But The Tigers Come At Night
Disclaimer: In its use of intellectual property and characters belonging to James Dashner, Dell Publishing, Wes Ball, TSG Entertainment, Temple Hill Productions, The Gotham Group, et cetera, this work is intended to be transformative commentary on the original. No profit is being made from this work. Any similarities to other fanfiction stories are completely coincidental.
As soon as the doors shut the girl was shrouded in darkness, only accompanied by moonlight and sounds of nature despite the industrial setting. She quickly turned on her heel and began running again, assessing her surroundings and quickly realizing that getting out would not be as simple as she had imagined. The walls were never ending and constant groans and creaks gave it away that they were shifting, so it took her a very short time to realize that the enclosure she was in was something she wasn't sure she could make it out of. She was in a maze, and the maze was alive. She could hear birds and bugs and see vines, but no other signs of life greeted her at the moment. The small girl was not fooled by this, however, and acknowledged that many things could hide in the shadows. Her large grey eyes scanned the walls of the maze as she continued running at an average pace, debating whether or not to climb the vines on the wall and get to higher ground. From there she could scan her route back to the entry way, in case her plan went wrong and there was need to go back to the green enclosure. Of course now that all the boys knew she was gone it would be difficult to get back into that place, but she was certain that if it came to it she would be able to do it to survive.
Suddenly, there was a movement to her right, and the girl stopped and turned faster than she had known possible. As if something out of her pure imagination had crawled out of her brain and splattered itself onto the maze wall, the girl spotted a large bug about 10 inches in length and 3 inches in diameter. The worst thing about it was not its 12 legs or the bright red logo smeared across it's back that read 'WCKD' like the barrels she had come up with in the cage, but the glowing red eyes that seemed to peer right into her soul. The bug stared at her for several more seconds before skittering away into a crevice, but the girl could still spot the ominous eyes looking at her. She quickly turned on her heel and ran, a bad feeling in her stomach developing after realizing what the bug could possibly do. She wasn't sure if it was a camera device or a tracking device, but it could not mean anything good. Her footsteps echoed in the maze as she continued running and she tried to find the lowest hanging vine to grab onto. From there, she could climb her way to the upper levels to try and piece out which direction she needed to head in. Unfortunately, when she completed said task and successfully climbed her way up to the top, she found that the direction was completely scattered.
It was quite literally a maze.
Blocks just like the one she was standing atop of made up the 'upper level' of the puzzle, scattering for what seemed to be miles. It was difficult to see if there was an end point, considering parts of the maze kept shifting around and groaning in their wake. The girl's shoulders fell slightly, but then her chest puffed once more and she refused to give up. There had to be a way out; she could feel it. There had to be – and she could not lose faith in the moment she most needed it. This motivation allowed her to keep moving as she jumped from block to block, landing solid on her feet and mapping out which way was North, South, East and West. At this point she knew she was heading South and that the green enclosure was North, but she wasn't sure which way the certain exit was. She took her chances in the direction she was going, fairly satisfied with the progress she was making until an unfamiliar whine greeted her ears. She stopped her movements, confusion marring her features as she tried to listen to the peculiar sound. Whirring and clicking sounds filled the night sky as well, causing her heart rate to increase as she realized that there was something else in the darkness with her.
A large roar made the tiny girl jump a foot in the air and sent her running off before she could see whatever creature was near her. She wasn't sure where it was, but the noise had been extremely close and she wasn't going to take any chances. She continued jumping, adrenaline boosting her energy as she tried to put distance between her and whatever awful monstrosity was clinking away behind her. It sounded as though it had multiple legs, and it's rumbling noises made it seem more machine than human. All of this mechanical nonsense made no sense to her, however she was adapting to the idea that perhaps this primitive world that she had been placed in was not so primitive after all. Especially now after having encountered one of these monsters, it was no wonder that the boys running out of the maze had come back to the green enclosure. The doors were protecting them from these creatures. She wasn't sure if they were always active, but shook her head as she hoped that this was the last encounter she would have with one of them.
Said creature let out more whines and clicks behind her, and she quickly saw that the blocks she was standing on were getting closer and closer to the ground. It was a trap to get her back down on the lower level of the maze, she realized with a curse, and she was damned if she didn't believe whoever had put her here was the culprit. She was beginning to think this was some sort of sick assessment of everyone's abilities; sort of survival of the fittest, if that was the appropriate wording to use. Either way, the girl didn't like it, and the anger fueled her to run a bit faster. Unfortunately this was not going to be enough to grant an escape from the monster's clutches, as she quickly deduced. She could feel it growing closer and closer with every growl, and she was beginning to lose ground. So, she made what was possibly the stupidest decision of her short lived life in the cruel world she had been brought into, and jumped for a vine. The impact almost dislocated her shoulder, and she let out a shrill cry of pain, but she managed to swing down to the lower level just in time to put enough distance between her and the creature that was very close to impacting her with one of it's appendages.
