Despite having never seen one, the boys often tell tales of Grievers— large, dangerous creatures that lurk in the Maze, waiting to strike should a Glader get too close. Newt doesn't participate much, though he confirms Minho's claims. No one knows what they look like, but Minho says he's heard them "clanking around". He's heard them screeching, inhuman voices echoing off the concrete walls of the Maze. He's seen blackened slime trails, scratches too big to be a person with a knife, ivy torn from the walls.
By the time Ash has been in the Glade for six months— four months after the incident with Josh— there's a new Runner to join Newt and Minho. His name is Alfred, and he'd been able to prove his worth at his second bonfire when he'd lasted nearly a full minute in the sand pit with Gally.
Alfred had still lost, but he'd lasted longer than anyone else had.
After that, Minho had asked him for a race. Again, Alfred lost, but not by much. A talk with Alby and Newt proved successful, and Alfred began training to be a Runner. The other two seemed relieved to have a fresh set of eyes for the Maze, and were invigorated until three weeks after his first run, when Alfred returns in a much different state than he had left.
Ash is bandaging up a Slicer when she hears the screaming, and drops everything to find out what's going on.
Alby, Gally, and another builder are already breaking up the fight that's occurred between Alfred and the Greenie behind him. No one seems to understand what had happened, why Alfred's acting like this. He's struggling against those holding him back, snarling and chomping at the bit like a rabid dog.
Sweat clings to him, his blond hair plastered to his own face, and there's something wrong with his skin. Blackened veins make their way across his torso, creeping up his neck and down his arms.
Ash's stomach lurches, and she has to shout to get Alby's attention. "Look!" she tells him and the others, getting a little closer to try to get a better look herself. "Something's wrong— he's hurt."
His body jerks as Alfred continues to struggle against him, but Alby clearly sees it too.
"Let's get 'im to the Pit!" he shouts, and begins to drag the newest Runner away.
Newt and Minho return from the Maze just in time to see the tail end, and immediately demand to know what had happened. The Greenie who'd been attacked, a new cook named Nick, stammers out an attempt at an explanation. Ash turns to her friends as Alby and George join them.
"I need to see him," she says, and Alby protests.
"You saw him," he says. "He's no better than a rabid animal right now!" An agonized scream pierces the Glade, and Ash flinches as she recognizes it.
"He's hurt— he's in pain," she argues. "I have to help. I can't just…"
"I'm not saying you can't, Ash," Alby says, sighing as he runs a hand over his face. "I'm just asking you to wait until he's calmed down a bit, or passed out or something. For now, why don't you make sure Nick's okay, since he was the one attacked, okay?"
Reluctantly, Ash agrees and leads the boy back to the Medjack hut. There's a bruise forming on his cheek, and one of his eyes is starting to swell. She sends Jeff for an ice pack from the kitchen, and asks Nick if anything else hurts.
"He scratched my shoulder up a bit," he admits. "But no blood or anything. See?" He tugs his neckline over to show her, and sure enough there are a few shallow scratches.
"I'm gonna disinfect just in case," she mutters, grabbing the hydrogen peroxide and some gauze. Jeff returns with the ice pack, which Nick gently presses to his eye. He winces as the peroxide does its job.
"Thanks," he says, and she nods and says he's good to go.
Alfred doesn't "calm down" for nearly six hours, yelling his head off from the pit and keeping almost everyone up all night. By the time breakfast rolls around, everyone notices when he finally goes quiet. Alby and Ash hurry over to investigate the reason.
He's finally passed out, though he's thrashing in his sleep.
"He's gonna hit his head on something," Ash says worriedly, and Alby groans.
A few other boys are lingering nearby, and he waves them over for help. Alfred merely whimpers when they pull him back out of the Pit, and four of the boys hold his limbs down while Ash uses her knife to cut away his shirt to find the source of the discoloration— a large, somewhat jagged piercing wound in his stomach, just above his naval. There's redness around it, slight blistering at the edges. She can practically feel the feverish heat radiating from his skin.
One of the boys gags, and Alby asks the question everyone is thinking— what is that?
"It… kinda looks like a giant bug bite," Ash says quietly. "But a whole hell of a lot worse."
"What could've done that?" one of the other boys, Andrew, asks.
Alfred's eyes crack open, and he whimpers again as he tries to look around. He's drooling a bit, not quite foaming at the mouth.
"G-greiver," he gets out, before beginning to weakly fight for freedom. "Like a— like a scorpion— its tail—" Alfredo bites his tongue, drawing a little blood as he continues to try to move.
The others exchange looks, except for Ash who keeps her eyes on the wound. Tears begin to blur her vision as Alby orders the others to put Alfred back in the Pit for now. Someone— George— pulls Ash away, gently leading her back to the Medjack hut. Alby follows. She wipes at her eyes, not wanting to let the others see her cry.
"I don't— I don't know what to do," she admits, once the three are alone in her workstation. "I mean, if I've ever seen something like that, I don't remember it. I don't think I can help him."
