"What?" she almost laughed.

Minho didn't say anything. Instead he gave a long, grave sigh.

"What do you mean there is no way out?" she asked again, incredulous.

"We've been skeptical about it this past month... or I guess we were thinking that we were getting close the the end... but we completed the last of the possible routes and found nothing. It was the day before Aaron and Ray got lost." His voice shook. She had never heard him sound like this; he sounded... afraid.

"You've... run the whole maze?"

"Every combination of it."

"But you said it changes every night."

"Figured out the patterns ages ago."

She was shocked to say the least. This was not what she was expecting to hear tonight.

"What about Ray and Aaron...?" she whispered after taking a few moments.

"They knew."

"Who else?"

"I told Alby and Nick when we got back today. We're gonna decide on what to do about it tomorrow."

"Today? But you said you figured it out the day before Aaron and Ray. That was a week ago!"

"We didn't tell anyone... just incase."

"And you kept running?"

"Just wanted to make sure."

"So it's not for sure yet?"

"No we're sure now... There's no way out. The outer areas of the maze are all closed off. All of it."

Minho's voice sounded faint and unnerved. His usual confident aura was gone. It seemed as though all the energy had been drained out of his system.

She closed her eyes, shaking her head, "Minho... this... can't be it. This doesn't make sense. No way out? What's the point of that whole thing then?!"

She took a few breaths to calm herself. She knew Minho was just as upset.

"I'm sorry... but you can't give up now there must be something you missed, anything," she said looking desperately at him.

"Trust me. I tried denying it too. Probably why it took so damn long for us to finally get to this point. I actually think I might have realized it much earlier... the others too. Ray was the one that brought it up first and I just made them all go out there again. Told them to keep running even though it was clear we were getting at nothing new. I lashed out at him for no reason."

"Ray wouldn't have taken it to heart, Minho," she said softly.

Minho didn't answer her. They sat there in silence again as the night sky grew steadily lighter.

Soon the torches burned out and wisps of smoke tainted the morning air around them.

Lyla's mind was left racing. Her body felt heavy and frozen to the spot and every sound of the glade seemed amplified in her ears.

As much as her heart reached out to Minho in his current state, she couldn't accept what he had told her. The fact that the maze had no exits wasn't true. She had never been inside it but was sure there was a way out in there. She felt such a deep conviction of this; a sureness that she couldn't really place. There was a way out. A passage that they missed. She had to get out there.

She had to run the maze herself.


She found them later near the slammers. Minho and Ben with Nick and Alby. The boys were talking in low voices with one another. To others, they would have looked unsuspicious if not for the strangely early hour they were meeting together near a place no-one really hung around. The slammers were on the far end of the glade where one had to walk quite a bit from the daily living areas. The maze doors hadn't opened yet.

She approached them in long strides, not knowing what to say but knowing exactly what she must do.

Their voices grew louder as she drew near them as quietly as she could.

"...deserve to know."

"It won't go down well with them. Remember our early days."

"Alby, we still can't just keep them in the dark."

"And we can't let them destroy everything we've worked for because of fear. You've seen how some of them act every time something happens. We could barely contain it when Elias died."

"Then what do you suggest we do, Nick? Keep it a secret?"

"We should keep looking," Lyla interrupted.

"Lyla?" Nick said. He looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"I know what you're discussing. I also know that there's a way out. You can't stop looking now."

"Lyla. What are you doing here? This has nothing to do w-" Minho began.

"The maze affects us all. And you saying you've run it all won't change what I know," she said fiercely.

"Alright, keep it down... Explain?" Alby said, looking expectantly at Minho.

Minho sighed impatiently rubbing his hand at the back of his neck, "We were up talking last night. She kept suggesting that Ray and Aaron could have found a way out... that they were alive."

"And I'm standing by that suggestion," she said, calmly.

"Stop being shuckin' stubborn. You aren't helping," Minho responded with gritted teeth.

"And you think you're helping anyone making them think there's no way out of here?" she said, equally mad.

"Well... they're gonna notice anyway," said Ben looking gravely at her next to him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"If we don't have runners coming back from the maze every afternoon? They aren't stupid," answered Minho.

"No. We can't have them know about this. At least not until we have an alternative plan," Alby interjected firmly.

"Well... what do you suggest we do then?" Ben asked, looking genuinely confused.

Alby didn't answer immediately. He looked at the two lead runners rather apologetically before he crossed his arms and gave a deep sigh.

Nick seemed to follow his thoughts. He glanced at Lyla, giving her an expression she couldn't really make out before softly offering, "Alby's right."

"You need to keep running," Alby announced. He turned around briefly to check if anyone else would be approaching them unexpectedly. He looked back and gazed straight at Minho.

"I'm sorry. But we can't have them lose hope. It could get dangerous for us all."

Minho sighed turning his back on them for a moment, pacing in distress.

"Run the routes again. Every combination," Lyla said, looking now at Ben.

"Lye... we really did-" Ben stuttered at her, his eyes pleading.

"Ben... It's not that I don't want to believe you or... or that I just want to deny it. But those grievers don't just come and go from nowhere. There must be something you guys missed, you have to try again," she said as gently as she could. She didn't want to hurt them. They had gone through a lot - all of them had.

"And I'm going with you," she added.

"What?" Minho came back towards them, looking furious. "Listen to me, it's one thing to tell us to go back out there but another thing to just decide to come with us. You can't just make yourself a runner, shank."