There was another groan of the maze as it shifted and provided her with a small passage to get through, but the creature was on her heels in no time. She lost it for a brief second as she turned several corners, and then let out a horrified cry as it appeared right in front of her seconds later. The mechanical monster was bulbous, containing many appendages that included spikes, shears and all sorts of other machinery that the girl couldn't identify. It was truly a monstrosity with it's horrid spiked teeth and slit eyes, screeching at her as if she was some kind of intruder in it's world. The girl's heart rate spiked, and she immediately tried to devise a plan to rid herself of the insect-like creature. It's many legs only gave it more speed as it chased her through the maze, screeching more and more as it grew frustrated at her speed. She tore through passage after passage, refusing to let her speed wane and finding that her fitness kept up with the job she needed it to do. At this point she expected that she would collapse from exhaustion, but strangely enough her body continued to work three hundred percent to support her physical needs for the situation.
Suddenly, an opportunity presented itself that the girl knew she had to take; a panel was closing shut just in time for her to make it through, but the creature would certainly be trapped if it tried to follow. She wasn't sure what would happen to it, but cried out in fear as she neared the closing panel and feared for her life as she barreled through it. What happened next would change her perspective of the maze for the rest of her time in and around it. The creature let out a final whine as it was squished, but the girl didn't get to watch it take it's last mechanical steps. Instead, she was struggling to stand as she clutched the wound that had been recently given to her by one of the creature's reaching sharp appendages. It had made a final reach during it's dying moments, and managed to slice her side deep enough to seriously disable her. She turned slowly, fearing the worst, but blanched as she saw the crushed body of the terrible being. It was most definitely dead; there was discolored slime everywhere and crushed mechanical parts that still whirred and beeped occasionally. It was a sickening sight to see, and the girl found herself nauseated not only because of the sight but because of the cut that was beginning to bleed rather profusely. She grunted, taking off her pack gingerly and trying to find if any medical supplies were stocked in it. Thankfully she was in luck and managed to find several bandages, which she wasted no time applying and quickly sought refuge in small tidbits of foliage that were scattered around the maze. She was certain that there were more creatures just like the one she had killed, and took the spare quiet time to feed herself and make sure she stayed hydrated. She spent the next several hours cowering in fear as sounds of several of the terrifying creatures haunted her ears, and tried to stay as still as possible. She thought back to the green enclosure, which was peaceful in comparison to this, and found herself with a new found respect for the citizens of it's walls. They most likely knew about all this, having been so terrified about her being left inside the maze alone, and she had run into it like a...
She couldn't remember the word.
She nearly cursed in frustration, the anger bubbling up inside of her at the thought of the fact that she couldn't even remember her own name and bits of expressive vocabulary. She vowed to find out who had done this, and punish them accordingly. She couldn't see a point of a test like this; it was inhumane and cruel, and even though she couldn't remember what kind of world she had come from beforehand she knew that whatever kind of person had a soul twisted enough to do such a thing deserved to be punished just the same.
An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
She jerked as her first memory flowed through her. The quote hadn't come from anywhere besides her brain, she realized, but she couldn't place her finger on who had said it or why. It was a saying, she knew that much, and could remember basic enough themes in the English language to figure out why it had come to her when she had spoken about punishing her captors equally. She sighed quietly again as she realized that it would be wrong and unfair to put her captors through the equal treatment that she and all of these boys had gone through. They would get what was coming to them – but that was not up to her to deliver. Instead, she needed to focus her efforts on these boys in the green enclosure and find a way out. Now, she realized why the boys running in the maze continued to go back to the green place. They had been mapping the structure out – trying to figure out enough information and routes for the entire group to get through safely – and she wanted to help. Thankfully, however, this moment proved to be opportune for exploring, as dawn was approaching and the sounds of the creatures was fading away. She remembered the doors closing, and remembered deducing that the reason for that was because the creatures only came out at night. The walls were protecting the green place.
She came out of her hiding spot shakily, grunting as she realized she could no longer run. The pain was too much and came too sudden, causing her body to give a wrack and a shudder. She stumbled forward again and didn't realize what she had stumbled upon until she looked up from where her eyes were trained on the stone floor. The array of stone panels sitting still in front of her seemed to planned out to be coincidental, and she recognized that perhaps this was a secondary area that the boys had not found yet. The large stone slates looked like blinds on a window – something that she couldn't believe she remembered. She knew that she had to go back and inform the boys – it didn't matter if she barely remembered the twists and turns that she took to go back; she had to let them know what she had seen. They were trapped in the green place, as utopic as it was, and she needed to help them. So. very ungracefully and gasping in pain the whole way, she trudged her way back to where she had originally come from at dusk. By now the blood had seeped through her makeshift bandages and had decorated her hands, coating them in the warm wet substance.
