Maze Runner Chapter 2
The loud beating of drums woke Bella up from her slumber. The large fire illuminated the darkness that filled the Glade. After the doors had closed, it didn't take long for the night to set in and the party to begin. Every time a newcomer came up with the box, they would always have a celebration. Loud cheering and whooping filled the glade, the boys jumping around and laughing together.
Bella stood in the back just watching the scene play out before her. She smiled watching the rare sight of the boys truly enjoying themselves for the night. They danced, leaped, and flipped around the fire with the 'special Gally' drink in their hand. Chuck came by with some food for Bella to help her regenerate. "Hey, how are you feeling?" Chuck asked taking a seat next to her. She leaned against Chuck watching the boys warmly not expecting that another tragedy was nearing.
Newt sat with the new greenie on the ground up against the back of a log. "Hell, of a first day, Greenie. Here." Newt offered Gally's secret recipe to him. "Put some hair on your chest." Greenie looked down for a second as if he was contemplating what to do since he thought that everyone would be angry with him. He did cause Bella more harm than she already is. Greenie accepted the drink taking a big sip, "Oh, my god. What is that?" He spat out the nasty bitter taste.
Newt smiled to himself. "I don't even know. It's Gally's recipe. It's a trade secret apparently." He answered. Greenie found himself frowning still not liking the man, "Yeah, he's still an asshole." Greenie said. "Yeah, well, He saved your life today." Bella said walking up with Chuck right behind her telling her that she shouldn't be moving so much. Greenie couldn't say anything back and they found themselves glaring at each other. "Trust me. The maze is a dangerous place." Newt said cutting the never-ending silence and awkward staring contest between the two.
"We're trapped here, aren't we?" Greenie asked stating the obvious. "For the moment." Newt responded. "But her," Newt pointed at Bella who sat on the log like she wasn't listening to their conversation. "And those guys. There, by the fire. Those are the runners. That guy in the middle there, that's Minho. He's the keeper of the runners." Newt said pointing to Minho who nodded back and smiled at Bella and Chuck.
"Every morning, when those doors open," Bella interrupted Newt, "We run the maze, mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out." Greenie turns his attention to the hazelnut hair colored girl. "How long have you been looking?" A glimpse of sadness passed through her eyes, "For as long as I could remember." She whispered softly getting up and heading in the opposite direction of the party. No one made a move to follow her, they knew where she was going, the southern walls.
The name of every boy and every Glader here in the glade with them along with her name and the only other girl who was ever put in the glade, Addie. "I miss you." Bella said running her hand over the name, a line marked through it. Addie was the youngest girl placed in the Glade she was also like Bella's younger sister and the first Runner. Addie always had hope, she always believed that they would make it out of there one day.
She was Bella's hope and after she died, Bella lost all hope for a while until Minho, Newt and Alby helped her get her shit together and fulfill her promise to Addie and that is to get out of the maze.
Bella woke up the next morning when someone shook her awake, "Bell? Bell?" She woke up to find Alby and Greenie standing above her. "What?" Bella stretched her arms and got up. She found Alby giving her a disapproving glance. "Did you sleep here again?" Alby asked making Bella look down in shame. "Bell." Alby stepped closer to her. "I know you miss her but it's not good for your health to sleep outside. You're never going out to the maze any time soon if you do this again." Alby whispered to her ear so that Greenie wouldn't hear.
Alby walks toward Greenie, who now remembered his name to be Thomas, continuing with their conversation. "We've come far since then. Established order... made peace." Thomas stares at Alby wondering why he was telling him this. "Yeah. Why are you telling me this?" Thomas asked. "Because you're not like the others. You're curious. But you're one of us now. You need to know what that means." Bella said staring him down as Alby hands him a pocket knife walking towards the wall much closer.
Thomas stares at the name on the wall, all of them ever the ones crossed out. "What happened to them?" Thomas asked. "Like I said…dark days, Thomas." Alby said walking away letting Thomas carve his own name in. Bella saw that he carved in his own name, "So you remembered?" Bella asked wiping her hands on her pants standing up. Bella winced as she heard the familiar squeaking twist of the metals, the heavy steel doors were starting to open again. Thomas didn't say anything he just nodded his head, then it looks like he thought for a moment. His next question caught Bella off guard, "How do you become a runner?"
"Well, that's my cue. See ya'll Greenie" Bella left not answering his question running towards the homestead, "My name is Thomas!" He yelled. Bella just waved her hand above her head without turning back and made a peace sign while running off. She made a U-turn making her way to the map room since she wasn't able to go out this time she wanted to stay near somewhere, where it felt like she was in the maze.
