And so the two of us went searching. It was no easy task as the Glade was not a small place by any means and it took near an hour to find him. When we did, he was sleeping like a baby in the forested corner of the Deadheads, leaning against the thick layers of ivy covering the south wall. "We should let him rest," I said, "He needs it."

Newt nodded… ordered everyone to let him sleep before telling them of the Council's decision. But that took a while and by the time he was done with that. Minho and I were sitting in our usual spot, laying on the grass and playing 'Would you Rather?'

He smirked, "Would you rather kiss Frypan or Winston?"

"EW!" I screeched, hitting him. "That is so gross! No!"

"Answer!" He laughed, grabbing my hands so I'd stop hitting him.

"Er… uh… frypan?" I said uncertainly, both boys were equally disgusting. He made a face, scrunching up his nose, "You asked," I said, "Would you rather change gender every time you sneeze or not be able to tell the difference between the two?"

"Where do you get these questions?" He asked, pushing me to the side.

"Pick!" I yelled.

"What is going on over here?" Newt yelled approaching us.

"Newt!" I smiled, "Would you rather switch genders everytime you sneeze or not be able to tell the difference between the two?"

"I am not answering that."

"Oh, come on!"

Newt woke me up the next morning, Minho was already gone. I groaned and fought him as usual, only to scramble to my feet and run after him when he gave up on me. "I'm hungry," I mumbled more to myself than to Newt, but he answered anyways.

"Yeah, well, you almost slept through breakfast, not that that's anything new," he smiled slightly, looking sideways at me.

"You usually wake me up in time."

He snorted, "I-"

"Hey, look," I said, cutting him off, "Tommy looks better." I said pointing to where the said boy sat at the big table with Chuckie.

We went through the Kitchens, Newt chatting it up with Frypan as I snatched up an apple for myself.

And when we came out, we just happened to overhear Thomas, "All I want is one normal day- one day to relax."

"Then your wish is bloody granted," Newt said with a smile.

"What are you?" I teased, "His fairy godmother?"

"Shuttup MaC," he said, but he smiled at my snickering laughter. "Come one, ya buggin' jailbird, "Newt said, turning to Thomas, "You can take it easy while you're hangin' in the Slammer. Let's go. Chucky'll bring ya some lunch at noon."

The Slammer was placed in an obscure place between the Homestead and the North Wall. It was hidden behind ragged thorny, ragged bushes that haven't been trimmed since they were planted. I hated those bushes. The Slammer itself was a block of concrete, roughly cut. There was one tiny window and a wooden door, with rusty metal hinges.

Newt took out the key and opened it before motioning for Thomas to enter. "There's only a chair in there and nothing at all for you to do. Enjoy yourself."

Tommy glanced back at me once before stepping inside and laying eyes on the pitiful piece of furniture Newt dared call a chair.

"Have fun," Newt said before closing the door. "Nice reward for breaking the rules," Newt smirked, looking through the window. "You saved some lives, Tommy, but you still need to learn-"

"Yeah, I know," Tommy said, "Order."

Newt smiled, "You're not half bad, shank. But friends or no, gotta run things properly, keep us buggers alive. Think about that while ya sit here and stare at the bloody walls."

He turned to leave with that, and I just smiled, shaking my head, before standing on my tiptoes to see in the window, "I got thrown in there once," I told him with a small smile.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Shank made a comment… punched him in the face, knocked him out… Alby threw me in here for the day as punishment. It's not so bad… well… actually I slept most of the time, but um… You'll be fine, Tommy, I'll see you later."

"Later," he smiled.

"Uh-huh," I nodded and then left, scampering after Newt with a spring in my step that I hadn't felt in quite a while.

Walking up to the Homestead, Clint came up and told us Alby was up and at em. I smiled, beaming at Newt and damn near taking his arm off, racing up the stairs. Forcefully calming myself, I reached for the handle to the door. Newt laughed, and I stopped, "What?"

"Never seen you so happy to see Alby in my life," He smirked.

"Shuttup," I grumbled.

"It's true," He smirked.

"I missed his angry butt," I smiled, opening the door.

Alby stood by the desk, looking over the notes from the Gathering that had taken place while he was out. The veins had returned to the normal position, his skin its usual brown. He looked much better than he had yesterday- covered in his own sweat and stinking of vomit. He turned at the sound of the door creaking, "You two don't have anything better to do?"

I rolled my eyes, looking up at Newt, "That's gratitude for ya." I said to him before addressing Alby, "C'mon Alby, I cleaned vomit off a ya and I don't even get a thank you?"

"No," he stated with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes with a smile, "'Wow, thanks MaC, I didn't know you cared' 'Oh, you're welcome Alby, I-"

Alby closed the distance between us, placing a hand over my mouth, "Shut your hole, MaC, you're wearing out your welcome." I smiled, beneath his hand. He rolled his eyes, moving his hand to my shoulder and pulling me too his side. I smiled.