Yet, she pressed on, determined to get back to the green enclosure and growing more positive as she recognized a passage from several hours ago. She barred her teeth and continued, trying to listen for sounds of shouts or the opening of the doors. It was almost light, the doors would have to be open when she got there although she wasn't sure what the boy's reaction would be. She wasn't sure she cared at this point; all she wanted to do was tell them what she knew and perhaps have some of her own questions answered – she recognized now that they were against a common enemy and it was worth it to go back to try to sort some things out. It wasn't unlikely that the boys already knew about the panels, but she figured that going back was most definitely the better idea instead of spending another night in the maze. Luckily enough for her, she had memorized enough of the route to find her way back to the doors and around the next corner, she was greeted with the sight of the large doors strewn wide open and the crowd of expectant boys gaping at her form.
"No way!" One of them cried, followed by a stunned silence of the crowd awaiting at the doors. The girl stumbled towards the original entrance she had exited out of, one hundred percent alive and clearly regretting her decision from the previous night. She held her injured side tenderly, trying to mentally erase the stinging that it let off. She grew closer and closer to the group until she finally closed the distance, still leaning against the wall of the maze for support. After the traumatizing night and the walk back her energy levels were extremely low, not to mention the amount of blood she had lost was incredibly high. She was fading fast, and it was visible. None of the boys moved to help her until she had taken the first step back into the green place, at which point the British boy she had been watching from the tree yesterday quickly moved forward to help her struggling form. Another oriental boy she didn't recognize was at her side in seconds, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her. She gasped in pain as they kept her tiny form upright, accidentally shifting the bandages on her injury. This triggered a memory, a memory which occurred to her in the moments right before her vision began to tunnel.
"Inka," She managed to gasp out, shocking herself with the British accent that tumbled from her lips before she finally saw the darkness tunneling her vision. "My name is Inka."
She hadn't known what to expect when she woke up – at the very least Inka had assumed she would have been tied up – but it seemed as though the boys had taken pity on her situation and shown her mercy, because she was now in what seemed to be a wooden medic hut with two concerned boys looking over her. She frowned up at the two, suspicious as to why they were silent. One of them smirked slightly, and then gave her a small wave.
"Afternoon'," He greeted, his tone light and airy despite the situation. "I'm Jeff, this is Clint – we're the Glade's med-jacks."
She said nothing to this, assuming that the 'Glade' was their terminology for the green place and that 'med-jacks' was some weird way of saying 'medic'. Either way, she was grateful for their help. She no longer felt the pain in her side, and assumed that they had advanced enough training to know how to deal with injuries as bad as hers had been. Then again they had most likely seen much worse in their time here, especially with those creatures running around in the maze. She shuddered at the memory of the gruesome being she had encountered mere hours ago.
"You were sliced by a Griever after you ran into the shucking maze," Clint, the other med-jack, spoke up. "But we stitched you up just fine."
Inka merely scrunched her nose up at the next confusing word, managing to successfully deduce that the creature she hadn't had a name for had already been dubbed a 'Griever' by this community. She tried to store the name in her head later as she knew that it would come in handy when communicating her story, but for now focused on the task at hand – she needed to speak with the leader of these boys. She needed to explain what was going on and quite possibly get some answers for herself as well.
"Who's in charge here?" She was almost frightened to hear her own voice, but found that it flowed out of her mouth like water. The British accent greeted her ears once more, reminding her of her nationality although failing to provide her with any memory.
"Straight to the point then, I see," Jeff smirked, motioning for Clint to take off. "Alby told us to tell him when you woke up anyhow."
Inka could only assume Alby was the leader. She quickly moved to get up, which Jeff protested greatly, but upon reminding him that she had been starved of food for a good half a day he quickly handed her some toast that had been set aside. She grimaced in pain when the stitches in her side moved, but still reached for the food.
"You can thank Frypan for that," Jeff watched her eat, finding himself looking over her underweight figure and wondering what had happened to her before she had been sent up in her box. She looked at him in confusion and he smirked slightly before answering. "Frypan is our cook."
Inka nodded, almost smirking at the odd name. Whilst eating, she took the spare time to look around and try to learn her surroundings. She assumed they didn't receive too many medical supplies based on the objects she saw strewn about, and also because the suspicious smelly jar of liquid sat by her bed was most definitely not from WCKD. The company name was another question she had for the leader, as she found the name familiar but was unsure why. No one else was in the med-jack hut, but she could spot several cots and supplies stacked into the far corner. Each cot was equipped with cloth restraints, something which made her shiver for a reason she was not certain about.
"You know what's curious," Jeff mused as she gulped down the glass of water he offered her. "Newt's the only other person in the entire Glade with a British accent."
