Back in the gathering house, but this time it's a closed event. Newt, Gally, Ash, and those who have just come back from the Maze. Minho hands a dirty metal cylinder to Newt, but Thomas is the one who speaks.
"We found this," he says. "It was inside a griever."
"These are the same letters we get on our supplies," Newt remarks, running his thumb over the small label. His brows are furrowed, nose scrunched.
"Yeah," Thomas says, nodding. "Whoever put us here obviously made the grievers. And this—" he points at the objects in the other boy's hands— "this is the first real clue— the first anything you guys have found in over three years, right Minho?"
The runner doesn't look thrilled about the observation, but confirms it.
Thomas looks back to Newt, addressing him once more. "We've gotta go back out there. Who knows where this might lead us?"
Ash stays quiet, pinching the bridge of her nose as she braces herself for what comes next. The others wait for Newt's decision, but Gally speaks up.
"You see what he's trying to do, right?" he asks. "First he breaks our rules, and then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally? What- the rules are the only thing that's ever held us together, so why now are we questioning them?"
Gally takes it one step further. "If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me. This shank needs to be punished."
Unable to keep from scoffing, Ash doesn't flinch when he turns his glare on her.
"Yeah, yeah, we already know you don't agree," he snaps, and she rolls her eyes.
"I'm just a little confused," she drawls. "You weren't nearly as pressed about punishment when I went out in the Maze."
"You had Alby's permission," Gally dismisses, "this shank didn't."
"How was he supposed to get that permission, huh?" Ash retorts. "Alby was dying. He and Minho would both be already dead if it weren't for Thomas."
Gally opens his mouth to argue further, but Newt cuts them both off.
"Enough!" he says loudly. "Gally's right, Thomas broke the rules." He passes the metal cylinder back to Minho. Gally starts to look hopeful, though Ash's poker face rival's Newt's at this moment.
He gives the punishment. "One night in the Pit, no food."
And just like that, Gally's enraged again. "Oh, come on, Newt," he groans. "One night in the Pit— you think that's gonna stop him from going into the Maze?"
"No," Newt replies evenly. "And we can't have non-runners running into the Maze whenever they feel like it… so let's just make this official."
Gally crosses his arms once again, glancing quickly between the other two, but Newt keeps his eyes on Thomas.
"Starting tomorrow, you're a runner."
Ash watches Gally carefully as he scoffs and storms out of the gathering house. Frypan chases after him, despite the builder already brushing him off once. With a sigh, rolls her whole head around before following them as well.
She hurries around the Glade, trying but unable to find him anywhere. He's not at the Homestead, or in the deadheads. He's not at the Bloodhouse, or the Builders' station.
Ash passes the kitchen, then pauses when she hears voices coming from inside. It sounds like Frypan, which would make sense— and Gally, which doesn't. Frypan doesn't let the Builder anywhere near the kitchens. Carefully stepping closer to the door so she doesn't get caught, she tries to listen to what they're saying.
"It's not like that, Fry," Gally's grumbling. "Maybe it could've been, but... have you seen the way she looks at the Greenie? She's known him less than a week and she's all over the guy like he's her soulmate or whatever."
"You sound jealous, Gally," Frypan replies.
"I am not," Gally snaps. "I'm angry because he's clearly dangerous, and no one seems to care! He's breaking rules left and right!"
Ash debates stepping in to hopefully clear the air, but stops short when she hears what they say next.
"Maybe he's got the right idea," Frypan admits. "I mean... something's obviously changing. It feels like we're, I dunno, reaching the end of something here."
"We have no idea what's out there, Fry," Gally says. "Just a bunch of stupid walls, and two kinds of monsters: the Grievers, and the people who put us here."
Finally, Ash works up the courage to knock on the door. "Hey, Fry?" she calls, not wanting to give the boys inside any reason to think she'd been eavesdropping.
There's a small scuffle inside, some frantic hushing, before he responds. "What's up, Ash? Need a snack for the new girl?"
"No, I'm looking for Gally," she says. "Have you seen him?" There's a slight hesitation before he tells her no.
"Oh..." she feigns disappointment. "Well, if you do, will you tell him I need to talk to him? It's really important." That much is true, and so are her next words. "I... I need to apologize, too. I kinda sprang some information on him, and I shouldn't have. Please, Fry... if you see him, will you send him my way?"
She can just barely hear the hushed tones on the other side of the door, though she can't make out what the boys are saying. Finally, Frypan responds.
"Yeah, I'll let him know— if I see him," he says, and he sounds vaguely strained.
Ash wonders if Gally has anything to do with their friend's tone, but shrugs it off for now. "Okay, well... I'm gonna go back and check on the new girl."
But instead of actually going back to the Medjack hut, she circles around to the other side of the kitchen, and lies in wait.
Sure enough, Gally emerges after only a couple minutes, and Ash can hear the door open and close with him. He walks right past her, heading away from the Medjack hut.
"I guess Frypan didn't give you my message, then?" she calls out after him, crossing her arms. Gally freezes, then slowly turns to her with a mildly guilty look on his face.
Almost like she'd caught him working when he's supposed to be sleeping, not like she'd caught him ignoring her.
"Ash, I—"
"Slim it," she says, shaking her head. "I have something I need to say, and I need you to listen." He scowls, but doesn't stop her. Folding her arms over her chest, she watches him for another moment.
Finally, she asks, "What's your problem with Thomas?"
He doesn't even react, except to roll his eyes. Ash asks again a little louder, as though he maybe hadn't heard her. This time, he glares at her and scoffs.
"How about the fact he thinks he's exempt from the rules around here?" he responds. "Or maybe the fact he obviously knows more than he's letting on?"
