The bonfire was huge. The boys went crazy.
They said it was a welcoming celebration for her but she was sure it was rather more for all of them. The boys were shouting, cheering and wrestling each other to the ground. She felt estranged from them all sitting on the nearby tree trunk, overwhelmed by the sheer mass of male energy with the big orange flames that danced high in the center casting dizzying lights and shadows on their faces in the dark.
"Welcome to the glade, Green-bean." A glass jar that sloshed with some vile-smelling liquid was shoved in her hand. She didn't recognize the boy who sat beside her. He introduced himself as Ben.
"Try it. It's Gally's creation. The best thing for when you have too much on your mind."
She risked a small sip and couldn't help but crumple her face before she forced a swallow.
She heard Minho laugh as he approached them both.
"Ah come on, Greenie, it can't be that bad. I'm here forbidden to have any 'cause I was saving this shank's ass from a plank this afternoon. If I'd known it would've come to this, I'd have left him to take the damn blow."
Ben looked at him with dramatic awe and responded, "what can I say! Might've been a deadman without our chivalrous keeper right 'ere. Though you might think, if he were faster, he might have also saved his own head. Too bad."
Minho gave him a hard but playful punch in the arm.
Ben laughed, "you feeling ok though, Minho? Think you can remember the maze patterns tomorrow? If you can't, I'll pay extra attention for your parts since I owe you my life."
"'course man. I'll be fine. I did get ordered to stay in tomorrow though."
"Probably for the best. You never know with head wounds."
"Yeah, you would know,"
"Slim it!" Ben was laughing again.
"Are you the keeper of the runners then?" she asked.
Minho crossed his arm and shifted his standing position casually before answering her, "watch your tone there, Greenie. You're sounding a bit too surprised for my liking."
She smiled at his wit. Minho seemed well-liked by many and she could tell why.
"How long have you guys been running?"
"Huh... maybe two years?"
Her face fell visibly. She couldn't believe they had been running the maze for so long and hadn't found anything. Minho seemed to read her thoughts.
"Hey look, it's not as easy as you think. The maze changes every night. You can hear it along with the grievers if you listen closely. Ben and I, and the rest of our team, are doing our best."
"I know... I mean... I don't know but that's not what I-" she stuttered, still in shock. "I mean... You haven't found any way out? Not even one?"
"Nope. Not yet at least," Ben said, looking straight ahead and taking a big swig from his drink as though it was water.
A few moments of silence passed by. She also drank from her cup. Whatever was in it, it seemed to go down easier now.
"What's it like in there.."
"The maze? Well... No fun and games, that's for sure..." for the first time since she met him, Minho did not have any hint of humor in his voice. His face was dead serious. The contrast was quite alarming but it was soon replaced again with a smirk on his face.
"Greenie. No more maze talks, alright? It's bonfire night for goodness sake. You're our star. Gotta enjoy all this while you can. Don't worry about anything alright?" he had a warm glint in his eyes as he looked at her before turning away and going to Newt who was talking to Alby a few meters away.
She took another drink. The liquid felt strong in her throat as though it was washing away the panic she began to feel listening to all the runners talk. They were trapped. It had only been, what, her second day or something? and she already couldn't handle this claustrophobic glade. It felt like a cage. Denying the inevitable by trying to get along with these boys, helping out with their jobs or adapting to their rules... none of it was helping.
Ben was soon offering her a refill. She nodded, still deep in her thoughts. When he stood up and left with her glass in one hand, his in the other, she was alone and felt safe to look again to where the walls opened up in the day. She suddenly felt herself drawn towards it.
She stood up and walked slowly towards the outskirts of the celebrations, unnoticed by the boys having their fun around the fire that now steadily burned lower. Her leg was no longer in pain, wrapped in the sturdy layer of new bandages. She felt as though she was walking almost normally.
It took her a few minutes to get near the doors. The further she got away from the gathering, the chillier and darker her surroundings became. When she reached the cold concrete she touched it and ran her fingers along its rough surface. She hated how unmovable it seemed. She hated how small she felt next to it.
She couldn't believe that this was happening; how she woke up in this hell with no-one knowing who they were or why they were there. It felt like some sick joke.
Her breaths came in harsher and faster. She gave a hard, experimental thump with her fist on where her hand had been roaming seconds before and let out a staggered breath at how the impact wouldn't even make a sound against the thick expansion blocking her way; her life; her freedom. Panic rose exponentially inside of her and for the first time since she woke up, she felt dangerously hopeless before this wall. The possibilities she had thought up with her plans to escape on her own felt crushed and ridiculed by the sheer mass of unending stone.
She hit both her fists on the wall again, this time more urgently, and let out a desperate grunt. Of course it was no use. She probably looked damn stupid right now but she didn't care. No-one was around and she needed to have time facing the reality of it all.
After a few more futile attempts, she sank down and sat with her back against the wall. Her hands sore and heart pounding at an uneven pace. Her hair covered her face as she lowered her head between her knees, shuddering as she heard the groans of the moving maze and the occasional shrieks that she assumed belonged to those creatures she had been warned about. She felt so defeated and weak.