She went for a run, trying to ease the stress she felt. The girl, Teresa, hadn't given them any answers, only more questions. Alby hadn't let her talk to her much longer after she had revealed she remembered Thomas. He had become his usual demanding self an achieved nothing but intimidating the poor girl and annoying Eleanor in the process. After a pointless interrogation they had let her rest, giving the med-jacks instructions to call if anything new came up. So, Eleanor had left a frustrated Alby and a concerned Newt and had ran. She resumed she would run until she heard the doors close. Then, she would find Minho or Chuck, she would have dinner. Maybe sneak a last minute visit to the girl and she would try not to think about everything that was happening and get a good night sleep. Everything would undoubtedly change in the morning and she would do her best not to dread on it before she knew exactly what was going on.

Eleanor had been running for what felt like an hour, but must have been less, otherwise she would have already heard the loud thud that indidcated the closing of the Maze doors. She was too tired to keep running, she felt run down after the events of the day so she decided she would call it quits and go find a friend. She felt a little disappointed in herself knowing she hadn't run as much as she had wanted to. She was getting really tired of feeling weak all the time. Eleanor knew she was being too harsh on herself, too demanding. She had come very far, she had overcome things she didn't thing she was capable of, but she still wanted more. she wanted to be stronger, more mature, more capable. That way maybe she could really help, she could survive. She could scape.

She had just begun her way back when she heard voices near the edge of the woods. She was about to ignore them and change her direction taking a longer route out of the deadheads when she realised one of the voices sounded higher, almost like it was a girl. Teresa was not supposed to leave the Med-hut today, Alby had said. Eleanor's curiosity took over and she kept walking in the direction of the voices.

"All I want is to get back home." she heard the female say, it was definitely Teresa, she thought as she was then close enough to hear her properly. "Just like the rest of you."

"Yeah, well, things pretty much suck right about now. The sun disappeared and the sky's gone gray." That had to be Thomas, Eleanor thought. "They didn't send us the weekly supplies, looks like things are going to end one way or another."

Eleanor knew what she was doing was wrong. That was a private conversation, she shouldn't eavesdrop. She would walk away, quietly and leave them their privacy. Before she could take two steps she heard someone else arrive at the scene, making a lot of noise.

"How in the..."

She could have sworn the one who had spoken was Newt. Eleanor took a few steps towards them, then. A peak through the trees showed her the second-in-command was not alone. Alby, Jeff and Clint were right behind him, as well as a bunch of other Gladers. Thomas and Teresa sat together against a tree looking up at them.

Newt spoke again. "How'd you get here? Med-jack said you were there one second and bugging gone the next."

Eleanor moved closer, no one had noticed she was there yet.

Teresa stood up, she looked defiant and spoke with confidence. "Guess he forgot to tell the little part about me kicking him in the groin and climbing out the window."

Eleanor saw Thomas contain his laughter. Eleanor herself would have found the situation funny if she hadn't felt bad for Jeff and, specially, if she hadn't known how furious Alby would undoubtedly be with Teresa. Every Glader's eyes went to stare at Jeff who blushed bring red.

"Congrats, Jeff," Newt said. "You're officially the first guy here to get your butt beat by a girl."

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to look at her. Eleanor could feel herself blushing, she hadn't meant to say that. But Newt's statement was wrong. He was forgetting about her. Everyone always seemed to forget about her.

Teresa wasn't bothered by her appearance. "Keep talking like that and you'll be next."

"What are you...?" Newt started asking Eleanor but soon thought better of it and turned back to face the greenies.

If he had been faced by Teresa's statement, which Eleanor knew he wasn't, he would not show it. Newt didn't move, he was gazing at them both, evaluating the situation.

Alby ran out of patience. "I'm sick of this."

He walked towards Thomas with a pointed finger, "I wanna know who you are, who this shank girl is, and how you guys know each other."