"Good to have ya back, Alby."

"Good that," Newt added, "I don't want your job." Alby snorted, laying his other hand on Newt's shoulder. That was as close as Alby got to a 'Thank you'… and I suppose it was good enough.

"Aw, come one, Frypan," I pouted, "Thomas gets a whole dinner and you won't make me a cake! Please! I just want something chocolaty! Something sweet! I'm dying here! Please, Frypan! Please!"

"I said no, MaC, so beat it," the grumpy bearded boy said. The only boy with access to the sweets and he won't give a craving girl some chocolate.

"Please!" I yelled.

"No!"

"MaC!" Alby… uh-oh… well, I did tell Newt we'd be back at each other's throats in no time. Seems I was right. "What are you doin?" Thomas was by his side, attempting to suppress a smile. It wasn't working.

"Crazy broad won't leave me alone! Keeps buggin me about sweets," Frypan said, muttering under his breath as we walked away.

"I'm dying here, Frypan. Dying! I need something sweet. Please!" I was dying, I was! Cramps were one thing, but I could deal with those, and I had… stuff… to deal with the other issue, but the cravings! Creators, I'd been raving chocolate for the past two days and hadn't gotten whiff. Nothing. "Please!"

"MaC," Alby scolded, "Shut it."

"Alby, I'm dying here!"

"Quit being so dramatic."

"Aw, not this again," Minho said, quite loudly upon entering the kitchens. "Just give her the shuckin' chocolate."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Alby said, "Just deal with," he wave his hand in my direction, unable to come up with a word, "Her." He left, leaving me Thomas and Minho alone in the kitchen.

"FRYPAN!" I yelled, running in pursuit of chocolate. Ow… cramps, oh, Ow. Yeah, no running. "FRYPAN!" I yelled weakly.

"Minho… what's up with MaC?" Thomas whispered as the two sat down to eat and prep for tomorrow's training. Though, that's not what they were discussing at the moment.

Minho choked, "It's um… er… it's her uh…. Time of the month…"

"Oh"

I did get the chocolate… eventually. Well, really, Newt got it for me after I all but attacked him, not knowing whether I wanted to punch him or kiss him. I ended up doing both before he agreed to get some for me.

Currently, we were curled up in the grass, eating the chocolate slowly, savoring each bite like it could be our last… which it very well could be. But I was actually really tired now… and I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face and chocolate in my hand.

The next day was relatively normal, which was… strange after everything that had happened in the past week. It was strange… almost relaxing. Well that was until Alby assigned me to the girl and I was stuck inside jotting down her nonsensical ramblings. It didn't help that I was insanely moody today, because of erm…. That … issue.

Newt came by after lunch, stood in the doorway for who knows how long until I realized he was there. Scared the klunk outta me too. But of course, he just laughed and sat down beside me, letting me prattle on about whatever came to mind. I loved that about him. He didn't mind when I rambled, he just smiled and let me go on. But he wasn't silent. He talked to, and I didn't mind listening to him. I like it.

I liked him…. A lot. I freaking loved him.

He laughed, reaching out and brushing back a lock of brown-blonde hair. "I gotta go, Alby'll be wonderin' where I got to. I'll see you later." I nodded, in response, smiling up at him. He kissed me, a quick brush of his lips against mine before exited the room.

I sighed, alone with my thoughts once again.

Minho brought me some food to feed her with after dinner. And after that, I accompanied him downstairs… and well, the rest of the night was a blur. Minho, Newt, Alby and I all laying down in our usual patch of grass to sleep, but not actually sleeping because Minho kept talking. Alby hit him, telling him to Shut his hole. Newt groaned and I laughed.

Insults were passed around between the three of us, Newt being conveniently left out as he had actually managed to fall asleep somehow. It was actually kind of cute though, because he's fallen asleep with his head on my shoulder…

I smiled, kissing his head and falling asleep.

Alby was the one to wake me up. And Minho. And Newt. And none to gently either. Alby had this method where he'd repeatedly kick you in the stomach until you got up. Annoyingly, it worked, so he continued using it. "Ow, Alby, stop-"

"MaC, get up," Newt said.

He sounded… odd. Strangely serious. It was then that I realized. It was dark, the sky a slab of gray. A ceiling as I had suspected. Nobody believed me when I told them it flickered every now and again, but it did, you just had to pay attention. But now… it was gone, every last inch of it slate gray.

The sun was gone.

Or more accurately, it was never there to begin with.

Others were waking now, staring up in wonder and waking their friends, who stood and gasped, who woke their friends, and- and- it was chaos. Everyone, standing about like lost puppies. Creators I was surprised Newt wasn't having a panic attack at the lack or Order.

Minho went in search of Thomas. This was one day, we really need everyone out there. All the Runners. Something. Something might be different. The sky changed. What if the Maze did too? We'd have to check to be sure.