Chapter 2

Today was day six for me. As I was walking down a forest, I hear someone shout behind me. I turned around and saw a girl running up to me. It was Emily, one of the runners.

"Hey, newbie! Wait up!" she called.

I slowed down my walking so she could keep up with me.

"I'm really sorry about what happened with Jacob." she started.

I was about to say something, but she interrupts me.

"Although I did see how good you are at running. You'd make a good runner." she continued.

I widened my eyes.

"Really?" I asked, sounding surprised.

"Well, you are obviously smart, strong, and fast. I'll tell Will to call the others for a meeting later." Emily replied as she grinned.

"You're being serious right now?" I asked.

"I would never lie. Come on. Let's go find Will." she replied.

We walked out of the forest and towards the Homestead. We found Will, who is in the middle of a conversation with the builders about a leak in the meat track.

"All of the meats are gonna rot if you guys don't do something about it." he said.

He then noticed me and Emily standing before dismissing the builders.

"Go fix that hole. I don't want any excuses." he finished.

The builders walked away to get their tools. Will lets out a frustrated breath.

"I don't know why they're giving me the excuses. It's not that hard to fix a hole." he muttered to himself before turning his attention to us.

"What can I do for you ladies?" he asked.

"Call everyone for a gathering Will." Emily replied.

Will raised his eyebrows, looking at us back and forth before he shrugged.

"All right. But you guys better have a good reason for it." he said.

"Hey! I'm calling for a gathering. Stop what you're doing and come to the council hall right now." Will ordered.

Later, at the gathering, where everyone else had got together in a big round building.

"The reason I asked Will to call for a gathering is because our newbie here has founded a new job." Emily started.

Then there's a lot cheers and chatter among the Gladers. Emily waited for the others to stop talking before she continued.

"And I think she should be a Runner."

The chattering stopped and there was some silence. The Gladers were familiar when Jacob was one of the newbies who got stung by a Griever.

Then, one of the boys, Jimmy, stood up.

"She's been here for a week! How is she supposed to survive in the maze?" he shouted.

A few Gladers murmured at his question. Will stood up.

"You make a good point, Jimmy. But Kate outsmarted, outrunned, and overpowered one of our runners. I think she'd be up for it." said Will.

Will gazed at the crowd until he found me. I was in complete shock and surprised. Jimmy then coughed.

"Yeah, right. The only reason that she's not a med-jack with Izzy is because Ethan hit Jacob in the head with the shovel."

That's when Ethan had finally stood up.

"Would you rather let Jacob kill her? Because that is what you're bloody implying right now mate." Ethan shot at Jimmy.

"That's enough, Jimmy. I don't want to hear another word from you," said Will.

Will then shouted at everyone for silence and the shouting had died down. Will cleared his throat before he looked directly at me.

"I'd say we make Kate a runner. Please raise your hand if you are in favour," he said.

Everyone else, including Izzy, raised their hand. I was shocked by the support I'm getting. The decision was clear. Will smiled at me.

"You start tomorrow newbie. Emily will show you the way." he said.

Will dismissed everyone from the council hall and I could think of one thing. I'm a runner.

When the night falls, everyone sat by the bonefire, doing their own activity in their free time. I looked around to see if there was an empty seat for me to sit. I spotted Will, who was sitting by himself.

"Hi." I said before he looked up at me.

"Hey." he replied.

"Is this seat taken?' I asked as I gestured to the empty spot beside him.

Will shook his head and allowed me to sit beside him.

"Hey, Will?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"How old do you think I am and what do I look like?" I asked.

Will studied me carefully as he looked up and down at my appearance.

"You look like you're fifteen years old. You also have brown hair and green eyes. You have some small freckles on your face. And you're light skinned like me." he replied.

"Wow. I'll take that as compliment. For the brown hair and green eyes." I said.

"Anyway, you should go and get some sleep. You're gonna need a lot of energy tomorrow for your first day as a runner." said Will.

"Good night Will." I said as I got up and walked to the homestead.

"Good night newbie." he replied back.

