Running was the only thing that felt good anymore. And it was the thing she could do the least. Close to never, and she was sure the only way she'd get out there again would be if someone found something new. And they hadn't found anything new.

Minho was building up a crew of Runners, and they'd had Gally and a few others build an entire room dedicated to holding the maps they drew. Hundreds of copies of the same few images. The Maze changed, but the maps did not. A few times she'd seen Minho grow so frustrated she thought he might throw them away or burn them, or even just tear them to bits. But he took the utmost care with each sheet, meticulously filing them, snapping at any person who took less care than he. Newt teased him about his soft spot, calling the maps his babies, demanding to know when he'd wean them.

Newt had a lot of opinions Hedy disliked. He thought leaving to go into the Maze was a bad idea. He thought she should be on friendly terms with all the others, even after their first day. She didn't like it, but she knew that he was right. He was her conscience. So she listened, and she stayed, miserably, and tried to get to know each of the Meadowers.

She spent time with each person individually, each day, and at the end of the day, sat with Saph, so the Keeper could help her process her interactions, and supplemented her knowledge of the Newbies with gossip. It helped, the "girl-time", since most of Hedy's interactions with others were awkward at best and embarrassing at worst. Since "hanging out" was painful for everyone involved, Hedy decided that she had to spend time each day helping someone with something. It was part icebreaker, part attempt for her to maintain a level of control over everyday function.

She knew the Firsts, obviously, but hanging out with Newt and the Builders meant that she was exposed to people more often. She was their Leader, whatever that meant. She felt like more of a boss, and said so. Newt had laughed at that. "No wonder the Builders seem to work so much more quickly when you're around. Lazy shanks suddenly become machines whenever you drop in. We ought to call you the bloody manager."

Hedy did feel like a watchful boss, rather than a member of a team. It could be very alienating at times. She wondered, occasionally, if Nick had felt this way. It wasn't as though this place was an army, in need of rigorous attention and order. Most people were pretty self-sufficient. It seemed strange, to be called a leader. Really, she did silly things; helping people resolve squabbles over tools and food and bed space. It felt foolish, and petty, and often redundant. But fights were to be brought to her, to be settled objectively. Whenever a new rule needed to be decided, they would call a Gathering. Really, she didn't feel as though she did much of anything. She did everything, of course. She'd rather be a Keeper. A Keeper of the People.

She tended animals, she helped clean up klunk, she cooked. Although cooking didn't come naturally to her, and eventually her time cooking was time spent with Saph, Zora, and Laverne. Every second not dedicated to getting to Running and Mapping, Laverne was in Saph's kitchen, cooking and flirting and gossiping.

"Why the hell are we putting bell peppers in sandwiches anyway," Hedy asked scornfully, staring down at the neat rings Zora had cut and her own messy, uneven pile. "They taste like ass and the seeds go everywhere."

"You're supposed to cut it out," Zora answered with false patience. "I've showed you at least four times…"

"Whatever way ya want to cut'em is perfect!" Saph shouted cheerfully. "These shanks don't care, s'long as they get their food."

"But they're uneven and don't fit on the shucking bread," Zora warmed up, ready to battle for her peppers.

"Then cut'em yourself! Gorgeous can slice bread."

Hissing a sigh of impatience, Zora looked at Saph. "No, she can't, because she needs to learn how to cut this freaking pepper, so she has a new life skill." Rolling her eyes at Zora's insistence and her own annoyance at the oddly shaped plant, Hedy attempted again to slice the pepper, turning instead to slice them into strips rather than Zora's decorative rings. At that, Zora groaned in absolute irritation. "Whatever," Zora threw her hands up. "You're useless. It's fine. I don't care. I'm over it."

Saph cackled at that, frying bacon, filling the whole room with the greasy scent.

"Hey sexy," was all Hedy heard, and just before she could turn around and berate Minho, she realized it was Laverne, speaking to Saph. She relaxed, only a little, before inwardly groaning at the spectacle she'd be forced to overhear. Laverne was a girl who attracted everyone's attention. She knew it too, and enjoyed every second of it, but most particularly enjoyed Saph's wit.

