Author stuff: Hey, friendlies! Sorry for posting this almost a week late. Couple of things happened in my personal life — mostly work related.
The one coworker who works overnights has COVID. The other woman who works overnights doesn't want to work anything other than her assigned nights (she spends the rest of her time out partying and comes in hours late). The backup for overnights picked up her old shift at her original location, so we won't have her to rely on.
On the positive side, I have a new manager to help me out in my department and a few people have been hired to work the front desk. Training is all they really need now, which that's a huge weight off a lot of our shoulders.
Another thing is the fact that I decided to try out how I take my vitamins. The website I get them from recommends that you take it on an empty stomach. Despite the fact that it is in a fat soluble capsule. (It also suggested taking the water soluble vitamins with food — which I don't recommend.) Nope. Not good. Messed with my whole being.
So, I'm back to taking the vitamin that helps with stress with the other fat soluble capsules.
Between that nonsense, I've just been feeling more depressed recently. It probably has to do with the fact that I'm working nights and not getting enough vitamin D, like I used to. I added it to my monthly vitamin package.
Anyway, I'll also update tomorrow as normal. I just had to take a little break for my mental health.
Chapter 28
In Which There Are New Runners And There Is A Major Time-skip. Also, Runnie-undies!
Archie counted the amount of hands still raised in the air. He counted again and again and again and again, going off his memory when Nick gave the final tally.
He couldn't believe it. He really, really couldn't.
He looked over at Adne, whose face was twisted in a pucker while she thought. She was surprised by the outcome, just as much as he was.
"Alright," Nick said, nodding. "Adne, unless Archie gets everyone to vote for him, it looks like you'll be our next Runner."
There was clapping from everyone who had voted for – it had been practically unanimous. Only one person had voted against her, Billy.
"Nick, you can't be serious," the Keeper of the Baggers said. "She's a girl."
"She surpassed my training expectations," Minho said. "And Alby and Newt agree. She's our first choice."
"What's next, you make Flossy a Runner?"
"Flossy wants nothing to do with the Maze," Adne said, speaking up for the first time. "You know that. Besides, no one here would let her go anywhere near it."
Archie caught the way her eyes flicked over to Gally as she spoke. The Keeper didn't seem to notice, however. He did seem to prickle at the mention of Flossy though.
Voices rose up from the other Keepers and Alby – who was there because he had trained them and to take Minho's place, drowning out all possibility of him thinking much further on the subject. Most of them were speaking in Flossy's defense and chiding Billy for bringing up such a ridiculous idea.
"We still have one more to vote for," Nick said over them. They quieted down as he spoke, his voice lowering as he did. "Right, we have Archie. You all know him, one of the G Tri-Force –" Clint snickered, "–and a Builder. Gally, you're his Keeper, start us off."
Gally stood up and looked around. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to expect. Lately, Gally has been in a rotten mood. He wasn't sure of the cause, but he hoped it wasn't because of him.
"I don't think he should be a Runner," he said. "He's one of the best Builders I've got. I'd like to keep him around in case we need him. Adne's still my top choice for Runner."
"He'd make a better Runner than her and you know it," Billy said.
Nick set a hand on Gally's shoulder before he could retaliate. He forced him back to his seat and gestured for Jackson to have his say.
"The shank did better in training," Billy said. "He's got the speed for it. You all saw when they were making laps. And his endurance is better."
"She's got a better memory," Alby said, crossing his arms. "We need someone who can not only run the Maze but also memorize where they've run. We've gone over this, Billy. Let it go."
Billy sat back down, grumbling.
The rest of the Keepers spoke their praises, though Clint was a bit wary of sending him off into the Maze.
"If he or his partner gets injured," the Med-jack said, "he won't be a lot of help. His medical skills weren't exactly the greatest. Adne was better."
She gave him a tiny smile, which he returned.
"Okay," Nick said, "those not in favor, raise hands."
Only two hands went up – Gally and Clint. He had the second highest number of votes. Adne beat him by one, which was really what the two of them had been going for. She was going to be a Runner.
"Nick, can I talk to you for a minute?" Alby said, calling their leader over. The two of them ducked aways to a far corner of the meeting room and talked for several minutes. Whatever he had to say, Alby seemed to make Nick curious. Archie watched as his eyes flicked over to him a couple of times. It had him worried. Nick said something to Alby, making him nod and agree to something.
"Alby has a proposal," Nick said. "Alby, take the floor."
