ACT I SCENE XI
HELENES

   "SHE'S A GIRL!"

The curly-haired boy stared up at her, mouth agape in astonishment. Cassandra tilted her head to the side in bewilderment before glancing at Newt who sighed in resignation. "Yes, Chucky, she's a girl," he responded.

"Look at the little runt." Minho laughed. "Dude, the Creators have lost their minds. He's a Slopper!"

Cassandra frowned and crossed her arms. "Don't be mean, he's just a kid."

"An annoying kid," Newt muttered under his breath.

"But she's the only girl, right?" Chuck asked again.

"I take it back, he should be a detective," Minho guffawed and Cassandra swatted at him.

"Why is she the only girl?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Newt retorted and Cassandra shot the blonde a look. He sighed once more. "We don't know why she's the only girl," he corrected himself. "But she's different from the rest of us, she can remember things."

"Whoa!" the boy exclaimed. "Seriously?! What do you remember?"

"Nothing good," she muttered, turning her gaze away. "You don't seem all that scared to be here."

"Oh, believe me, he was," Newt scoffed. "It took us an hour to coax him out of the Box. Definitely a new record."

Chuck looked down in embarrassment and Cassandra instantly regretted having said anything at all. She quickly added that most Greenies were terrified on their first day—that Frankie sulked in corners for days. Chuck gave her a small grateful smile for that. After dinner, she made sure he had somewhere to sleep and gave him the extra clothes that came up with him from the Box.

"You and Minho look so cool," the boy was telling her.

She laughed. "Really?"

"You guys go out into the Maze, right?" he asked. "And Minho is like your leader, right? You guys are so cool."

"Yeah, but don't say that out loud in front of him. His shucking ego is big enough as is."

Chuck grinned and guffawed at her joke. Minho then popped his head around a beam and leaned against it with a hand on his hip. He smirked in amusement. "Hey, Cassie. You gonna kiss him good night or what?"

She sighed in exasperation but left Chuck to his own devices. They slept on the grass that night because it was cooler. Minho talked to her about the Maze patterns; that he'd found a spot in each sector that never changed and he wanted to start checking them out the next day. She listened to him chatting away until he eventually dozed off.

Her lids started to close and she had almost fallen asleep when she felt something brush against her. Cassandra opened her eyes, blinking a few times before focusing on the back of a figure that was walking away. It was Nick. He was heading in the direction of the Map Room. She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around, but the Glade remained still.

Curious, she picked herself off the ground and followed after him. The night was quiet and felt unnaturally still, as if the very air was holding its breath. She finally reached the Map Room and turned the handle of the door to pull it open. Nick looked up, startled—then gave a sheepish grin when he saw her.

"Shuck, am I that bad at being sneaky?" he chuckled. "Yesterday it was Newt, the day before that was Alby. Now you."

Cassandra stepped inside and closed the door. She walked over to his side and peered at the maps that littered the table. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He waved a hand. "What do you think? Trying to find a way out." He let out a long sigh, then slammed his fists down on the table. The dull thud seemed to echo around the room. "If only we could find a hint. Just even a tiny one—"

Cassandra watched as he shook his head in dismay. His lips curled with anger, eyes heatedly glaring at the sketches before him.

"We'll find a way out, I'm sure of it, and—"

"And what?" he asked. "What do you think will happen to us when we get out?"

"Maybe they'll throw us a huge party. We'll eat cake and pizza," she said dryly.

He managed a small chuckle at that. His gaze softened as it turned to her and he straightened himself. Cassandra stared into his olive eyes, haunted by the eerie certainty that she'd seen them before—like flickering frames from a half-burned film reel.

His voice was low and cracked. "You've seen it, haven't you? You know what I'm talking about, what's waiting for us outside this Maze."

She swallowed the lump in her throat and exhaled. "I know..." she whispered. "But what else can we do but survive?"

"Survive..." he scoffed. "I guess that's one way to put it..." He gave another weary sigh. "We've survived worse, anyway, right?"

Cassandra frowned, blinking hard as she looked at him. "We...?" she questioned. A low hum sliced through the silence, rising into a shrill, earsplitting static. Then came the flashes—images that struck like lightning: a car engulfed in flame, smoke searing her throat, blood on her hands, a knife clenched tight. Her legs buckled as the shrieking in her ears escalated into a scream only she could hear.

"Ugh, my head—" she cried out, hand grasping at her hair. Her body started to tremble, her breaths becoming shallow. The edges of her vision started to grow dark.

