I ran. I had to keep running. The Grievers were hot on my trail as I ran. I swore under my breath as the sun got a little too low. I heard laughing and cheering on the other side of the huge wall. Almost there. A section of the maze began to rise up. I used the last of what I had in me to grasp onto the top of the wall, and haul myself over. I landed hard on my left shoulder, rolling a few meters before I forced myself up and kept running to the voices. Shit. The doors had just begun to close. I held my shoulder roughly as I ran, praying that I would be able to get through before I was crushed. Everything went black.
"Something just came from the maze!" A voice yelled out. I took a moment to look back at the closed gates.
"I made it," I said breathing heavily.
"It's not a griever," a voice said simply. I turned back around, a staff with a knife attached at the end to my throat.
"Nice way to greet someone," I huffed, the pain radiating through my shoulder worsening. The group began to whisper, something about me being a girl. The staff was pushed out of the way by a large, burly, black boy who looked around the age of seventeen.
"Let's all calm down for a moment," he roared, shutting the group up. He looked me over slowly, "Minho, Newt – meet me in the Gathering hut, now." The boy gently reached out and grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me through the crowd and across the Glade to a structure made out of large pieces of wood. He threw the door open, pulling me inside before himself so he could close the door. "Name's Alby. What's yours?"
I stood there, blinking at his change in demeanor as I still searched for my breathe. "Lyra. I'm guessing you've been here the longest."
He did not seem surprised. "I was the second one in the Glade." I bite my lip and nodded. I could not imagine being the first and only one stuck in one of these things. Rein had told me that that experience had given her long lasting nightmares. Jackie had been the first, and she had been the second. They had started everything from the ground up. "What about you?"
"I was the thirteenth in the maze," I breathed. "The leader."
The door opened, a muscular Asian boy in blue, and a thin blonde boy in an off-white hoodie walked in – closing the door behind himself. "Minho, Newt, meet Lyra." Alby pointed to them in the order they had entered. The two just smiled courtly before letting it drop. Newt moved to light a lantern in the middle of the room.
"Where did you come from," Minho asked perplexed, walking within inches of me and pointed outside.
"Minho's the keeper of the runners. He runs the maze every day." Alby explained. I lit up.
"I came from eight," I said quickly. The room went quiet for a moment. "Have you been that far yet?"
"Yes."
"Have you mapped out the maze?" He nodded.
"There's nothing past eight," Newt interjected.
"My maze is." I said simply.
"There's others?" Newt exhaled.
The boys went quiet before Alby spoke up, "what brought you here?"
"Something changed in our maze this last night. The doors never closed. The grievers attacked and we all ran. I was the last one who made it out. The doors leading to all the sections had opened together. But there was a new section, one that had never opened before. I fell down this open chute, but the Grievers never followed me. When I found a way out of those tunnels, I was in your maze." I explained, my eyes never leaving the dancing flame.
"When eight opens again, and you're in better shape – can you take me there?" Alby asked, smiling softly down at me.
"Of course," I replied, tugging at my belt loops.
Alby nodded, "let's get you to the Med-jackers. Newt, mind takin care of her for tonight – set her up with a bed? I'll find Jeff. Give you the tour in the morning." Alby rose smoothly, exiting the council room.
"I'll try to calm everyone down," Minho said quickly, exiting after Alby. I stood there, finally re-realizing the pain in my arm again.
"Were you stung," Newt asked, leading the way out.
I laughed, "Have a little faith in me. It's just a scrape." I followed behind him, heading to the inner edge of the forest. The windows in the small wooden hut were flickering with light.
"Jeff?" Newt asked as we entered.
The small framed black boy turned with a smile, "one and only. You must be Lyra, nice to meet 'cha." He nodded to me and motioned for me to sit down. "That's one nasty scrape – even popped out your shoulder," Jeff frowned as he gently looked over my arm. "How'd you even do this?" He picked up my elbow, placed a hand on my collarbone and rammed my bone back into its joint. I bit my lip to keep quiet.
"Had a crash course with a floor in the maze," I groaned, rolling my head away as he began to take care of the wound. Newt just stood a few feet away, studying me.
"How'd you even get in there?" Jeff asked, I opened my mouth but Newt spoke up.