Inka said nothing, but stored the information at the back of her head. Newt must have been the other British boy – the handsome blonde one she had spotted from her tree with a slight limp who had also helped her when she made her way out of the maze. After having found herself without memory, she was glad to fill the hard drive that was her brain up once more and wondered if their matching accents meant anything or were chalked up to pure coincidence. Either way she was going to get answers, and apparently they were going to be from the man who she had been spying on a day prior. The broad African-American boy walked through the small door of the hut, followed by Clint, then the oriental boy who had helped her, and then the British one. The visitors all together made her heart rate increase with anxiety, slightly overwhelmed by all the pairs of eyes on her. She gulped loudly as they came closer to her bed, eyes growing wide in fear. The British boy seemed to gaze at her a bit softer than the others, who clearly wanted answers from her and hadn't spoken a word yet. The largest boy in the room was the first to break that silence.
"I'm Alby," He introduced himself, jutting his chin out towards the only girl he had seen since he had arrived in the Glade years ago. "You're Inka – correct?"
She nodded once, eyes trying to train on all of them at once.
"This is Minho," He nodded towards the oriental boy before introducing the British one. "And Newt."
Inka nodded towards the both of them – slightly in thanks and partly in politeness – before focusing her attention back on Alby.
"Do you remember anything? Names, faces, words – anything before you came up in that box?" He continued, narrowing his eyes and refusing to uncross his arms. She frowned and wracked her mind for answers before replying.
"'An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind'," She repeated what her flashback had told her, not missing the strange glance of recognition on Newt's face as she spoke the phrase before it disappeared. "I can't remember who said it – why can't I remember anything?"
"It's normal," Newt cut in, noticing her panic and desiring her eyes to stay trained on him for a reason he couldn't name. "Don't worry – we all lost our memories. Our names are usually the only thing they let us keep."
"And what about your face?" Alby fired the next question almost instantaneously. Inka only shrugged her shoulders at this, almost having forgotten about the scars marring her skin. The four sets of eyes in the room looked over the marks on her face, each holding questions they knew she couldn't answer.
"When you were in the maze," Minho butted in, eager to get answers about the vast stone walls and continuing when Alby didn't stop him. "What did you find?"
"A giant bug – Griever, I mean," She grimaced and corrected her terminology as she glanced at Jeff, remembering the horrific monstrosity that she had murdered in the maze. "It ran after me for ten, twenty minutes maybe before it died."
"You saw a Griever?" Minho nearly fell over. "What do you mean you saw a Griever?"
"No one has seen a Griever and lived," Newt cut in, taking one step towards Inka before she could answer. "What did it look like?"
"Big...slimy," She shuddered, shaking her head at the memory. "It sort of rolled and ran at the same time with a whole lot of legs and spiky things coming out of it. It tried to sting me with one of it's...things before it died."
"Died? How?" Minho frowned, eyes piercing Inka's suspiciously.
"I killed it?" The room went silent, and Inka had no idea what was making the boys so tense until Minho clarified with a double take.
"You – you killed it?" He seemed shell-shocked at this fact. "How did you kill it?"
"Well, not really killed. I ran," She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and then backtracked upon realization that her answer had not been formulated correctly. "I mean – I ran in between the moving walls. They squished it like it was nothing."
"And?" Minho was still gaping, along with Newt who watched her hands avidly as she pressed them together to imitate the walls.
"And..." She trailed off, not knowing what he was implying but going along with it anyway. "It sliced me – I hid until their noises stopped and then came back to help you."
Minho sighed quietly, looking at Alby reproachfully before turning back to her.
"No one's ever survived a night in the maze before," This comment shocked her, as she had expected at least one of these very fit men surrounding her to be able to withstand more than she could. They were all broad and strong, and clearly worked hard in their individual roles in the society they had built for themselves. At least one of them had to be strong enough to withstand what she did, no? "And no one has ever killed a Griever."
"No she-bean has ever showed up," Jeff chipped his two cents in, organizing supplies in the corner.
"And no one's gone straight into the maze on their second day," Alby finished. "Listen – what you did was stupid and you're lucky you made it out alive, but you got us some information that we need to know. Can you tell us anything else you can remember?"
"There was a bug," Inka added, lifting a finger up in remembrance and trying to mimic the creature with her hands, causing Newt to smile slightly. "A big one – with red eyes. It said WCKD on it's back in bright red ink."
"We've seen those," He vouched for her, confirming her suspicions that she was not insane and had perhaps imagined the whole thing. "We don't touch them – they tell the Grievers where the runners are and we're pretty sure it's how whoever put us here watches us. What else did you find?"
"Panels," She shook her head, trying to remember and clear her brain. All of the new information and traumatic events had taken a toll on her mind. "Lots of panels, almost like blinds on a window. I can't remember the route, and I didn't go any further than that."
Minho said nothing at this, merely frowning when he realized that he or any other runner had gotten that far. This meant that besides the shifting walls there was another trial for the runners – there had to be something on the other side of that maze and he would be damned if he didn't find out what it was. Alby looked towards him with a strange glance, then motioned towards the door as to command that he wanted to speak with the boys privately. They began to thank Inka and bid her farewell, but the girl was quick to stop them.
"Wait!" She yelped as they were about to exit, making a move to rise from her bed but grunting in pain when her stitches rebelled. Clint made a move to help her, but she swished a hand in efforts to dismiss him. "Stop."