Saph grinned at that, wiggling her eyebrows. "Is it me you're talkin' to, or is there some kind of mirror I don't know about?"

"I'm staring at my reflection in your eyes," Laverne shot back, winking exaggeratedly.

Saph drew herself up to her full height of not much, and leaned in close to the taller girl's face. "I just wanna make sure you get the best view possible," she put in seductively. "Feel free to adjust me to your convenience."

Blushing at the display, Hedy tried to ignore them, nicking her finger, sending a river of blood down onto the counter. Zora swore, wiping blood off the pepper and dunking it in water. "Go to a Med Jack," Zora ordered, scowling ferociously. It was rare people were brave enough to be so curt with Hedy, but Zora felt very passionately about her job. She enjoyed Zora's personality, though. Most people were either whining to her or kissing her ass.

Glad to leave the potential make out session between the Keeper and the Runner, Hedy exited the small kitchen, looking for Clint and Jeff. The two boys had been finding more and more work every month; Tim, cutting himself on a hoe, Gally's sickness, Ben spraining his ankle, Maya tripping and getting a concussion. There was always something to do, someone to check on, something to help with. They were kept busy, particularly since there was only two of them. Searching aimlessly, she decided to abandon the search and try to just wrap the finger instead. Sticking the bleeding digit in her mouth, she turned around, heading back to the Kitchen in search of a bandage. The metallic taste of blood kept filling her mouth, and she spat it out, leaving a ruddy puddle in the grass, fascinated by just how much blood exited the small wound.

"Dude," a voice broke into her thoughts. "That's gross."

Spitting again, licking the slimy liquid off her teeth, she turned to see Minho, still sweating bullets, holding a cup of water, staring in revulsion at the bloody mess. "Well, I'm not gonna swallow it," she answered. "What else would I do?"

"Come here," he beckoned, and she obeyed, showing him the wounded finger.

Taking her hand in his own slightly moist one, he examined it. "Not too deep," he noted.

She rolled her eyes. "What do you know?"

"I'm not a total idiot, despite what you may think. It was Nick's idea that every Runner get a crash course in medical training. That won't even need a stitch, but it'll probably bleed through any bandage you put on it."

After Newt's incident, no person without full understanding of medical protocol could enter the Maze. It was strange to think of it that way. Nick, in so many ways, had seemed so adult. So much older than them. She wondered if she seemed that way. People like Newt and Minho and Saph… they were fun. Saph could flirt and Minho was aggressive and fierce in a way that other boys respected and Newt had a manner of telling jokes and making people feel comfortable around him. She didn't have those qualities. She didn't invite friendship from others. She was stiff and uncomfortable and bossy. Even Nick had been more charismatic than her, commanding respect and camaraderie.

"Am I… boring?" she asked him. He was the only one who'd tell her. Newt loved her, regardless of her boringness, and Saph would launch into a list of her sterling qualities, avoiding the question, and few other people knew her well enough. She could ask Tim, but he would be too kind. Meg would be too intimidated by her. Zora would rant about her inability to complete the smallest and easiest of cooking tasks.

Without moving his eyes from her small cut, he nodded. "Totally. But it's whatever, 'cause you're hot. Hot chicks can be boring. It's allowed. Not everyone can be hot and fun, like Laverne."

Jerking her hand back in shock at the sheer rudeness of his answer, she scowled. "You are such a dickhead! I didn't ask if I were pretty, and that shouldn't have featured in your answer. Can anyone around here ever give a straight answer?"

He winked, and pulled a small bandage out of his pocket. "C'mon, lemme put this on. There are worse things to be than a dickhead. Like boring. Or a stick-in-the-klunk. A killjoy."

"I am not boring!" she half-yelled, letting him finish bandaging her finger, though a small part of her wanted to slap him with her bloody hand. Then: "Saph doesn't think I'm boring."

"Saph thinks you're hot," he countered, still not releasing her hand. "Almost as hot as Laverne, who is actually probably hotter because she's less boring. Besides, she's too loyal to ever say anything mean to you."

