INNOVATION -
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

⚘ THE MAP ROOM ⚘

They were coming. The Grievers were coming. It was only a matter of time before they arrived with their haunting mechanical whirl, and beady black eyes. The doors were the only thing that kept them safe, and now they were gone. The Glade wasn't safe anymore.

"I want her locked up." Alby barked, turning to two boys Kalisa didn't recognize. "Now. Billy! Jackson! Put her in the Slammer, and ignore every word that comes out of her shuck mouth."

Thomas stepped forward in protest. "What are you talking about? Alby you can't-," Alby sent the boy a glare so harsh it practically penetrated his body. "But how could you possibly blame her for the walls not closing?"

As much as Kalisa felt it was unfair, she couldn't help but hold a slight mistrut to the girl, especially after her confession. You could never be too careful, and until she had a solid reason to believe otherwise, Kalisa regaurded the girl with caution.

Newt moved forward to hold Alby back from getting in Thomas's face. "How could we not, Tommy? She admitted it herself."

Thomas and the girl looked at each other, sadness radiating off their bodies.

Well they bonded fast.

"Just be glad you ain't goin' with her Thomas." Alby spat before turning away and stalking back towards the Glade, most of the boys following after him.

Kalisa could only watch as Billy and Jackson came forward and grabbed the girl by the arms, pulling her in the direction of the Slammer.

Before they were out of earshot Kalisa called, "Don't let anyone touch her. Swear on your lives you won't." The boys hesitated, looking intimidated before nodding.

And then they were gone, taking the girl with them.

It was just Kalisa, Newt, and Thomas now. The latter looking off at where the girl once was longingly. But Kalisa had bigger problems to worry about.

"We need to prepare for the Grievers. Where do you want me?" She asked, turning to Newt.

They could survive this. She knew they could. With the right supplies, and weapons they could at least make it through the night, then the Runners could investigate the Griever Hole further and get them out.

Just one night.

    "Would you get some Gladers together to distribute flashlights? Tommy you help the Builders barricade the doors, we only have an hour so we better get a move on." Newt said, looking at the two nervously.

    "Barricade the doors? You're joking. That won't keep the Grievers out." Thomas frowned.

    Kalisa sighed in annoyance, "Of couse it won't Thomas. Do it anyways. It's better than just sitting around on your butt waiting for the Grievers to come find us."

    "You heard her," Newt gave a thin lipped smile that held no humour.

    As Kalisa turned to walk back to the Glade, Newt caught her arm and pulled her away from Thomas so he wouldn't overhear their conversation.

    "Distribute the flashlights quickly, then come find me. Theres something I need to show you." Newt muttered, eyes locked to her.

    "Okay," Kalisa whispered, noticing he still held onto her arm. Newt noticed as well and quickly dropped his hand.

    "I better go, lots to do..." He awkwardly backed away before pausing and turning back to see her. "Kali, be careful. Promise you will."

    "I will. I swear it."

༻✧༺

The flashlights were only to be used in emergency's, as a precaution. When night fell the Glade would go dark, or as dark as it could with the glow from the ceiling. Kalisa hoped the Grievers wouldn't be attracted to their base.

Every Glader would take shelter in the Homestead, and exactly at 7 they would barricade the doors, signaling the start to a long, horrific night.

Even now the Glade was filled with panic. Most Gladers resided with the Builders, though Gally's absence was notable. They built large obstacles by nailing random pieces of wood together, placing it carefully in front of each entrance of the Glade.

It was almost laughable. Everyone knew it didn't stand a chance against the Grievers. Their only hope was that the monsters would overlook their section and continue on their way.

But that wouldn't happen. Kalisa wasn't stupid, and as much as she would like to rest easy in a haze of optimism, she was a realist. The Grievers would find them. They would attack. It was only a matter of time.

Strangely, Kalisa didn't feel as fearful as she should have. Sweat still slicked her palms, and her heart still thudded loudly against her chest, but as she made her way across the Glade, handing its inhabitants the flashlights, her eyes were opened.

Each boy who faced her looked the same. Eyes filled with unmistakable, true terror. Shoulders tensed, jaws clenched. Every Glader was terrified, as they should be. But fear would get them no where. They needed to take a stand, and now Kalisa could see that if they weren't going to, then she would.

She was ready for the Grievers.

Once all the flashlights had been passed out, she prepared herself to find Newt as he had asked. But as she passed the Slammer Kalisa found her feet moving in their own direction, straying off track from the Homestead, and instead leading her to the jail.

    For a moment Kalisa stood in front of the bamboo bars, far enough away so that she couldn't see within, but close enough to hear the slow breathing from the girl inside.

    Not thinking her decision through, Kalisa moved forward and sat down in front of the bars, getting a clear view of the girl. She was curled up in a small ball against the far corner, arms wrapped protectively over her legs.

    The Slammer itself was small and dark, with only minimal space to move around. The only furniture was a wooden chair infested with splinters, though Kalisa had a feeling that even the smallest amount of weight would send it crumbling to the floor.

