It was latter in the day and Joanne had found that she was unfortunately unable to find out much more about the whole situation that they were in. Newt had finally given her the permission latter in the day to explore on her own. Truthfully she wasn't sure if you wanted to go it alone, but figured in the end that it would be a good idea. She knew where both Newt and Alby would be if anything was to come up.

Walking around the Glade was weird, it was like a dream that she was still waiting to wake up from. She couldn't seem to however, no matter how hard she pinched herself.

Running her hands along the ivy covered walls of the Maze she realized how pale she was compared to everyone else here. Joanne had especially noticed it when standing next to Newt's bronzed skin. It wasn't just Newt though, everyone here had worked hours under these beautiful skies and all their skins had obtained a darker shade with time. It made her wonder just how long they ha all been here.

Her mind still pounded constantly with questions, to the point that it would hurt if she didn't push them out of her head. There was always that persistent reminder that she didn't have the slightest clue as to who she even was. She couldn't even figure out what her favourite colour was, let alone how old she was! One of the Glader's had mentioned that the more you think about how much you don't know, the worse you'll feel. She had decided that she should probably give him the benefit of the doubt, considering he'd already been through what she was going through right now, and not press herself on the matter…It was easier said then done.

The light was beginning to fade, and Joanne knew that some of the others would be heading to something called a Gathering. She still wasn't sure what this was, but had an idea considering what the name was. Runner's had began to come through some of the openings in the Maze. They would stop to catch their breath before continuing on to wherever they felt like going. Joanne watched silently as one by one, the Runner's returned, safe for another day.

Most of the yard was cleared out as Runner's were returning and Glader's were going to get something to eat and then some shut eye. Joanne hadn't realized how tired she'd been until she yawned. It surprised her somewhat, considering she hadn't really done anything all day besides walk around the Glade listening to Newt. She guessed that her body was still reacting to all the change and was a little out of whack. She figured it was a good idea to comply with what her brain and stomach was telling her and follow suit with the other Glader's.

Just as a small gust of wind blew a strand of dirty blonde hair across her face, Joanne caught something troubling out of the corner of her eye. Turning and looking over her shoulder to get a better look at the situation, her worry was only increased. The muscles around her heart tightened and threatened to crush it.

Stumbling through the doors of one of the Maze's entries was two Runners. Something was obviously very wrong. From the distance that Joanne was at, she could see that one of the boys, A tall Asian kid with shot black hair and toned arms, had the other boys arm around his shoulders and was attempting to keep him upright.

Joanne stood in place for what seemed like a lifetime, which in reality was only a few minutes, wondering what to do as she watched the scene unfold. No one else was outside anymore and Newt and Alby were nowhere to be seen, so it was out of the question to go inform them. Hesitating only for that moment, her legs carried her towards the two boys before her brain had even registered what she was doing.

Her eyes widened. She fought back the urge to throw up as a sick feeling built in the pit of her stomach. She bit down on her lip as she held it in. Now that she was standing in front of the two she could see that damage that had been done to the one boy.

"What happened?!" Joanne asked, her voice more panicked then she had intended.

She'd never remember encountering something like this before, although that didn't mean much as her memory wasn't so good anymore. She felt as though she would remember something as bad as this though. The boy was covered in cuts that ranged from little scratches to open gashes, blood covered his skin from head to toe and she couldn't be sure if it was his or someone else's. What could have possibly done this!

"Shuck kid had a run in with a Griever" the boy replied like she should know what that was. "Now give me a hand!"

It wasn't a voice to be argued with, not that Joanne had any plan to. She grabbed the other arm and slipped it around her own shoulders. What the hell's a Griever! Joanne looked at the boy as the two began to pull him up to one of the buildings. Do I even want to know? His body was quite limp which made it all the more difficult to carry him, his head bobbed lifelessly as his eyes struggled to stay open.

The older boy opened the door and used his body to keep it ajar. Looking into the homestead they were bombarded with a mob of shocked eyes. The body groaned between the two, he was obviously in a lot of pain. Joanne's eyes darted around the room but she couldn't spot Alby or Newt anywhere. This concerned her deeply. The older boy seemed to hesitate, eyes scanning the crowd too, he was trying to make a decision.

"Let's take him to the back," The boy addressed Joanne, she nodded in agreement, and then looked to the rest of the room "Someone get Newt!"

Chairs scratched against the floor as a few boys got up to go in search. She couldn't see who it was as they were already making it to one of the back rooms. There wasn't much in this room, however Joanne's eyes fell on a table in the corner.

"There" Joanne pointed a finger to it, "drag that away from the wall a we'll put him on it"

The boy nodded, "you got him?"

It hadn't mattered what Joanne said because the other boy had already let go as soon as the words came out his mouth. All the weight was put on her to keep the wounded kid from collapsing on himself. He made another noise, this time more like a whimper, but Joanne didn't want to look.

She watched as the other boy pulled the table to the center of the room and then came back to help hoist the wounded onto it. Joanne took a step back and just stared, Now what?! What do we do now? That sudden reality hit her like a ton of bricks, she had no idea what to do now. She looked up to the older boy in hope of guidance, but she came to realize that he was about as lost as she was on the matter. She took matters into her own hands as she looked back to their unfortunate patient.

