Story updated again! Thanks for reading! And for the late update…T.T

P.O.V Hanna

I stared at the setting sun. It had been 2 days since Minho started the Changing. Without the Keeper, the Runners have been resting. I glanced at the doors to the maze. I could hear the distant sound of Grievers screaming. I looked at my watch, which once belonged to Minho. It was nearly the time that the doors were supposed to close.

I glanced around the Glade, still not being able to believe that my life can be in danger in this peaceful place. Then, I heard a squeak of a pig as it died. Huh… Perhaps not so peaceful after all. "Hey" I turned to see Newt. He had gotten friendlier to me during the two days. Being Minho's best friend in the Glade, he managed to tell me about Minho's life in the Glade.

Almost nothing had changed during the two nights. At the first night, the Grievers had taken a boy named Jacob. I didn't know much about him, but Zart had cried a lot. So apparently, Jacob was his best friend. Also, the Grievers had stung Thomas, who jumped right in front of the Grievers. Teresa cried all day with Zart, obviously worried for her friend. The second night, Adam had been taken. I had heard from Newt that Adam was a Runner, and had also been Minho's friend.

Without three Runners, the Runners were having a difficult time examining the maze. And even more since one of the unconscious Runner is their Keeper. A boy named Jason was temporarily ordering the Runners, but I suspected he wasn't as good as Minho, who had lots of experiences.

Newt waved a hand in front of my face. "Hey, Hanna. You awake?" "Oh, sorry" I had totally forgotten that Newt was here. An uncomfortable silence was on both of us for minutes after that, since none of us had anything to say. "Hey, Newt!" I turned to the voice and saw that Clint and Jeff were dragging Minho and Thomas outside. "Can you afford to help us shanks over here?" Newt nodded and stood up. "Coming!" He ran across the Glade and dragged Minho. Clint grabbed a silver key hanging from Newt's belt, and opened the Slammer. Newt and Jeff pushed Thomas into the Slammer, then Minho.

I wasn't surprised to see that, since they've slammed Minho into the Slammer at night. In fact, I recommended the Slammer as the safest place to stay for night because the Grievers couldn't reach us if we were inside. Newt locked the Slammer door and came to join me again. "Come on, it's almost time" I followed him into the Homestead.

Teresa and Alby were already there. I was a bit surprised to see Teresa, since she spent all her day in the weapon room, examining the maps that were hidden to find a code. Teresa smiled at me weakly when she saw me, which surprised me even more. She seemed to have passed most of her worries, but she still had a red face and her face was sticky with tears. "Teresa… You okay?" She nodded. "I found the pattern." "What?" I couldn't believe my ears. Did she really find the way out? "The pattern of the maze. It forms six words. FLOAT, CATCH, BLEED, DEATH, STIFF and PUSH." Newt frowned. "Bleed? Death? Don't sound too good to me." Teresa waved her hand toward Newt in a careless way. "Yeah, but it's a code. I don't think it means something." "But we will wait, won't we?" I blurted out loud. "Huh?" "I mean… Minho and Thomas is still unconscious. We can't…. We won't desert them, won't we?"

Newt laughed. He sounded amused, and a little bit said, too. "Of course not. You think we will be so heartless?" Alby, who was silent until now, jumped up. "You… You found a way out?" Newt raised his eyebrows. "What have you been listening?" Alby shook his head, dismay and terror in his eyes. "No…. no, we can't" "What?" I couldn't believe my ears. Alby was the leader of the Glade. He should encourage them to go out, not wine like a puppy that we can't go out.

"We can't escape. We can't. We just can't" Alby whimpered, his voice getting smaller and smaller. "Alby?" Newt asked, his voice concerned. Alby covered his face with his hands, then he curled into a ball. "We can't we can't we can't…." Then he slept.

Newt and Teresa stared at him for long moments. Then, finally, Teresa spoke. "What's wrong with him?" She said it simply, as if Alby was a patient in a mental hospital. Newt, however, did not take the situation lightly. Newt crouched beside Alby. "Alby?" Newt repeated in a small voice. "Alby?" Alby did not spoke. He just continued on sleeping. "Alby?" Newt kept repeating his leader's name, as if that would recover what's wrong with him.