Feeling her face heat, she scowled, finally realizing she could regain her hand. "I'm not boring," she said coolly. It was strange how much of her identity relied on her prettiness. Prettiness she couldn't even quantify, since they lacked mirrors. It was a rule she had; it would be too depressing. No mirrors in the Box. What would it do, besides cultivate vanity? Or even worse, make everyone feel like shit about themselves. They were all dirty, they were all sun-roughened and leathered by hard work.

"Prove it," Minho snorted, his tone indicating he had zero belief in her ability to do so.

"How?" she demanded. How could she possibly prove that? "What does it even mean to be boring?"

Stepping back, his dark eyes scanned the walls as the shadows began to grow longer, he ignored the philosophical aspect of her question.. "We're gonna climb the walls."

Her reaction was immediately negative. "Incredible. Once again, Minho, you've done it, because you're right, that is the most jacked—"

"Boring," he mocked, grinning. "We're gonna race and see who can get highest, quickest."

Mustering up the most withering look she had in her arsenal, she ignored every bit of her subconscious screaming about what a bad example this would set for the Newbies. "How?" she asked daringly. "With rope?"

He thought about it. "We'll have one of the Builders make us a grapple. So we can get back down."

"So when do we do it?" she asked, daringly, despite her better senses telling her in explicit detail what a stupid idea it was. "In a month?"

"There's ivy everywhere too. Stuff is thick. We could do it today." He was testing her resolve.

"How do we get down then? If you say we jump, I may hold a Gathering to talk about whether or not you're too jacked to be a Keeper."

"We jump," he amended. "Into some kind of trampoline."

"That's the dumbest klunk I've ever heard spew from your mouth, Minny, and I've heard quite a bit," Newt said amenably, limping up from behind him, a basket of greens slung over his shoulder, ready for Saph to turn into a broth. "What if someone gets seriously hurt? We've no way to account for that kind of reckless loss of life." It was a silent reminder that their situation was far more serious than they'd once recognized. Alice was dead. Nick was dead. Gloria was dead. Gally had almost died. And unbeknownst to most of them, Newt had almost died. They were kids, and they had no answers, but what they did know was that the circumstances were far darker than most of them were willing to recognize. Not in the beautiful, sun covered meadow, with a verdant garden and sweet dog. It was a façade, and a dangerous one. It could lull them into a false sense of security. One that was always quickly stolen.

"'Specially not Queen Hedy," Minho said.

"Did I hear a stupid idea out Minho's mouth?" Laverne called from haphazardly built kitchen. "Did the sun rise? Did I wake up good-looking? Does gravity exist? Can—"

"You shut your hole!" Minho yelled. "I'll kick you off the Runners—"

"No, you can't," Hedy contradicted drily.

"I'll call a Gathering to declare you unfit to be a Runner!"

"Fight me!" Laverne yelled back, fighting laughter. "Show me how shucking cool you think you are!" A giggle erupted. Zora's high-pitched laugh caused Laverne's own serious face to wiggle in amusement.

"It's a good idea!" Minho yelled back, gathering the attention of a few nearby Meadowers. They stopped their activities, turning to watch.

Laverne charged, tackling him, and the two wrestled, with her pinning him down, clearly winning. Minho thrashed and struggled against her, finally using his feet to launch her off.

"They're enjoying themselves," Newt grinned, nudging her.

She shivered. "It looks like they're pulverizing each other." The idea of other people hitting each other had never sat well with her. Indeed, even hugs made her uncomfortable.

"It's all in good fun," Newt consoled her, not taking his eyes off the wrestling. "Look at her face – she's never been happier. I'd wrestle him m'self if I didn't outclass him so bloody badly in weight. He's a tough little shank, but I'd be liable to break his everlovin' neck."

Not a soul they'd met so far could match him in sheer height and weight. It'd be one thing if he was simply tall, but he was also broad and muscular in a way most teenagers simply were not. Even without their memories, Newt's stature was unprecedented. And he'd even grown in the past year, taller and broader than he'd been. She shrugged, watching the play-fight. The two continued wrestling, drawing a crowd, some cheering for Minho, some rooting for Laverne, until finally, Minho rubbed his armpit in her face, causing her to shriek with laughter and give in.

"Uncle," she choked, begging for mercy. "It's the most brilliant idea I've ever heard, and I'll bet you win."