Eleanor rolled her eyes and moved forward, ready to interviene if necessary. She thought Alby was being unreasonable.

"Alby, I swear-" Thomas looked taken aback.

"She came straight to you after waking up, shuck-face! She says she remembers you!" Alby screamed in his face.

Thomas looked surprised and a little bit scared, but soon regained composture."So what? I know her, she knows me, or at least, we used to. That doesn't mean anything! I can't remember anything. Neither can she."

Alby had never looked so terrifying to Eleanor, he seemed crazed. She thought of Gally after the changing and shivered. The leader seemed to decide Thomas wasn't worth his time and turned to the new girl. "What did you do?"

Eleanor took another step forward, ready to interviene if necessary. She didn't like the way Alby was looking at Teresa. The girl didn't reply. Eleanor wasn't sure what answer Alby wanted either. What could the girl have possibly done?

"What did you do!" Alby repeated, screaming. "First the sky, now this."

Eleanor glanced at Newt, confused. What did he mean by 'now this'? Newt didn't return her gaze, his full attention was on his friend and the new girl, he seemed worried.

"I triggered something," Teresa spoke slowly, softly, perhaps trying not to anger Alby any more. Eleanor couldn't blame her. "Not on purpose, I swear it. The Ending. I don't know what it means."

A few seconds passed where the Gladers let the information sink in. The Ending. Eleanor had a bad feeling about the whole thing. What had that girl done? How had she done anything at all? They were all just pawns in this crazy game, weren't they? How was it possible that she had shown up in the Box and changed everything? Was it her fault or just a coincidence?

"What's wrong, Newt?" Thomas broke her train of thought, he looked pleadingly at Newt, ignoring Alby's furious gaze. "What happened?"

Eleanor waited for the reply too, not knowing what Alby had been talking about. Said boy burst into action, he grabbed Thomas by the shirt in a crazed frenzy. "What happened? I'll tell you what happened, shank. Too busy making lovey eyes to bother looking around? To bother noticing what freaking time it is!"

Eleanor observed horrified, unsure of what to do. Would Alby hurt Thomas? What did he mean by what time it was? Thomas looked down at his wrist where he wore a watch, just as his face filled with horror, Eleanor understood. She understood why she had felt like she had been running for so long, why the cue she had been waiting for hadn't come. She understood what had happened right before Alby spoke again. "The walls, you shuck. The Doors. They didn't close tonight."

Eleanor couldn't stop the gasp that left her. She looked at Newt for confirmation and for once he was looking back at her. Newt nodded. Eleanor's heart sunk to her feet, the unexplainable burst of horror she felt then was like nothing she had ever felt before. They were all going to die, weren't they? There was no escape from the begining, they were all doomed. Then, she felt a surce of unrecognised strengh within her. Maybe it was just the addrenaline, but she felt it. It was faint and felt fake but it was there. She clung to it.

"I want her locked up." Alby ordered. "Now. Billy! Jackson! Put her in the Slammer, and ignore every word that comes out of her shuck mouth."

Eleanor sprung into action then, "What? No!"

She walked the last remaining steps and stood next to the only other female. Thomas had complains too. "What're you talking about? Alby, you can't—"

Alby looked so angry the younger boy stopped speaking. Eleanor tried not to be faced. Alby wouldn't hurt them, and even if he tried Newt wouldn't let him. Of that she was sure.

"This is not her fault, Alby." Eleanor interviened, trying to sound confident. In reality, she had no idea if what she was saying was true, but she felt the need to protect Teresa.

"But… how could you possibly blame her for the walls not closing?" Thomas spoke. He seemed bewildered, out of his element.

Newt finally took action, stepping in between them. He lightly but firmly pushed Alby back with a hand to his chest and turned to the two girls and one boy that seemed to be facing the rest of the Gladers now. Eleanor frowned at Newt. She willed him to not take Alby's side for once. To take hers. But as always, he didn't.

"How could we not, Tommy? She bloody admitted it herself." Newt said.

