"Are you sure about that?" Grayson asked for the tenth time since we had snuck down to Mary's workspace. Mary was a doctor who also tattooed the patients with their information before they went into the maze.
"I'm sure," I reassured him as I took my top off. "With this on my back, we should be able to survive." Mary had just finished transferring my drawing to a piece of transfer paper.
"You ready?" I nodded and laid down on her work bench.
"You know that if you take your hoodie off, you may be killed outright?" Grayson said pointedly.
"That's a chance I have to take." I said, as Mary undid my bra and placed the large sheet on my back. My design was of a tree. It looked completely innocent from far away – and too any of Wicked's cameras. But intertwined in the branches of the trees were names that Grayson had stolen. The names of who were supposed to live, despite if they died in later stages. The trunk of the tree was made of phrases and images and clues to escape, to kill, or to break through any of Wicked's games that were planned. I drew in a long breath as the tattoo gun was set to my skin. It burned worse than when Mary had inked my label into me previous; D-10: the one.
"Why is 'the cliff is not a cliff' the biggest?" Mary asked while she worked.
"Without that, the rest isn't worth anything." I answered through gritted teeth.
I watched from my hammock as Alby and Minho ran though the west door into the maze, Newt waving them a good luck. They must be off to investigate the dead Griever out near the cliff. A thousand worried thoughts raced through my mind. What if the Griever was not really dead? What if it pushed them off of the cliff, or one of them got stung? I shook my head, pushing those thoughts from my head. I skipped breakfast in favor of helping the Track-Hoes work at removing a large stump from the area they were wanting to expand. Zart had been talking all morning about how he wanted to add another crop field now that they had been sent a new type of seed.
"Can't believe that the runners found a dead one," Zart snorted, leaning on his shovel while I worked at tilling the already upturned dirt. "You ever found one?" He had his Track-Hoes off working on keeping everything else running while we finished this job off. Zart was one of the few in the Glade that knew the full story of how I came into their Glade from the maze, as one of the keepers that is.
I shook my head as I kept working. "Only seen the living kind unfortunately." Zart frowned before he continued to work.
"So, a maze full of girls – must have been a party every night," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. I plunged my hoe into the ground, holding my side from laughing so hard.
"What image do you boys have in your mind?" I asked, wiping away a tear of laughter, "Girl on girl action all the time?" I shook my head, trying to stop my laughing. "Not even close Zart. It was all hard work and estrogen." He opened his mouth to speak again. "Estrogen as in crying, emotional wrecks every time another one got sent up." He frowned before going back to work. We worked like that until Frypan called for lunch and we had just finished tilling the field, with his little quips.
Newt padded over to me while I was in line for my lunch, "you see Minho and Alby yet?" His demeanor was off.
"Haven't seen them come back yet." I frowned.
Newt ran a hand through his hair, "they should have been back by now." I started to reach out to comfort him, but stopped and returned my hands to my hips.
"Probably got side tracked – you know Minho – nice shiny dead Griever, lets go play with it." I offered with a shrug.
He ran his hand over the left half of his face, "I know Minho's a slinthead, but he's not that bad."
"They'll be back before dinner for sure," I tried to reassure him.
Newt sighed, "I really hope you're right." He turned his back and walked back towards the west door that they had left through that morning.
I could not concentrate on anything that afternoon. I had helped Zart plant and water the new field, but every moment that I could sneak a look at Newt, I would. He had been gradually getting more anxious as he watched each door. By dinner he was running from door to door franticly watching for any sign that they would be appearing soon. I started towards him, but Thomas stepped in front of me, making me stop abruptly. "What do you want?"
"You're a runner, right?" He asked, searching my eyes for the answer.
I cocked my head, "what's so important about that?" I moved to step around him.
"Shouldn't they be back by now?" He pressed, blocking my movements.
I lowered my gaze, "if everything went as planned – yes."
"Wh-what do you mean 'if'?" He questioned, his voice rising an octave. I had never seen him worried – in my available memory.
"Lots of things happen out there. Sometimes people just don't come back." I explained, crossing my arms. "Even if you know the maze like the back of your hand, good people do die."
"Have you," Thomas started. I nodded firmly.
"If you'll excuse me," I said harshly. But I had to get away from him. I had to go make sure that Newt was alright. "Still not back yet?" I called.
He stopped moving and watched me for a moment, "still no sign of them." I frowned, moving to stand beside him. "Something definitely happened out there."
"They'll make it. Somehow." I bit the inside of my cheek.
"Shouldn't we send out a search party?" A voice asked from behind us. I rolled my eyes, it was Thomas – of course.
"Not allowed," Newt said simply.
"What if they're injured and can't make it back on their own?" Thomas pressed.
"The doors are going to close soon," Newt began to raise his voice.
"Then they sleep in the maze," Thomas suggested. I cringed at the suggestion.
"Listen Greenie – no one, ever, has survived a night in the maze. It's a death sentence." Newt was losing his cool.
"You should go," I said sternly, placing a gently hand on Newt's shoulder.
"I will," Newt said, walking right out of my touch and towards the homestead.
"Why has no one survived a night in the maze?" Thomas asked once Newt was out of ear shot.
"Grievers. It's their hunting ground at night," I sighed, turning back to look out in the maze. I wanted so much to run out there and find them – dead or alive. But I knew better, and Thomas would surely throw me in the pit himself.
"There they are!" Thomas yelled, pointing down the corridor. "Newt!" I was shocked. Alby was unconscious, bleeding from his head and abdomen. Minho was trying to keep him upright as he worked his way toward us. The doors began to close when Minho fell forward.
