Max pulled away the flap to the tent. Andy was standing with his arms crossed staring at a drawing that was roughly a foot long and a foot wide propped up by a wooden leg. He was infatuated with it and didn't notice Max enter even though he made a bit of noise coming in.
"Yo, Andy," he said.
Andy winced from surprise and faced him.
"Yo, Max," he said. "Just the guy I wanted to see. You're early."
"Yeah Natalie and I wanted all the runners to come back early since this is the first day everyone's partnered up."
"Well, come look at this."
Max gave him a weird look but stepped beside him looking at the drawing. It was the Glade shaded in gray, black, and white. He recognized the Overseer's building standing under the shadow of the Maze walls with a flock of bird soaring above it. The grass had such a sharp texture that he felt like he could reach in the drawing and grab a handful of it.
"That's a cool painting, bro," Max said. "Who drew it?"
"Wendy, actually," he answered. "She draws a lot. She showed me when I was in her tent."
"What were you doing in her tent?"
"Talking," Andy returned facing him again. "Which is something we need to do."
"Alright," Max replied. "What's up?"
"I've heard some things," Andy began. "You know how important it is that all of the managers stick together. You know, look out for each other."
"Does that include the girl managers too?"
"Yeah in a way," he said back. "But you know how long all of us have known each other. I'm sure the girls are looking out for each other too."
"They've reached out to us pretty hard," Max replied. "It seems like they want to include us."
"Why do I get the feeling you're sticking up for them?"
"I'm not," Max answered puzzled. "I'm just saying that they've done a lot to make us feel welcome. I don't think we should try to separate from them."
"So you're cool with sharing your authority with Natalie?"
"Natalie's great," Max said. "She makes my job a lot easier now. Plus we cover more ground with double the runners."
"You do know that girls are slower and weaker than us right?"
"Yeah, so?" Max shrugged. "It's not by much. These girls work just as hard to find the exit as we do. What's your problem with them? Do you not like Brenda?"
"Brenda's full of herself," Andy scoffed. "She thinks she has all the power."
"So she's not working with you?" Max asked.
"On her terms," Andy determined.
Max lowered his brow. He had to carefully pick the right words he was going to say.
"Andy," he said. "Do you want me to be honest?"
"Spit it out."
"Alright, well I've met Brenda. She's a good girl. She listens and she is pretty open-minded. She was excited to meet you. She went on and on about working with you to bring the two glades together. If I didn't know better I'd say that you were the problem not her."
"Is that why you've been talking behind my back?"
"The only thing I've said is that you're difficult sometimes," Max answered. "And it's true, Andy. You're difficult. You were difficult when we tried to find the girl's maze and now you're being difficult with Brenda."
"So then you don't support me?"
"Support you?" Max repeated frowning. "Support for what? You and Brenda are the leaders. What do you need my support for?"
"You know that we can't have two leaders," Andy asserted. "We'll have to vote eventually."
"You haven't even given it a chance," Max replied.
Andy didn't say anything back. He turned back to the drawing. Max prayed that his words sunk through his thick skull. They had a good thing going here. Production of food tripled, buildings were improving and new ones were being built. The last thing the Glade needed was Andy seeking more power. He didn't get why the guy couldn't just be happy with where he was. Why'd he'd have to cause friction all the time? The guy never trusted anyone.
"You're probably right," Andy sighed. "I do need to give this a chance. But if it doesn't work out and it comes down to a vote, can I count on your support?"
Max winced. He didn't want to hurt him. Despite their differences they had known each other for years. You form a brotherhood after struggling to survive for all that time. Yet, if he answered immediately he would've said Brenda. She was everything Andy wasn't, and that's why the support for her among the boys was growing. Andy's brown lowered. He knew the answer was no.
The ground shook violently knocking the drawing over. Max grabbed onto the pole standing in the middle of the tent. Thousands of tons of stone screeched. Cries rang from outside. The two boys stared at each other in disbelief. It couldn't be.
Natalie was standing outside of their tent along with other Gladers. Every eye was glued to the maze doors that were slowly closing.
"Natalie," Max called and he and Andy ran up to her.