She knew he was right but that didn't make it right. Thomas and Teresa shared a sad look, they seemed to understand eachother without words. Eleanor felt a bit taken aback by their sudden connection. Teresa seemed to have accepted her fate.

Eleanor felt hopeless, she didn't know how to reason with them, she never had. "Alby, we don't know what's going on. How could she have done anything? She's here just like we all are-"

"Just be glad you ain't going with her." Alby interrupted her. "You too, Thomas." He added when the Greenie was about to intervine.

With one last glare to the three of them he turned on his heels and walked away. Eleanor could only remember feeling that angry once, when Gally had disrespected her in front of the entire glade. By her side, Thomas also looked ready to punch something.

Billy and Jackson came forward and grabbed Teresa by both arms and they started escorting her away.

"Hey!" Eleanor protested, but to no avail. She turned to Newt. If anyone could stop the madness, it was him. "Newt..." She pleaded.

Newt looked back at her, with a 'don't make me do this' face but sighed and followed the pair of boys carrying Teresa and stopped them, grabbing one of them by the arm. "Stay with her. I don't care what happens, no one's gonna touch this girl. Swear your lives on it."

Both Gladers nodded and they soon continued the walk out of the Glade guarding Teresa who willingly went with them. Eleanor turned to the last remaining boys, everyone else had left. Thomas looked distraught, with a longing glance still tracked on the spot where the girl had disappeared.

Newt was looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Eleanor," said girl nodded. "You are coming with me. Don't leave my side."

On a normal day, she would have complained, she would have accused him of babying her. But that day, with everything that had happened, that was happening, she even felt glad for his command. She didn't want to be alone, so she obeyed.


In the span of half an hour barricades had been added to the doors by the builders, every supply possible had been taken to the homestead. Minho and a few runners had stocked on what Eleanor realised where piles of weapons, mostly consiting of long rusty knifes that looked like they would fall apart at the first hit. After gathering and organizing the Keepers, where Minho had quickly checked up on her and he clearly hadn't believed her answer, Newt had been running around the Glade helping whoever he could. Eleanor followed right behind, mechanically doing as she was told, bringing boxes or canned good, sleeping bags; whatever they threw in her arms, she carried. They stuffed everything into the Homestead, the only building that was big enough, where they would all pile into when the night fell. Eleanor doubted the wooden buiding could handle even a gust of strong wind but she guessed it was their best option.

At some point, Thomas, who had been circling around them the whole time, as if waiting for an opportunity to approach them; came around to inquire Newt again about the girl. He pleaded Newt to release her. Thomas had looked at Eleanor for help but she didn't say anything that time, she knew it was futile to try and convince Newt, Alby had issued an order and he would never defy his best friend, specially since he, too, thought the girl should be locked up. No, Eleanor knew they wouldn't let her go. If Thomas wanted Teresa out of the slammer he would have to get her out somehow, which Eleanor knew he wouldn't try to do, the same reason why she didn't try to help her; they were scared, fully and completely terrified.

Only a few minutes in, Newt had decided he had had enough and started walking away. Eleanor threw Thomas an apologetic look but followed the second-in-command.

But Thomas did not give up. "Listen to me! There's something about her. I think she and I were sent here to help end this whole thing."

He had grabbed Newts arm to prevent him from leaving. His eyes looked up desperately at the taller boy. Eleanor was surprised at how sure he sounded, like he had just stated a fact. She knew he believed what he was saying.

Newt wasn't faced. He removed his arm from the Greenie's reach. "Yeah. 'End it' by letting the bloody Grievers waltz in here and kill us? I've heard some sucky plans in my day, Greenie, but that's got them all beat."

Thomas let out a frustrated groan, he tried to reason with the blonde boy in front of him. "No, I don't think that's what it means, the walls not closing."

Eleanor spoke then, confused. "What do you mean? What could it mean, then?"