"You think he's hiding something?"
"I know he is," Gally says, mimicking her stance like he had earlier.
"Thomas doesn't know jack shit," she argues. "That's why he asks so many questions. How many definitive statements have you heard come out of his mouth, aside from telling everyone his name? He's clueless, but he's trying to not be."
"What, you just believe every word that comes outta that shank's mouth?"
"What, you're jealous?" Ash retorts, only half-regretting her words as a look of hurt flashes briefly across the other's face. "I've already told you why I want out of here, Gally— none of that's changed. I know you think I have a crush on Thomas— I heard you and Fry talking— but I don't. I just think he has what it takes to get us out of here."
He shakes his head, turning it away, and she sighs and reaches out to put one hand on his arm. He tenses, but doesn't shake her off or pull away.
"Please, Gally," she says softly. "Just… think about it, okay?"
There's a brief moment, tension rising, before he mutters out a single word response.
"Fine."
Knowing that's the best she's going to get for now, Ash nods and thanks him quietly.
A loud commotion from the Medjack hut startles the both of them, and they turn to see a figure with long, dark hair climbing out the window and sprinting away. Clint and Jeff pile out of the door, and they split up. Jeff runs for the deadheads, and Clint runs right toward Ash and Gally. She quickly takes her hand away, shoving it behind her back.
Frypan comes out of the kitchen to see what's going on, shooting Ash a guilty look when he sees her, but the girl is too busy watching the other girl sprint across the Glade and begin to climb up the Lookout Tower.
"What happened?" Ash demands once the other girl is gone from view, and Clint has arrived in front of them.
"She woke up, and freaked out," Clint says, panting for breath. "Stole a machete and ran off..."
"Did you guys say anything to her?" Gally asks, seeming to actually be concerned about the girl— which Ash views as progress.
"We were talking about Thomas when she woke up," Clint says. "It wasn't to her, but she might've heard us. I don't know."
"I'm guessing Jeff went to go get him?" Ash says, and the other Medjack nods.
Shouting reaches them from the tower, and they look over to see Newt, Zart, and a couple other boys trying to get close— but the girl is throwing small rocks and other small objects down from the top. The four standing by the kitchens race over to try to help. Gally grabs both halves of a broken barrel to use as shields, which certainly come in handy.
Jeff, Minho, and Thomas arrive not too long after, and Ash can see Chuck laughing out of the corner of her eye. She can't help but giggle too, much to Gally's annoyance.
"Take cover, y'all, take cover!" Frypan shouts, shielding himself and another Glader with the barrel half Gally had handed him.
Gally's holding the other one above himself and Ash, and Newt squeezes in with them.
"I don't think she likes us very much," Newt says, and Ash elbows him.
"Didn't think I'd be this right about the 'Classic Girl Greenie' experience, or whatever the hell I called it earlier," she says with an amused grin. "Clint says she's got Jeff's machete."
"Bloody hell," he groans. "You wanna try talking to her?"
Ash shrugs, and is about to shout toward the other girl when Gally beats her to it, poking his head out from under their shield.
"You throw one more of those things—!" but he gets cut off when 'one of those things' lands directly on the top of his head. Ash winces, dragging him back before giving it a try.
"Hey!" she shouts, using her full lung capacity— which the boys know can be pretty loud. "Hey, my name is Ash! No one's gonna hurt you! Can you... can you maybe stop throwing shit at us? Please?"
The projectiles stop coming, and Ash turns to smirk at Gally, about to make a snarky comment about being polite, but slowly, a face peeks over the edge before once again disappearing. Ash sighs, knowing she's now the one who's going to have to go up there.
"I— I'm gonna come up, just me, is that okay?" Ash calls, sounding just as apprehensive as she feels about it.
"No!" the girl calls back, and Ash feels a twinge of relief, but it immediately disappears when she continues, "I wanna talk to Thomas, too... whoever he is."
Ash shares a glance with the boy in question, who nods and gestures for her to take the lead. Swallowing nervously, she heads toward the ladder and begins to climb. She forces herself not to look down. Thomas is a few steps behind her, and pauses when she does to open the trap door.
She can hear Newt calling for everyone to go back to work, and Frypan's comment as he walks away.
"I know Ash can get feisty, but are all girls really like that?"
Unable to stop the laugh that bubbles up, she calls down to him. "Only when we feel threatened, Fry."
Poking her head up through the trap door, she's not surprised to see the girl sitting there, holding the machete out in front of her defensively. "Who are you?" she asks.
Ash introduces herself again, scooting away from the trapdoor so that Thomas can come through. "I've been the only girl here for a really long time," she explains. "I can vouch for these guys— none of them will hurt you. This is Thomas, the one you asked for."
"They said that I called out for him in my sleep," she says. "Why? Do you know me?"
Both Thomas and Ash shake their heads. "Most of us don't even really know ourselves," Ash admits quietly. "No memories, not even our names at first."
"Teresa," the girl says. "My name is Teresa."
Ash smiles, and Thomas nods. "That's good," he says.
"I did the same thing, you know," Ash says. "Well, I didn't come up here and throw rocks at the boys below, but— I threatened one with a knife. This knife, actually." She taps the small sheathed blade.
"Where are we?" Teresa asks, slowly lowering the machete, though she doesn't let go of it yet.
"It's called the Glade," Thomas says, still sounding nervous. "We all woke up here, just like you did." He slowly reaches out and takes the blade from her, and she lets him. Only then does he begin to relax.
Ash sighs in relief. "Okay," she says. "That's my cue to leave. I really don't like heights, and you're safe with Thomas, okay?" Teresa nods slowly, watching as Ash begins to make her way back down the ladder.