Chapter 7: Connections

AN: Hello, readers and Gladers! Real work has begun and I halfway kind of forgot about this chapter, but now it's here! I'm all read up on the next chapters of Maze Runner so that we might continue with the more familiar content. I hope it will be all to your liking and I promise, after putting Stephanie through the wringer the last chapters, I won't rough her up in this one… very much.

We remember: After Stephanie was overworking herself to cope with being infertile, she was ordered to take a break by Jeff. But no one could have foreseen that she would be ruthlessly attacked by a Griever-maddened Ben. She is thankfully saved by Alby, Newt and Minho and Ben is consequentially banished into the Maze. And if all that trauma wasn't enough, just a day later, another girl is sent up in the Box, this time comatose and with an ominous message- She is the last one. Ever…

It's been too long since last time, but not to forget: All the characters except Stephanie are James Dashner's creations. But Steph is my baby only.

And now enjoy Chapter 7 of The Princess and the Maze!

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

"She is the last one. EVER."

For a straight three minutes, nobody moved or spoke a word. Not even the wind blew as if the whole Glade was holding their breath in anticipation of the inevitable bomb to drop. Stephanie's thoughts began to race in her mind. That girl was so beautiful, slender body, ink black hair and freckles. (That thought alone disgusted – how could she think about a half-dead girl like this?! – and intrigued her at the same time.) Who was she? Where did she come from? Why was the Box here before time? What did the note mean, she was the last one ever?

She was about to voice her thoughts when Alby's hands connected with her chest and pushed her over. His face was contorted and his eyes were dark and flashing with rage. "You. Are. Impossible!" he growled, breathing hard, "My Glade. You came here and… EVERYTHING gets turned on its shucking head!" The Glade's leader was striding over to her and Stephanie held her breath, when Jeff and Newt stepped in his way as Clint kindly helped her to her feet. "Enough, you shuckface! You will not touch her! Steph's been through enough physical aggression and she's not to blame for everything, ok?! That is a Medjack order!" Jeff barked at him.

Stephanie silently thanked Jeff and breathed a sigh of relief and Alby begrudgingly looked to the side after the two had engaged in a fierce staring contest. "Just because you're a Medjack, mind you…" he grumbled. But he stepped back quickly when the Medjacks told everyone to make room for them to take the unconscious girl to the quarantine wing. Clint, the stronger of the two, lifted her out of the Box, then both he and Jeff carried her into the Homestead, followed by Alby. The rest of the Gladers simply stood there, some chatting quietly. Suddenly, Newt called Stephanie over to him, in a tone that was kind but didn't allow any objections. "I want you to think very hard and tell me. Do you know that girl? Is she familiar to you?", he asked, pronouncedly calm.

To her honest surprise, Stephanie was unsure. The new girl didn't appear in her mind, but she had the strange feeling that something about her seemed familiar. She couldn't put her finger on it… "I- I'm not sure. I don't think so," the teen answered. Newt looked at her firmly, testing if she was really saying the truth. When he was convinced of her honesty, he said grimly: "From tomorrow on, you will go visit her as often as you can. Sit with her and look at her until your eyes are dry. And try to see if she rattles free any memories. Good that?" "I promise," the girl replied. "Great, and now all of you, go to work! Or I'll have your bloody hides! Been enough broken rules here!" Newt barked suddenly and everyone shuffled away.

But before he went out of sight, Stephanie held Gally back by the arm. First, he looked at her suspiciously, as if he was accusing her as well of having something to do with the girl in the Box, but then he cocked one of his impressive eyebrows at her. "Thanks for waiting up. I want to tell you what I need you for," she told him, "The thing is, after Ben's attack, I felt… so helpless and terrified. I couldn't defend myself. He could have… killed me and that scares me. I never want to feel like that again. S- so would you please teach me self-defense? You're one of the strongest guys around here." A minute passed as Gally processed her request. "I think that it's necessary as well, you need to learn to fight back. Unfortunately, I'm always pretty busy, so I don't have time," he admitted, "But I'd go to the Baggers. I think they'd welcome a little variety in their routine."

The girl thanked him earnestly and let him go. So Billy it would have to be. She didn't find him in the Deadheads, but after looking around a little, she spied the Baggers walking by the North gate. "Billy! Hey, Billy, wait up a second!" Stephanie called as she reached them, "Do you have a minute?" Billy stopped and flashed her an impish smile. "If it isn't our dearest troublemaker? What do you want?" he teased her lightly. "I have a big favour to ask you," the teen replied, "After what happened with Ben… I was terrified that I was so helpless and couldn't defend myself. I need to learn to fight, I can't let this happen ever again. Gally is too busy, so I'm hoping you can teach me. You must have a lot of experience. So please, I'm begging you, please teach me how to fight."