    The girl looked up when Kalisa cleared her throat awkwardly, blue eyes widening in panic, then relaxing. "Uh- hi?" She stated confused, taking in Kalisa's appearance.

    "Hey. I'm Kalisa," She greeted.

    "I'm... Teresa. Thats my name. Teresa." She said, face turning confident as she spoke.

    "It's nice to meet you Teresa, how are you doing so far? Sorry they locked you up, that wasn't fair. But honestly this is probably the safest spot for the night." Kalisa sighed, looking off at the open doors.

    "It's fine. Just disgusting in here, there's a lot of spiders." Teresa grimaced. "I'm surprised there aren't more girls here, how long have you been here?"

    Kalisa shrugged thinking hard. "I don't really know. Time is weird, especially now that the sky is gone. I think I've been here a couple months though."

    "Oh." Teresa went quiet and looked at the floor, clearly not having much to say.

    Kalisa decided to just get to the point. "Listen, if you need anything at all, you can ask me. I know you don't remember anything, and I know you're scared, but I'm here to help. I can answer your questions, show you around, introduce you to people... whatever you need."

    Teresa looked up again, an unidentifiable look on her face. "You would do all that for me? Why?"

    "-I don't know, I feel like it's the least I can do. I was in your position once, and I know how intimidating everything can be, especially when you feel like you have no one to turn to. Of course you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. I get it," Kalisa backtracked, maybe she overstepped coming here. Maybe the girl wasn't interested in making friends.

    She was quiet for a moment before saying, "If you want to know the truth I remember a few things. Like voices... and a big building with machines and doctors. Don't tell anyone but- I even remember a few of the boys here. Every person I see rings a bell, it's vague, but I know I've met them before." Teresa met her eyes. "But not you."

    "I have a strange feeling about you. I can't place it but I feel like I'm not supposed to like you." Teresa stated plainly causing Kalisa's face to morph into an offended expression. "Everything's just so confusing. I can't make sense of my past. Who I used to be. It's all blurred together... and the feelings I get aren't absolute. But I think that whoever you are- I can trust you. I want to trust you."

    That was... a lot. Kalisa suddenly had very mixed feeling about the girl. Firstly she had memories which automatically meant she was different from the other Gladers. But they already knew that.

    Secondly she plainly stated she didn't think she was supposed to trust her.

    What did that even mean?

    They were all in the same boat now. They were all trapped in this deadly Maze. Trust was the only thing keeping the Gladers together. They were all they had. The only sense of family they had ever known.

    "Sorry if that sounded weird. I don't know why I remember stuff, or why I wouldn't be able to trust you." Teresa gave a sheepish smile. "You seem very nice, I can see why Thomas likes you."

    Kalisa sighed and shrugged, deciding to just give the girl some grace and move on. "It's fine. The first few days are always the hardest."

    They were quite a second longer before Kalisa broke it. "So you and Thomas... remember each other?"

    Teresa shrugged. "I don't know. I wouldn't say I remember him- but there's something there. I think we were friends."

    "Well I'm glad you have each other. And I swear you can trust me, we're all on the same team now." Kalisa stood up. The doors were gonna shut soon and she had wasted enough time already. "I gotta go, there's some things I need to get done. But about tonight, you don't need to be afraid. Just stay low and be quiet. The Grievers won't find you over here."

    Teresa looked uneasy, "Thanks Kalisa. Visit me again tomorrow, I want to keep talking."

    Kalisa felt herself smile despite everything that had commenced. "I'll be here."

    As she turned away from the Slammer Kalisa felt satisfied. The conversation hadn't gone exactly as she had hoped, but one good thing had come out from it.

    She finally had another girl to talk to.

༻✧༺

    When Kalisa found Newt, he was inside the Homestead, giving orders to slacking Gladers. Stress was clear on his face, but he tried to keep it contained, putting up a strong front for the nervous boys surrounding him.

    When he caught sight of her his demeanor shifted into one of relief. "Kali there you are. Did you get all the flashlights passed out?"

    "Yeah, we should be all good." Kalisa nodded falling into line with Newt as he broke away from the group that surrounded him. They left the Homestead in a hurry, time was running out.

    "Good, listen- what I'm about to show you is a secret okay? You can't tell anyone." Newt said, suddenly turning serious. "The only people who know are you, me, and Minho. Not even Alby."

    Kalisa began to feel uneasy, and from the look on Newt's face she didn't do a very good job at hiding it. "After the Changing he's unstable. We don't know if he can handle it."

    The two stopped suddenly in front of the Map Room. Newt looked around once before turning the wheel on the door and entering.

    A musty smell was the first thing that greeted Kalisa. She wrinkled her nose and scanned her blue eyes over the room, taking the unfamiliar scene in.

    It was a small room with a low roof that caused Newt to duck his shoulders in order to not bump his head. Kalisa could luckily stand straight without struggle, she moved further in, noticing Minho was leaning against one of the walls impatiently.