"Cass?" Nick reached out for her just as her knees buckled. She looked up at him, eyes feverish and unfocused. Her fingers grasped hold of his shirt, pulling him close.

"They won't make it." Her voice shook with fear. "They won't make it. The hole. It's the only way out. It's the only way out, we need to..."

He crouched lower, eyes widening as he held her. "What? Who won't make it?"

"You need to find them, find them when they're coming," she whispered fervently, almost desperately. "That's where they come from, and that's how they leave. That's how we die."

"Are you talking about the Box Hole?" he asked with bated breath. Her dazed gaze held his, as if she were looking through his very soul for the answer.

Then her eyes squeezed shut as a wave of pain overwhelmed her, and an agonised wail escaped her throat. Nick caught her as her limp body slumped forward, like a puppet with its strings cut loose. Her breathing was laboured and sweat dampened her hair. He brushed a few strands from her face, brows furrowing with concern.

"You still can't remember, can you?" he murmured. "That day you saved my life... Soyun... They'll blame you. It's not your fault, but they'll blame you."

His words hung in the empty silence, swallowed like a secret whispered in the dark.

Cassandra stirred moments later, disoriented and dishevelled, waking to find Nick holding her on the floor. Her eyes searched his face as if he were a stranger, then slowly recognition seeped into her gaze. She was still in the Map Room but she had no idea how she had ended on the floor in Nick's arms. Confused, she blinked at him, heart lurching in her chest. Just like her previous episode, she couldn't remember anything.

"What... happened?" she asked hoarsely. She was almost afraid of the answer.

"Hey... are you okay?" Nick asked back.

A dull ache throbbed behind her forehead, deep and persistent. She held a hand against her head as she gingerly sat upright. Her vision swam in and out of focus. "I don't... feel so good. Did something happen?"

"Nothing." He shook his head slowly. "You just fainted."

She frowned. "Did I hit my head? It hurts like shuck."

"Yeah, you kinda did," he said, standing up and offering her a hand. "Can you stand?"

He helped pull her back to her feet but she still felt lightheaded. Cassandra looked around, remembering that she had been talking to him about something. She couldn't remember what it was, but she felt a disquiet inside her.

"Come on, you should get some rest," he told her. "See the Medjacks if you still feel bad in the morning."

He led her towards the door and she complied. But why did it feel like she was forgetting something? She tried to recall what they'd talked about before she blacked out, but her mind kept drawing a blank. "Nick, I..."

"I think I'll go through the West Door tomorrow," he told her suddenly. "You and Minho can take the North Door. We'll cover more ground that way."

"Oh... okay," she replied in mild surprise. "So I'm finally cleared to go back out there?"

"Yeah, but take it easy, alright?" he said. "If you start fainting again, I'm gonna bench you permanently."

She chuckled weakly. "Yessir."

"By the way." He stopped and turned to her. "Thank you."

She blinked blankly. "Uh... why?"

"For everything."

He gave her a small smile before heading back to the Homestead and disappearing behind a canvas flap where the hammocks were strung up. Cassandra stood there with a sense of foreboding. An anxious feeling replaced the melancholia that she was used to. As if time was running out for her to remember what she was supposed to.

   "I got my running buddy back!" Minho cheered when Cassandra was finally able to run again. She grinned with equal enthusiasm as they waited for the Doors to open. "It's been pretty boring talking to myself out there."

She laughed at him before the colossal walls began to move with its familiar loud rumble. Cassandra took off after Minho into the still-widening gap and felt the liberating rush of adrenaline course through her veins. The stone floor thudded beneath her soles in a steady rhythm.

After a couple of hours, Minho slowed to a stop in front of her and announced that it was time for a water break. Cassandra immediately slumped against a wall and rummaged through her pack. Three months of downtime had dulled her stamina—though she'd never admit that. There was a small stitch in her side and her breaths were ragged with exhaustion that permeated throughout her entire body.

"I was thinking while running," Minho started. "Were you talking with Nick last night?"

"You jealous?" she asked him slyly.

"Cassie..."

She laughed at his expense before telling him what had happened. Though she hesitated to mention her fainting spell, lest he would send her back to the Glade. But to her relief, he didn't seem to dwell on it. Instead, he seemed disturbed by Nick's parting words to her.

"He told me something similar too," Minho told her. "Made me promise to get everyone out safe and sound."

Cassandra ate her apple in silent contemplation. Nick said a lot of enigmatic and mysterious things that they had little inkling of what they were supposed to mean. It just became a part of who he was. A few more hours passed as they ran their hands along the walls of the Maze. She kept her eyes and ears peeled for any unwanted visitors. Minho turned around the corner of an inner wall and suddenly stopped in his tracks. Cassandra stepped up next to him and surveyed the dead end before them.