"Against that boring wimp?" Minho proclaimed loudly. "It's not a question of winning, but how badly I'll kick her ass!"

Hedy's jaw dropped at his explicit bait, but she could see the fun in the situation. For once, she did not think, and allowed her basest instinct to take over. Turning and jogging away, Hedy made it to the base of the wall and began to climb, ignoring the darkness that had overcome this section of the wall. There were a few murmurs behind her, but she ignored them, deciding resolutely that she would face the consequences later. Climbing was easier than she thought it would be. It reminded her of Newt's suicide attempt, but she resolutely kept climbing… until she realized Minho was racing up after her.

"Think you can beat me?" she huffed, rapidly climbing, feeling the aches in her body as she attempted to pull herself up, higher and higher, until he grew a little more distant from her. The stony surface felt rough against her fingertips, and she felt herself scraping skin here and there. Her movements grew more clumsy as they grew quicker.

"I've got a better body, so yeah!" he yelled back, and he hardly seemed out of breath. She felt like she was going to die. Another reason she wished she could run. Another reason to wish to avoid responsibility, to just be a kid. As she hauled herself up, with Minho quickly catching up, she wondered what it would be like to just let go. To fall, to give up responsibility. To stop losing the battle of their hopeless, confusing situation. If she fell, never again would she need to soothe a crying kid on their first day, to listen to Minho angrily rant about the labyrinth they were trapped in, watch every day as they built a life in the place they wanted to escape. They were merely building a living coffin for themselves on what would one day be their burial ground.

As she pulled herself up in time with Minho, cheering erupted below them, though it was too distant to hear distinctly. Glancing up, she noted they were about halfway up. Minho showed no sign of stopping, so she kept going, searching for footholds, holding herself up when she couldn't find one.

She couldn't hear Newt's voice, and she groaned at the utter chaos this was causing. All because she'd asked a stupid question. The one person who could really rile her up was him. Minho constantly disobeyed, made his own rules, did what he wanted. He was the only one who could possibly get away with it either; everyone else either respected her or feared her too much. Even Zora, outside the privacy of the Kitchen, followed Hedy's orders and commands, listening obediently.

Hedy reached the rough top of the cement and stone, scratching her inner arm, yanking herself up before her adrenaline disappeared.

"You only won 'cause you got a head start," Minho panted, slapping himself up next to her. "Cheating slinthead. That automatically disqualifies you."

"Oh, shut your hole," she wheezed. "We did not plan this well. I didn't think we'd climb the whole way." As she spoke, the typical groaning began. It shook them, sending a strange vibration up their bodies. Alarmed, she stared at Minho, clutching the hard surface, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Are you good?" he shouted, as the Walls began to close, louder from up here than it seemed below. The Wall seemed to vibrate, and Hedy did not reply, feeling her body shaking. It felt like a lifetime before it was over. When she finally relaxed, her muscles felt tight and sore from tensing so tightly.

"Are you okay?" Minho asked again, peering at her curiously.

"Sorry. The sensation of being up high and that shaking… I thought for sure we'd fall," she admitted, remembering Newt's easy step off. She looked down at the Gladers beneath them, looking tiny. It would be so easy just to jump. Was this why Nick had insisted on jumping down into the Box-hole?

"I guess—" Minho looked over the wall, wincing at the final fading beams of light as they were strewn across the Glade. The Glade, she thought. From up here it felt like a Glade. "You're not telling me you're afraid of heights?" he asked derisively, without even meaning to.

"No! Not afraid. Uncomfortable, maybe." Her tone was light, but the expression on her face in the growing darkness chilled Minho. Even during the first days, the dark days, as Newt called them, he hadn't seen Hedy look like this. Hedy was never scared. She simply always did what was required, businesslike and emotionless.

"We can hang out up here for a while," he offered. "Until they get bored and go away. We can hang out up here, 'kay?" His expression was utterly miserable. She'd never before felt such sympathy for him... because he'd never been so human to her as he was being now. He wanted to get down, but he'd stay for her. "Or we can sit here until you conquer your fear." When she didn't answer, he tried a new tactic, one Saph used on people who complained a little too frequently. "What's your favorite thing you can remember?"

"You first," she said.