    "There you shanks are, 'bout time you showed up." The Runner greeted.

    In the middle of the room was a large wooden table, and surrounding them was dozens of wooden boxes, each sealed shut.

    "They're the Maps. Of the Maze." Newt explained, shutting the door and moving over to stand in between Minho and herself.

    "Alby said to protect them. Now we don't know exactly what he meant, but we can't ignore something like that." Newt continued, lifting one of the boxes onto the table and opening it, revealing marked paper with routes and turns written down in a messy scrawl.

    "So... you want us to guard them or something?" Kalisa questioned, trying to understand.

    "Not exactly."

    "We're gonna hide the Maps. We have fake ones that we'll leave here as a distraction, just incase. But the real Maps are gonna be somewhere only the three of us know." Minho interjected.

    "The Weapons Room." Newt explained. "It's in the basement of the Homestead. Only Minho has the keys."

    "Why do you want my help?" Kalisa questioned, remembering Teresa's statement about trust.

    "Because you're one of the only shanks here with any sense of survival. We've all seen it, Winston raves about your weapon skills, you took a knife to Newts throat, you have perfect aim. If anyone can protect the Maps it's us." Minho said, giving her a lazy smirk.

    "We know we can rely on you Kali. Will you help us?" Newt bore his eyes into hers.

    Kalisa didn't even hesitate. "Of course I will. How much time do we have?"

    Minho checked his watch. "Not a lot. We better hurry if we wanna get this done before the Grievers come."

    They set to work immediately. The job was simple once it was divided between the three. Newt and Kalisa were in charge of planting the fake Maps in the room, while Minho took the real boxes full of the papers to the Weapons Room.

They were quiet while they worked, the stress of the Grievers arrival encouraging them to move faster. Soon it would be time to for all the Gladers to hide out within the Homestead. In just minutes they would be in peril danger.

"Are you scared?" Kalisa asked Newt suddenly, unable to listen to her own thoughts.

"Yes." He responded immidiently. "I'm terrified. But we've done everything we can, now we just need to have faith."

He sighed and set a stack of paper down, moving to stand beside her. "We can make it through this."

"I hope you're right." Kalisa's voice sounded weak to her own ears. Any confidence she'd once had crumbled in Newt's intimate presense. She could be vulnerable around him.

"I won't let anything happen to you." Newt said softly, hesitating before grasping her hand.

Kalisa faced him, not letting go. "It's not me I'm worried about."

Kalisa could feel her blood pulsing through her skin. She could feel her heart beating wildly through her chest. Suddenly, the world went quiet, and she became aware of every little detail she had missed before.

The wood that built the walls around them was caked with dirt and moss. There were 4 candles lighting the room, casting them into an orange glow. The paper that made the Maps wasn't white, more of an aged yellow color. But Kalisa didn't focus on the new revelations. All she saw was Newt. The way his eyes softened, the way his head had to duck to see her properley, the way he had let go of her hand and now held her waist.

Time stopped. Kalisa leaned forward, her own eyes shifting from Newt's brown, nearly black iris's, to his set, full lips.

They were only centimeters apart when the Map room's door burst open, and Minho barged inside.

They leapt apart, Newt's retreating warmth leaving her cold. "Woah! Am I interrupting something?" Minho jumped, before wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Neither of them answered, too flushed to meet each other's eyes. "Anyways, have you guys finished planting the fake Maps yet? Or were you too busy staring lovingly into one another's eyes?" Minho smirked, clearly enjoying this.

Newt slapped him on the arm in annoyance. "Slim it, and yes. We finished planting the Maps."

"Good, I've hid the real ones and locked the door. No one will find them." Minho nodded in satisfaction.

"It's almost 7." Kalisa said, noticing the time from Minhos watch. "We should head to the Homestead."

The three basked in their emotions for a second. Feeling the nerves, the fear. These last few seconds spent together might be their final moments of peace.

"Well," Newt broke the silence first. "Let's head over. The Grievers won't wait for us."

And with that happy thought they left the Map Room behind, crossing the dull, grey, Glade and stopping in front of the Homestead.

"Everyone inside! Now!" Newt yelled, voice echoing through the Glade. There were only a few stragglers left by the Gardens, but when they heard Newt call they wasted no time rushing over.

The last boy to enter the building was Thomas, out of breath from running over from wherever he had been. Kalisa had a suspicion he was with Teresa.

Newt scanned the Glade one last time before shutting the door, closing away the fresh air for what may be the last time.

Hey guys, hope you liked this chapter! Thank you all so much for 714 reads ah!! I can't believe it. This chapter was a bit delayed cause I've been pretty busy with school, work, dance, and friend drama which sucks. Also I highly recommended NOT being a waitress if you can help it, I don't enjoy it at all ✨. Hopefully the next part will be up soon, and it'll probably be my longest chapter by far! Happy reading!

1/24/23

2990 words