The boys looked at each other after her little speech. Hey put their heads together and muttered, occasionally throwing glances at her. Stephanie waited, nervously wringing her hands. She was all of a sudden sure that she was not defenseless, that she had received fight training before, but that it had to be reactivated. It was a sudden flash, not even a visual, but it still felt like a memory. A small cough from the Baggers diverted her attention back to them. "Alright, darling. I think everyone agrees that you need some muscle to go with your spunk. We can arrange something during first break, we can use it to train. Let's start tomorrow," Billy decided. "That's great! Thanks so much, man, I love you!" Stephanie laughed and pulled the boy into a heartfelt hug, which he gladly allowed.

And so began a new routine for the girl. She woke up early to help Jeff and Clint, receiving patients and handling textbooks and medicine until she had her first break, whereupon she ran to the Baggers' living space where Billy was waiting for her. Her first dozen times that he threw punches at her were painful, she got the wind knocked out of her and more bruises than she was proud of, but slowly she learned – relearned? – how to block, dodge and hit back just as effectively. After an hour of training, Stephanie took a quick shower and changed to assist the Medjacks for another period until lunch after which she visited the comatose girl in the Homestead.

It was a strange feeling, sitting there and looking as intently at her still face as if they had a staring contest going on. As if she was Prince Charming waiting for Sleeping Beauty to wake up. Had she read many fairytales when she was young, she wondered. The teen was honestly trying to remember the stranger, but aside from her curious feeling that she should know her, everything she had gotten until now were headaches and dry eyes from all that staring. Sometimes Jeff and Clint accompanied her to change her bedding, take her pulse or coax some soup down her throat that Frypan gave them. The sleeping girl seemed healthy, but unfortunately for them, she was not showing signs of waking.

A few days passed uneventfully, until one day, the Runners came back with news that turned the Glade upside down. Stephanie had finished a rather successful self-defense training session today. She had knocked down three of six Baggers in a fair fight. Billy had given her a mean punch on the shoulder, but she was still beaming with joy. Steph was about to go to the showers, but suddenly a movement by the South gate attracted her attention. A Runner had just come through. He seemed unsteady on his feet. He put his hands on his knees, trying desperately to catch his breath. Then, when Stephanie was about to call out to him if he needed help, the boy collapsed.

Stephanie gasped and ran over to him, scared that maybe he had a sunstroke or heart palpitations. When she arrived at his side, she recognized Minho. His chest was heaving, breaths coming out as wheezing huffs. "Minho, are you alright? What are you doing here so early?" Stephanie half asked him, half herself. For a few minutes, Minho just laid there catching his breath, but then he opened his eyes and weakly whispered: "Water… And get Alby…" Fast like a cheetah. Stephanie obeyed and ran to the Homestead where Alby was sitting with Newt. "Alby, quick! Minho… back… hurry!" she gasped. At first, he looked confused but then jumped up with a stormy look in his eyes. "Why is that shank back already?" he growled but followed her anyway. After grabbing a tall glass of water from Frypan, they jogged back to the South gate.

Minho was still lying on the floor when they arrived. "What's the meaning of this, you shank? Why's your butt not in the Maze?" Alby asked him crossly, kicking the Asian in the shin. "Ow! Let me hydrate myself first, shucky bastard…" complained Minho, propped himself up on his elbows and took the water from Stephanie, which he downed in one go. He made a face of relief. "Is Your Majesty refreshed enough now to tell me what's going on?" Alby warbled sarcastically. Looking at Stephanie, Minho commented: "He's the only one who can talk to me like that without getting punched, capisce? By the way, I'm back because we found something weird." "I don't give a crap what she hears, spit it out!" their leader sighed. "We found a dead one. A dead Griever."

Alby was speechless for a moment, as was Stephanie. Then she softly asked: "A Griever?" She remembered the horrifying creature that Newt had shown her. "You sure it was dead?" Alby inquired, baffled. To Stephanie, it didn't seem implausible – what lived could also die -, but Minho confirmed: "We didn't touch it, but it seemed pretty shucking dead to me." The black teen stared darkly at the Runner, in thought, then firmly said: "Go finish your job, Min, and freshen up. We'll go take a look at this together. No questions." After that order, he turned and jogged back to the Homestead, leaving a tired Minho and a confused Stephanie behind.

While the Asian disappeared into a bunker-like room at the side of the Deadheads, Stephanie joined Chuck and Newt for a lunch of sandwiches. As they ate, the girl told them that Alby wanted to go out into the Maze. "Aren't Gladers, except Runners, not allowed to go in there?" she mused. "Correct, but Alby seems to think it's too important to not go," Newt explained. "Whatever the great chief says, I guess…" Chuck muttered. While Steph and the younger boy continued to munch on the crispy bread, bacon and apples, Newt nervously pulled on his lip as he watched how a crowd of Gladers bid his two friends goodbye as they disappeared into the Maze.