"Get up," I shouted, falling forward. My hands placed firmly on my knees as I watched with heightened anticipation. Minho gripped onto one of Alby's legs and had begun trying to drag him. I knew that they weren't going to make it, but I kept cheering for them. Closer and Closer.
I watched, frozen in shock as Thomas ran headlong through the closing doors and into the maze. I barely caught him clear the end before they closed for the night. I felt relieved slightly – if he did have any memories of before, he would not have done that.
"He bloody did it," Newt breathed out, finally reaching me. His calm – for today at least – demeanor changed as he lashed out on the doors. "That jacked shank. All three of them are goin' to die now."
"Newt, it'll be okay-" I began, reaching out to calm him.
"They're not you Lyra! They're not a crazy, demented girl that out runs Grievers for the hell of it! They're going to die in there tonight." Newt yelled, throwing a hand towards the maze.
I kept a steady gaze on him. "Minho, can you hear me," I shouted. I waited a moment and called again.
"He can't bloody well-" Newt began, placing a hand on his forehead.
"Yeah?!" Minho replied.
I sent Newt a small smirk. "If you want to live, you have to listen to me. There'll be four Grievers in there with you. You need to catch them as the walls move, or force them off of a ledge."
There was a moment of silence before Minho shouted again, "listen you shuck-faced shuck. Lyra knows what she is talking about. Get your head out of your ass and pay attention!" I could not help but smile a bit. I turned back to Newt. He had taken a seat in the grass about ten feet from the door.
"Newt," I sighed, walking towards him. He just avoided my gaze and kept staring at the doors. I let a slow breath escape, squeezed his shoulder and walked back to the homestead. I leaned against the wall and watched as Newt just sat there, staring. I really hope that those three will survive. He had already been seated there for three hours, with me watching silently, when Chuck walked up to me.
"You alright, Lyra," Chuck asked, leaning beside me.
"I am." I said quickly. "Dunno about Newt though."
Chuck frowned as he took a long look at him. "He's scared of the maze. Used to be a runner until something bad happened."
"Something bad?" I questioned, casting Chuck a quick look. Could that be how he got his limp?
"No one ever talks about it." He sighed. "Gally brought him a few jars of his special brew earlier. We normally crack those out at parties." I had seen Gally approach him with something that glinted in the moonlight. He yawned. "Guess I'll turn in for the night. See you in the morning Lyra."
"Good night Chuck," I returned with a smile. I watched as Newt took a long drink from one of the jars. I pried myself from the wall and entered the homestead, grabbed two pillows and two large blankets from the extra pile. I walked back towards Newt. Hopefully he had enough time to calm down. I threw one of the pillows at his head once I was close enough.
"What was that-" He stopped once he saw me. He turned back around, holding the pillow in his lap. I placed one of the blankets around his shoulders before sitting beside him. "Sorry about earlier."
"No, I understand." I adjusted his blanket to better cover him.
He grabbed my hands to stop my work. "It's still no excuse for how I treated you."
"Chuck told me how you don't like the maze," I sighed, "I don't blame you. After Jackie was killed it was hard as hell to have to run past that spot every day."
He dropped his hands and looked back towards the maze. "Did anyone tell you what happened?"
I shook my head, "only what Chuck just told me."
We stayed in silence for a moment before he spoke again, "I went into the maze with the intention of never coming out. Climbed halfway up one of those walls and jumped right off." It was my turn to take his hand in mine. He used to other hand to maneuver under the pillow to pull out a half gone mason jar of a golden liquid. Had to be Gally's work. I watched him as he took a swig. That must be how he got his limp.
"I would have done the same," I admitted. Newt stopped mid sip. I quickly changed the subject, "that first day that I took Minho and Alby out – why did you try to come with us if you don't like the maze?"
He held the jar in his hands as his gaze seemed to sober. "I honestly don't know. Could be hope for how you got in to be a way out. Maybe I wanted to make sure that you were alright." I moved my gaze forward, a small smile on my lips. I took the jar from his hands and took a long drink. It was extremely bitter. "Tryin' to put some hair on your chest now?"
"I don't wanna know what he puts in it," I said, scrunching up my face and handed it back to him.
"What would you do if you started to like one of us?" Newt asked after a moment. I raised a brow at his question before I bit my lip in thought. I saw his gaze flicker to my lips, so I forced myself to stop.
"We're trapped in this place. Any one of us could die tomorrow, so what's the point in liking someone when you're trying to get out of here. Like – what's the chance that we'll even see each other once we escape this mess?" I danced around the question, my heart beating in my ears. Newt frowned, but nodded. I threw my own blanket around my shoulders, covering up my head as well. "What do you think will happen with that new girl?"
I took another sip from the jar. "Well, we won't know much until she wakes up. It'll be strange having the two of you around – I like just having one of you." I lightly swatted at his chest. "When you first came in, I thought that you were going to make a mess out of what we had made. But you fit right in, doing your part, making sure that things got done – even putting Gally in his place to boot." I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"And I thought you were all going to be a bunch of horny boys glad to see a real live girl," I chuckled. Newt laughed, I could feel his chest shaking. "Turns out it's just Gally, really."
I yawned. "Getting tired?" I nodded, scooting closer to him. "Everyone else asleep?"
"Most went to sleep a while ago," I tried to hold back my new yawn. "You need your sleep though."
"You do more than me," he placed a hand on the back of my head and let it trail to my farthest shoulder. My heart stopped beating for a moment.
"Newt?" I asked, looking up at his sleeping face. I smiled, snuggling back into his shoulder and let myself drift off.