The sun was now behind the walls of the maze, but it was still sprinkling in evening light as I left the Med hut and walked with Newt towards the gateway. I could see the crowd forming and I could hear Lee's cries echoing off the walls. I stopped walking and Newt stopped too.

"What's wrong?," he turned to me.

"I... I just don't know if I can," I winced as I heard Lee pleading in the distance.

"We're not going to the gate," he took my hand in his and gently pulled me towards our destination. We approached the tower, Newt lead me up and I looked down to the gate. There were several Gladers with long pointy sticks, guiding Lee towards the door. He tried to run the other way, but they formed a circle around him and moved in unison. The crowd made a path, allowing those with sticks to form a new semi circle around the opening to the maze, forcing him out of the Glade.

I sucked in a breath," They're really going to do this," I talked out loud.

Newt took my hand in his, his warmth was graciously accepted.

"He did this to himself," he said as he watched Lee try to duck under the sticks and run into the Glade.

"Is that... Jackson?," I asked as a tall man with dark hard threatened Lee with his stick forcing him back.

Newt nodded," Sure is. He was the first to volunteer."

"I'm surprised you aren't down there," I looked to him in the corner of my eye.

"They asked me," he admitted. "I wanted to accept, but...," he squeezed my hand. "I'm where I need to be."

I turned to my right and gazed upon the gorgeous man who cared for me so deeply.

"Thank you," I squeezed his hand back.

A knot formed in my stomach as we watched, the light was fading, but it seemed so much slower than most other days.

"Why does it feel like it's taking so long?" Newt asked, as if he could read my own thoughts.

"I don't know... but I don't like it."

As if on command, the large stone doors grumbled and moved to close.

"PLEASE!," I could hear Lee begging.

"I.. I can't watch," I huddled against Newt, burying my head into his chest.

Then I heard it, the clicking of metal and a distinct roar of a dark creature. I pulled away from Newt and looked to the gate with utter fear. In between the gap of the doors, I saw it: a Griever. It was massive, even from this distance, it was huge. It looked shiny and all of its legs moved at incredible speed as it launched itself towards the Glade.

Newt pulled away and ran towards the steps.

"No!," I begged him.

"Stay here," he told me and practically jumped off the tower and hit the ground running, he was running right for it.

"NEWT!" I screamed but it didn't stop him.

I looked back as the creature screamed again, the Gladers all running from the door. Some of them stayed, a few with sticks were trying to keep Lee from re-entering from the maze. Then it was here, it had a massive tail that stretched into the Glade and pierced its first victim, spearing him all the way through his body. My breath caught as I watched in horror as the Griever tossed the body across the field and into the garden. The scream was deafening and it echoed inside my head.

Everyone was shouting, now the Gladers were running towards the entrance with weapons to fight of the beast. It didn't even step into the Glade as its tail swiveled and stung another Glader, causing him to fall over onto the ground. Boys threw sticks and stone to the animal and it roared, rearing back on its long spider like legs, only backing into the maze slightly. It advanced again, laying the deadly needle on the end of its tail into a third victim before the gates of the Glade were closed and we were safe.

I heard the animal roar again, the metallic clinking of the Griever's body retreated into the maze, but I still couldn't move. The boys were scattered, some were moving along the wall preparing for if the Griever tried to climb while others were helping pick up the ones who had fallen. No one was near the garden, they must not have seen it. Then I moved, I moved so fast, trying to climb down the tower, my feet slipped and I feel to the ground. I felt the air leave my body, but I rolled over and stood up, I stumbled for a few steps then took off running.

I dodged around others who were also running in various directions, I couldn't hear anything besides the shouting of commands being passed around. I made it to the garden, the yelling was farther from me now and I heard the gasping of man. I looked for where it was coming from and saw the snapped stalks of corn, and on the other side was Joe.

"Joe," I gasped, jumping through the corn and getting to his side.

He was dying, there was no way around it. The griever had speared him completely through, I could see his insides and the blood seeping out into a large puddle around him. Joe sucked in a breath but coughed, spewing blood from his mouth, his dark eyes were filled with panic and pain.

"Joe... Oh my god," the tear fell from my face and I supported his head, my hands were shaking as I held him. My knees elt warm and wet, I looked down and now I was sitting in his blood.