The girl turned, horror etched across her face. It scared the hell out of him and he was afraid to ask his question.
"Who's still out there?"
"Jeremy, Pam, Alex, and Duke haven't checked in," she answered.
"Why the hell are the walls closing so early? Andy asked. "They should be open for another two hours."
"They might've found something that got the creators attention," Max said. "That's the only way to explain this."
"What will they do?" Andy asked.
"Hopefully the boys side is still open," Natalie said. "They know to come back early so they'll have time to get there once they see they can't come back to our Glade."
"And if the boys side is closed too?" Andy asked.
"Then they're dead," Max answered.
When Alex and Duke rounded the last corner to the maze exit, two things were amiss, neither were good. Jeremy and Pam were standing in front of another wall. Alex and Duke turned to each other with confused looks. It wasn't until they got closer that they saw the split in between the doors. The walls closed early. They must've closed while they were in the other maze or else they would've heard it.
"The creators really like to screw with us," Pam remarked. "First the stingers, now this?"
"Did you just get here?" Duke asked. Jeremy and Pam nodded their heads.
"We should try the other maze," Alex said. "If other runners are still here then we'll write a note by the portal."
The four runners transported to the other maze. Alex wrote a warning message in the dirt informing all remaining runners to find the exit in the boy's maze. They could only hope that the exit was still open.
They reached the doors, which were still open. Alex almost collapsed from relief. The runners had been on edge the entire trip to the exit. They slowed to a walk once they cleared the exit. There wasn't much left of the glade. A lot of the buildings were torn down to be used to reinforce the girls' buildings. A few sprouts of cabbages and strawberries grew through the weeds that already infected the gardens. The only thing still standing was the skeleton of the manager's buildings. Many of its wooden planks stripped weeks ago. It was a little eerie seeing an entire glade without people in it. Alex could only imagine how scary it was for Brenda when she came here alone.
"Guess we stay in Andy's place for the night," Jeremy muttered. "It'll get a little cold soon, I guess I'll go in the woods to start a fire."
"You shouldn't go alone," Pam said.
"I know the woods," Jeremy replied.
"So do I," Duke remarked. "I'll go with you. Alex, Pam you two should stay in the manager's hut until we get back."
"Are there any rabbits?" Alex asked. "I could try to set a snare or something. We're probably all a little hungry."
Duke opened his mouth to speak, most likely agreeing for her to come along but Jeremy cut him off.
"We can go a night without eating," he asserted.
Alex glared at him. So now he decided to speak to her. Pam and Duke glanced at each other sensing the tension between the two.
"Look, I don't want to be around you any more than you do but we should eat," Alex argued. "If something happens in the maze tomorrow we'll need our strength."
"If we see a rabbit we'll hunt it down," Jeremy replied.
"What are you gonna do? Run after it?"
"Guys," Duke said stepping between them. "We'll go with Jeremy's idea. We'll get the wood and start a fire first. We'll worry about eating later. Alright?"
Alex looked away scowling. She really wanted to rip Jeremy's face off.
"Let's go then," Jeremy said turning to the trees.
The boys took off leaving the two girls alone. Pam gave a meek smile and Alex did the same. Funny, even though she'd been running for two months she'd never talked to Pam. They always said hi whenever they ran into each other in the glade but never more than that. The girls walked inside the hut and made conversation, starting with how much they liked their partners. Alex was hoping against all hope that she wouldn't ask about Jeremy. She'd just get mad again. Though then again she wanted to let Pam know how much of a terrible guy he is.
"I have to ask, and you don't have to answer, but what's going on between you and Jeremy?"
Alex gave a look of disgust folding up another straw of hay and tossing it against the wall. Of course Pam asked, but a part of her was kind of glad she did.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, cause you two were kinda the first unofficial boy-girl partnership. I thought for sure you guys would be partners, and I heard you two had a thing."
"Emphasize the had," Alex said back. She dove into the whole story of what happened between the two of them at the party, and their little break up. Pam's eyes grew bigger and bigger as she went on.
"So now he's treating you like clunk?" she asked after Alex had finished her story.
"Yeah," Alex answered.
