Author stuff: And we're back! This is much different from the original chapter that I wrote. Actually, the next 10 chapters are different. But the end of the second part changed a lot of that, and the rest of the story needed to go along with that.

SO! That altered the story I'd already written. I actually really like the way this third part turned out. This is where we deviate from the books and the movies. For at least the rest of Conspiracy. Book 2 will… well, book 2 is interesting so far. And a lot of fun, with what I have planned. I don't think it'll be as long as this, but I haven't written all of it yet, so we will see.

Trigger warnings: Death, injuries

BOOK III — THE GREAT ESCAPE

Chapter 41

In Which They Have A New Goal

Verena's banishment was not something any of them wanted to attend. In fact, most people didn't want to attend.

Nick and the other Keepers had the forethought to keep her hands tied behind her back. They also had her ankles tied together. It was unusually cruel, but all of them were too afraid that she'd run off into the Glade again.

Nick and Alby carried her out into the Maze five minutes before the Walls closed, so none of them would have to do it. Her scream rang out and ricocheted around the Glade.

Archie found himself sitting with Adne and Graham, the former doing some stretches. They watched the unusual Banishment from the Box.

"Wish they'd gagged her," Adne grumbled under her breath. "Would've saved us from her screaming."

Archie winced.

"Things already aren't in her favor," Graham said, kicking a pebble away from his toe. "It's…"

"It's already cruel," Archie said, finishing for him. Graham nodded.

"Cruel or not, she hurt a lot of people," Adne said, straightening. "She went after Flossy with her own sickle. Who the shuck does that?"

Archie heaved a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. He heard a scuff of movement next to him.

Graham got up and walked away, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"What's up with him?" Adne said.

"No idea." After a moment, he said, "Have you seen Flossy today?"

"No, have you?"

"I know she's in the Med-hut, but Clint and Jeff are limiting who goes in and out. Apparently she and Gally had it out with Verena last night when we all went to bed."

"Didn't hear that."

"Her leg's pretty jacked up, and they're all worried there might be an infection or something."

"How about Gally? Have you heard anything about him?"

"He has a concussion, I know that much."

Adne opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Alfred who called out to them. He jogged over from the Wall.

"Hey!" he said, giving them a little wave.

"What's going on?" Archie said, nodding in greeting.

"Nick's called a Gathering for the Runners. Don't know about what, just that we're supposed to be there."

Archie got to his feet and stretched, his back popping in several places.

"Any chance we can grab dinner before we head over?" Adne said, fixing her hair. She twisted it into a bun at the very top of her head.

"The Cooks'll bring something over, apparently. I think sandwiches today."

"Shuck, we just had sandwiches for lunch. Getting kind of tired of them."

"Well, if you can figure out how to make a chicken dinner portable for the Maze," Archie said, elbowing her.

She rolled her eyes and cracked her knuckles.

"Let's get going then. The sooner we get in there, the sooner we can get out."

The three of them headed over, finding the room only missing Minho and Nick. They took their seats amongst the others. It didn't take long for Minho and Nick to show up, carting bags of sandwiches. They quickly distributed them to the Runners, saving some for themselves.

"Right," Nick said, in between bites, "so, you all know what happened last night. Verena attacked a few Gladers with a sickle. The Bagger managed to apprehend her before anything worse happened."

"You want us to keep an eye out for a sign of her in the Maze?" someone — Archie couldn't see who it was — asked.

Nick sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"I wish that that was what it was."

Archie shifted his weight on the bench he was sitting on, wincing as it creaked under him. He waited for Nick to continue, breathing shallowly.

"After we got a hold on Verena again, she dropped the sickle, and it broke. Well, a part of it broke, and there was a note inside." Nick pulled out a small scrap of paper from one of the pockets of his cargo shorts. He opened it up and showed it to them. Archie squinted, trying to make sense of the words, but he wasn't able to.

"'The Maze is a code'," Adne said from her spot behind him. "What does that even mean?"

"We have no idea," Nick said with a heavy sigh. "Any ideas?"

They all looked around at one another, each trading looks of more and more confusion with the more eyes they met.

"Maybe there's a code in the walls or something?" Alfred said after a moment.

"But the walls have always been covered in vines," Dan said. "For as long as we've been running the Maze, there've always been vines."

"Maybe we were supposed to pull all the vines off?"

"We're missing something important," Adne said. "Something that is probably very obvious that we're all overlooking."

"What," Archie said, "like the dumb World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department signs?"

Adne rolled her eyes.

"Who knows, maybe they point the way to the escape. Shuck if I know, Arch!"

"Just a suggestion."

"Your suggestion sucks," Dan said.

"Yeah," Alfred said, "it's not like the Creators would do something like that, right, Minho?"

"Honestly?" Minho said, in between bites of a second sandwich. "I have no shucking idea."

"There's got to be something with the maps we have," Hank said. "The Creators wouldn't keep supplying paper if we weren't on the right trail, right?"

"That or they want us to use the paper for something else," Dan said with a shrug.

"I think they would stop supplying it if that's the case."

"I think," Adne said, "we need to review the maps we have. There's got to be something there. Something we've missed."

"We've studied the maps for years," Dan said. "We've noticed nothing."

"It's got to have to do with the maps. How else could you interpret 'the Maze is a code'?"

"Right," Nick said. "This is getting us nowhere. Minho, any ideas?"

"I've got nothing," Minho said, ruffling his hair with his hands. "We're missing something. A bigger picture."

Archie caught the distant look in Adne's eyes, focusing on the scrap of paper Nick still held in his hands.

"Nick," she said, "you said that fell out of a sickle. It was Flossy's sickle, wasn't it?"

Nick blinked, straightening up.

"Uh, yeah, it was."

"The sickle that went missing and was later found with Verena."

Everyone in the room held their breath for a moment.

"Do you think she might have known something?" Nick said, his voice quiet.

"There was a reason that her tongue was cut out. That might have been it. She knew too much."

"Do you think she went into the Map Room to try and show us something?" Archie said.

"Maybe. I just…" She rubbed her eyes with her palms. "I just don't know what. Shuck."

"Did she ever say anything? Anything that sticks out?"

"She said a lot of things. And a lot of it never made any sense. Wish Flossy was able to understand sign language. Verena said a lot of things to her that she couldn't understand."

"Do you think she remembers anything?"

"Maybe."

"Good that," Nick said, nodding. "Minho?"

"I want to hear what the Girlie says before I change up our regular runs," Minho said. He used his shirt to dust off the crumbs on his hands. "She might know something that could give us a big clue as to what that scrap of paper means."

"Alright. Good that?" A chorus of replies rang out through the room. "Now, you shanks can head off to the showers. You all stink."

Author stuff cont'd.: So, this is all interesting. Everyone who read the books knows where this is going. But the end result? I'm the only one with any clue on that.

In the meantime while y'all wait, try checking out other fics by other people and leaving some nice reviews on them? Spread some love to someone you don't know.