"We need to…." Her voice was shaky but none the less she made her way closer. Prepare to do something, she just didn't know what yet.

"Good that" She heard the other boy say, it gave her some reinsurance even though she hadn't said anything.

The boy on the table had passed out a while ago and beneath the blood, a greenish tinge could be seen on his skin. Purple veins were more obvious now that she got a better look at him.

Joanne looked back up at the older boy, who was watching her intensely with deep brown eyes. She didn't know what to do and felt helpless towards the situation. She didn't understand what was happening to the kid, his cuts weren't even bleeding anymore and the changing skin made no sense. She racked her brain but came up with nothing.

Just then the door opened to the room and two more figures hurried in. She turned on her heel, feeling a wave of relief passing over her as she confirmed her thoughts. A very annoyed looking Alby and concerned Newt stood by the door. In the distance the Maze doors could be heard shutting for the night. It was the calm before the storm as chaos quickly burst threw its seems in the form of the wounded previously unconscious boy sudden crying out. It was a ear shattering shriek that caused the whole room to jump at the sudden, loud noise. Joanne's spine tightened as she fought the urge to cover her ears from the offal sound. She couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of pain he must have been in to make that sort sound.

Newt and Alby jumped into action as the kid started to thrash around on the table.

"Someone get the newbie out of here" Joanne heard Alby say as he held the convulsing boys shoulders down.

Before she could react to anything a muscular frame was in front of her, blocking the ugly sight from her innocent eyes.

"Come on Greenie," The person placed a hand on her should and shoved her out of the room.

Even once they were outside the building, the kids could still be heard screaming bloody murder. It made Joanne cringe, she probably would have broken down and started crying if it hadn't been for her company.

Sitting next to her on one of the tables outside the boy nudged her in the ribs, "names Minho, by the way"

She shrugged before replying, "Joanne"

Suddenly the screaming stopped abruptly all at once, cut off in mid breath. She could only imagine what that mean, nothing good came to mind. She turned to look at the other boy, maybe he would be more willing to explain things.

"What happened out there?" she asked softly

"There's these things out in the Maze called Griever's. We don't know why they are there or what they do, but they do a incredible amount of damage" Minho explained, "kid took a wrong turn in the Maze and got cornered by one of 'em. It just ran him over like road kill"

Minho was surprisingly calm about the whole situation, like it was a normal occurrence. Joanne shook her head,

"I just don't get it, the way he was acting? The injuries? The - "

"it doesn't matter know, just forget about it" Minho stood up. "we should get cleaned up"

Joanne looked down at herself, there was the traces of the kids blood on her white shirt.

"good that" she simply agreed and followed Minho back into another building. Once inside he dug around a box for a bit before pulling out a clean looking shirt.

"Here" He tossed it at her

Standing up he pulled his own shirt off to revel an incredibly toned upper body. She could see the older boy smirking as she gawked at his body, he'd caught he red handed. Joanne turned a bright shade of red and tore her eyes away focusing on the wall to her left.

"like what you see Greenie?" He slipped his new shirt over his head

"Oh shut up" Joanne snapped, blushing even more then she thought humanly possible.

Minho laughed, "now its your turn?"

"WHAT?" Joanne exclaimed, a little shocked.

"I got you that shirt for a reason, Green bean"

"oh, ah, right" She looked down at the shirt in her hand, still recovering from earlier. She looked back to Minho, who leaned against the wall crossing his arms, still grinning. "So, ahhh, are ya gonna turn around?"

"Why would I do that? I mean you got to stare at me, isn't it only fair that I get to see you?" On some levels it did make sense…

Joanne raised an eyebrow and shook her head, although she was smiling slightly, "No, It doesn't work like that. Just turn around"

Minho shrugged but was still grinning, "Nah, I think ill stay right here"

Joanne huffed, "fine ill turn around"

Joanne turned her back to Minho and began to pull her shirt off when Minho surprised her.

"Hey Greenie…" There was something to his voice, something troubling,

"Yeah?" Joanne dared to ask

"What the hell is on your back?!"

Joanne looked over her shoulder, Minho's expression had changed completely. He had taken a few steps closer and was staring at her back. Panicked she craned her neck further and out of the corner of her eyes, if she strained enough she could just barely see it.

Patterns covered her right shoulder, going a ways down her back. It wasn't just any old patterns however, there was major strategy to the way it all connected. The tattoo on her back, was a Maze….

I know I say this every chapter, but thank you all so much for reading! I check this website everyday, and it has been so exciting to not only read comments but also see the numbers on favorites grow. Like always, if you have any questions, concerns or ideas, feel free to message me or leave it in a review. A special thanks to Jaegger and Morgenstern18 for the reviews on the last chapter! Your idea has been duly noted and I am momentarily trying to fit it into the plot (as you can see from this chapter).

Lastly this chapter is out a day early as I will not be able to upload it tomorrow. Ill apologize though, as I havent been able to go over this chapter as much as the other because I ran short on time. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed and until next time,

Cheers :)

p.s I do not own anything from the world of the Maze Runner besides my added character Joanne.