What do I do?! I need to get help!

"Joe, I'm gonna get help" he wasn't looking at me, he was looking up at the sky, the blood flowing from his mouth like a steady rain. "Hang on Joe. HELP! HELP!," I shouted hoping someone would hear me.

He's dying... I can't save him!

"I'm going to get Clint!," I told him, but I didn't want to let go of his head. I gently lowered it onto the corn he had landed on but he wasn't sputtering anymore. He wasn't moving at all. "Joe?! JOE!?," I moved to look at his face.

His eyes were open but he wasn't scared anymore, they were blankly staring up at the sky.

"JOE!?," I gripped his face in my hands, but he had no resistance and his head moved with me. His warm blood spilled onto my hands," JOE!," I cried, my tears blurring my vision.

I stood up and looked out, no one was headed this way. No one had heard me call for help.

"HELP! HELP! PLEASE HELP! HELP!," I shouted, waving my hands and jumping. I caught someone's eyes and they pointed. "PLEASE HELP HIM!," my voice was raw and my throat burned.

Then someone came running, it was Zart, he made it to me quickly.

"Greenie? Are you hurt?," he called.

"NO," I looked down at the dead boy beside me and wept," It's Joe..."

Zart came into the Garden and looked down, his mouth dropped open. "Oh... Shuck... it's Joe," he looked awestruck.

I fell to my knees," Oh my god... he's dead," I sobbed.

"Greenie, come here," Zart made his way over to me.

"Please, help him," I begged, curling up in the dirt.

"Come on, let's go," Zart scooped me up in his arms.

"Zart, we have to help him," I wanted to fight, get free and do something, bring Joe back to life, but I couldn't move at all. It wasn't that Zart was holding me too tightly, it was just I was paralyzed, nothing would move, no matter what I told myself to do.

"Greenie, he's gone," Zart told me softly. "He's gone."

"Noooo," I cried into my hands.

Zart set me down, but my knees buckled so he let me lean against him.

"We need all hands on deck here, Greenie," he leveled with me. "I have to go get Billy. You should go see if they need help with the perimeter."

"But Joe..."

"Joe is where he is. We'll get him later. Now we need to protect ourselves. Alright? Go," he gave me a subtle push towards the tower and turned, running into the Homestead.

"You look like klunk, Greenie! Are you hurt, you're covered in blood!," a nameless face came up to me. I knew him, but from where? I should know his name... he's a Slicer.

I didn't know how long I'd been standing there after Zart had left, I couldn't move, I could barely breath.

"Greenie? Greenie? Are you okay?," the voice sounded distorted.

"I have to go... the perimeter," I fumbled with the words.

"I'm on my way there too. Come on," I felt this person pull me and magically my feet worked. "where do you want us?," I heard him ask and I turned to him.

Frankie? That was his name: Frankie.

"Are you jacked? She needs to go to the med hut! Greenie? Greenie? Where are you hurt," Alby was now next to me.

"I'm fine," I slurred.

"You're covered in blood. CLINT! JEFF! Go get them now!," Alby called urgently. "Stay with me Greenie."

"It's not my blood...," I told him.

"Who's hurt? Who's bleeding?"

I chocked and started to cry," It's Joe... he's dead," I stumbled and Alby caught me.

"Joe? Where is he?"

"Oh my god! Greenie! What happened?!," Clint grabbed me.

"She's not hurt," Alby told him. "You said Joe was?," he looked at me, his eyes were wide and desperate.

"He's dead...," I sucked in a breath. "He's dead in the garden."

"I thought only two people were stung?," Clint looked to Alby.

Alby turned to whoever was behind him," Take him, you go," he ordered.

"Greenie, come with me" Clint pulled me with him and I just kept crying, he sat me down then left. I didn't even know where we were, in a room, people were moving in and out so fast, I couldn't even focus on them.

"Where is she?," I heard and finally saw a face.

"Newt," I called out weakly e saw me and dropped to his knees.

"Shuck... what is this? What happened?," he looked terrified as his eyes roamed my body, no doubt struck by the bright red blood.

"It's Joe...," I could only talk in a whisper.

"Alby told me," he look relieved. "But you're not hurt?"

