Chapter 3

A year or two had past since I had arrived at the Glade. Plenty of Greenies had come, including my new friends Joan and Charlie. Joan was tall and had long black hair she usually kept in a hairdo. Charlie was shorter, had tanner skin, and bright blue eyes. More Gladers than I would have liked died. Susan was taken by a Griever, and Victoria was killed by a stung Glader. Joan was a Runner until an incident with her leg prevented her from being able to run ever again.

Since Susan's death a month after I became a Runner, I became Keeper of the Runners. I've been so since. But I remember standing outside the maze doors, waiting for Susan to come back. She never did. The Runner who had been her buddy had ran back and told us she had been taken by a Griever. Later that night, the girl attacked Victoria in the Bonewoods, stabbing her with a knife and causing fatal injuries. She was banished at sundown and Victoria was buried the next morning. It just….. made me different. And even with all of my experience, I never would have guessed what happened next.

It was 19 months after I became Keeper, when our newbie alarm rang. Now this was standard protocol, nothing out of the ordinary. It was this sweet girl, She asked us to call her Bits, short for Brigitts. She was taller than me, but had short blonde hair with lighter streaks.

I sort of began to think of her as a little sister. But, only a week after that little shank arrived, everything went bad.

I was out running the Maze, standard looping pattern, when I found a piece of cloth. It was a tan tank top with holes and rips in it. I knew it was Susan's. I also knew that a Griever took her, so if her clothes were here…. I heard a distant, clicking noise. I whirled around, and saw a Griever at the end of the corridor. I bolted off in the opposite direction.

I was trying to do a U-turn, loop around and head for the Glade, but the Griever followed me. I decided to take the long route, so it wouldn't get to the Glade in time. I was running so fast, doing calculations in my head, I didn't realize it wasn't behind me anymore. I turned a corridor, and it leaped at me from the side. It knocked me down and pinned me against the floor.

I grabbed a knife from my pack to protect myself. One of it's robotic arms had a serrated dagger, and before I knew what was happening, it sliced down. I screamed as it cut through my side. I lashed out, plunging my knife into its belly. It let out that squeaky roar and it was distracted long enough for me to viciously kick it off and start running again. But the wound was deep, I was losing blood every second, and I was starting to slow down. I turned a corner and saw Gladers standing on the other side of the door. Charlie shouted;

"Hey look! Cleo's back!" But then they noticed.

"Wait, she wasn't wearing a red shirt before…" Joan squinted.

Then they realized what was going on, and they tried to rush into the Maze. Several Gladers had to hold them back. I heard a loud shout, and saw several guys restraining Gabe.

"She's not going to make it by herself!" he screamed. "Let me help her!"

He struggled to get free, but the boys held him firmly. Then the doors started to close. My friends were all screaming, urging me to go faster, but my wound was burning. I collapsed on the ground.

I heard a shout, and saw Gabe rushing towards the closing doors. I held up my hand, and shook my head. He stopped.

I smiled weakly. "I love you." I said.

Then everything went black, and the doors shut.

"NOO!" screamed Gabe.

He pounded his fists on the solid stone doors, then fell to his knees, sobbing. Charlie and Joan stopped struggling, all the fight inside them was gone.

All the other Gladers just sat around, their faces grim masks of sorrow. Finally someone said something. It was Will.

"I'm calling a Gathering in 30 minutes. Eat, rest, do whatever the shuck it is you need to do." He ordered, then he wandered over in the direction of the forest.

Bits was standing off to the side, feeling sad, but not quite sure what had just happened. Charlie and Joan took her to explain, even if they really didn't want to.

Thirty minutes later, most of the Gladers had gathered in the room. Gabe sat next to Will, his face emotionless as he stared into nothing. Will was trying to comfort him.

"She still might be alive." He tried.

Gabe shook his head. "No one's survived the night out there. And she was wounded." he sighed, then cupped his head in his hands.

His shoulders shook softly, and Will decided it was best for him to just let it all out.

Once all the Gladers were there, Will stood up and shushed the crowd.

"As you all know, Cleo didn't make it back from the Maze today." He said, his voice trembling slightly.

He took a breath and continued. "There's a small chance she might still be alive, but in case she's not, we need to appoint a new Keeper for the Runners."

After he said that, people started shouting their suggestions, but Will held up his hand to silence them.

" I never said it was up for discussion. Cleo was a great Keeper, she's been that since Susan died."

He looked at Charlie. "Charlie, you've been here almost as long as her. I appoint you as the new Keeper of the Runners." He said, then sat down.

He sighed. "Now the rest of you shanks, no complaining." He said, looking directly at Addy.

"And leave. Now." He hunched over, his chin resting on his hands.

The other Gladers looked at each other, then nodded. They all exited the room as quietly as they could. The only ones remaining were Joan, Charlie, Bits, and Gabe.

Will looked up at them. "Why the shuck did it have to be her?" He asked miserably.