"Wow," Pam murmured. "He's so nice to me. A little distant, but still nice."
"I don't want your partnership with him to be screwed up," Alex replied. "Just you know, it is what it is."
"Do you think he's afraid?" Pam asked.
"Afraid?"
"Afraid of caring for someone," Pam explained. "I don't know he just seems like the type of guy who doesn't like to get too close with people. Maybe he lost a friend."
Alex never thought about that. That could explain it. The sudden passion only to be quenched after the note from the creators. Being ignored, switching partners, and now him being so rude. Now she wanted to talk to him. They had to clear this up. Set things right. She wouldn't stop thinking about him if they kept up this charade.
The ground trembled. The walls were closing again. Alex wrapped her arms closer to her body. Night was falling over the glade and the temperature was falling suit. She guessed maybe the boys had been out for twenty minutes. They should be getting back any minute. The thought of seeing Jeremy entering the building made her heart skip a beat. She wasn't sure if she could muster the courage to speak to him again without her anger. She defiantly wasn't going to break down in front of him. She was done crying.
"What's with you and Alex, man?" Duke asked as they both trekked through the woods with planks of dry wood under their arms.
"I really don't wanna talk about it, bro," Jeremy answered.
He was tired and these planks were getting heavy. This day sucked enough, talking about Alex would just make it worse.
"You guys really have some bad blood," Duke continued on. "I thought you were cool."
"Duke, what did I just say?"
"Dude, come on what happened?" Duke pressed on. "Everybody saw you two leaving the party together, and then all of a sudden the next day you guys hate each other or something."
Jeremy stopped and looked Duke square in the eye.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Jeremy growled. "I'm sick of carrying this and I'm sick of that girl."
"Fine, you can say whatever you want but you're not fooling anybody with this whole tough guy act," Duke asserted. "You need this, man. You need to let someone in after Philip."
Jeremy turned around without saying anything continuing on through the woods.
Once the two boys returned they dumped the wood in a pill a couple yards away from the manager's hut. Pam jumped next to the wood as Duke began rubbing two sticks together. Jeremy stood next to him rubbing his hands together and blowing in them. Alex stared at him for what felt like five minutes, before finally willing herself to speak.
"Jeremy?"
Even though she only called his name all three heads faced her.
"Can we talk?"
Pam and Duke looked at Jeremy. Jeremy's eyes dropped to the ground and he waited for a couple seconds. Alex half expected him to say no.
"Ok," he said much to her surprise.
He joined her inside the manager's hut away from the prying ears of Pam and Duke. She could barely see him in the dark. The only disguisable feature was his shaggy hair and the whites of his eyes. If they weren't at each other's throats she could only imagine the things that they could do in this obscure secluded place.
"What's up?" he asked.
"I think you know," Alex returned. "Are we gonna keep treating each other like this?"
"Like what?"
"You know what!" she exclaimed but immediately hushed her voice minding the two outside.
"You did a complete 180 on me and I want to know why."
His brow lowered and he glanced to the side.
"Look at me."
He froze for a couple seconds before his eyes slowly met hers.
"When Brenda read that note," he began. "All I could think about was this person who died. We were brothers in a sense. He got lost in the maze and didn't make it over the night. He was the first face I saw when the elevator opened."
He drew a deep breath before speaking again. He voice was softer, the same voice he used on her when they were together.
"I never told you this but I was the runner's manager two years ago. Philip was my friend's name. He sort of gave me the title because he didn't want to do it. He said I was more of a people person. He just liked being alone in the maze. He taught me everything about the maze and the politics of the glade. Then one evening he didn't come back. We never found his body, not that it matters anyway. I thought out of all the runners that'd get lost, I'd never pick him. So I guess I figured if he could die then anyone could. It screwed up the relationships with my runners and Andy was on my ass all the time, so I just gave up. Handed the title to Max and ran alone."
He pressed his lips together and looked away again. Alex brought her hands on both sides of his cheeks and turned his head toward her. It was a bold move and it surprised him, but he didn't pull away.
"Every runner risks not coming back," she said. "But it's a risk worth taking. Natalie lost her best friend but she can still feel for other people. If you just push people away then that will make you more miserable."