The boys did as they were told, respecting her demands and willing to hear what she had to say.
"What is WCKD?" She pronounced what she assumed to be the company name as 'wicked', although she had no idea how it should have been pronounced, what it stood for or if they truly were an negative corporation.
The boys looked between each other with frowns, as if she had asked some sort of risky question. Alby quickly explained that they didn't know much, only that WCKD were the ones designing the bugs and the ones delivering food supplies to them, meaning that it was difficult to distinguish if they were good or bad. They also didn't know what it stood for, frustrating Inka even further at the lack of information. The only person who seemed to sense her anger was Newt, who's mouth twitched at the sight of her wringing her hands. She had the same frustration in her that all the new boys did when they arrived, aside from a select few who stayed in shock for a week and had trouble adapting to life in the Glade.
"Does anyone else remember anything?" Her gaze was hopeful, staring at all of them with her wide eyes that Newt would have hated to let down. Still, he shook his head. He didn't want to deny her of the truth, no matter how upsetting it was.
"No one does love," His words caused her eyes to flit to his, making him quiver slightly under her piercing gaze. "That's what we're all trying to do – remember."
She didn't speak for a long while after that, simply staring down at her hands and frowning. If there had been any doubt in her mind that she was safe here, it was gone by now. Although the group of boys didn't know where or why they had been placed in the Glade, they were still a group and they all had the same questions. Each and every one of them were struggling just as much as the other and had just as many inquiries as the next as to why their memories had been wiped and why their lives had been changed. Inka, as Newt recognized, wanted to understand just as badly as everyone else.
"When you're healed enough we'll show you around the Glade," Alby interrupted the string of silence and took his leave, nodding one final time towards the sole woman in the Glade. Minho, however, stayed rooted in his spot and refused to move.
"Minho?" Newt glanced back and forth between the she-bean and his friend, frowning slightly. It seemed as though he was still in shock after having discovered that this tiny girl was the source of their first dead Griever in all the years they had inhabited the Glade, and refused to budge from his spot. "Come on, let's go."
"Wait," The oriental boy instructed, snapping out of his trance and approaching Inka cautiously. "Why did you run towards the maze? Why didn't you stay and find out who we were?"
The girl frowned for a moment, seemingly trying to come up with a good answer, before responding, "Because the maze is the way out."
"You don't know that," Minho combated immediately, shaking his head in frustration and clenching his fists. "There's no way to prove that. Why would you think that way?"
"It has to be," She shook her head, making a face as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Newt found himself moved by her passion and unbreakable trust in the maze, as the lack of faith had been his demon not long ago. He had been consumed by the mindset that he would be trapped in the Glade forever, and had lost hope which had led him to make choices that he was deeply regretting at the moment. This girl renewed the vigor inside of him that pushed him to become a runner in the first place; the possibility that an escape was out there somewhere along those walls and the possibility of discovering answers that had been lost in a part of their brain a long time ago. "There's always a way out...it has to be it."
Something in Minho changed at her answer, and his face lost any emotion as he resumed his blank slate expression. He assessed Inka coldly for a moment, eyes darting from her face to her short messy locks and back down to her small body before they settled on her grey eyes once more. He seemed to reach a conclusion that the other three people in the room could not understand, and he took his leave without uttering one more word. Inka was confused at this, and met Newt's eyes in question.
"Sorry," The British boy apologized for his friend's brash actions. "He's quite high strung."
"What is this place?" She changed the subject, looking around and suddenly overwhelmed at the life they had constructed for themselves even though she had been observing it for two days. It was amazing to see it up close; they had obviously worked very hard to provide a good life for themselves in the Glade and she saw this.
"The Glade," Newt answered simply, not sure how else to describe it and too distracted by her facial features to say anything else. It was strange to see a girl after having your memory wiped of all faces you once knew, and he was fascinated by every inch of her. Even with the large marks on her face – which held an air of mystery that he was sure everyone else was curious about as well – she was beautiful.
"We all chip in here," Jeff butted in, deciding to answer her unasked questions. Both Newt and Inka jumped, as if they had forgotten his presence and he had just climbed out of a wall. Clint was there as well, still organizing supplies in the far corner of the hut, but no one had paid him any mind. "It's how it works."
"And?" The girl's thin eyebrows pulled themselves together again to frown in question.
"The tour is sort of Alby's job," Clint wavered on answering her question, glancing towards Newt to confirm the fact and then nodding towards him. "Although he's second in command."
"You?" Inka focused her stern gaze upon Newt once more, relaxing a bit as she realized there was information stored behind those blonde locks of his. "You're number two?"
"Yes ma'am," He nodded, not moving from his position leaned against the wall. His arms stayed crossed as well - much like his superior's - but his face was kinder and his words were less sharp. Inka took a liking to him more than his larger counterpart, and found herself much more at ease with only him and the med-jacks around.