Thick overhanging ivy covered the entire opposite wall. She glanced at Minho and they walked over to hack at the vines with their knives. A few minutes later, they crouched down to find a small hole at the bottom. It was too dark to see what was inside but the hole was just big enough for a person to crawl into.

Her heart skipped a beat as Minho reached his arm through the opening. He paused when his hand managed to grab hold of something before starting to yank it out. It was an old, bloodstained pack. He stuck his arm back in and pulled out a brittle, yellowing femur next.

Cassandra had to squeeze her hands against her mouth to stop herself from crying out. Minho hissed a few choice phrases and threw the bone back into the hole. "Shucking shuck of all the shucks I have ever shucked!"

Her eyes widened in horror. "Do you know who that was?" she whispered, her voice tight with fear.

Minho grabbed the old pack and rummaged through it. He threw out a few decomposed apple cores and soiled clothes. There was a piece of paper inside. It said only two words, written with dried blood in thick blocky capitals.

THEY'RE COMING.

"I think it was Carl..."

Cassandra stared speechlessly. Minho stood up, picking the pack up and slinging it over his shoulder. He cocked his head sideways. "Let's head back. I've seen enough."

She nodded and straightened her legs to stand. They continued running in silence, taking a couple of water breaks in between. The light had just started to dim when they made it back through the Doors. Both Runners stopped at a patch of grass and bent over to catch their breaths.

Cassandra looked around the Glade. Something felt off. It was emptier than usual. The Trackhoes weren't in the Gardens and the Builders were nowhere to be seen. She drew herself to her full height and looked around again, finally noticing the crowd of boys gathered in the middle of the Glade. Minho followed her gaze and exchanged confused frowns with her. The Box shouldn't be up again for another week or two.

"What are they doing?" he wondered out loud as they made their way over.

"Minho!" Lee waved anxiously at them. "It's Nick. He went down that thing."

Cassandra couldn't believe what she was hearing. She rushed forwards to the hole and peered inside. Gally and Zart were holding onto a rope made of thickly wound vines that was Nick's only lifeline. It was so dark inside the chasm that she couldn't see how far the boy had already gone down.

"Nick?!" she yelled. "What the hell are you doing? Get back up here, this is insane!"

Newt came up behind her. "Yeah, we've tried that, he's not giving up."

"If you don't come back this instant, I'm going to kill you! Literally!" she yelled again. A chuckle echoed from the darkness of the hole, and she felt a small comfort from that.

"Hey, you dumb shank! What do you see?" Minho called.

"What d'you think, klunkhead?" Nick replied.

"He didn't bring a light with him?" Cassandra asked incredulously.

"The battery ran out." Newt rolled his eyes. "We tried throwing another one in but it hit him on the head and fell to the bottom."

She sighed in exasperation, then turned back to the hole. "You realise it'll take hours to get down there, right?" she shouted.

Another chuckle bounced up and she crossed her arms indignantly. Even if he did reach the bottom, she highly doubted it would lead to a way out. She was certain that the people down there had the place locked up tight and they'd have to pull him out again anyway. Several more minutes passed as everyone waited with bated breath. There was a loud thunk that echoed up, and Nick cried out in surprise.

Newt peered down the hole and yelled, "What was that?"

"Felt something beneath my feet." They heard Nick say, "That was weird. Oh, sh—"

There was another loud thunk that sounded more metallic this time.

"PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP NOW!"

The fear in his voice made her instantly drop to the ground and lean forward anxiously. Newt was calling for everyone to tug on the rope and she grabbed hold of it as well, pulling as hard as she could manage. Nick started screaming again.

"HURRY UP! HUR-"

His voice was abruptly cut off. Cassandra felt her heart hammering in her chest, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead and into her eyes. She continued to tug frantically with the others, ignoring the burns that were starting to sting her fingers raw.

Finally, she saw the crown of his head and the mess of dark hair. She reached down, fingers closing around the fabric of his shirt—only to feel no resistance, no weight. A sickening realisation crept in. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Grabbing hold of his arm, she yanked him out of the hole. His torso came up over the edge and she dragged him across the ground. 

And that was all of him.

The lower half of his body was gone.

Cassandra stumbled back, crawling away in horror. Everyone froze, silent and unmoving, as if time itself had stopped. Then she sucked in a deep breath and screamed.

Press F for Nick :'(