"Doesn't remember, like the rest of us." I shot him a cold stare. There were some harsh differences between my maze and theirs. If something like this happened, everyone knew all angles. I could tell already that each boy had their own job, we were trained in every area, so in any manner we could step in and assist.
"Welcome to the Glade, Lyra," he smiled, placing my arm into a sling. It felt so good to relieve that pain.
"Thanks Jeff." I smiled, rising from the bed. He smiled, running off to put the items he had pulled for me away.
"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Newt said as we exited the hut. As if on cue, my stomach began to rumble. He laughed, leading the way towards where the boys were all cheering and chatting. "Hey Frypan, can I get plate for Lyra here?"
The black boy with scruffy hair perked up, "this the one who came from the maze?" We both nodded. "Welcome to the Glade Lyra!"
I laughed, "Thanks, nice to meet you Frypan." He held out a plate full of rice, chicken, and a stewed mix of vegetables to both Newt and I. We took them and wandered over to the edge of the party, taking a seat against a large fallen log. Once I was planted on the ground, I immediately picked up my spoon and began shoveling it down.
"Whoa there Lyra," Newt quickly reached out for my arm, "you'll make yourself sick if you eat that fast."
I allowed myself to come up for air while reaching into my backpack for my mostly empty water bottle. "Haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours. Guess I'm just a little hungry," I chuckled, taking a swig of the water before returning to my food. Newt just sat there, watching me with a baffled look. Once I had finished my plate completely, I allowed myself to observe my surroundings for the first time while Newt went back to eating. The layout was almost identical to our own. A circular area of grass, roughly half covered by forest. There had to be at least fifty boys in this maze.
A large roar of cheering came from the boys who had crowded around in a circle. One of the boys was trying to push another out of the area that had been left empty in the middle. "That's Gally," Newt explained pointing to the thicker boy with a permanent sneer on his face, "He's the keeper of the builders. Got more muscles than brain." I smirked, watching him win his match against a small Indian boy.
"Who's next," Gally yelled, peacocking. I rose from my seat beside Newt. He called after me.
"I will," I said, entering the circle of boys. Everyone went silent and stared at me. "What, no balls?" Gally ran at me – angry - I lowered myself down, grabbed his ankle and flipped him around so his face ate dirt. The boys began cheering. "Come on, you can do better than that." I pouted pointed to my left arm, "You do have an extra limb on me today to." He scampered to his feet, rolling up his sleeves. He ran at me again, going to throw a punch. I caught his hand, twisted it behind his back, and placed my left food on his tailbone. I kicked him with enough power to send him sparling head first into the crowd.
"The girl beat Gally!"
"I didn't know girls were so cool!"
I smirked, looking around the circle to see Newt's gawked face staring at me from the edge. I heard dirt under feet, saw Newt's mouth move, and felt the impact as I was struck from behind, landing hard in the dirt on my back. I rolled to the side as his fist started it's descent on my face, lifted myself onto my right hand and kicked out Gally's legs as he cried out at the pain in his hand. In the same motion, I brought myself up onto my feet.
"Gotta use a cheap move like that, eh?" I mocked, stepping out of the circle and away from the boys.
"What jacked idea made you think that'd work out well?" Newt asked, rushing to my side. I turned back to face him, half way across the Glade from the other boys.
I shrugged, "seemed like a fun thing to do after cheating death, again." Newt just shook his head at me, turning to look at the nearest maze entrance. "Needed something to stave off all this heightened adrenaline."
"Gally's gonna hate you for that now, good that?" He asked. Something tinged inside me at his wording, but I just nodded. "You must be bloody tired from all that running. Let's get you to bed." I followed after him, keeping an eye on the group of boys that were slowly trickling away. He led me to a large hut with a massive awning. Hammocks were strung up between trees and poles. Newt bent down, picking up a piece of cloth from one pile near the door. "After that you're probably best sleeping near me, or Alby."
I eyed him suspiciously, a smirk playing on my lips as I watched him hang up the cloth. Once he was done with his handy work, he motioned with his head for me to try it out. "Thanks, Newt," I smiled, tightening the other end for good measure.
"Welcome," He shrugged, moving to get into his own hammock. I pulled my tired limbs into my own hammock, glade to finally be off my feet.