"It's not your fault, Ash," George says, patting her shoulder. "Maybe it's something that'll pass on its own?"
Alby's arms are crossed, and he stares out the small window in silence. There's a pinched look on his face, but he stays quiet.
"We'll just have to wait and see what happens," George sighs.
"He attacked the Greenie," Alby finally says, voice low. He doesn't seem to like what he's saying, but that doesn't stop him. "He broke the first rule of the Glade…"
"It's not his fault," George reasons. "He's clearly not in his right mind. Isn't that— that sting thing punishment enough?"
"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Alby echoes darkly, leaving the hut. George looks torn, but Ash encourages him to go after him.
She busies herself by taking inventory, until there's a knock on the door. It's one of the builders, Eddie, having smashed his thumb with a hammer. Ash doesn't say it out loud, but she's glad for the distraction.
Jeff comes and goes, spending most of the day helping out in the gardens. Zart doesn't ask Ash to do so anymore, but that doesn't mean he doesn't need the help.
Lunch is a quiet affair today.
Ash takes a portion to Alfred, in part to give her an excuse to check on him. He's unconscious again, but this time he's still except for the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes. She hopes it's simply a trick of the light, but the veins seem to be getting worse. Darker, and spreading.
She takes the food back to the kitchens for now, not wanting to risk opening the Pit's door to leave it with him.
"How is he?" Frypan asks her nervously, looking up from where he's doing dishes. But Ash just shakes her head, not wanting to talk about it with anyone but Alby, George, or the other two Runners. She doesn't want anyone to panic, or get the wrong idea.
As she makes her way back to the Medjack hut, she can see a few of the Keepers— the four mentioned previously, as well as Zart and Winston— heading toward the meeting hall. She pauses, wondering if she should join them, and doesn't notice Frypan and Gally come up behind her until one of them speaks.
"Alby's called a meeting," Gally says, glancing darkly toward the Pit. "Keepers only."
Well that answers that question, she thinks, chewing gently on the inside of her bottom lip as she follows the boys.
Inside the meeting hall, George is practically pacing a hole into the ground at the bottom level. Newt's leaning against the wall, arms crossed and a worried look on his face, while Minho's sitting on a bench and bouncing his leg. Zart and Winston clearly have only a vague idea of what this is about.
Alby closes the door behind the three newcomers, the last of the keepers to arrive, before joining George on the lowest level and putting a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder to stop him.
"If you don't already know," Alby begins, his voice sounding more somber than Ash is used to hearing, "something happened to Alfred out in the Maze, and he came back and attacked the Greenie, Nick." He looks to Ash, dark eyes expectant.
"Nick's okay," she says slowly. "Couple scratches and bruises, but that's it. Alfred on the other hand…"
"It looked bad yesterday," Alby says. "And it looked even worse this morning. He said something about the Grievers. Minho?"
The Runner shrugs, his leg halting its movement as dejection hangs over him. "I have no idea," he admits. "We've never actually seen one… just the damage it leaves behind out there. Whatever it is, exactly, it's huge."
Ash bites her tongue, not wanting to think about those things. "He said it had a tail like a scorpion," she says. "And from what I could see of the wound, it looks like something a stinger of some kind would cause… but it would have to be massive."
"Which lines up with the creature being big," George agrees.
Silence stretches out between the Keepers for several long moments, each of them radiating a tense anxiety in their own ways. Minho's leg starts bouncing again, until Zart throws a pebble at him and hits dead-center of Minho's kneecap.
"You guys are gonna have to stop running," George finally says, and both Newt and Minho protest. "We now have solid proof that those things are out there, and we can see what they can do to us."
"The way out of here is through the Maze," Ash says quietly, drawing their attention. "It has to be. As much as I hate it… they can't stop running it."
"We haven't tried exploring the Box Hole yet," George counters, and Ash's heart skips a beat.
"The Box doesn't go back down when someone's inside it— what makes you think we should follow it?" she asks quickly. "At best, it'll be a dead end. At worst? It could be a trap."
"We can't know until we try," George says firmly. "Alby, what do you think?"
He's quiet for a moment, glancing between the two as he seems to weigh their arguments. "I think… we should at least try with the Box Hole," he says, and Ash's heart sinks in her chest. "Until we know it's no good, everyone stays in the Glade."
George grimaces, and puts it to a vote. Only Ash, Minho, and Newt vote against it, with the other six keepers in favor. Ash tries not to react, her stomach churning. The Runners are reluctant, but accept the ruling.
"What about Alfred?" Minho asks.
"For now, we'll leave him where he is," Alby says. "At least for a few days. Hopefully he'll get better on his own. If not…"
"We can't throw him out," Ash says. "What if the Creators send some kind of cure with the next Box?"
He seems to consider it for a moment, then nods. "We'll wait until Box Day, then. If the Creators don't send a cure, and he's not better by then… well, we can't keep him in the Pit forever."
Despite the truth of his words, no one really wants to agree with the statement.