would you move it? Greenie could run faster than you!" I yelled.

"Oh shut up!" He snapped back.

"I'll shut up when you pick up the shucken pace."

He grumbled behind me. I just rolled my eyes and kept going. If he was gonna act like this I'd just leave him behind.

"So? After you threw some knives at your boyfriend...did you get some last night?"

"Ben. One and only warning."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Why are you so upright about it?"

I kept running, ignoring him. Or at least trying to. Ben took my silence as an open invitation to keep talking. He kept talking and I ran faster. I was now half a hall in front of him. And now he was shouting.

"Come on Jessie!"

I took a left and scrambled to a stop. A Griever was standing at the end of the hall. It's back was towards me, so it hadn't seen me. I spun around and went back, Ben was still talking. I sprinted towards Ben.

"Wait! Jessie! I was just teasing! Come on!" He yelled as I got closer. I collided with him, shoving him into the ivy and slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Shh. There's a shucken Griever." I hissed.

His eyes went wide and his face paled. I slowly peeled my hand from his mouth.

"Shut the shuck up." I hissed again.

I stood frozen, my eyes closed and using my hearing. I heard the mechanical hum and whirring. It was only now that I felt a small sliver of fear. I didn't want anither encounter with a Griever. Being stung for a third time didn't sound fun.

I opened my eyes and looked at Ben. I indicated with my head to go back down the hall. We turned and started down the hall. Ben was panicking and wasn't watching what he was doing or where he was going. He tripped over his own feet and stumbled, he yelled as he fell, landing with a thud. I froze. Waiting. Waiting to see if the Griever was going to follow the noise.

I was not disappointed.

The whirring got louder. The long metal legs stabbed into the stone ground, carrying the big blubbery mechanical body with it. It opened its mouth with knives as teeth and shrieked.

It had found its pray. I grabbed Ben's backpack and hefted him to his feet. I shoved his back.

"Run!"

He took off. I was on his heels. The Griever screamed again and gave chase. We had to make it back. I don't know what was going on, but I felt afraid. I never used to be. What changed? I didn't have time to think, it was run over or die. Or stung...I didn't want a third time.

I heard the mechanical screaming behind me. I shoved Ben again making him run faster. We took a right turn, Ben skidding a little, but he recovered.

"Let's go! Move!" I screamed.

I don't think Ben heard anything at this point. His fear had taken over. His eyes were dilated and his mouth was open in a silent scream. He was moving his feet, but just not as fast as the situation called for. I had to pull him along. If this kept up, we would both be dead.

I took another turn, Ben right beside me. And the Griever was even closer now. It was like it was playing with us; not fully catching up. I knew Grievers were fast, and I knew we weren't running at top speed thanks to Ben's hangover. With a growl of frustration I shoved him again.

We were sprinting, for longer than one should, but there was no option to slow down. Run...run faster...keep running....

The Griever chased us for what felt like hours. We were almost back. Almost to the safety of the Glade. That's when the Griever decided it was done playing. It sped up and lunged forward. I felt it coming. I grabbed Ben's backpack and pulled him down with me. We hit the stone floor hard. Ben screamed. The Griever screamed. It lunged over us. Grievers are big heavy, deadly and fast. But they weren't very agile. So while it turned around I untangled myself from Ben and pulled out a smaller knife and the long one I kept on my hip.

Ben scrambled to his feet behind me. He seemed to be frozen again.

"Ben!" I screamed at him. I saw his eyes dart to mine, "you do exactly what I say and you'll live ."

He just stood staring, paralyzed in fear.

"Ben! Do you understand?"

He slowly nodded. I nodded back. The Griever finally managed to turn around. It screamed at us again.

"I'll distract it, you run along the wall and keep going."

I didn't wait for him to nod it see if he understood. I just ran. I ran towards the Griever. With a yell of my own I put on a burst of speed. I veered towards the wall and sprung, using the wall as leverage, I pushed off. Twisting in mid air I threw the one knife, hitting it right in the eye. I landed on the floor, like a cat. I saw a flash of movement in the other side of the hall. Ben managed to get past the Griever, while its head was focused on me.

Ben kept going. I ducked under one leg that was trying to immpaile me. Blocking the tail with my longer knife, I twisted away and was now behind the Griever. I took off after Ben. Almost to the Glade.

We only had a few seconds head start. The Griever caught up with us again. I shoved Ben out of the way of the claw. He hit the ground and skidded. The claw clipped my shoulder as it whipped back around. I felt it rip into my skin. Cursing wildly, I swung the knife, managing to deflect the leg that shot out. But the claw smacked me. Sending me into the wall. I heard my head make contact with it and everything went fuzzy and silent. I fell in a heap, my knife clattered to the floor.

I tried to pick myself up, but everything was shaking and uncoordinated. I shook my head trying to shack the fuzzy blackness from my vision. I couldn't hear. The only thing I could hear was the thumping of blood flow in my ears. I got up onto my hands and knees. I reached a shaking hand out for the handle of my knife. My fingers closed around it and I tried to get up as fast as I could. The ground kept moving and I was seeing double.

The Griever has forgotten about me at the moment, it was focused on Ben. Who was scrambling away from it on his back, while the Griever slowly approached, teasing him, making him cry and whimper.

I had to used two hands to hold the knife they were shacking so bad. I stumbled forwards just as the claw grabbed Ben. I stabbed down, and ripped it's blubbery flesh. The Griever screamed. It dropped Ben into the ground, withering in pain. He had been stung.

The Griever turned with another scream and took off back down the hall, away from us. I stood confused. My vision in and out of focus. A scream of pain brought me back. Slowly turning I saw Ben twitching and screaming on the ground.

"Sorry about this..." I muttered and slammed the hilt of my knife into his head. He stopped screaming and twitching. He was out cold. Easier to get back to the Glade without him fighting me. I got unsteady to my feet and heaved Ben's unconscious body up and started back to the Glade.

It was very slow going. My shoulder was covered in blood, I felt it dripping down my arm. My vision was worse. At least I knew the maze like the back of my hand. So I just followed the map in my head. Two more turns. My stomach felt like emptying itself. Bile kept burned my throat. I was staggering and stumbling. Ben was heavy.

One more turn. Now the home stretch. I couldn't walk in a straight line. My head was pounding so hard. It felt like hammers inside my skull. It made my vision worse. The blackness around the edges was spreading. I was gasping and sweating. I had to clamp my mouth closed a few times, I didn't want to throw up now.

Someone saw me staggering in the hall. They came running as I crossed into the safety of the Glade. I collapsed. Ben came with me. My vision was so dark and clouded I couldn't figure out who skidded to a stop beside me.

"Hey! What happened!"

"Newt ...Alby... Minho..."

"Newt and Alby are in their way. Minho....I don't think is back yet. What happened?"

I rolled over scrambling to my hands and, finally loosing the fight not to throw up. At this point it was just water and bile.

"Griever." I whispered before I collapsed back down. Whoever it was, caught me before I fit the ground again. My eyes slid closed. Succumbing to the darkness.