Teresa sighed and curled in a ball on the floor. I glanced at Newt, and saw him talking to Alby. Alby didn't seem to be listening to him at all. He kept whispering in his sleep. I curled up in a ball and tried to sleep, but Alby's talk about not escaping kept nagging at my thoughts. Perhaps, I thought, it would be better to stay in the Maze, like Alby said…..

P.O.V Minho

My eyes opened. A bright light shone in front of me. I blinked, and my eyes adjusted to the bright light. I was in a white room. Everything around me was white. I sat up, and realized that I had been lying on a white bed. I noticed the curtains beside me. I could see shadows behind the curtain. I heard the whispers of people, and leaned toward them to hear what they were talking about. Then, the curtains were shoved sideways, and I leaned back quickly, surprised.

Two women and a girl were standing behind the curtains. I looked at each of their faces, and shock went through my body as I recognized the girl. It was Hanna.

Hanna looked younger, but it was definitely her. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her eyes were red like she had been crying. I had never thought of it before, but Hanna did look familiar.

I glanced at the two women that stood beside Hanna. One was her mother, they looked seriously alike. The other women…. She was looking at me, but wasn't looking at me. Her eyes were fixed on me, but they were distant, like she was looking at other things rather than me. I recognized this woman, and anger started building in my chest. How dare she come here! After all she'd done to me….

I glanced back at Hanna and her mother. "Minho?" Hanna said softly. "Are you... all right?" My younger self nodded. I blinked, and I wasn't in the hospital anymore.

I looked up and saw dim light shining through the bars. I recognized this place immediately, and a sigh of relief escaped me. I was back in the Glade, safely locked in the Slammer. I looked around and saw Thomas plopped on the wall next to me.

I frowned. Thomas's skin had a greenish tint that looked suspiciously like the skin color of a person who was 'Changing'. Had something happened to Thomas while I was unconscious?

I heard a screech outside and looked up to see a Griever drool drop into the Slammer. It landed on top of Thomas's head and dropped to the ground, leaving Thomas with Griever drool all over his body.

I saw a Griever right on top of the Slammer and held my breath. The Griever slowed to a stop on top of the Slammer, and looked downward. Oh god I thought, I'm dead. I held my breath and stared at the ground as the Griever made strange noises. Then, I heard a yell. A voice that I knew.

I looked up to see the Griever jerk away. A black boy slammed onto the ground, right on top of the Slammer chains. "Alby!" Without thinking, I called him. Alby turned to face me, and the Griever's claws sank into his body, blood dripping into the Slammer.

I watched, horrified, as the Griever carried Alby away from the Slammer door. I heard shouts from the other Gladers, but that didn't register in my mind. Dread settled over me as I realized what I've done. I broke one rule of the Glade Do not harm any other Gladers. My mind retraced the moment when the Griever… It happened so fast….. I just called Alby's name and he….

"Minho?" A Grief-stricken voice echoed from the Slammer door. I looked up and saw Newt, leaning on the doors. He put his hand gently on the blood. "Minho…. You saw Alby…." I closed my mind, and immediately regretted the decision. Alby's terrified eyes bore into my mind. The blood splattering on the chains and dripping into the Slammer, Alby turning to face me just as the Griever struck him with their…..

I opened my eyes, gasping, and looked at Newt, who was looking at me with sympathy in his eyes. That just made it worse. "Minho, you okay?" His attempt to soothe me didn't work. It just made me guiltier.

Newt opened the Slammer door and helped me tumble outside. I saw Gladers looking at me with worried eyes. Some of them were looking at me like they've seen a ghost.

"Minho!" I turned and saw Jason running toward me, other runners in pursuit. They all gathered around me and Newt. After a little while, I noticed something odd. "Where's Adam?"

The Runners were all silent. Newt coughed a nervous cough. "Ah… You see, Minho…" "He's dead." I said, and collapsed on the ground. After Alby, Adam… "You mean the Grievers got a Runner? That wasn't what I was planning to say, but it just came out. Newt nodded, his eyes wet. I glanced at Newt, but he didn't meet my eyes. He stared at the ground.

"Minho?" A familiar voice sounded behind me. Even before I turned, I knew the person who had spoken. I turned and saw the grown up version of the girl in a ponytail. I gazed at Hanna, who looked at me like she'd done many times before the Glade and the Maze. "Minho?" She repeated, her eyes reminding me of the girl who visited me in the hospital with her mother and my mother.

I'll try to update faster next time! Plz leave a comment! :)