"Lyla. This does not allow you to-" Alby began.

Suddenly she felt something ignite within in her. She wasn't having any of this anymore.

"Yeah? You guys refuse to let me go again this time and I will tell the whole glade about all this whether they believe me or not. I'll tell them you guys have run the whole maze and found no way out and we'll see what happens from there."

She felt a bit childish using blackmail to get her way but she also had no choice if she wanted to get through to them.

Alby gave her a hard, threatening look. She felt her insides jump a little but pressed on even harder,

"You wanna throw me in here again?" she said, pointing to the slammer they put her in not too long ago.

Nick's eyes lowered from her face, looking regretful. Alby's jaws visibly tightened as he held whatever it was to himself.

"Do it then," she challenged, curling her hands into fists. "In fact, if you really wanna shut me up, why not throw me in the maze before the doors close tonight and I'll happily go looking for a way out myself while I still have the energy to."

She was wracked with nerves. She felt like she was running down a steep hill, barely catching herself on her feet. It was her first time being so openly defiant with them and all the things she had forced down inside her came rushing out. She felt her insides quake with intense rush of emotions. She had been kept here too long, forced against her will too many times and she didn't want to do things their way anymore.

"Listen." She said in a gentler tone after allowing herself a few deep breaths, "I had a memory come back to me a couple of days ago. A flashback of voices forcing me up here. I remembered they called me an experiment."

She wasn't really planning on mentioning this next part but it felt as though she needed to base her reasons on something.

"Convenient," muttered Minho sarcastically. He wasn't buying it. The other three looked at her with similar faces of suspicion.

"You don't have to believe me but I know whatever it was... it wasn't something I could have made up. There must be a reason why I'm the only girl here. Those creators wouldn't make such an obvious mistake for no reason. Maybe it might be different when I'm out there. But even if it isn't - you'll need replacements for Aaron and Ray if you're gonna make it convincing that the runners are still looking and that there's still hope?" She felt utterly desperate now.

Lyla was relieved to see Alby's face eased a little. She seemed to have somewhat reached him.

"Why didn't you mention this memory before?" Nick asked her.

"I guess... I didn't want to cause a scare? Some guys hate me enough already around here."

"You have to tell us these things. It could be important," Alby responded.

"I'm sorry. I was planning to eventually but I didn't know how to bring it up and everything else happened... I will tell you if it ever happens again. Just let me help. Let me go out there. There's nothing you can really lose with having me as a runner. I'm not even that useful around here in the glade."

"Lyla, that's not-" Nick interrupted, a small frown scrunching between his eyes.

"-Minho and Ben already know the routes and they can teach me. Please, just let me try," she finished.

There was a rumbling sound and the wall began splitting apart just then. They all looked in its direction and watched until the doors were fully open.

"No-one has ever mentioned having a memory come back to them before after their names," Alby said more to himself.

"Well, since I'm coming clean here, I've never had my name come to me like you guys said it would. I'm not even sure if Lyla really is my name but I just went with it so... a lot I still need to figure out here," she confessed.

"You know this does nothing for you right now, right?" Minho said to her quite coldly.

"You'll have to be trained," Alby said, his eyes still on the doors.

She perked up at this. Finally. She nodded.

"Swear that you will do only as Minho asks you to if he becomes your keeper as a runner, and that you won't go off on your own in the maze," Alby continued, turning back to stare intently into her eyes.

Lyla nodded again, "yes. I won't."

"Swear it, greenie," there was such a dominance in Alby's voice. He almost sounded aggressive though his voice was a low mumble. "I'm only considering this because I don't want you causing more trouble in the glade. We've worked hard for peace here and I'm not willing to sacrifice it just for you. But there's also no use locking you up and we don't have people to watch you all day in case you sneak out there whenever you get the chance."

He stepped closer towards her. It took everything for her not to shrink back. Instead, Lyla looked straight up at his face that was looking down at hers, eyes piercing with warning. She could feel the heat from his body radiating from the proximity of where he stood before her.

He spoke again in a lower rumble, "Once you're a runner, your slip up can cost their lives, y'understand me? Swear that you'll think of more than just yourself."

She swallowed and whispered out, "I swear."

"Alby, she won't even have a partner to run with and what's the point of risking more people?" Minho demanded.

There was a short silence. Lyla felt herself shrink in it.

"I'll be her partner. I say we run those combinations again as Lyla suggested," Nick said, putting a hand on her upper arm and pulling her away from under Alby's hard gaze.

She looked at him, surprised.

"You're gonna be a runner too?" Minho asked, witheringly.

Nick let her go as quickly as he had grabbed her. He faced Minho with a resolute look on his face, "It's for the best, Minho. The runners are what keep everyone willing to do their part. We've all been unsettled with what happened to Aaron and Ray and it'll be better to keep things going."

"Alby?" Minho said, sounding rather futile.

"If Nick is willing to step down, he'll be our best bet. He's someone they all trust and having her out will keep away distractions," Alby answered.

Lyla tensed. By distractions she knew Alby meant the group of boys still trying to get at her as best as they could for Elias.

"Minho, Ben, I believe that you've run the routes fully but we never know what the creators will do. Those doors are nothing but a wall but they open and close like its nothing. Any opening might come up at this point." Nick finished.

"Most importantly. We keep all this a secret for the peace of the glade. No-one speak of this again unless it's necessary among the five of us." Alby concluded.

That day the runners took a day off to start training their new members.

Lyla had become a runner at last.