“So what happened to him?”

“It's called ‘The Changing’. It's what happens when someone gets stung,” Alby informed Thomas. “Listen. We haven't been able to get a clear word out of Ben since it happened. He's not making any sense. And it's only gonna get worse. The infection is spreading. He's dangerous. What did he say to you?” Alby asked the boy.

“He said he saw me. . .and that this was all my fault. How could this be my fault?” Thomas asked confused. He was more confused now.

“Get some rest,” Alby said to Thomas.

“Alby?”

“Yeah?”

“What's gonna happen to him?” Thomas asked. Alby looked at Thomas and he sighed. “He will be taken care of.”

Alby walked over to where Chuck and Amelia was seated. Thomas looked at the girl who was getting cleaned up by Clint the med-jack. His eyes drifted to the pit where Gally and some builders were guarding Ben. What would happen to him?

Alby stopped beside Amelia and he smiled. “This is just not your week, is it?” Alby joked and Amelia chuckled but winced when she felt pain shoot through her.

“What is it?” Clint asked.

“I fell on my back but Ben jabbed me in the ribs,” Amelia asked and she lifted the side of her shirt to reveal her bruised side. “Did he hit you that hard?” Clint asked.

“Would it look like this if he didn't?” the girl asked and Clint rolled his eyes. He crouched down and traced his finger over her ribs which made her wince. “Clint!”

“Sorry." He looked at Alby and Chuck. “We don't have anything for bruises so you'll have to deal with it until it heals.”

Amelia ran her hand through her hair. “That's good, I guess.”
She looked up at Alby and said, “There's something I need to tell you.”

Clint and Chuck nodded and moved away from them so they could talk. Alby sat down beside the girl. Amelia looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them.
“Alby, the grievers, they're now roaming around the maze during the day.”

“What?”

“I had encountered two yesterday. I was able to avade them but I did not think they'd still be roaming during the day,” Amelia said in a hushed whisper. Alby glanced around. “Did you inform Minho?”

“Yes, he had suggested that from now on he and I should be the only ones to go out into the maze,” Amelia informed him. Alby nodded with agreement. “That's good. Let's keep this between us for now.”

“Alby, something is going on. They're planning something,” Amelia said referring to the people who put them in the maze. The grievers had only appeared at night, never the day, that was why it was easy for them to roam the maze during the day without much worry.

Alby stood up. “You should rest for the next week. You should stay inside the Glade.”

“We cannot send Minho out there alone. He knows the maze the best but he can't go alone,” Amelia told him. She could tell he had a lot of things running through his mind. It has been so hard on him.

Alby looked at the entrance to the maze. “He won't go alone. You should go change your shirt. We'll be sending Ben off in a while. Get ready.” Alby walked away from her and she sighed. Alby felt like they were his responsibility. He cannot lose another one.

* * *

Minho looked at Amelia when she stopped beside him. The two shared the same look. They should have been more careful. When she had told him, they should not have allowed Ben to go out into the maze. Luckily, the other runner came back completely fine.

Amelia looked at Ben who looked at them with terror in his eyes. Ben was her friend and now he was getting send into the maze. She had watched many of her friends die and it hurts more every time.

“Just listen to me. Just, please, listen to me!” Ben begged them. “Please, Minho! Alby!” Ben begged as he looked up at them.

“Lia! Lia, please!” he looked at her with begging eyes. She looked away from him. He tried to reach her but Gally stepped in front of her.

“No, please. Please, don't. Please, don't do it! Ben begged them. He cried out for them to not to do it. His worst fear had been being in the maze alone. He had once told her that and his worst fear wasn't coming true.

They stared at him as they waited for the doors to start closing. When they heard it Alby yelled out, “Poles, move in!”

Amelia pulled Chuck back and turned him away. She did not want him to see Ben being pushed into the maze.
“No, no, no! Please! No, please! Please, don't! I can get better!” he screamed as he gets pushed passed the doors.

“Please, just listen to me! Please, stop, please!” Ben cried out.

“Push him in!” Alby said.

Amelia closed her eyes when he cried out her name when the door start to close.
“Lia! Please!”
Thomas looked at the girl who held on to Chuck.

“I'll get better!” Ben kept on yelling as he ended up on the other side of the doors. Amelia opened her eyes to look at Ben one last time before they door completely closed.

“He belongs to the maze now,” Alby said to Thomas. The Gladers walked away from the door leaving Amelia, Chuck and Thomas.

“Do you think he might make it?” Thomas asked Amelia. The girl looked at him and she shook her head.

“Ben? No. No one survives a night in the maze. We just gotta forget about him,” Chuck said to Thomas. That was how they moved forward. They don't live in the past.

* * *

Amelia had decided to cook for the boys. She had prepared spaghetti bolognese. It had been the only thing that she knew by heart how to make. She did not need to remember how to make it. Muscle memory seemed to work for her. Frypan prepared the spaghetti while she prepared the bolognese. They all sat around the fire ashthey ate their food, mourning Ben.