"Can you answer any...any bloody questions around here?" She sputtered, surprised at how naturally the words had flown from her throat. Newt seemed just as shocked to hear her utter the same curse that was specific to him only in the Glade, and barely managed to hide his shocked expression. Jeff, however, let out a short laugh towards what was obviously their vocal similarities.
"B-bloody?" The med-jack let out another chortle, trying – and failing – to hide his laughter behind his hand. "This is too precious. She's like a shucking copy of you Newt."
Inka's sharp, frustrated gaze flitted back and forth between the two boys – one of which who looked out of words and the other who looked as though he was enjoying the other's reaction – and she found herself suddenly overwhelmed. Here she was, asking for answers in what seemed to be a crisis situation, and the medical professional was laughing that their accents matched. It was frighteningly surreal more than anything, and her anger hit a peak. She cried out for attention, slamming her hands against the cot she sat against in hopes that his laughter would stop and that she could get some answers. Both boys tensed at her actions, springing into place to restrain her at the sound of her cries. For Newt, however, the last thing he wanted to do was tie her up and the first thing he wanted to do was revel in the smoothness of her skin.
"No, no!" She struggled against their holds, managing to elbow Jeff in the chin and get a hand free to shove against Newt's advances. "I just want answers!"
"Just calm down, alright?" Newt grunted as her hand was once again shoved unceremoniously in his face, and he realized that neither him nor Jeff could get a proper hold of her.
"I am calm!" She complained, glaring at both men as they backed off of her. "I am perfectly calm. Now tell me precisely how long you people have been here, how long you have been trying to get out, and what you have found so far."
Newt had to hand it to her, she was dedicated. It reminded him of the times when he was a runner, always striving for the next entry in his notebook and hopeful that somewhere around the next corner, a clue could be found indicating the way out. He had been so careful and meticulous with his work, making sure to map each difference from the maze as soon as he got back in the Glade each and every day. Then, when his 'accident' had occurred, Alby had deemed him mentally unfit and forbid him to ever step foot in the maze again. Newt had long since buried his demons, but this girl's arrival promptly renewed his vigor to learn all he could about the maze. He hadn't felt that way in a long time, and he had her to thank. Perhaps she could bring the trapped Gladers the hope they had been looking for all this time.
"Alright – listen," Newt held his hands up slightly, not wanting her to lose her cool again. "The longest anyone's been here is three years, and we've been looking since then. Minho is the one who knows the maze best, but you've got to be a runner if you want anything out of him."
"A runner?" She narrowed her eyes at the terminology, having heard it before but not understanding what it meant.
"Yeah," Newt nodded, noticing a slight gleam in her eyes as she processed the new information. "Runners – they map the maze out every day. They're the ones who are working on getting us out."
"There are other guys too," Jeff interrupted once again. "Builders, bricknicks, sloppers, baggers, cooks, track-hoes, slicers and obviously," He motioned to himself sarcastically. "med-jacks."
Inka shook her head, overwhelmed by all of the names and trying to latch on to at least one. Newt sensed her confusion, and quickly narrowed in on each one to make it simpler for her. He remembered his arrival in the Glade and how confused he had been, and took pity on Inka's situation more than any other one of the green-beans. It was the first time he had seen true initiative and desire to escape right off the bat in a new greenie. And surprisingly enough, it came in the form of this tiny raging she-bean who he couldn't take his eyes off of.
"Builders build things and the bricknicks fix what's broken around here," Newt forced the words out of his throat, hoping this was calming her down and serving as more of a distraction than anything. He also hoped that his tone came off as patient rather than patronizing, and that she understood what he was trying to describe. "The sloppers do the dirty work – cleaning and housework and all that, since they're not good at much else. The cooks cook, the med-jacks heal and the track-hoes farm."
"The slicers kill the animals," Clint added, scrunching his nose up as he thought of the nasty work the slaughterhouse contributors did. "And the baggers deal with any bodies."
"But the runners," Newt butted in again, noticing the flash of fear in Inka's eyes as Clint mentioned bodies. "The runners are the fastest and strongest of us all. They're out there all day trying to find a way out of here and memorizing the maze bit by bit."
"They've been doing that for three years," Inka deadpanned, eyes disbelieving and not failing to catch onto the glint that shone in Newt's pupils. "And they haven't found anything?"
"It's harder than it looks," Newt admitted, not wanting to admit to her what his previous job in the Glade had been. "And I don't know anything else."
"You're lying," She spat suddenly, gaze attacking as it searched his face for answers she knew he was hiding. He couldn't utter a reply however, once again shocked that she had managed to see through him, but was thankfully saved as Minho came in to collect him for their gathering. Jeff was told to stay behind and watch Inka, whilst Clint was recruited to go along with the two boys. Newt took one last glance at the girl before following the other Gladers, not being able to rid himself of the grey eyes that seemed to peer into his very soul. As soon as he stepped foot into the hut that held the gathering, however, the subject on his mind would come to light once more. Alby immediately announced the obvious fact that the she-bean was back and being nursed back to health, something that shifted the mood of the whole enclosure. Their leader then explained that they needed to find a way to deal with the predicament, as the box had never delivered a girl before and she clearly had a tendency to escape. Panic was common in greenies, but that sort of energy and ability to sprint as fast as she could as well as hide in a forest for two days and steal from the Glade was not.