I shook my head and wiped away the tears.

"It was awful... he died, Newt!"

I could see agony dancing in Newt's once sweet and sunny eyes, there was conflict in those eyes, something at war within him.

"I'm so sorry," Newt choked, bowing his head, resting it against my knee. Newt's hand griped my legs and I wrapped my arms around him, bending over, like a shield to protect him from this place. I cried into his hair, letting it soak up the tears and blood from my face, but Newt didn't care.

He pulled back" I have to go help," he told me, his eyes now red from tears.

"Go," I nodded.

"I'll come back as soon as I can," he gulped.

"I know" I tried to give him a smile of encouragement but I don't think it was portrayed correctly.

Newt brought his hand to my face, quickly brushing my cheek," Stay safe," he said in pleading tone, a combination of a demand and request.

"You too," I told him and then left in a rush. I took a deep breath, the world seemed clearer, the fog surrounding me was lifted. I can't just sit here, I stood up. The chaos of the Glade was still in full swing, people where swarming around the homestead all in their own trance.

I picked up my pace and jogged to the kitchen, Siggy wasn't there and the remains from supper were still out and yet to be put away. The Glade's going to be up all night, they need to eat. I chose this to be my mission, I tied my hair up and got to work, scraping out the left overs from dinner and choosing to make some oatmeal for everyone as the snack to keep them through the night. I boiled the water, mashed the oats and mixed in a small portion of sugar, something Siggy would have definitely been cross about. The spices were sacred and in short supply, but I figured if tonight didn't count as a need for something sweet, no night did.

It was easy enough to make but crushing the oats took me the longest, when I was done, I loaded up the serving onto our cart. Out of the kitchen, the place seemed less hectic, people were no longer running with frantic looks in their eyes. As I passed by Gladers I offered the oatmeal, most of them accepted the bowl, I didn't know if it was out of need, exhaustion, or politeness. It was dark now, who knew what hour of the night we had struck, but the only light within the Glade was by torch.

"Alby," I found him talking with Mihno. "Here" I offered him a bowl.

"I'm alright," he told me with nod. "Get this to those out on patrol, they need strength."

I nodded and I rolled away, Mihno stole a bowl off the cart and nodded in appreciation. I went along the edge of the wall, my first stop was Frankie.

"You look like klunk, Greenie."

"I know, you told me," I handed him the bowl.

He ate the whole thing in 3 seconds and tossed the bowl back onto the cart.

"Thanks," he spoke with his mouth full then turned his attention back to the wall.

I moved to towards the Bloodhouse, they all seemed happy to get the porridge I provided but most didn't speak. I couldn't push the car through the Deadhead, so I delivered it all by hand. It wasn't until I reached the north side that I saw Ben.

"Hey," he turned when he saw me. "Oh shuck, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I reassured him.

"You're covered in blood," his eyes were wide.

"Not mine," I handed him a bowl.

"Thanks," he accepted and took a bite. "You make this?" I nodded. "I can tell," he smiled," Fry doesn't like to use the sugar."

The comment almost made me smile, almost.

"Hey," Ben cleared his throat. "I'm sorry... I mean it, really."

I sighed," It's not your fault this happened, Ben."

Ben set the bowl down and turned from the wall," No, but it is my fault that I didn't believe you," his eyes were even with mine. "You were right."

"What do you mean, you didn't believe me?," I felt my voice harden.

"The Grievers," he explained. "They were out and during the day," Ben still couldn't believe it.

I swallowed the words in my mouth, I thought he was talking about Lee...

"Uhmm... yeah. I wasn't lying."

Ben looked to the large gray wall towering over him," I'm sorry," he sounded sincere. "I should have trusted your word."

"Yes, you should have."

He looked back to me," Can we please stop fighting? I hate that you're mad at me."

I sighed," Ben, I don't have time for this."

I didn't. I had too much to deal with... Joe... poor Joe. Barely spoke a word and always came to work on time. He never missed a day, he covered for me and never made me feel bad for it. My mind flashed back to his body, the bright red of his blood staining the yellow corn and the mud. His eyes, begging for life but his body slipping into the end of all he'd known.

"... with everything. We can just forget all that happened," Ben sounded hopeful.

What? What did he say?

"Sure Ben," I just agreed.