"Hey" Newt greeted in his British accent. "Hi." Bella mumbled focused on the map and the new section that she had found. "I saw you talking to Greenie earlier." He said. "What do you think of him?" Newt asked as Minho entered the map room. "He's alright, I guess." Bella answered him. They walked in silence before Newt said, "He's always watching you." Bella seemed surprised at his tone of voice, "Who?" Newt gave her a deadpan look, "The new greenie." Bella nodded her head. "He thinks you're different from all of us." Newt explains, "Of course, I'm a girl." Bella replied in a "DUH" tone. "He looks at you with something different." Bella stopped walking turning to face Newt, "Like what?" She crossed her arms waiting for an answer. "I don't know, but he doesn't look at you like the other boys in the Glader does. There's something else." Bella let out a humorless laugh. "Let's not overthink this, Newt. It's probably just because I'm the only girl here." Bella said walking away not wanting to have the conversation anymore. She didn't like how it made her feel, anxious and curious about him even more.
She made it to the map room and started to work to get her mind off of the conversation she just had with Newt. "Where's Ben?" She asked not seeing the familiar blond head runner in the map room, "Let him sleep for a couple more hours." Minho said resting his hand on the map table looking over the new section Bella had created. "The gates are already open." Bella stated.
Instead of replying to her previous statement, Minho crossed over to the other side across from Bella learning against it. "Did you finish?" He asked, trying to change the subject. Bella allowed him to change the subject knowing that everyone even the runners feared going into the maze. "Almost, I can't seem to remember the rest of it. It's like my mind won't let me remember. You know like when we came up in the box and couldn't remember anything. It was that kind of feeling." Bella explained showing Minho the first half of section nine.
Bella sighs in frustration grabbing her hair and pulling it at. "I don't think I'm going to be able to keep my promise to her, Minho." Minho jerked up because for the first time ever she mentioned the one person who meant the most to her. "Don't go back to being that person, Bella." Minho said staring at her firmly. "Why not?" She scoffed, "They're adding to the maze Minho. There probably isn't an exit. Maybe we're just meant to be stuck here our whole lives." Bella said in a retort tone.
"Would you rather plant crops all day? Or help expand the homestead?" Minho asked. "I don't want to do any of this!" Bella exclaimed but even then, her voice wasn't loud. For the first time in forever Minho found that Bella looked so tired, the bags under her eye and her messy hair. She looks like she didn't sleep in week nor did she eat. Her physical body just seem to be all bones. "Have you been sleeping or eating at all, Bella? You don't look so good." They sat I silence before Bella replied, "I'm fine." She said standing up and turning her back to Minho looking out the small window that gave them a view of the maze
They stood there in silence just listening to the movements of shuffled feet knowing that the other boys were starting to get up and start the day all over again. "The greenie wants to become a runner." Bella said interrupting the silence. Surprisingly Minho let out a snort, "Him? A runner? Please." Minho let out a dry laugh. "He might make a good runner." Bella said casually. "How? By getting us, all killed. He's too curious and curiosity gets people killed. You know that." Minho responded. "That was a mistake. A mistake that I will never be able to forgive myself for, but, WE, are still alive, aren't we?" Bella defended anger filling her veins with his comment.
Again, they were shot into the silent air until suddenly they head loud yells from outside the tent that seemed to echo throughout the Glade. By the way Minho's shoulders were tensed, Bella knew that she didn't imagine it because he heard it too. "What's going-" Bella was cut off when there came another bloodcurdling cry for help. Bella took off before Minho did with Minho tailing her. They sprinted out of the map room towards the darkness of the trees and into the middle of the Glade where a large group of boys were gathered. There were screaming and shouts, Bella pushed herself faster and processed what was going on. Her eyes found scared Greenie's who was on the ground being punched by someone else. He stared back at her in fear, his eyes crying out for help.
Bella ran right into the group with no fear grabbing onto the boy on top of Greenie and they rolled over on the ground with Bella underneath the boy. Bella found that it was Ben who was fighting with Greenie. Ben snarled at Bella in a way that he has never done before, "Ben!" Bella yelled holding him out from her as he tried to bite her snapping his teeth together hard. "BEN! Stop!" Bella yelled once again struggling to keep him at arm's length. Ben was ripped away from Bella's hold with a swing to the head by Newt who was holding a shovel.
"Hold him down!" Newt ordered to the boys while he helped me back to my feet. Bella who stood in the middle between Thomas and Ben. "Ben, please." Bella cried softly. Blood was dripping down the side of Ben's head, but he continued to growl and moan and fight against the others. "What the HELL happened?" Bella demanded breathless.
"He just attacked me." Thomas exclaimed breathlessly. "Ben wouldn't do that." Bella defended her runner friend not quite believing her own words either. She looked over at Ben examining his condition. His white shirt was now covered in dirt and grass, he looked pale and sick. Dark veins sticking out from his body and he was absolutely drenched in sweat. His eyes were a darker color than it usually was, and his mouth was dripping with blood.
Bella knew immediately what had happened to him recognizing the similar symptoms. "Lift his shirt." Bella demanded softly as Alby stood next to her, his arm around her shoulder. Gally reached forward and lifted Ben's shirt to reveal his stomach. Bella let out a silently gasp, right in the middle of Ben's abdomen was a deep cut that was oozing black blood. The veins around his stomach were protruding and discolored and even though Bella wanted to look away from that horror scene she couldn't.
