It was late afternoon. The Keeper of the Runners smiled as the entrance to the Glade came into view. He exhaled loudly before breaking into a full sprint. A few seconds later, his feet crunched on the moist ground of what had become their home for nearly a year now. He walked in circles for a few minutes to cool his body down before collapsing on the ground, limbs spread apart like a starfish. His chest heaved as his lungs starved for oxygen.

Ben peered down on him. "You're a bit late than the usual. It's too bad you missed all the fun. We got the supplies and a Greenbean in tow." He handed him a canteen of cold water. Minho took it wordlessly, chugging down all of its contents in a few gulps.

"What's the scoop on the Greenie? Any chance I get to recruit him as a Runner someday?"

The blonde-haired Builder snorted at this. "Doubt it. The shuckface is as skinny as a twig. Can't even pass for a Builder if you ask me."

"Oh great. Another Slopper then."

"I dunno. It's too early to tell."

Not long ago, Minho, Ben, and a few other Gladers began taking bets on where their newest Greenies would be designated to. Last month, Ben and two other Builders have won. Minho was itching for payback.

"Is that him?" he nodded at a figure a few yards away. The boy couldn't have been older than fifteen. He stood pigeon-toed as he watched the Track-Hoes doing some finishing touches in the Gardens. True enough, he was small and looked eternally awkward with those disproportionately long arms and legs. Minho thought Frypan's food will do him a lot of good. He himself packed some meat after only a few months of eating them. When the Greenbean turned to look at their direction, the dark-haired Runner did a double take.

"Ugh! And he's ugly too. Looks like a girl."

Ben chuckled. "Maybe we should ask for a girly wig. Put it over that shuck ugly hair of his and give the Glade it's first Muse."

The two boys laughed. They've begun scheming on how to coerce the Greenie to do just that when Minho noticed him walking towards the North Gate.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where the shuck does he think he's going? Didn't Alby give him the tour yet?"

"The tour always happens on the next day, slinthead."

The boy had reached dangerously close to the gate. Minho rolled his eyes, wishing he could pretend he didn't see anything. Yeah, right. "Oh shuck it."


There were four gates in total, one for each wall of what the Gladers called The Maze. Alex stood in front of the North wall, taking in its appearance. Thick, rope-like ivy hung on its extent. On one side of the opening, metal bars as thick as her forearm jutted out. On the other side were holes. Alex figured its where those bars must go into when the wall closes. But she couldn't picture it moving. The gigantic slab of concrete must have weighed a thousand tons.

She was looking up, trying to gauge how high the wall went when a series of metallic clicks and whirs caught her attention. It sounded as if it came from inside the maze, robotic and moving. Do they know what's in there? she wondered. Without much of a second thought she decided to look for its source.

Before she could even take the first step, someone shouted from behind her. "Hey klunkhead!"

She turned around and saw two boys approaching. The one ahead was tall, with dark hair and muscular arms. His almond eyes looked so livid they made Alex take a step back, right into the entrance. Her sudden movement seemed to make him angrier.

"Hey!" he barked again. As soon as Alex was within his reach, Minho shoved her hard on the chest. She yelped, the momentum almost making her topple over, forcing her to take a couple of steps backwards and well away from the entrance. White, hot pain erupted from her chest, knocking the breath out of her. Her face turned purple, both from anger and embarrassment.

The asshole just touched my boobs!

"What the hell was that for?!" she growled. She fought the urge to slap him across the face. How dare he!

"What the hell was that?" he countered. "Are you trying to get yourself killed on your first day? You know there's a reason why the Maze is off limits."

"I didn't know. And... I thought I heard something moving up ahead."

The look on Minho's face shifted from angry to alarmed. "You sure?"

"Yes. Like a machine or something, clicking and moving."

Ben, having heard the conversation, stepped in beside Minho. "They've never gotten this close before," he murmured.

"Who's they?"

"That's Alby's job to tell you," Minho snapped. "Since you obviously don't know, the Maze is a no-no for shuckfaced Greenies like yourself. Most of 'em figure that out in a few hours. Guess you're slower than most."

Alex's temper, which had been simmering down, flared up in under three seconds. "Are you calling me an idiot? A simple warning would've worked, I'm not dense. No need to get your freak on and shove me. Asshole!" Get your freak on? Where did that come from?

Alex was painfully aware of the way his right hand tightened into a fist. Warning bells screamed at her to back down. If he clips you with that hand, you're finished, a voice in her head murmured.

Minho crossed his arms over his chest. "If you wanna go and be a Griever's side dish then that's fine. Really, be my guest. Just don't step in that Maze while I'm around. Don't oblige me to save your skinny butt."

"I have now idea what you're talking-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a loud grating sound filled the air. Alex had to clamp her hands over her ears or risk shattering her eardrums. It was the wall moving. The side with the bars inched slowly towards the side with the holes. She watched in horror as the bars entered their slots. The wall closed shut with one final boom reverberating in the entire Glade, rattling her guts. Claustrophobia crawled up her torso, making it hard to breath. Seeing the walls close reminded her just how hopelessly trapped she was in this strange place. Suddenly it became all too overwhelming. What she just saw, what she didn't know, all those questions she had no means of answering. Will she ever come to the bottom of it all?

"That-that thing it did is normal, right?" When she turned around both boys were gone. She let her knees give way, not caring if they got scraped in her fall. Skinned knees were the least of her problems. For the first time in that long and confusing day, she allowed herself to cry.