His expression cleared a little, turning mischievous. "Laverne kissed me."

Hedy did not particularly bother with the ins and outs of everyone's love life. There were obvious ones; Alice's crush on Minho, so long ago. Tim's interest in Rosie. Saph's in Laverne's. So that piqued her interest. "Doesn't Saph love her or something?"

"Listen, I didn't instigate it. She's cool. It wasn't like that though. I think she likes Saph way better than me, but I'm pretty irresistible, so I didn't blame her, ya know?" he flexed a little, and she almost smiled at how easily his own cockiness distracted him. Or how quickly he latched on an excuse to hide his true emotions. She wasn't quite sure which. Looking down as everyone began to eat the dinner she'd helped prepare, leaving them up alone, Hedy sighed. They were so small beneath them. And the sky seemed to stretch on endlessly, showing only the intricate pattern of walls beyond them, walls they'd never escape.

"Where?" she asked, a little distantly. More distantly than usual.

"In the Maze, one of the first days she ran. She was so excited, I guess. Adrenaline. It's wild out there."

"I remember," Hedy said, softly, thinking about the wind in her hair. The thrill of it. The fear of it. "Sometimes I wish I could still go out there. It feels like so long ago."

He paused. "Can I tell you something?"

"Hm?"

"I think Gally went after Gloria for a different reason."

"What do you mean?" she asked absently. It had quickly grown dark, and most of their friends had dispersed. Unmistakably, Newt was still down there. Loyal Newt. She did smile then.

"I think his hormones were doing his thinking. They were farther out than they told you."

She turned to face him, scooting closer. This high up, his voice seemed to carry less. Wind picked up a little, enough to chill her. "And?"

"Gloria wanted to see what was out there. She'd already asked me about it a million times," Minho explained slowly. "I think she convinced Gally to go with her."

"Why would he buy that?"

"'Cause she was a pretty girl, and he's an idiot?"

"That's stupid," she sighed. A girl had died for breaking the rules, for endangering someone else. And it turns out that Gally wasn't the victim she thought he was. She touched her nose. She remembered vividly the pain of his punch, the smack her head made on the ground, Newt's yelling. "I killed a girl for no good reason. Another thing to add to my nightmares." The comment came out less wry and more depressing than she intended it. But Gloria's screams and sobbing echoed through her mind, more present than the whistling wind as it moved through the nooks and crannies of the Maze.

Minho didn't mention that they'd found some of her hair, a whole bloody clump of it, deep in the Maze. The guilt was already clearly weighing on her heavily. He did not tell her the rest. What had happened had already happened, and Gally would keep the truth from all of them as long as they all lived. Although Minho had his suspicions.

"What's your favorite thing you can remember?" he asked back, casually. This was the first time they'd had such a calm conversation. Usually, they were bickering in some way.

"When Gally punched me in the face," she said drolly. Minho barked out a laugh.

"That shuckface really messed you up."

"I'm serious," she insisted, moving around so that she was staring at the intricacies of the Maze behind them, stretching out as far as she could see, moving in the distance.

"Newt jumped in. When I heard his feet his the ground… it felt like somebody really cared about me," she replied. "It felt like home. Like someone had my back. I think it was the first moment since we woke up on the very first day that I knew I wasn't alone."

Silence ensued for a few minutes. "When his foot hit the ground."

"What?"

"You said feet." Minho grinned impishly, his bright teeth visible even in the darkness. "You should've said foot."

"Don't be such a fucking asshole," Hedy snapped back, venomously, seriously considering pushing him off. "If he hadn't made it back, he would have died."

Minho stilled, acknowledging the truth of that statement. "Nobody ever told us what happened out there."

"The only nobody is me."

"You never told anyone."

Hedy had no intention on telling him, but his jibe about Newt's limp had irritated her. She changed the subject slightly, diverting him. "Can you imagine what it's like for a person like him?"

Minho did not answer, silenced by the quiet fury in her words.