I turned around and playfully glared at his dark brown eyes with my green eyes.

"It's Kate!" I reminded him.

"Sorry!" he shouted back.

I turned around and walked back to my dorm.

"Newbie." Will muttered and it was almost loud that I could hear him.

"Hey! I heard that!" I yelled as I turned back around.

"Go to sleep!" Will ordered.

The next morning, I woke up as Emily gently shook me.

"Rise and shine, newbie. It's your first day in the maze!" she whispered quietly.

She handed me an apple and a roll of bread.

"When you're done eating, get dressed as fast as you can, and meet me at the maproom as soon as you're finished." she said.

After I finished eating, I quickly got dressed and put on my running shoes. I haven't gone to the maproom after the incident with Jacob.

I reached the small hut and found Emily studying the map that shows the whole maze. As soon as I walked in, Emily looked up.

"Hey, Em. Why did you want to meet me here?" I asked.

"I'm gonna show you which maze section we'll be running today." she replied, pointing to the map.

"So, what section will we be running today?" I asked.

"We're gonna be running section four. I hope you're ready for today." she replied.

I nodded, and then we left the maproom. The walls opened, and before we could start running, I hear a screaming from the slammer, and I just remembered that Jacob was gonna be banished tonight.

"Em, what happens when you banish somebody in the maze?" I asked.

"We stick them outside of the maze at night. And then, we wait for the Grievers to come and get them." she replied dryly.

It was time to go into the maze and look for a way out. We ran through the twisting corridors as we passed the walls that were covered with huge ivy vines. Emily had memorized the whole place, and I somehow remembered that Will explained to me about the runners on the first day I came. We continued running the whole way to the outer section without stopping. We quickly took a break to drink some water and ate the food we were supplied with. We then reached a way with a huge black hole.

"What's that?" I asked, as I puffed in between my breath.

"That's the cliff. Come on. Keep up with me." Emily replied.

We continued running past different walls and different turns before we reached a big open space.

"Look up there." she said as she pointed up.

I looked up to where she was pointing and saw a giant four painted on the wall that's high up.

"Did you guys put number four there?" I asked. Emily shook her head.

"It's always there. How do you think we came up with an idea memorize them?"

Emily started running again and I followed her. We then returned to the Glade just in time as the walls started to close. Emily checked her watch, as I glanced.

"Is there a certain time the walls close?" I asked.

"They close at seven at night." she replied as the walls had closed.

We jogged up the hill back to Homestead and saw Will, Ethan, and the other Gladers at the door. My stomach twisted as I heard screaming and pleading before I realized what was happening. Jacob was being banished. My heart told me to not watch the whole thing and my head told me to stay in my spot and observe.

"Push him in!" Will shouted as he and the others used the poles to push Jacob into the maze and I could still hear Jacob's screams as the walls closed, sealing his fate.

"He belongs in the maze now." said Will as the other Gladers glanced at him.

Will walked away as the others went back to what they were doing. I remained in my spot, as I realized what the banishment is. Will continued walking to my direction with his head down before he stopped and looked up as I looked at his dark brown eyes.

"You're back." he said.

"Hi." I said.

"Hey. How was your first day in the maze?" he asked.

"It was good. Emily showed me around of what it's like in the maze." I replied.

Will nodded before he turned around and looked as the Gladers went their separate ways after the banishment.

"You saw the whole thing, right?" he asked.

"I couldn't decide whether if I should or should not watch the banishment." I replied.

"Not everyone wanted to see the banishment. Sadie decided not to watch a fellow Glader get banished while going crazy through the changing." said Will.

I slowly walked over to him as I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

"It's not your fault. Don't worry about it. But I'm glad you're okay." he said quietly as he wrapped his arms around me.

We remained in the same spot as we hugged each other in silence.

"Let's get something to eat. Becca has something special for us tonight." he said.

I nodded as we let go of each other before we walked to the bonfire.

'Do I actually have feelings for Will?' I asked myself.

I shook the thought away. I wasn't ready to tell Will that I have feelings for him. It wasn't a good time since he's still not in a good mood after the banishment.