Gladers,

Yay! You all like HeartxNewt! This chapter really sums up a lot of things and is the turning point for the story when things get serious. I'm extremely close to finishing up this story and I'll update as we go along. For now, enjoy!

Keep running.

~M&M

P.S. Want a chapter theme song? Try:

"In For The Kill" by Billie Marten

Chapter 25~Make It Back Home

It was a late realization let's just say. By the time the words came together (literally), I was skidding along maze passages by myself. I'd grown experienced enough to run independently. It was Sector 7 of course. The other Runners were doing as many surrounding areas as possible. It was a mystery as to why Minho assigned me that Sector alone. My feet were so trained that I barely ever stumbled over myself. My mind, instead of being focused on memorizing the Maze, drifted off to what Minho told me about Reth and what my father told me. My feet quivered and slipped on the floors, sending my body sprawled out over the Maze floors. It connected finally—the words were a code, the Maze's code in fact.

Float. Catch. Bleed. Death. Stiff. Push. It was a code, not a jumble of words.

"Code!" I screamed, disregarding all safety of staying undetected. "It's a da** code!" Hysterical laughter came next, and I struggled to my feet. The whole time I never realized the connection! That was what made me wonder when Minho told me what Reth said. The undeniable urge to return to the Glade and tell Newt was like a painful itch; there was no other choice but to wait and do my job.

There had to be somewhere to put the code obviously, otherwise it was useless. So my eyes scanned around the passage and landed to a section that had just opened. It took several seconds for I came back to my senses. Everything in my body screamed for me to go in.

What are you waiting for? Go!

And that's what I did. The only echoing sound was of my feet hitting the floor beneath me. Oddly enough, it filled me with a sense of bravery, courage.

The hallway passage was a long one and, before I could comprehend the circumstances, I was halted abruptly at a sort of a cliff. Beyond it lied only bleakness and pitch black. I stared for the longest time, trying to understand why Minho, Newt, and I didn't run into the cliff before. Looking closer, the glare of a shift of light found my attention.

"What the hell?" I breathed absentmindedly. The harder I stared, I noticed the bleakness was sort of an entrance. It shook. The ground shook, and the clicking commenced. Time's up. Marking my place in my mental map, I absconded my way back down the maze. I slid down the corridor and, without thinking, screamed. My heart pounded in my chest as my own eyes met that of a giant Griever's. It didn't need to see me to know I was there anymore. The thing turned and released a wretched growl. In mere milliseconds, I was racing a different direction, wondering why the hell it was always me.

Did they try to tell us things were going to be okay? Did they tell us everything was good? We were doing the right thing? I couldn't even tell anymore. I couldn't tell anyone anything.

Sweat slicked my forehead, for the information I held was as valuable as life itself. If I didn't make it out, it was unlikely anyone would. The rumbling of the ground sounded that my time had run out. Turning a last corning as feeling the hiss of the Griever behind me, I spotted the opening. Newt and Minho had already made it out. A small group of people including Alby, Aris, Cott, Oscar, Newt, and Minho was waiting behind the doors. Newt's face broke out in terror and turned starch white. He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed, "C'mon, Heart! Heart—go!" The fear was now stinging my eyes because there was that possibility that that time I wouldn't make it, I wouldn't scrape by. Looking at Newt was all I could do. I'd die pleased if he was the last thing I saw, his dreading but caring eyes. That'd be okay for me.

"Get the bloody hell outta there!" yelled the boy. Pushing with the last of my strength, I stumbled but clung to my ambition. A scream escaped my lips.

The next thing I felt was long arms gripping me so tightly that I could no longer breath. Blonde waves nuzzled in my own hair and trembling breath whispering consolation in my hair. The air was chilled and deadly frozen. No one said a word and I realized I was still alive. In the mess of my worries and Newt's constant fear, I found my voice, my message.

"Code…It's a code." My voice was so soft only Newt could decipher it.

"What is?" he murmured back. I pushed him back gently; he hesitantly released me.

"The Maze," I told everyone, "is not like a puzzle in a children's magazine. It's not simple enough to have an exit and entrance. There's a code to it." Minho appeared angered by this.

"What the shuck does that mean?" Alby barked. I wiped my sweat palms on my jeans in nervousness. "What were the three words Reth told you, Minho, before she died?"

Minho repeated the words—death, stiff, and push—to everyone. I nodded, relieved I could finally catch my breath.

"I know I have kept…tons…of secrets from all of you but this is the last one. I know the code to the Maze, and I know where the exit is." Silence infected all of us like a sudden pestilence.

Then the Glade exploded.

"A code! You know how to get out of the Maze?!" Oscar hollered, only adding to my frustration. "Shut up already, okay? You all panic when I try to explain this. The world isn't ending—good god."

The group hushed to an angry mutter.

"I found the exit by accident. It's in a long crevice in Sector 7. Off a cliff, there's some kind of tunnel leading somewhere. That's our best chance out of here."

I wouldn't have believed myself if I hadn't already seen the evidence. How was I going to get them to believe me?

Calm down, Heart. They're your friends. They'll believe you.

Cott's eyes met mine in the inevitable silence. She didn't smile nor did she frown. Instead she looked inspired. The girl met me at my side. "She's right—she's kept an extreme amount of secrets from us but have they once led us down an unhelpful path? We've gained advantage against the Creators. Now, we have a way out of this hell hole. If you think for a second that this is an unworthy chance for taking, then you're lying. Heart here has barely scraped by; she's been risking her klunkin' a** out there, not for herself, but for us. I don't want to believe that she's found a way out. Honestly, I'm scared, but aren't we all? All I can tell you now is this: I'm not staying here another month. I want to risk my life to make it out. Don't we owe Heart that much?

"She's important to every single one of us in different ways. Heart is now just another Runner. She's not just Reth. She's my best friend—all I have left. So I'll be damned if I don't walk out of the Glade with her by my side."

The words were very filtered but powerful nonetheless; she couldn't have left us feeling more surprised than she already did. Who knew Cott, the girl in the tacky, insulated jacket, had words of thunder in her chest.

The more silent we grew, the more confident the girl became. Then her hand groped for mine and found it. That girl was my best friend. I never thanked her—why did I never thank her? Her hand held onto mine for dear life, for she knew the future. And according to her golden wisps and peachy smirk, it was brighter than the sun.

God, I love Cott. She is my favorite character here.