Thomas turned to her. Newt folded his arms agaisnt his chest, he looked impatient. Glaring at the bot in front of her, Newt reminded Eleanor of Alby for a second. Thomas looked deep in thought, she had never seen him that serious.

"I think… I think we're here as part of some weird experiment, or test, or something like that." He said, and then he looked back at Newt willing for him to understand, to believe him. Eleanor realised he trusted Newt, he wanted him on his side. "But it's supposed to end somehow. We can't live here forever, whoever sent us here wants it to end. One way or another."

Thomas looked relieved, like he had been waiting to let that information out for a while. Eleanor let his words sink in while Newt rubbed his eyes with his hands, starting to lose his patience. Were they in an experiment? It would make sense in a way, but what were they testing? Their survival skills? How long they could stay alive? How many of them would get stung? Killed?

Eleanor shook her head, not knowing what to believe. What had they done to deserve this fate? Why were they doing that to them?

Newt's voice broke her out of her reverie. "And that's supposed to convince me that everything's jolly, that I should let the girl go? Because she came and everything is suddenly do-or-die?"

Eleanor whinced at his choice of words. The boys paid no attention to her.

"No, you're missing the point. I don't think she has anything to do with us being here." Thomas retorted. "She's just a pawn, they sent her here as our last tool or hint or whatever to help us get out."

The greenie took a deep breath. Eleanor wanted to believe him, he seemed certain what he was saying was true.

"And I think they sent me, too." He admited. "Just because she was the trigger for the Ending doesn't make her bad."

That was something Eleanor could agree on. Teresa was suspicious, yes, but that did not mean she was bad. She watched Newt glance in the direction of the Slammer. "You know what, I don't bugging care right now. She can handle one night in there, if anything, she'll be safer than us."

That's true, Eleanor thought. If one building in the whole Glade could survive the attack of a Griever, it certainly was the small concrete room they used as a makeshift prision.

Thomas gave a short nod. "Okay, we get through tonight, somehow." He compromised. "Tomorrow, when we have a whole day of safety, we can figure out what to do with her. Figure out what we're supposed to do."

Newt let out a snort. "Tommy, what's gonna make tomorrow any different? It's been three bloody years."

Eleanor had a feeling Newt was wrong. In three years nothing similar to what was happening then had happened. That had to mean something. Things were changing and it seemed like it was for the worst.

"Newt." She spoke before Thomas could, her voice small. Said boy turned to look at her. "I think he is right. Something is happening. Something new-"

"Exactly," Thomas interrupted her. "Because now we have to solve it. We'll be forced to. We can't live that way anymore, day to day, thinking that what matters most is getting back to the Glade before the Doors close, snug and safe."

Eleanor realised with horror how true those words were. If they had ever been safe, that safety was now gone. Newt didn't say anything for a few seconds, he seemed deep in thought. Eleanor wished he would say something, come up with a solution that would suddenly make everything alright, but she knew that was wishful thinking; Newt was just a teenager, they all were, they didn't have the answer.

He finally spoke, "Dig deeper. Stay out there while the walls move."

"Exactly," Thomas replied. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. And maybe we could barricade or blow up the entrance to the Griever Hole. Buy time to analyze the Maze."

They seemed to have reached a compromise.

"Alby's the one who won't let the girl out," Newt stated. Eleanor was surprised by his change of attitude, Thomas had apparently changed his mind. Strangely, that made Eleanor believe in Thomas more. "He's not too high on you two shanks. But right now we just gotta slim ourselves and make it to the morning."

Eleanor's heart pounded in her chest. Thomas nodded.

"We can fight them off." He said with astounding certainty. Eleanor wasn't so sure about that fact. She didn't think she could fight a baby Griever (did Grievers even have babies?) , let alone a full grown one.

"Done it before, haven't you, Hercules?" Newt's words were mocking but a smile didn't even break through his face, it was not time for joking.

It was time to survive.