This made everyone curious. Archie feared that they were going to redo the votes. It would probably end up the same, but he was worried. This wasn't a part of the plan he and Adne had.
"I'm thinking about stepping down from being a Runner," Alby said, getting everyone's attention. No one spoke. Archie saw a few mouths pop open and eyes widen. "Nick has wanted Newt and I to take over more responsibilities in the Glade for a while, so that he could be in the Maze more and help there. He'd still be our official leader, making all final decisions, but you would be able to go to Newt or I first and foremost.
"This means we would need another Runner, and since Archie has the second most number of votes he would be our go to. For now, he'll be an alternate." A couple of people spoke out. Alby shushed them by raising his hands. "After Minho and Nick are certain Adne can handle herself in the Maze, Archie will start going into the Maze and begin serious running for us."
"Alby," Gally said. There was more to it, but Alby shushed him.
"We can always train another Builder, Gally. Only certain people have what it takes to be a Runner. You know that." Archie wondered briefly if Gally had tried to be a Runner at some point. From the way Gally flushed, it was possible. "It won't be for a while, so you still have him for the time being. Who knows, maybe the new Greenie will be just what you need."
Gally didn't look happy – and he voted against Alby – but Alby got his way in the end.
Archie looked at Adne, who beamed. The two of them were the two newest Runners in the Glade.
The Greenie was a skinny shank with dopey blue eyes and a mass of dark curls tangled on his head. He looked… too pretty, but he seemed eager to be out of the Box and to be doing something. He wasn't curious, as Archie thought he would be. Rather, he sat quietly and listened to what everyone had to say before speaking.
He was genuinely intrigued by Flossy – who was just shorter than him – and Adne – who looked like some other creature entirely when they stood next to one another. He treated them nice enough – asking to share their hair ties to keep his mop out of his face. They willingly complied.
It came in handy when he wrestled Gally. He didn't win, by any means, but he lasted a lot longer than anyone had suspected he would. He used his size and speed to his advantage. He managed to land a few hits that left Gally bruised for a short while.
The Greenie's name was Mike, and he ended up being a Track-hoe. He was a generally good kid, causing little mischief and staying out of everyone's way.
A month later, when Alby decided that it was time for him to ease back on running, the new Greenie arrived. Nick and Alby showed the Greenie around. Archie didn't really get to know the guy – he was a Slicer, that much he was aware – but he got the general idea that he was best kept away from Gally's brew.
Archie was more focused on the Maze and everything it contained. The first thing Minho – as his new Keeper – did was show him the Map Room, a cement building tucked away in the Deadheads and away from everything and everyone else.
Pieces of paper hung on twine and clips draped around the room like bizarre wallpaper. Boxes and crates littered the floor, some stacked atop one another. Archie wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. Honestly, he expected a miniature version of the Maze in the center of the room. In fact, he questioned Minho about that.
"Can't," Minho said, "the Maze changs daily. It never stays the same. The patterns repeat every now and again, but we've noticed something. Well, Newt noticed something before his… accident. The Maze is… I don't really know how to explain it except to show you."
Minho pulled out a crate. He rifled through the papers in it, pulling some out.
"Okay, look at theses." He closed the crate and held out two sheets of paper. "This is my section – Section 7 – from when I first started mapping it, this is thirty weeks later, this one… I'm missing a few, but this one is from a few weeks ago. See, they're exactly the same."
Archie looked over the three sheets as Minho pulled out a few more. While there were a few mistakes in the first one – mostly due to first time mapmaking – they were, indeed exactly the same.
"And the days following them, here." Minho handed him those, taking the first sheets. "See? The same. Like I said, Newt noticed this. It's shucking stupid."
"What does the complete map look like?" Archie said, handing them back.
"Give me a minute. The others will kill me if I don't keep this organized." Minho put the maps of his sections away, making note of some of the numbers at the top Archie hadn't noticed before. Minho closed that crate and went over to another, pulling out some bamboo tubes – Gally's work, no doubt – that had numbers carved into them. He slipped out some larger maps, maps of the entire Maze.
Archie traced his fingers over the lines of one. These seemed… familiar. He wasn't sure how or why he would have seen the Maze in its entirety before, but he felt – no, knew that he'd seen them before. But where?
"Right," Minho said, rolling the maps up and stuffing them back into the bamboo tubes, "you ready for your Runnie-undies?"
"My what?"
Author stuff cont'd.: Runnie-undies! Runnie-undies! Runnie-undies!
