Ray and Aaron were running partners like Minho and Ben. Although Lyla was not as close to them as the latter two, she had gotten used to their presence and was quite fond of them. Ray was probably younger than her by age. He was always quick to back her up in any situation.
'I have good aim," he would say lowly while offering to throw his cutlery at the boys who threw snarky comments at her.
Aaron was probably older than Ray but was equally amiable and playful. He stole carrots off her plate at dinner knowing that she wouldn't be finishing them.
But now they were lost to the maze.
The boys ate in silence that night. Lyla sat with them, trying to process what happened.
It was her first time experiencing something like this. She had heard a few horror stories here and there of disappearances and death within the glade but witnessing the doors closing mercilessly before her made it all too real.
Despite this, it took a while for it to sink in that Aaron and Ray would not be returning. Lyla half-expected to see them running back the next morning or afternoon. When they didn't, she experienced a fresh wave of shock.
She noticed that the others remained surprisingly unshaken compared to her. Sure, the atmosphere was grave but they went on as though nothing happened out of the ordinary. The runners carried on out from the very next day and came back empty-handed. Sometimes, she'd been told, they would find and bring back scraps left behind of the people who had been trapped or banished out in the maze and give them a burial.
Minho was particularly stoic and quiet for the next few days but, like everyone else, he ate everything on his plate, slept soundly throughout the night and woke up to run like any other day. Or so it seemed.
Lyla, on the other hand, struggled with all of these things. She couldn't taste her food, she barely slept and she was in a constant daze at work. She felt pathetic for being the only one who was letting her emotions affect her so much. So far, it seemed that everyone had too much on their plates to notice. She was glad.
It had been a week after the boys were lost. Lyla tossed and turned in her hammock until she just decided to get up. She walked quietly to the dim torch-lit patches of ground. The night was deep and she could hear the maze moving like a thunderstorm in the distance.
Then she saw Minho. He was sitting at on the wooden rafts staring ahead into nothing.
"Minho?" she whispered.
He looked around to her and gave a small nod, "Lye, can't sleep again?"
She stopped a fractional his wording. Then carried on, feeling halfway between caught and defeated. After all, this was hardly her first time struggling to sleep and getting up in the middle of the night to get some fresh air. He must have heard her, his hammock being nearby hers.
"can I join?" she muttered.
He gave another slow nod, "mm"
She went to sit beside him.
They stayed silent for a while. The night was rather peaceful. The torches nearby were softly crackling and insects were chirping away softly in the darkness.
"You okay?" she asked quietly after what seemed like a good couple of minutes.
Minho didn't answer her.
They were silent again. A few moments later, he took in a deep breath and said,
"You know that morning... I told Ray off. The shank wasn't marking the maze plans off properly after his runs and I got annoyed at him. It wasn't even a big deal... didn't even matter."
Sadness filled her chest as she turned her head towards him. Minho must have been thinking about this all along, regretting it. He looked like he was coping, going about his responsibilities and living out the days as usual. In fact, she had thought Minho was used to these mishaps being a runner and, although he couldn't be completely fine about losing two of his friends, she thought he was doing okay.
But she had been wrong. He had been caught up in this thought all along; about how he could have given them a better send off that day.
Minho's expression hadn't changed. He still stared ahead, refusing to look back at her.
"Minho..."
"I know... It's not my fault. I know I couldn't have known. But... but then I did... I do know. Every time we enter that maze together I know that any one of us could get in trouble. But.." he didn't finish. Instead he gave a weak sigh that tugged her heart to the ground.
She held her breath and said nothing. She could understand what Minho was saying. As a keeper, there was a heavier burden on him.
"Maybe... they found a way out." Lyla offered so quietly, he might have missed it.
Minho finally looked at her in surprised and with so much sadness in his eyes that her gaze faltered, unable to face him anymore. She looked down at his feet dangling near the ground.
"It's just... we can't know for sure what happened. Who is to say-"
"Lyla..." Minho said sharply. He took a moment to glance around them to see if anyone had awoken before continuing more gently, "you have to accept that they're gone. It's not going to help you stay sane in this place if you don't move on. Stuff like this happens more than you think and you can't let yourself hope for a different reality every time. The faster you get it, the better, alright?"
He sighed and looked again ahead after giving her a soft pat on her back shoulder.
The lack of sleep and focus she had been lulled into for the past few days snapped. She knew Minho cared for her wellbeing but something about his decisiveness of this situation irked her.
She said, trying her best to echo the same tone of softness that Minho had just used on her, "Look, I know what you're saying, Minho, and I'm not just trying to get false hopes up but we can't know what happened out there."
"Lyla. They probably got confused with their routes or got stuck in a maze change."
"But they've been doing this for a while now. Why would they suddenly get confused? It's just as possible that they came across something. I dunno, an entrance or passageway and, for whatever reason, couldn't make it back for us."
Saying this out loud Lyla realized just how genuinely convinced she was that this could have happened.
"Lyla. They... they're gone, alright? Shuckin' grievers got to them already."
"Why can't you just consider for a moment-"
"Because this is our reality."
"But you're running every day to find the way out and they were too-"
"Lyla, look at me."
She did. She was furious that Minho had given up on his friends. The both of them hadn't returned. It didn't seem too far-fetched that they could still be alive. But as she opened her mouth to explain this she looked into Minho's eyes and saw the pain he was in.
She frowned, confused at why he was so upset with her.
"What?" she asked, feeling suddenly anxious.
"Listen," Minho began. He stared intently at her. It felt as though he was scanning her soul. He paused, eyes faltering.
"Minho. Is there something you're not telling me?" she said softly. "Is there something else you know?"
He looked away again, avoiding her questions. She grew more suspicious.
"Minho. Talk to me."
"They didn't find a way out." He said with an edge to his voice now.
"What makes you so sure," she breathed, almost hoping he wouldn't answer.
"Because there is no way out."
