Second update for today. Hope you guys enjoy it! Reviews are appreciated. Have a good day! ;u;

Things in the Glade weren't doing great. After the banishment of Ben, Alby got stung by a griever and was now tied up in a new shelter specifically for victims of grievers, a new and the second female glader arrived by the name of Teresa, and a bunch of Gladers had run into the maze led by Minho and Thomas which was strictly against their rules. Gally had been worried that things began to change since the arrival of Thomas and thought that he'd be the cause of more trouble. He wanted to give Thomas a punishment for the troubles he had caused but Newt, who was second in command, didn't see any good reason why they should.

The only good thing that had happened was that Holly finally recovered. Although her wrist was still broken, she was up in her feet walking. She was standing by the homestead with her hair tied up in a ponytail as usual and leaned against the wooden pillar structure with folded arms. She watched the gladers and could sense that it wasn't as merry as it used to. People were always either in an angry mood or in a mood that seemed that they had lost all hope of ever getting back home. She sighed. She didn't like what had become of the Glade but, she also knew that they had only a few days, even hours, left until things would get worse.

She quietly walked out of the homestead and headed to the deadheads. She knew she needed to gather all her strength because the second task would be more difficult than giving Newt a vaccine. She began doing some warm up exercises before starting her training. She quickly pulled her dagger out of her pocket and approached a big sturdy tree which she used as a dummy. Here and there, she would stab and cut the tree combined with heavy blows and kicks.

"Ugh" Holly winced and accidentally dropped the dagger to the ground. She was left handed and it was still difficult for her to use her dagger with a broken wrist.

Just as she was about to pick up her weapon, someone got it before her. She looked up and realized that it was Minho with a curious yet amused expression on his face.

"Who's the unlucky guy you're getting ready to beat up?" He joked. "I hope you and Newt didn't get into a fight"

Holly chuckled and took the dagger from him, putting it back in her pocket before she replied. "We didn't get into a fight. I'm just…exercising in case things go bad"

"You think things would go bad?" He asked curiously, leaning back on the tree with sliced marks.

"Things are different" she pointed out while scratching her cheek. "Anything can happen in a blink of an eye. It's better to be safe than sorry"

"Alright, let's get some training then"

"What?" Holly was taken by surprise as soon as she saw Minho getting warmed up and circling her.

Minho smiled and crouched, pulling his pants up a bit as if he would charge her anytime.

"Train, me and you" he said, "If you're going to use your left arm to attack, make sure you use your elbow instead if you don't want to break your hand completely"

And in a blink of an eye, Minho charged, grabbing her by the waist as he tried bringing her down. He was taking advantage of Holly because he knew that her wrist was still injured and thought she wouldn't be able to fight back. Holly clenched her teeth and tried to stand still, pushing him back with the use of her upper body. She had quickly put her leg behind Minho's and tripped him to the ground. Minho groaned for a while but was back on his feet, pulling the machete from the sheath on his back to attack. Suddenly, Holly made a single turn and swept the machete away with a kick and clenched her fists like a professional martial artist.

"My hand might be injured but my legs are in perfect condition" she grinned.

Minho was completely taken aback and impressed with her skills. That was the third time she had beaten him.

"You never cease to amaze me" Minho grinned back as he grabbed his machete. "But this is just the beginning"

Their secret training in the deadheads lasted for about an hour. Minho lost at times but so did Holly. The two of them were enjoying their little duel, especially Holly who remembered her one on one training with Minho back at TAIMN. When they finished their training, Minho left to see the other keepers while Holly decided it would be a good time to get some rest. She was heading to the homestead, exhausted and sweaty, when she found her favorite spot under the big tree was occupied by Thomas who seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

Thomas was staring at the Maze's opening while playing with the metal thing he and Minho got from the dead Griever. He kept wondering who were the people of WICKED and why did they create the grievers. Several new unanswered questions clouded his mind. His train of thoughts got cut off when he saw an exhausted Holly sighed and sat beside him with her legs stretched in front of her. But despite looking tired, she still gave Thomas a friendly smile.

"I didn't get the chance to thank you for saving me" he said with an apologetic smile whenever his eyes looked down on her injured hand.

"No need to thank me" she laughed. "I'm just glad you're okay"

"Be honest with me. Did things go bad since I came?"

Holly looked at the younger version of her boss and could see that he was eager to hear an answer. She looked back at the direction of the Maze's opening and felt the breeze against her sweaty skin.

"It did" she admitted. "Although I can't be too sure, I've only been here for two months. Things could've been bad when I wasn't here yet. But, things changed pretty much"

"Well Gally seems to think that everything is chaotic because of me" Thomas mumbled.

"Don't worry about, Gally. I'm sure he's just as scared as everyone else. He's just worried for the glade and the gladers. Don't beat yourself up" she patted his back and looked at the metal thing he was holding. "What's that?"

Thomas looked at the thing he was holding and handed it to her. "When you were recovering, Minho and I went back to the maze with a few others and retrieved this from a dead griever"

"What is it?"

"It's a key"

"A key?" Holly looked at it closely and couldn't, in any way, picture it as a key. "Does it go through a gigantic keyhole?"

Thomas laughed softly and tried to explain to her what he had discovered with Minho. "Uh, it doesn't. It has this some kind of sensory that when you put it near the hidden door, the red light turns green and the door opens. We think it's where the grievers come from and could also be our way out. We didn't get the chance to look further though because we almost got crushed"

"See? Curious cat found a way out" Holly grinned and handed him back the thing.

"Thank you for believing in me" Thomas smiled sincerely and played with the metal thing.

"You're welcome. I can't wait to get out of this place and get myself a big slice of pizza"

"Pizza?" he chuckled.

"I miss eating certain foods just like pizza and cake. I'd like to get a taste of it once again" she explained. "Anyway, I heard there was a new girl. I never got the chance to meet her"

"Oh Teresa, she's looking after Alby. He seems to be getting better after having whatever it was in the syringe Teresa has"

"I hope he wakes up soon" She said and quickly looked around the Glade searchingly. "I haven't seen Newt the whole day"

"He's been all over the place working and making sure things are alright" Thomas mumbled with his head down, fondling with the cold metal thing. "He and Gally have been arguing too because of all the troubles I've caused. I feel bad for Newt"

Holly smiled and nudged him. "I told you; don't beat yourself up too much. Newt can handle himself and I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing. And I'm pretty sure he's just defending you because he knows you didn't do anything wrong"

It was almost sundown and Holly got up, dusting off the blades of grass that stuck on her legs. She gave Thomas a hand and the two of them headed back to the little village to have some supper.