The others realized he'd known her for two years since she got there. Gabe sighed, his eyes still slightly red.

"I don't know, man. I just hope when the doors open tomorrow, she'll still be there." he said, his voice cracking.

That's when Bits chose the absolutely perfect moment to pipe up.

"Why do you guys miss her so much? She seemed really like a kind of put-downer to me." She asked with genuine curiosity.

Joan looked up sharply, ready to scold her for asking such an insensitive question, but Will nodded. He looked at Gabe, because they had both been in the Glade when Cleo first arrived. "She wasn't always that way." He said sadly. Bits cocked her head, intrigued.

"What happened, then?" She asked.

This time Gabe answered her. "It was way before you came up here, Mate. Her first friend in this shuck-hole was a girl named Victoria. Victoria was Keeper of the Map-makers." He said, his face carved in sorrow.

Will was staring at the ground, lost in his memories. Bits looked at them, confused.

"But I thought she was keeper of the Map-makers?" She asked, pointing at Joan.

Gabe nodded. "She is. I said Victoria was."

He answered, Joan and Charlie could see he was losing a little of his patience. Bits still looked confused.

Gabe sighed. "Victoria died, Greenie! That's the only reason we replace Keepers!" He said angrily, his voice rising a notch.

Bits flinched. Charlie noticed.

"Calm down, Gabe. She's only been here a week." She snapped at him.

Then her voice softened. "We all miss her, but there's nothing we can do except hope she's still alive." She patted his shoulder, and he nodded.

He looked at Bits. "Sorry Greenie. It's just…. It's so much like how Vic died." He said shakily. Bits opened her mouth, but Gabe continued.

"And I'm going to tell the shucking story, so sit back down." She did, and then his face went grim. "It was a little bit over two weeks after this shank got here."

He swatted at Charlie playfully, who ducked to avoid it.

"Stop treating me like your shucking little sister, Gabe!' She yelled at him.

He shrugged, then went back to his story. "Anyways, the three of them were sitting around a bonfire one night. Then they heard screaming. Cleo recognized it as Victoria's, so she ran to Bonewoods, where the screaming was coming from. I saw her, and ran over to the fire. Will was holding these two back. I asked what was going on, and they told me Cleo was getting herself into danger. Normally that's not anything new, but I heard the screams. I was scared." He said. Then Will spoke up. "Yeah, then you slinthead yelled at me for keeping these two safe."

He gestured towards Charlie and Joan. Gabe rolled his eyes.

"Let me finish. We were so busy fighting, we didn't notice her running back out of the woods. Joan spotted her, though, and we all ran to find out what happened. Turns out, she was crying, and she ran into my arms and started sobbing. See, she was really upset, so I was trying to comfort her. The others were trying to get information. We got enough to realize Victoria had been attacked by a stung Glader. Will over here grabbed a tranquilizer gun and went hunting for the lunatic. She was banished the next day at sundown." He took a deep breath, his body trembling.

Bits just stared at him. "Stung by what?" She asked.

Will looked up at her. "Seriously? You don't know?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Well, then, she got stung by a shucking Griever." Will responded.

Then he and Gabe stood up to go, but Bits had one more question.

"Was she stung?" She asked, and they all immediately knew she was talking about Cleo.

Will shook his head. So did Gabe.

"If you ever see a Griever, and you better pray to the gods you never do, you'll understand everything, mate." Then they walked outside.

The next day, all the Gladers were gathering around the doors before they even opened. It seemed as though everyone was holding their breath as the doors opened, revealing the truth. Cleo was gone forever. They started wandering away, disappointed, when Joan noticed something. She tugged on Gabe's shirt sleeve.

"What?" he asked, his voice a hollow pit of sadness. Joan pointed at the Maze floor.

"What do you see?" She asked him. He squinted.

"Nothing." he responded. Joan nodded.

"Exactly. There was a girl bleeding to death right there last night. So why isn't there a blood stain? Because last time I checked, grievers don't have shucking mops." She raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged.

"Maybe you should tell Will, but I'm more focused on the fact there was a girl bleeding to death last night." he said, his eyes watering. "But she's not here anymore."

He shook his head sadly, the slowly started trudging up the hill towards the gardens. Joan sighed, then went to find Will.

"What the shuck are we supposed to do about it?" Will asked after she told him her theory. "There's something strange going on in that place, and I want to know what it is." She said, her eyes boring into him. Then a voice spoke up behind them.

"I agree with her." Charlie said as she walked up. Joan raised an eyebrow at Will. He sighed. "Maybe you're right, but Charlie, your Keeper of the Runners now. You should be in the maze." He reminded her, but she shook her head.

"I don't know what kind of klunk is going around inside your head, but the Keeper's shift was yesterday." She said, her voice hitching a little.

Will's eyes were blank. "I don't need a reminder, Charlie! Now both of you, go, now." He said harshly, then turned away from them.

They looked at each other, then nodded. They quietly left the room, leaving Will to think about all the friends he'd lost.