Chapter 7

Welcome to the Maze

Minho sprinted off to cover a different section while Newt led her to another; the Maze was apparently composed of eight different sections that surrounded the Maze, but Minho and Newt had only thoroughly searched four of them.

Newt was leading her into section two, while Minho went to check out section three; out of the two, Minho was faster, but only by a little bit and he had been in the Maze a month longer than Newt had. "So, when's lunch?" she asked, wiping the sweat out off her brow.

"Tired already?" he grinned, glancing over at her.

"Nope. But I could really kill for some of Frypan's sandwiches," she replied and adjusted the strap of her pack.

Newt chuckled and said, "I have to say Greenie, you're not bad. Much better than Winston and Zart when Nick had them try out with Minho and me."

"Is that so?" Tessa grinned, smiling to herself. Maybe she could become a Runner after all.

"Come on. Just a little bit more and then we can eat."

Newt pulled out a small cloth after they had done about ten more minutes of running and wiped his face with it. The sweat was gone, but he'd left a huge dirt streak across his cheek.

Snickering, Tessa pointed it out and promptly rubbed it off with her thumb. "Your welcome." She smiled, trying her best to ignore Newt's gawking expression.

"Thanks…" Tessa grinned, plopped down on the floor, and pulled out Frypan's carefully made grilled cheese sandwiches, sliced apples, and a lightweight canteen of water. The sandwich was still warm; it had been wrapped in some sort of foil, the apples were crispy, and the cold water soothing.

"Bloody hell, Tessa. You can eat," Newt commented after she gulped down her sandwich and e-mails in a mere three minutes. She grinned and then gulped down half of the water in her canteen. After Newt had finally finished eating, they walked a bit, stretched, and then continued to run. But it wasn't too bad; running gave Tessa a good feeling, a feeling of freedom.

The two met Minho in the Runner's hut, who was drinking water and sitting in a wooden chair, studying a notebook. "So, how did the Greenie do?" Minho grinned, casting the notebook to the side and setting his cup of water down.

"Not bad. Although, I'm not sure if she's good enough to keep up with us," Newt grinned.

"Bull shit," Tessa rolled her eyes and walked over to the tables, which had piles of papers, a piece of cardboard with lines and boxes that resembled a maze, and tons of wooden, black pencils.

"Language, princess," Minho wagged his finger at her and then pulled out several pieces of paper. He put them out so they connected and formed into what seemed like drawings of section two.

Tessa tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and said, "So, what are we doing?"

"Everyday, we run a section of the Maze. We look for anything interesting, strange, or significant. Think of symbols, writings in the walls, something that wasn't there before. Being a Runner means you have to be fast and smart. You good with that, Tess?" Minho said.

"Yeah. Sounds good," she smiled.

"Good," Minho grinned and said, "We draw the Maze and tomorrow, we'll start to construct it."


It was dark when Tessa had finished eating dinner with the rest of the Gladers, showered, and then walked back to the creek with Newt and Minho. "So, what are we doing tomorrow?" she asked Newt.

"Running a different section and then starting the construction of our maze model," Newt said, yawning and stretching his arms above his head. Minho said goodnight and wandered back to his room in the Homestead, which she thought was quite unfair. Only the two Runners, Alby, and Nick got rooms while the eight others had to sleep outside. Apparently, Gally was working on rooms for the others like Frypan, Winston, and Zart but it was hard. There was only him and another guy.

"Are you tired?" Newt turned to her and smiled. She could see his perfect white teeth even in the dark and nodded.

"Yeah," she smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tess," Newt grinned and walked to the Homestead. When Tessa finally nestled into her sleeping bag, she realized something. Minho and Newt were the only ones that had ever called her Tess, and in a way, she sort of liked it.


"Morning, babe," she heard someone say. Groaning, she rubbed her hands against her eyes and saw Minho staring down at her.

"Call me that again and I'll knock your teeth out," Tessa slipped out of her sleeping bag and grabbed the pile of clothes she had lay out yesterday. After she finally persuaded Minho to leave her alone and go eat something, Tessa slipped into the bathroom and changed into her running boots, tank top, and running shorts. She met Newt and Minho, after she ate an apple, in front of the doors.

"Who's excited for another day in the Maze?" Minho grinned, rubbing his palms together like a little kid, greedily asking for candy. Newt fixed a lace on his left shoe while Tessa gave Minho a slight nod; she was still tired from the run the day before. The job may have been better than the other options she had had, but it was exhausting.

Minho chuckled as Tessa yawned and rubbed her eyes with her hands. "Tired, honey?"

Rolling her eyes at him, she replied, "Shut it, shuckface."

Newt smiled at her and said, "Don't worry about it, Tess. Minho here, I heard, wasn't even able to get up after his first run. Alby had to practically beg him."

"Not true," Minho protested, making a face expression that reminded her of two siblings arguing over who broke what. She wondered if Gally and her ever argued like that.

Newt laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. Tessa couldn't help but point out another thing, "But seriously, Newt. You need a haircut. Perhaps I could give you one after our run?" She grinned and tugged out one of the knives that were in one of the little slings of her pack.

"No! My hair is gorgeous the way it is!" Newt protested. This time, it was Minho's turn to laugh. While Newt covered his head with his hands and Minho was laughing at him, Nick approached them with a faint smile.

"I see my Runners are up nice and early, today," he smiled.

"We get up this time every day, Nick," Minho said, quizzically.

"I know, you shuck," Nick replied, laughed, and turned towards me. "How are you, Tessa?"

Tessa ran a hand through her hair before saying, "I'm great, Nick, except for the fact that I still have no idea why we're in here. Otherwise, I'm fitting in quite well."

"Good. Then I'll leave you guys to it then. The Doors should be opening any moment now."


Tessa's whole body was sore, but the running was still great. She sprinted a few feet ahead of Newt until they burst into the Glade, sweat pouring down their faces after their short race.

"Great, you win," Newt wheezed, panting and scrambling for his bottle of water. She laughed and offered her water to him when he couldn't open his. He nodded in thanks and then followed her and Minho to the Runner's hut.

"Please tell me you did not lose," Minho said, covering his face with his hands.

"Oh, he lost. Big time," Tessa laughed, smirking a bit. Newt put his face down on the table in shame while Minho muttered curse words at his friend. After Newt finally picked himself back up, the three began constructing the mini model of the Maze out of wooden pieces and sticks that a Slopper had collected the day before. After the trio finished section one, they journeyed to the kitchen for dinner.


Hi guys! How's school going for some of you? Hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think!

Quote: "I used to think the world was broken down by tribes, 'I said. 'By Black and White. By Indian and White. But I know this isn't true. The world is only broken into two tribes: the people who are assholes and the people who are not."-The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian