Disclaimer: The Maze Runner trilogy and movies are not mine. They belong to James Dashner and respective owners.

Quick A/N: So my friend has introduced me to this site and safe to say my life's been corrupted but I welcome it. This place is beautiful. I've only been into the GoT section/Avengers section as of now but decided to see how many stories were out there for Maze Runner. There weren't much so I decided I'd give my own shot at writing fanfiction and work on my writing to see how it works out.

Word of notice: I infused both elements of the movie and book to create this madness. Enjoy~

The wind tickled the somber green stalks around him. He's the last one ever. Those foreboding words had sent waves of trepidation down the backs of those around him. The more put together ones tried to hide it, but Aris always had a good eye for things. Or so he thought he always did. He couldn't really remember anything past his name and his abrupt awakening in that 'Cube.' But he wished he did, if not for the sake of his sanity, at least for the knowledge to be able to assure those girls around him that he was good. Or at least he thought he was.

Aris gripped the cloth on his chest. There were so many or's and uncertainties – he didn't like it. He didn't like not knowing anything. And he'd only been here for how many hours? He looked around the Plain, as the girls called it. Mostly green with an alcove of trees set in one corner of the enclosed space, he momentarily wondered how they had been able to fare for so long with so little information.

"Ah-reese?"

Half his body did a jump while the other part of him turned to whoever had addressed him. The product of this dilemma resulted in him timbering ungraciously over the caller's feet. His eyes automatically closed upon the following chuckle. "It's Aris,"he clarified.

"Newbie is what most of this Plain is calling you, so you'll get what I give," the voice retorted. Then he heard some shuffling before he felt a body loom over him. He opened his eyes to find a girl with dark hair crouching on the open grass next to him. "I'm surprised you haven't gone into the Maze yet."

Sitting upright, Aris dusted off the grass blades surely tousled into his hair. "It's a death warrant apparently," he replied, nodding over to the other girl leaning against the mouth of the said Maze.

"That it is," his companion replied before getting up. "Listen, I don't know what you are that letter exactly mean but as of now you're nothing but a bad –"

Aris shot up. He wasn't bad. He knew that – they had to know that. His previous interrogation had proven nothing out of unusual about him besides his gender. He was like them! He was –

"Innocent. I told you everything I knew," he sighed exasperatedly.

" – ly nourished kid right now," his dark-eyed companion finished. Her eyes shot over to him half-heartedly teasing and most assuredly assessing. "So you're going to eat and stay by my, Sonya's –" she nodded towards the girl by the Maze, "and Wei's side." She finished just as a low rumble filled the air.

The blonde by the Maze – Sonya – fixed both him and the girl beside him a blank stare as what he guessed were the doors to the Maze, slowly began to close. Aris's own gaze remained fixated on the doors as what appeared to be two blurs of red and green blitzed past it just as they were closing. "I thought you said no one was allowed in," he said, but when he turned, his companion was no longer beside him. Instead, a hand pushed his shoulder towards the gathering of small tents.

"Come on, newbie." It had been Sonya. Aris sighed and with one last glance at the now closed Maze, he followed the two girls back to the center of the Plain.

They had been arguing for the past hour with nothing accomplished but one bruised ego and an aching arm. Again, Aris felt cold as if some pair of predator eyes were watching his every move. Yet as he looked up, he only saw the same scene with the same group of girls and resumed nursing the ache in his arm. She really can pack a punch…

"We're wasting time!" the dark-haired girl, Harriet, shouted. Mentally, he nodded his head in agreement as the other five in the room watched on with apprehension. Ever since his arrival, ever since the unclosing of the Maze door, the bond among the group of girls in the Plain seemed to crack. At first, he thought it had been his fault, but if the gradually parting in the group in front of him was anything to go by, he knew better now that his presence had just been a trigger.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up again and as discreetly as possible, his eyes scanned the small room. This time, they met stone-grey eyes and he froze.

Wei, his mind supplied him. That was the name of the girl who had also been tasked as his keeper for the past few days he had been in the Plain. However, despite that, it only truly had been Sonya and Harriet watching him. Wei was just a precautionary, Sonya had explained the other day. Her duty as a Runner prevented her from preforming any other task. But now that the walls refrained from closing, she had remained in the Plain fuming with the other Runners.

"I say we go for it, go for the dead Screecher," Wei spoke up. "It might have the last piece of the puzzle for us and gods know that we could use all the clues we can get."

"It's too risky," repeated the opposing ginger, Rosa. "You'll just get killed."

"We'll all get killed," Wei shot back just as Rachel, the other Newbie, beside him, seemed to part her lips to speak out. "Those walls aren't closing. They're picking us apart one by one –" she paused. "I'd rather die trying to get out than hiding from them. So Harriet," she nodded over towards the respective leader. "I'll ask for formalities sake, will you let Rachel and I map the way out?"

Instantly, he didn't know why, but a shot of fear took hold of his body. Vaguely, he could feel a tug somewhere in his brain, as if his thoughts were being pulled back. But before he could put words to the cacophony in his head, Rachel had left his side and was half-way past the door following Wei.

Everything was falling into their plans. Every variable was falling into place except – Rachel shook her head. They had come out with more survivors than intended but she supposed that it would be okay. More subjects to mess with it, that's all it meant. A hand rose up to touch the scratch on her head but someone else's fingers beat her to it.

"Alright there?" It was Wei.

Her fault.

That's what the voice in her head was saying. She had to be taken out. They had to be rid of her for things to progress in accordance with the plan. But how?

Sacrifice.

Something tugged at her gut and Rachel inched closer to Aris without responding to Wei's concern. Normally she would, the girl had been pleasant enough to both her and Aris, but ever since the Changing, she had seen more than she had desired. She had more suspicions and questions than answers and Wei – Wei appeared to be more than a fearless Runner now.

She's become an uncontrollable variable.

"Are you okay?" Aris asked the girl who had suddenly appeared at his side. She nodded slowly, to keep the throb in her brain from getting any worse. They had to move her out of the equation, even if it was just only for a little while. But who is they?

"Rachel, are you sur –"

A loud screech trespassed the otherwise still air. All the leftover spears rose up as each girl warily looked around. "That's a Screecher, isn't it?"

"How did it follow us?"

"Where is it?"

"Guys…" the boy beside her muttered and then she felt it too. A draft in the short corridor. There was an opening somewhere but in the dim light, it was hard to tell where it was coming from.

"Behind us. It's from behind us." Her mind briefly identified the speaker as Sonya.

"We –"

"On it."

"Bring someone with you," Harriet ordered; Rachel felt another tug in her gut, the word sacrifice going through her head.

"It'll be quick," rose at the same time with Rachel's, "I'll keep watch." This caused the two girls to look at each other before they heard Harriet relent with a sigh.

"Hurry up," she said.

Rachel nodded despite the dim lighting and turned to follow the jogging girl. Her vision tampered, she found Wei again by colliding against her side. The said girl made no comment and settled for a glance before bending down to her knees.

"There's an opening, yeah – half-way open from what I can feel," she observed.

Rachel felt the air shooting out from the hidden hole and wondered out loud; "Big enough for a person?"

"I'd even say half a Screecher wh –"

To her credit, she didn't scream, but as Rachel jogged back to the others she wondered if that would have brought her any benefit at all if she had instead. At the end of the day, explaining her disappearance would be difficult either way. Rachel could only hope that the girls of Group B would believe her words.