"I say we punish her," Gally frowned as soon as there was a moment of silence for the Gladers to share their opinions. Although he had not been present in the med-jack hut, he based his prior experience with the girl and her sheer stupidity to head straight into the maze without even consulting the Glade members first to make an assessment of her. Newt felt himself shaking his head in anger and disappointment at the fact that Gally still hadn't learned that violence didn't solve everything.
"For what?" Minho spoke up, finding his anger soaring thanks to the ignorant boy's words. He had already irked by the fact that this strange girl had survived a night in the maze, but Gally's words pushed him over the edge. "Giving us valuable information? Surviving? She was only here for two days and already had the balls to run into the maze for a night – she didn't know any of the rules, you slinthead."
"She didn't know what was out there," Another Glader pointed out, slightly surprised by Minho's positivity and finding the courage to speak up. "And she came back."
"To help us," Minho added, looking around at all the boys now. "Listen, you might think she's jacked – but this is the first time anyone has killed a Griever, ever."
The silence in the air was heavy after the Keeper of the Runners uttered those words, and the tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife. Minho was right; she was valuable, and had been the first greenie in the box to ever run that fast or far. It was not often that the boys were fast enough to become runners – most became builders or used their talents elsewhere, such as cloth weaving or cleaning – so it came as a surprise to the entire Glade when the only girl they had ever seen come up in the box ran straight into the monster that was the maze.
"Forget that she's a girl – she's what we need right now," Minho continued. "We need answers, and she can help us. I say we make her a runner."
Newt had been quiet up to this point, relieved that his friends were sticking to the fair side of things and thinking of the grey eyed girl who was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He briefly wondered about her past and why the creators had chosen to send her up, out of all people. There had to be a reason for her arrival, and there had to be a connected reason as to why they were the only two to have British accents. Was this someone's way of trying to spell out a clue for them?
"She's practically got a death wish," Gally scoffed, interrupting Newt's thoughts and obviously still not buying it. He was still very heavily biased thanks to the bruise on his stomach, and was no closer to accepting the girl who had attacked him first thing upon jumping out of the box. "She's totally jacked and we can't trust her."
"She was just scared, Gally. You can't blame her for that. She wants answers just the same as any of us," Newt butted in, remembering why he had become a runner when he had first become part of the Glade and defending the new arrival. "She's brave, obviously smart enough to survive, and she's fast. And she's ready to go back in there. For us. To help us."
As much as he was reluctant to admit it, he agreed with Minho that Inka should become a runner. He didn't want her endangering herself – he almost wished his mental 'slip up' hadn't happened so that he could still be a runner and go with her, at the very least. But he knew these were unavailable options; options that he canceled out for himself long ago. He should have been strong, like Minho, and persevered instead of broken down because they hadn't happened to find answers for the hundredth and twentieth day in a row a year ago. He should have been strong and brave like Inka had proved herself to be, even in her first day of the Glade.
"Make her a runner," Alby decided after a short period of pondering and Gally glaring towards him. His decision only made the Keeper of the builders angrier. "Minho, start training her as soon as she's healed up properly."
The Keeper of the Runners gave a short, gruff nod in response to his leader's command, then disappeared from the hut. Newt wasn't sure what to do at that point; he wanted to go back to Inka and finish explaining to the girl what occurred in the Glade, but did not want to encroach on healing time and instead chose to take stock of what he had collected that day in the fields. The British boy had been keeping himself busy ever since he had helped Minho drag the she-bean back to the med-jack hut, finding that his anxiety over her condition only drove him more and more mad as the minutes went by. As a result, he had gathered more stock than any other track-hoes working in the field that day and was now staring at the largest pile of tomatoes he had ever seen since he rose up in the box years ago. Zart, the Keeper of the Gardens who somehow always smelt like spoiled milk, had only glanced at him strangely as he checked on his own rations and then disappeared out of the storage hut. Newt sighed, taking a tomato and flipping it in his hand before shaking his head in wonder at what an effect the girl had made on the Glade already. There was something very strong in his head that drew him towards her, although he couldn't identify it for the life of him and couldn't understand why.
It was two days later, and Newt still hadn't approached the med hut nor had he asked about Inka's condition. Neither Clint nor Jeff had emerged from the hut or asked for Alby, which was slightly concerning and more than enough to place the British boy under a fair bit of stress. He had taken to hoeing as much land as he could, furiously slaving away under the heat of the sun and muttering to himself about the sheer stupidity of the predicament he had been placed in. He often cursed at the creators, wondering what he and his fellow companions had all done to deserve being placed in this trap, before reminding himself that anger would only kill him in the end and he needed to stay calm to survive. It was now the afternoon, and Newt had immersed himself so deeply in his work that he barely realized it was only him in the fields. Inka and her state still played at the back of his mind, almost like a song that was stuck in his head that he couldn't get rid of.
