"All right," Minho said as he laid a hand on Thomas's shoulder. "But you're not going out there alone. Meet me in the woods in half an hour."

Thomas nodded and Minho squeezed his shoulder before parting ways to find some shanks who could accompany them in the Maze. He watched as Lee yanked his harness off and cast it to the side as he talked to Gally. One of the other Runners cast a glance in his direction before quickly looking away.

After the girl came up in The Box, the rest of the Runners pulled him aside and told him that they wanted out. Maybe he should have been angry, upset that they would give up so easily after doing this for a few years. But a part of him felt relieved, as it meant he was no longer responsible for their safety and any mistakes they could make while mapping the patterns every day. He was used to running alone – maybe too used to it.

Definitely not Gally, Minho thought as he passed the group of ex-Runners and Gally. He headed over to the Bloodhouse and pushed open the door, only to have a strong waft of blood and something unpleasant hit him hard. He bit his lip as he tried to avoid breathing in the stench, forcing himself to keep moving past the Slicers until he reached Winston at his station breaking down the oldest hog in the Glade. A few days ago the sour thing had keeled over and that was the end of its life, making it an easy job for Winston to handle. He nudged Winston's shoulder and stepped back when the shank looked up, knife raised high in his hand.

"Slim yourself nice and easy shank," Minho said as he held up his hands. "It's just me."

"What are you doing here?" Winston asked as he put the knife down on the cutting board.

Minho jerked his head toward the door and Winston wiped his hands on his apron, gesturing to Minho to follow him. Minho walked quickly, holding his breath until they reached the exit, gulping for the fresh air once they got a few steps away.

"Good thing you're a Runner Min," Winston chuckled as they walked away from the Bloodhouse. "You wouldn't last 1 minute in there before you tossed your guts."

"Yeah ha ha shuckface," Minho said as he rolled his eyes. "Slicer jokes aside I need to ask you a favor."

Winston looked around and walked over to the livestock pens holding the sheep. The sheep bleated loudly as they pushed against each other for access to the water trough and Winston leaned closer to talk. "So is it true then? Rest of the Runners quit, just like that?"

"No, they wanted to fight over who should be my new Running partner," Minho replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah they all quit. …Look, the Greenie wants to go back in there and take another look at the Griever he killed for clues and stuff. I had to stop him from going back in there alone and I kinda need some extra shanks to help out. …So are you in?"

Winston leaned against the railing of the sheep pen and thought about Minho's offer for a while. "You askin' me 'cause I cut up animals without tossing my guts?"

"Yeah and no," Minho said. "Win, I trust you and I know you wouldn't run like a panty-wearing chicken like I did back there. Besides, if this thing tries to play dead, then I'm gonna need someone with fast reflexes to kill it again. Good that?"

Winston looked around the Glade for a minute before meeting Minho's eyes again. "Yeah I'm in," Winston replied as he straightened up. "If you think this Greenie's any good, then I think so too." He looked around at the other Gladers and nodded over at Frypan. "You ask Fry yet?"

Minho shook his head no and Winston began leading the Runner over to the Kitchen.

"Even cuts this time," Frypan told a Cook as he passed him on the way to the sink. "Remember when some of the carrots came out raw and others were burnt?"

"Got it," the Cook said as he cut the vegetables in small pieces.

Frypan glanced over his shoulder at another Cook who was adding pepper to something and he warned the shank to take it easy on the pepper. He washed his hands at the sink and dried them on his apron before turning to see Winston and Minho standing in front of his station. "Thought I told you shanks that lunch won't be for a couple of hours."

Winston rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "We ain't here for lunch Fry, we got something to ask ya."

Frypan looked over his shoulder at the other Cooks and told them to finish up the prep for lunch before following Winston and Minho to the livestock pens to muffle the sounds of their conversation. "So why are we talking over here?" Frypan asked as he wrapped his fingers around the sides of his apron's neck strap.

"I need shanks that are willing to go with me and the Greenie back into the Maze," Minho said as he leaned closer to the Keeper of the Cooks. "Runners all quit on me this morning and I wanna make it a quick trip before anyone else notices. …You in?"

Frypan looked around the Glade and leaned against the pen. "Not calling you a liar Min, but when you said the Greenie killed a Griever, kinda found that hard to believe." He paused for a minute before looking at Winston, then Minho. "Normally I don't like the idea of going into the Maze but I kinda wanna see this dead thing for myself."

Minho responded with a sharp nod of his head and he mused out loud, "Just need one more."

Frypan and Winston looked at each other for a moment as they tried to think of someone else they could convince.

"Gal seemed pretty bent on getting the Greenie in the Pit earlier," Frypan mused out loud.

"Yeah that's not gonna work Fry," Winston interjected. "Could ask Jeff."

Frypan cast a skeptical glance at Winston and he returned it with a glare. Minho rolled his eyes at their exchange before looking around the Glade, his eyes falling on the Keeper of the Track Hoes, Zart.

Zart was busy digging a new hole for the fresh delivery of tomato plants that arrived in the Box a few days ago and he planted the shovel into the ground firmly before scooping out the dirt and throwing it into a pile behind him. Minho nudged the other two who were debating about the other shanks who could go with them and he pointed to Zart.

"You say you killed this thing by letting it get smushed between Maze walls?" Zart asked Minho as they began heading to the Map Room. He yanked the hood on his pullover up and gripped the handle of his shovel tightly in his hand as they walked along the narrow pathway leading to the hut in the woods.

Minho shook his head and tugged on his harness, which was starting to ride up. "Wasn't me – Thomas tricked the shucking thing into chasing him as the Maze started changing. Barely got out in time but the Griever looked like klunk when the walls closed on it."

Winston let out a low whistle and Frypan ran a hand across his face. "Well shuck me," Frypan said as he shook his head. "For being here a couple of days, the Greenie's got a lot of guts."

Minho nodded as they neared the Map Room and he walked around the side to find Thomas standing there, rubbing his hands together as he waited. Minho caught Thomas's eye and glanced over at the other three Keepers standing behind him.

"Will this be enough?" Minho asked as he gripped the sides of his harness.

Thomas glanced over at the other Keepers and moved away from the wall of the Map Room. "Yeah. …Okay then," Thomas replied as he turned to the other three. "You guys know what we're getting into, right?"

Winston stepped forward and looked over at Minho before meeting Thomas's eyes. "If Minho trusts you, then that's good enough for me."

Frypan and Zart nodded in agreement while Minho looked in the direction of the nearest Maze doors.

"All right," Thomas said as he followed Minho's gaze. "Let's go then."