Be took a breath of relief," Good," then he paused.

"I have to pass out oatmeal," I pushed the cart but Ben spoke again.

"I wanted to be there," he blurted out quickly.

I stopped pushing and turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I wanted to be there for you. When I heard what Lee had done, I... I was so angry that I punched the wall," Ben showed me his bruised knuckles, the open wounds still fresh. "I wanted to be there for you... but I didn't go because... because I knew you were still mad."

I shook my head," Stop... please," I asked him politely. The reminder of Lee's existence was not what I wanted right now and it was probably the furthest thing from what I needed.

"I just wanted you to know," he came over to where I stood. "That even though we weren't the best of friends, I was still thinking of you. I'm always there for you if you need it," he told me.

"Thank you, Ben," I nodded. I didn't want to think about it, not Lee, not the stinger, not anything.

"So... we're good, right?"

"Yeah," I kept nodding. "We're good. I just... gotta go pass out the food," I pushed the cart and didn't look back to Ben. Instead of finishing the lap, I pushed the cart back to the kitchen, taking the dirty bowls and started to scrub them. That's when Siggy came in, I had been scrubbing the bowls and was almost done.

"Greenie," his voice sounded lost and sad as he stood in the doorway, watching me scrub bowls. "You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do."

"Greenie," he made his way over to me. "Stop," he took the bowl from my hands and put it on the counter. I held back the tears, I didn't think my eyes could handle them, I might go blind if I kept crying. He didn't know what to say, neither did I. We both knew Joe was gone but neither one of us could say the words. I had said it too much that night, one more time seemed impossible. Siggy chose to ignore the topic all together and opened up the rice bag. "I'm making breakfast."

"But it's still night?"

"Not for long," Siggy pulled out a mixing bowl.

He was right, the Glade was dark, but the promise of morning was drawing close.

"They didn't come back?," I wiped my nose on my sleeve.

"No," he shook his head.

I sighed and picked up the next bowl on the dirty pile, Siggy didn't fight me on it. We worked in silence, once I was done, I helped him prepare breakfast, it was slop day. Probably the worst day history of the Glade for slop day but Siggy kept to his normal schedule. The sun peeked over the edge of the wall, but it felt awful. the sun felt like a bad reminder of the night we had lived through. It was another smack in the face to every single none of us, mocking us for the lives were living. The Glade rang with the silence, no one was talking and if they were it was in hushed voices into the ears of friends. I gave the breakfast out, people now were no longer polite enough to say please or thank you, but I didn't care enough to talk to them anyway.

"Hey...," a soft voice caught my attention. Newt came around the cart and took me in his arms, I hugged him tightly, his terrible smell and dirty clothes barely fazed me. I pulled away first and he asked," How are you feeling?"

I scoffed and breathed in slowly," I'm awful," I tried to smile away the pain but I couldn't hide and more tears came.

"Hey, hey, hey," Newt took me by the shoulders. "Breathe." I sucked in a shaky breath and wiped my eyes. "Come on, you need to get some sleep."

"No, I have to pass out food."

"I'm sure they can handle grabbing their own bowl. Have you eaten?"

I shook my head and Newt grabbed a bowl, wrapped his arm around me and took me to the Homestead.

"I can't go to the place," I told him. I thought he was taking me back to the building nestled int the corner of the Glade where awful things happened

"I'm not taking you there," he promised.

We went into the boy's giant fort, the room was mostly empty, there were a few bodies in hammocks scattered around. Newt guided me to a hammock in the back corner and sat me down, he gave me the bowl. It sat in my hands, I looked it at it and did not see the purpose so I attempted to set the bowl down but Newt took it from my hands.

"Open up," he held the spoon in front of my mouth. I looked to him and his soft honey eyes were tired but back to their usual glowing selves with fear washed away and replaced with exhaustion. "Come on," he encouraged tenderly.

I opened my mouth and the slop tasted like slop. I gagged it down and Newt gave me another bite, I didn't want to fight him, the exhaustion was pouring out from every bone and muscle I had, to chew the food was even straining the remaining strength I had.

"Lay down," he put the bowl to the side and I followed his order. Newt covered me with a thin blanket and there was nothing in the world that could have kept me awake in that moment.