"Newt?" The boy in question stopped working to face the voice calling his name. It was Winston, the Keeper of the Bloodhouse where the slicers did their dirty work, and he was looking rather concerned.
"What?" The British boy placed his hoe down rather roughly in frustration, letting it impale itself into the dirt.
"It's the she-bean," The other boy gulped, slightly out of breath. "She tried to run again."
"Again?!" Newt sprung into action, heading in the direction that Winston had arrived from. "Are we going to have to put a shucking leash on her?"
"She's angry – that's all I know," The Keeper of the slicers tried to explain as they ran along, headed towards the crowd of boys near the Eastern exit of the Glade. "Minho and Ben were coming out of the maze as she ran in – I think they tackled her but I'm not sure."
"Tackled?" Newt scrunched up his face and wondered if that was really necessary. Although he agreed that the girl had a lot of fight in her, two grown boys tackling her small frame to the ground seemed an unfair, unnecessary overkill.
The two boys quickly arrived at the scene where all the Gladers were gathering, finding that Alby was holding Inka in a very tight hold despite the sheer amount of force she was using to try and get away from him.
"You can't keep me in there!" She gasped, trying to claw at his eyes before he managed to grasp her hands. "You don't own me!"
"Listen," Alby grunted, grasping the girl by the cloth of her shirt and pulling her towards him. The action was violent and threatening, causing her to flinch and gasp in surprise. Newt reflexively took a step towards the pair, ready to attack Alby and bring him to the ground in whatever way possible, but then stopped as he realized that there had been no trigger for the reaction. It was as if he had acted without thought; just the same as when he heard the blaring of the alarm that signaled the box of supplies loaded up with the new greenie every month, or when he heard a cry for help. It was a reaction triggered by the need to protect, but he could not remember why or how it had been ingrained so deeply in his brain, especially since he had not felt this with any of the boys. He had been so ready to harm one of his own – a boy he had known for years and who had taken him under his wing only to make him second in command – to protect this tiny she-bean, who was currently struggling very hard against Alby's hold.
Newt could not pull out a reason for why he felt this way from his own head even if someone had been holding a machete to his neck.
"Listen!" Alby roared, causing Inka to finally stop struggling and simply focus on him with her big, grey eyes. The rest of the boys were quiet. "We have three rules here – first: everyone does their part. There are no slackers, and just because you're a girl doesn't mean you're an exception. Second: You never hurt another Glader; this system is built on trust and you already harmed that when you hit Gally and ran away."
The girl still stayed silent, not moving a muscle nor batting her eyes in question. It was as if she had been frozen in time even in the awkward position. She was so light Alby had no trouble keeping her slightly off of the ground as he lectured her, and even though Newt felt extreme discomfort watching her go through it, he knew that he would be in a lot more trouble if he intervened.
"Third," The leader of the Glade continued. "You never go outside the Glade unless you're a runner."
"Hear that, greenie?" Another Glader pointed out cheekily before Alby could finish, causing the leader frustration.
"Slim it slinthead," He growled towards the boy, who cowered in response. "Now listen green-bean – you didn't know any of this before today so I'll give you a break. But any more steps out of line and I'm throwing your ass in the slammer for as many days as I see fit."
Unfortunately, it seemed as though this warning would not deter the small girl. Without warning, Inka slipped a leg behind Alby's and pushed as hard as she could, making him to topple onto the ground and causing her to stumble back before crouching in a very predatory fashion before glaring at the leader. Alby rose silently, seemingly not bothered by the swipe at all, before lunging at her like a large tiger. The boys cleared and made a circle, watching as Inka dodged his attack and darted behind him like a small rat. This process repeated itself time after time, even when Alby tried to fake her out on several attempts. It seemed as though that while her strength was nowhere near as high as any of the boys, she was fast and agile enough to avoid attacks. Newt was extremely on edge, not liking the game that the two were playing and ready to interfere at a moments notice but unable to after several of Alby's glares were shot towards him. After several more attempts to snatch the she-bean, Alby stopped and realized that she was trying to tire him out. He motioned for Gally and Minho to collect her, sending her into a bit of a frenzy to try and get away from both boys at once. The rest of the crowd didn't move, simply stood by as Minho finally managed to grasp her shoulder and distract her enough so that Gally could take hold of her arms. Inka got in several headbutts and a couple kicks, but she soon gave up the struggle and accepted her fate, realizing that angering the boys any further would not do her any good.
"I'm not playing this game with you. Two days in the pit," Alby surprised the boys by the relatively low day-count he assigned Inka in their makeshift prison and his lack of frustration. He watched his fellow Gladers escort the she-bean away, narrowing his eyes slightly. "This one is definitely a runner."