They only had that moment to mourn Ben and then they had to move on. That was what they did. Gally prepared his famous drink and they enjoyed themselves. Amelia could not enjoy herself. The immense guilt she felt that it was her fault was too big. She could not eat her dinner at all.

Thomas sat down beside the girl noticing how spaced out she was. He could see she had a lot of her mind.

“Amelia.”

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked to the boy beside her. “Huh? Oh, hey Thomas. What's up?” Amelia asked as she regained herself. Thomas shook his head.
“I just wanted to check on you and know if you're alright.”

Amelia smiled and she nodded. “I am alright, don't worry.” It happens a lot. She wanted to add that. They had lost more people than she had ever thought they would.

“Is it not weird being the only girl among the boys?” Thomas asked as he looked around. Amelia looked at her friends and she chuckled. If she had arrived later, it would have felt weird to her but it's just became natural with how comfortable she felt with them.

“Not really. I had been the second to arrive so you could say I'm more comfortable around them,” Amelia told Thomas. “They all came after me so I basically taught them everything they now know.”

“Almost like a mom.”

She laughed, nodding. “Yes, like a mom of fifty seven boys.”

Thomas' eyes drifted to Gally who leaned against the tree staring at them. Thomas had wondered if Gally was Amelia's boyfriend. He knew Newt liked her but he had explained that it was much more complicated than that. He was curious to know about that.

“Is Gally your boyfriend?”

Amelia felt attacked with how straightforward that question was and how fast he changed the subject. “Sorry that felt rude with how straightforward that was.”

“Oh, it's okay,” Amelia said with a small giggle. “Uh, yes Gally is my boyfriend.”

He looked over at Newt and frowned. “And Newt? Do you know that Newt likes you?”

“Yes, I know. He is my boyfriend as well.”

Thomas frowned as he stared at the girl. “Wait, what? You have two boyfriends?” he asked shocked. He seemed more shocked by this information than he did when he learned of the maze. “Yes, we're in a relationship.”

“The three of you?”

“Yes, we are in a relationship.”

Thomas tilted his head. It seemed he did not quite understand what she meant by that. He scratched the back of his head with a confused look which made her chuckle because of how adorable he looked. He looked just as adorable as Chuck whenever she tried to explain it to him.

“It really is not that complicated.”

“I know it is just. . .I did not expect it.”

“Me neither to be honest.”

“No offense to what I am about to say, I understand why you'd fall for Newt but Gally? How?” Thomas asked bewildered. Amelia was a sweet girl and she matched Newt perfectly. How did she fall for a guy like Gally?

“Gally is actually a really sweet guy, Thomas. You have only seen one side of him.”

“The I'm-going-to-mess-with-you-because-I-am-an-asshole side?” Thomas asked and Amelia nodded. “Yes, that side. If you gave him a chance, you would grow to like him and you two would gain mutual respect for each other.”

“Yeah but he needs to stop being an asshole.”

“And you need to stop being so reckless then maybe he wouldn't be one,” Amelia joked and Thomas sighed. “I will try and have you decided on where you'll put me.”

“Not yet. I wanted to let you go through the jobs like everyone else and see which one you like but that is not going to be an option seeing as you're dead set on being a runner.” Most Gladers who did not know what job they wanted had tried every job there was in the Glade until they found the one they belonged with. It was different with Thomas, he wanted to be a runner.

“Then why don't you just make me one?”

“You can't just become one that easily. You need to pass the fitness test. You need at least three weeks of training before we even think of letting you in the maze,”Amelia said. She was sort of lying to him. Most runners go into the maze with only one week of training with Minho so they can take in the place.

“Three weeks? That's too long.”

“Too long? Do you want to go outside now?” Amelia sighed, shaking her head. “Not right now but eventually.”

“If you want to be a runner you have to be patient. If you don't have patience, then you have a better chance of becoming a slicer with Winston,” Amelia said gesturing to Winston and the Slicers.

Thomas seemed like the perfect candidate to become a runner but at the moment she did not want to make him one. He was reckless and she did not want to risk losing him too.

A shadow overcasted the two and they looked up to see Gally in front of them. Thomas looked at Amelia before he nodded at Gally.

“That is my cue to go.”
He stood up and walked over to the fire while Gally took his seat beside Amelia.
Amelia smiled and she looked at Gally. “Was that really necessary?” she asked him and he just shrugged.

“What were you two talking about?”

“Oh. Nothing much. He just wanted to know some things,” she answered. Gally waited for her to tell him what it was but she didn't. “What were those things he wanted to know?”

“It's nothing, Gally,” Amelia said with a slight smile. She had already sensed Gally didn't like Thomas that much and she wasn't about to make him dislike Thomas even more.

“Hmm. Okay.”