"I care about you too much," he said. "If you something happened to you…"
"Then what?" she asked. "Would you rather we spend our last day together or fighting?"
He didn't reply. His face twisted from his inner conflict.
"I'd want to spent my last day with you," she determined.
He tore himself out of her hands gazing out the between the wooden support beams. His face glowed from the growing fire that Duke and Pam were rushing to kindle.
"I'll have to think," he finally replied.
She was disappointed with his answer, but at least it wasn't a no. She nodded and gave a slight smile.
"Can we talk to each other at least?"
His lips curled into a smile and he nodded.
"Yeah," he answered. "Come on, let's join them by the fire."
Natalie saw the light beaming between the planks in the walls on her walk to the map room. She pushed open the door. Max was there. He was leaning over the model of the girl's maze. The boy model was sitting on the table beside it. She knew every turn, every wall, and every nook in the girl's maze and was beginning to get a feel for the second one. The little space for the metal sheets where the wind blew, the round about where it lead to four different sections. Strange how years of running and death came down to building an arts and craft project.
"Hey," she said.
He glanced at her and smiled.
"What's up?" he returned. "What're you doing up so late?"
"Was gonna ask you the same question," she replied.
He sighed and stared at the two mazes again.
"Just thought I could do some late night studying," he said. "Couldn't sleep."
"Yeah me neither," she said. "How many times have you done this?"
"What waited and hoped that a runner would come back?"
She nodded.
"Four times. You?"
"Two…well three I forgot about Alex," she answered.
"Alex has been getting the short end of the stick recently," he remarked. "First accidentally going through a portal into our maze, then the whole thing with Jeremy, now this."
"She's a strong girl," Natalie said. "She can handle it."
"I don't doubt it," he affirmed.
The two turned back to the models again. He was actually glad she came. Truth of the matter was he came here to think about Andy not to study. If he there was anyone to talk about what was on his mind it was her. Though he didn't know how she felt about Andy yet so he had to frame his words carefully.
"Have you met Andy yet?" he asked.
"Yes, I have," she answered.
"What do you think about him?"
"What do you think about him?" she returned.
He laughed and shook his head.
"I promise I won't say anything," he assured.
"Well," she said shrugging. "I don't know. Alex complained about him quite a bit when she got back. I'll admit something's a little off about the guy."
"Yeah."
"What made you ask about him?"
"He called me into his tent when I got back from the maze basically talking about how Brenda is trying to control him."
"That doesn't sound like her at all," she refuted.
"That's what I thought too and I tried to tell him to be reasonable," he explained. "But in the end he asked if it came to a vote would I go for him."
"What did you say?"
"I didn't say anything," he answered. "And that's the problem. He expected undying loyalty and I didn't give it to him."
"You think he's gonna try to force a vote?"
"I know he will," he answered. "And he'll lose, that's what I'm afraid of. I don't know what he'll do."
"When the times comes you, I, and all the others will stand against him. He's just one person."
"How do you know I'll vote against him?"
"No one votes for a person they're afraid of," she responded.
He nodded. He didn't realize that Andy had such an affect on him until Natalie said that. Andy ruled through fear and intimidation, the best way to keep a bunch of scared boys in line, but not enough to preside over what was now becoming a society. He didn't have to be afraid of him anymore. The power he wielded was vanishing. Opposition wasn't punished anymore like in the old days when an a boy who asked too many questions was put in the cage for three days next to the maze walls to get an earful of griever shrills during those nights.
"Come on," she said patting his back. "We can't do anything about our runners until the morning. Let's catch some sleep."
Max nodded again and followed her out the door. He took one last look at the maze before switching off the light. He just hoped that they didn't have to bury four more people the next morning.
Thanks for being patient y'all. Finals ended and your boy didn't do so great this semester. It's all good though I'll be back on that 3.0 GPA in no time. Now that school's out I'll be writing a lot more. I won't give any dates because I always seem to blow through them lol. But I'm gonna keep truckin through this and the query letter I'm working on for my book. Query letters are hard:( But I got this. Stay tuned. Peace!