Never Stop Running
Chapter 3
Maddie's POV
Minho froze when the doors clicked shut. Who was that? And why were they in the maze? The boy had looked so worried. Like he was running to save his life. Like the run depended on it. He hadn't even bothered shouting when the doors had shut. Minho stumbled backwards in shock. He gazed at me, I could see his breathing quickened. Rapidly he turned and bolted towards what he called the Homestead. I turned back to the stone walls that stood in front of me before racing after Minho. He was a lot quicker than me and made it there much before I did. By the time I got there, my knees were aching and my breathing very fast. I pushed the door open and inside was Minho, Newt and Alby. They all had stern expressions on their faces. They went silent as I walked in.
"Greenie go somewhere else," Minho said.
"Why?" I asked moving closer to them.
"Because I said so," He said angrily at me. He then pushed past me and went out the door, slamming it shut behind him. Newt folded his arms.
"What happened," I asked.
"We lost George," Newt said.
"We didn't lose him, hes in the maze," I replied.
"If you get stuck in the maze overnight, you aren't alive by morning.." Newt began but was quicky interrupted.
"Its getting dark, we need to light the bonfire soon," Alby said.
"Bonfire?"
"We have a small party every month for the new Greenie," Newt said. "Bonfire, drinks a bit of fun, keeps us going," his accent was strange.
"No one finds out about George until tomorrow," Alby said as he started walking towards the door. "No one," He said before walking out. Newt sat down on the edge of the wall.
"has Minho not told you about the maze yet?" He asked brushing his blonde hair out of his face. I Moved to sit opposite him. I shook my head, "The maze opens every morning, and the runners go out, they map the maze, trying to find a way out. They come back every night, before the doors close..."
"And what happens if they don't?" I add. Newt looks up at me.
"They don't come back, the Grievers come out at night and even if the runner managed to survive the grievers they still wouldn't make it out, the walls change, making it harder for the runners to map it. So that boy you just saw, who didn't make it out of the maze, he wont be back. That's why Minho is so angry, he just lost his best runner.."
"Minho is a runner?" Newt looked surprised.
"The best one we've got. The fastest, strongest. He's been doing it the longest. Him and George started it out together. The job of running ; along with Nick. But Nick never ran, didn't want to. Always stayed behind, sorting maps out, trying to find a pattern in the movement of the walls. Trying to work out where our escape was. So far they've ben doing it for over a year with no results. No escape. Just the same run every day. looking for something they've missed. But there's never anything. Nothing they've never seen before. They've tried everything; over the walls, tried to go back through the box but it won't take anyone."
"Im sorry," I said. Newt smiled.
"Its not your fault," he said. Yet somehow in the back of my mind, I felt like it was my fault...
The Bonfire was crazy. Maybe a dozen boys happily drinking, smiling, enjoying themselves. The George incident was in the back of my mind. That I would never see him again. And that the majority of the boys did not know his whereabouts or that they would never see their friend again. I felt my eyes tear up. Luckily Newt came and sat next to me. I was sat on a log, many surrounded the bonfire and most of the boys were sat on them. Newt handed me a drink.
"Thanks," I smelled the cup. "What is it?"
"doesn't matter, just drink it," He replied taking a drink of his own drink. I took a sip of mine. Alcohol of some sort. I almost sat it out. Newt laughed at me and I playfully punched him in the shoulder.
"That is disgusting," I said putting the cup on the ground next to me.
"Its Gally's Secret Recipe. No one actually knows what's in it," Newt said pointing at a boy who was currently in a wrestling match against a much smaller boy. He was winning by a lot. "He's the keeper of the Builders"
"Builders?" I questioned picking the cup back up and taking another sip.
"They've built every building in the Glade, every roof, every wall. Pretty helpful ya know." He said. Pretty impressive, from what I'd seen they were pretty good. "That's Winston he's the keeper of the Slicers," I almost spat my drink out again. "Don't worry, nasty stuff. I wont put you there. But someone's gotta do it. And then there's Zart with the Track-hoes that do the gardening. Clint and Jeff do any medical stuff. Some of us wouldn't be alive without em. Frypan does the cooking with a help from a few others sometimes. The Baggers and Sloppers do any other stuff the rest of us don't want to do. Nasty stuff. And lastly there's the Runners, but I've already explained all that. But I'm sure you wont end up there. And that's it. Everyone is given a job that they do." He said pointing at every guy he mentioned.
"And what do you do?" I asked him.
"Second in command, after Alby. But I just generally help out in most areas. And I'm there is Alby isn't." He said. I'd noticed that he seemed pretty high up, because the boys seemed to obey what he asked.
"What made Alby leader?" I asked taking another swig of the drink. The more I drank the better I felt and the less disgusting it tasted.
"He was one of the first here, lined us up, got us sorting the place out, got it all running. Wouldn't have been the same without him. It only felt right to give him the leaders role." That made a lot of sense. Newt then turned to me. "So do you remember anything about yourself?"
"Nothing really." the more I thought about it the more I realised I couldn't remember anything. I'd been so caught up in trying to understand and learn about this place, that I had barely even thought about myself. I tried to think. But the only thing I could remember is waking up in that small metal box, scared for my life. "Yeah, literally nothing..."
"Don't worry, they let us keep our name. It'll come back to you soon, but that will be the only thing," Newt said just as the boys erupted in cheer as the wrestling match between Gally and Winston had finished. Gally stood victorious holding his arms up in the air, happy for his victory. The boys clapped and then all sat down again, taking back their cups, drinking more. They seemed happy.
"Who is 'they'?"
"Wicked." Newt replied, watching as all the boys joined us around the log. I noticed Minho take a drink and down it in one and then take another. He then went and sat on a log opposite me. He looked up and our eyes met. I could tell he'd been upset. His eyes said it all.
"Who is Wicked?" I said keeping my eyes connected to Minho's until he broke it away, looking down at the floor.
"That's the same question we all have." Newt said, before standing up. I watched him, confused. "Alright Shanks," He shouted and all the boys stopped chatting and laughing. They all turned to look at Newt. "As ever, every month a new Greenie comes up in that god awful metal cage, with no memories at all. As usual it happened again this month. And in honour of our new Greenie, the Glade's first girl..." he turned to me.
"Maddie," I said. My name. My name is Maddie.
"Maddie." Newt shouted raising his cup of whatever drink it was. The boys did the same. There was cheering, shouting laughing. And for the first time, I properly smiled, because this place felt like home.
AN
Hi, so ive been working really hard today, working on ideas and its gone really well and im going to try and write more tonight to post tomorrow!
Thankyou for reading. If you have any ideas for me or criticism, then feel free to dm me or write a review Xx
MazeRunnerGirl24