"You see him as one of the guys. Yeah, he's tough, he can crack stupid jokes or put the fear of Grievers into Newbies, but Newt is the kindest person here. He's just as sweet as Saph, just as soft. He's so big, nobody else sees it. Can't you see how sensitive he is? How hard he took Alice's death?" Even saying her name hurt. Sweet little Alice, who'd irritated her so much. "Nick was the Leader, but Newt was always the one who connected the dots, from the first day. He's the reason any of us didn't just sit around like zombies. This fucking sucks for all of us, but can you imagine how much he hurts? He doesn't just have his own pain. Every new kid that comes in here hurts him more. Every time a kid is scared, or cries, it hurts him. Because he never forgets, not for a second, what our first day was like. What it was like to wrestle out of the elevator. The shock, the fear, and the realization that everything we've ever known has been taken from us. He can't run to forget. He is trapped here, with me, every single day, thinking about how fucking torturous it is to be trapped in a place we don't understand."

Newt stepping down off the Wall flashed through her mind. Again and again and again. Every time she blinked. Never again in her life would anything so horrible happen to her, she was sure. Watching her best friend try to die was horrifying. She had nightmares about it still. Nightmares where he succeeded. Sometimes she woke up and wasn't sure which was the real version. Her adrenaline induced strength seemed impossible in retrospect. And what were the odds that she'd found both Newt and Alice?

"You make him sound like a boring wimp too," Minho said finally, and the flatness of his words surprised her. She didn't laugh, but it did almost amuse her.

"You're different from him. I know you're scared. I'm scared too. I'm scared every single second. Nick was scared. This is the strangest thing ever. But you like to joke about it. It's okay to do that, but you can't blame people like Alice, who cried, or people like Gally, who lash out. People don't feel the same way about things as you do."

"What about Stan?" he asked.

"What about him?" she asked back, swinging her legs to hang over the edge. It felt like she was simply sitting. For some reason, there was something familiar about allowing her legs to dangle. If she closed her eyes, it was as though they were only an inch from the ground.

"He's creepy. Can I blame him for being creepy?"

"I don't think it really matters if anyone actually likes one another," she announced. "I sure find it hard to like you most of the time. It's about respect. At the end of the day, we're all here for a reason. We can't be that different. As long as we can maintain some kind of order."

"Dude, come on."

"What?" she asked, offended.

"You talk like an old freakin' lady!"

"Can you be serious for two seconds, ever?"

"Can you ever chill?"

"I can try if you'll try. I just climbed a hundred foot wall for you, dude." Hedy pronounced it clearly. "So it's your turn."

"Are we playing a game? I can think of a game we could play." He turned to her, all of his charm in his smile, but the only effect it had on her was irritating her.

"You're so gross!" she told him, eyebrows furrowing. "Why are you so annoying?"

"When Gally was screaming to hell about that sting, I thought for sure he was gonna die… that's what scares me. I hate that shank, but hearing him suffer like that… sometimes when I look at him, I remember it, and it gives me goose bumps. I can't look at him."

They were silent for a while, just thinking, Minho watching everyone get ready for bed, her watching the silent peace of the Maze. "It's weird up here," she said, mostly to break the silence. "Like we're separated from it all. Like none of this has anything to do with me."

"I wonder how we can remember our names," Minho answered, echoing a thought they'd all had at one point or another.

"I wish we could remember some songs."

"Or some places."

"Or how we got here."

"Or why we got here."

"Or what we're doing."

They stopped. "I feel like we're not going to be able to get down until morning." Minho admitted. "The dark combined with the height… No way, man. We're kind of stuck."

"This is a great opportunity to Griever-watch," she pointed out.

"What if they climb the walls?"

"There's no way," she answered reasonably. "Otherwise they'd have terrorized us inside already."

"But maybe they'll see us. Do you think they're cyborgs?"

"Nah. Just robots. There's no way they're real. Which makes me think there's someone controlling what's in them."

"We should kill one," Minho said. Hedy looked over at him, still resolutely sitting in the exact center of the thick stone wall. "See if there's any way to hijack it."

"Nick's not here to entertain your ridiculous schemes."

"You have no vision."

"And here I am, blind but alive," she retorted coldly.

"Even Saph would agree with me. We need to innovate to get out of here."

"And Alice would've agreed with me. Alive and stuck is better than dead and stuck."

"This sucks!"

She shrugged. "This is our bonding time. I think you're growing on me."