"He's been stung." Alby said in a loud voice to let the others know and everyone let out a gasp. "By what?" Thomas asked not understanding what harmed him. "A Griever," Alby answered his question. "He was stung?" Gally repeated. "In broad daylight?" Several of the boys let out gasps chatting between themselves of the situation.
"Please, help me." Ben whimpered in a small voice. "Please." He begged but everyone took a step back away from him. Alby sighed, "Put him in the Pit." He ordered. Gally and his boys dragged him away as Ben began to jerk and tug away screaming in panic, "No!"
Ben and Bella weren't close, but they were runner friends, someone she could trust in the maze to have her back and to have his back also. Watching this happen to him was like watching it happen to Addie all over again. They knew what it did to her. "Ben, calm down." Bella said as the boys easily overpowered Ben and carried him the rest of the way to the pit.
"Bella..." Minho said worried for her. "Don't." Bella said her hand clenched into a fist by her side. She walked away from the scene hating the useless feeling she got from being unable to help her friend. She sat in the homestead section where she stayed with Chuck and now greenie until they expand the homestead. Chuck and Greenie came through the doors together, the injury on his arm immediately caught Bella's attention, she wasn't going to lose another person even if she didn't know him, yet he was part of the family already.
"You're injured." Bella said grabbing his arm not too gently resulting in him yanking his arm away from her. "Chuck, why don't you go grab the first aid kit for your friend here?" Bella said taking hold of his injured arm once again carefully examine the wound. "What happen here?" Bella asked as Chuck ran out of the room shouting out Jeff's name repeatedly. "Ben snuck up on me, he must have injured me. I didn't realize that he did, I was too busy trying to get away." He explained. "Infection can as easily kill you like a Griever bite would." Bella scolded using her water bottle to help clean the wound so that she could easily see where the wound is after all the blood is gone.
Thomas stared at her cleaning his wound with her water bottle. Bella could feel his stare on her making it super awkward for her. "You're staring." She said quietly, "I know." Thomas replied making her look up into his eyes. They stare into each other's eye, the attractive running high between them. His face moved in closer to hers as she stood still, his eyes moving from her eyes to her eyes and back up like he was asking for permission. She didn't answer but she also didn't say no. They were an inch away before Chuck comes running in with a handful of medical supplies. "I found some!" He yelled spilling them out on the table beside the hammock and Bella pushed Thomas away from her resulting in him falling onto the ground on top of his wounded arm.
"Sorry." Bella said holding her arm out to him. "Are you hurt?" Bella stupidly asked flinching as she sees more blood dripping from his arm. Thomas doesn't say anything but bites his lips to keep in the pain he felt from that fall trying to cover his red face. "Keep your arm still otherwise this will hurt." Bella ordered seeing them move his arm away from her as she tried pouring water to clean the even more messy wound. "I'm sorry." Bella apologized again wiping the wound carefully with attention. She blew on it gently trying not to cause him anymore pain than she already had.
Bella wrapped the gauze slowly around his arm ignoring the warmth of his hand that sent shivers down her spine. "Stop staring." Bella said irritated. "I'm just thinking." He snaps as if he wasn't trying to kiss her earlier. "About?" Bella said finalizing the wrap. "About why you're the only girl here?" Thomas could see Chuck freeze in his movement and Bella who tighten the cloth around his arm causing him to flinch. "I wasn't always the only girl here." Bella said just in time for the faint sounds of sticks clanging against each other. "What's time?" He asked as Bella stands up ignoring his question. Chuck answered for him instead, "It's time." His answer vague.
Chuck and Thomas followed behind Bella as the group of boys gathered towards the open gates. "Stay here, Chuck. Greenie." Bella commanded walking ahead towards the group of boys. Bella walked up into the group seeing Ben tied up on the ground. His condition seems to become worse than before, but he was trying to hold himself together. There would be a fight without a doubt because who would voluntarily go into the maze. All they would be faced with is death. The boys lined up leaving no space for Ben to break through, Minho stepped closer to Ben and cut off his bounds throwing him a bag in case he survives in there.
Bella clenched her hand into a fist tightly wondering what to do, if she should follow her heart or go with what would be saner. "Please." Ben begged looking into each and every eye of the boys, but no one would meet his eyes-only Bella. Bella could see the fear behind his eyes and the pleading he held. She couldn't let him go in there by himself but going in there would be death. "Bella, please." Ben begged and her wall of steel caved down. Minho and Newt saw this too late; she was already through the gates pulling Ben with her. Everyone screaming her name behind her, but she couldn't leave Ben behind no matter how sick he was. She already regretted doing this to Addie, she won't be able to live her life if she does the same to Ben.
Minho and Newt pounding on the gates hoping that it would open once again but they knew that wouldn't happen. Bella literally just walked into her own death because no one had ever survived the night in the maze before. The only thing they could hope for is that she's the first one to ever survive the night.