"Now you choose to be sarcastic. I meant this whole shucking situation. Not just being up here with you, but generally."

"Let's say I'm still developing my personality. I know. It sucks, I'm sure, both my personality and this situation."

"So… boring old lady trapped in a Maze?"

"Maybe in another life I was a crazy partier. Maybe I did lots of drugs. Maybe I killed someone."

He snorted. "Maybe the stick up my ass is almost as long as yours."

"Maybe you had a purpose besides being a smartass."

"Every swear you use, I'm gonna come up with a slang term for it. Instead of calling me smartass, you can call me—"

"Minho?"

He laughed at that, freely. "Yeah. That's good. And instead of Leader, we'll call you El Presidente. The democratically elected princess."

"If you call me a princess I'll shove you off this throne."

"Look, over there." She hadn't seen him turn, but he pointed down, leaning close to her and whispering: "A Griever. Look at it rolling around. Like a bug."

"Let's follow it," she insisted this time, curious.

They stood, and he stuck out her hand to her, to help her stand. She eyed it suspiciously for a moment, but took it. The two of them carefully made their way across the maze top, listening for the clicking sound of the Griever, rolling about.

They moved slowly, creeping slowly and as silently as they could, following it for nearly half a mile, leaping and balancing at least a hundred feet above the ground. At one point, it stopped, and Hedy grabbed his hand, squeezing. It chittered, almost like a squirrel, opening up to reveal a sinister, spiderlike body, and began to climb up a wall, slowly and jerkily, with intent.

"Go!" Minho hissed in her ear, and the two of them raced back as quickly as they could, Hedy steadfastly avoiding the ground, keeping her balance as carefully as she could. Each step they took was carefully measured, but rushed, and a few times Hedy thought she would have misstepped and fallen if Minho hadn't been guiding her, holding her shoulders and rushing her, keeping her steady.

They made it back to the Wall that encircled the Glade, a fire still flickering in the distance, and he looked at her with panicked eyes. "Can you climb down?"

Hedy sucked in a breath. "Yeah," she lied, unconvincingly.

There was the sound of clicking nearby, echoing beneath them, and they sent stricken glances at one another. "Get on my back," Minho ordered.

"What? I'm not gonna get on your—"

"Seriously, now!" He ordered it with such ferocity that she listened, climbing on his back. He awkwardly lowered, her arms gripped around his shoulders and neck.

"Can you breathe?" she asked him, fervently grateful. He ignored her, only breathing unevenly as a response.

She did not look down. For the first time, she put every ounce of trust she had into him and clung to him, shutting her eyes. I don't want to die, she thought. I don't. As much as I don't want to be here, I don't want to die. The realization was cathartic.

They needed to find a way out, she realized. And if anyone could do it, Minho could. He was strong, he was quick, he was stubborn. But he'd need help.

Suddenly, she felt him let go, and she clutched him, terrified, wondering if they'd fallen. And they did – promptly onto her back, sending the air from her lungs.

"Holy shit," Minho rolled over, forcibly breaking out of her grip. "I really thought we were goners for a second."

"That was the worst idea I've ever had," she admitted, coughing, still lying on her back, staring up at the sky above her, and the blessed wall.

"Nah," Minho said thoughtfully. "Did you see that cliff at the very end?"

"What? No."

Minho grinned. "I may have an idea for tomorrow."

An uneven gait announced Newt's appearance. "So you finally made it down," he mocked. "C'mon, I just barely convinced Zora to keep your dinner hot."

"Dinner is sandwiches," Hedy argued, letting Newt pick up her exhausted body and set her upright.

"It's a bloody figure of speech. C'mon, time to put these shanks' mind at rest. Saph is convinced you're dead."

"She's not wrong," Minho mumbled, stretching before jogging back to the huge firepit, leaving Hedy and Newt behind, his shadow growing huge as he got closer and closer to the flames that seemed to beckon her home. Newt stood in front of her as she stared, and waved a hand in her face.

"You alright?" he asked her worriedly.

She looked up at him. "I just really hate bell peppers," she answered, sighing, following him back, listening to the cheers and laughter of their friends in the distance, wishing she could laugh too.