They continued with their day like normal, Stephanie finding the time to even help Zart out in the field. She was so focused that she only stopped working when she felt the wind cool down. It was about 17 o'clock when she checked her watch. Her eyes fell upon Newt sitting under a tree and his appearance scared her. His face was very pale and his eyes were red. And he was chewing on his fingernails, something Stephanie had never seen him doing. "Is everything alright, Newt?" she asked worriedly, approaching the blond boy. Newt was one of the people she genuinely cared about in the Glade. "Alby and Minho still haven't returned from the Maze. And they were supposed to be back at lunch…", he said with a rough voice, his forehead in deep wrinkles.

Once the news spread, the atmosphere in the Glade became dark. Gladers constantly looked at the gates, worried about their leader and their top Runner. Newt kept running from gate to gate, getting more desperate with each empty corridor that yawned back at him. Stephanie kept her worries at bay by working on her sketchbook and playing little games with Chuck. At dinner, the Gladers behaved like inmates consuming their last meal, even though it consisted of steak, green beans, mashed potatoes and warm rolls. The other Runners had returned at their usual time but hadn't seen Alby or Minho, which didn't help lift Newt's mood at all.

The sun had already gone down when Stephanie couldn't deal with it anymore. "I can't just sit here doing nothing while they're still out there!" she tensely declared. She had at first suggested to Newt to send a search troop to look for them, but the boy had gone pale as death. He had talked about how it was forbidden, that they could lose even more people. But it was clear that the Maze scared Newt senseless. All of that went through the girl's head when she (and Chuck by default) joined him at the West gate. He was walking up and down, his hands in his hair. "Where the shuck are they?" he asked in a tense, thin voice.

"You know, I still believe we should send a search troop, it just makes no sense to stay here moping," Stephanie tried once more. She just couldn't understand why they wouldn't even try. "Because it's completely against the rules!" Newt hissed, "Besides, the shucking doors are about to close any minute!" But the girl couldn't let it go: "But if we don't do anything, don't the Grievers take them if they stay out there?" All of a sudden, Newt whirled around to her, with blazing eyes and red-faced. "Shut up, greenie!" he yelled, "You think just because you've been here for a month or so that you know us all? I would give my LIFE to get these slintheads back!"

Stephanie swallowed. "Of course not… I just… I didn't want to upset you," she began. She just wanted to help. Then the boy sighed deeply and replied more calmly: "You just don't understand it, Steph. We can't risk our life and lose more people by going into the Maze. It's one of our biggest rules, we never go into the Maze. Never." Chuck sounded like his throat was being constricted when he whispered: "I'll say what Newt doesn't want to say. If they don't return, they're dead. Minho's so smart, he doesn't just get lost. They're… dead." With his head hanging, he returned to the Homestead.

Dead? Shocked, Stephanie pressed a hand to her mouth, feeling a painful fire in her chest. Newt's expression did nothing to reassure her. "The shank's right," he said quietly, "We just can't make this situation even worse. If they don't return, they're lost forever." The girl almost wanted to cry seeing his face so pale and hopeless and his eyes full of tears that looked about to spill. She felt like hugging him, but she didn't know how he would react. "Two minutes… and the gates close…" the boy said gravely, his voice almost breaking. He turned away from her and started to slowly turn back. He surely didn't want anyone to see him cry.

Stephanie wiped at her own tears. She prayed to whatever god would listen to her that against all odds they would make it. Then suddenly a loud rumble startled her as the gates started to close. Fascinated and horrified, the girl looked on how the right wall heavily slid across the floor towards the closures on the left side. And then she saw a movement at the far end of the corridor. First, she jumped back, thinking it was a Griever, but then she realized with relief that it was Minho and Alby. But the relief quickly turned to panic when she saw that Minho was practically carrying Alby who looked like he had passed out. "They got him!" Minho screamed.

At first, the girl was too shocked to react, but then yelled: "Newt! Newt, I can see them! They're coming!" She really wanted to run into the Maze, but the rule about not leaving the Glade had implanted itself in her mind already. Newt, who had gotten back to the Homestead, whirled around at Stephanie's scream and hobbled frantically back to the gates. Turning back to the Maze, Steph could have cried from despair. Minho had lost his grip on Alby and he was now trying to drag him along by the arms. The boy was screaming from fear and exhaustion. They were still thirty meters away.

The cursed right wall moved quickly, way too quickly for Stephanie's taste. It would only take seconds for the gate to fully close for the night and trap the boys inside the Maze. They had no chance. Then Minho tripped and fell to the ground. They were doomed, it was over. Suddenly, Stephanie's body knew what it had to do. And Newt seemed to realize because he cried out in horror: "NO! Stephanie, don't do it! Steph, no!" But the girl moved automatically. The walls were seconds away from connecting. She dashed through the tiny opening and stepped into the Maze.

END OF CHAPTER 7

EN: Finally, by the grace of the gods, I'm done with this chapter! I'm sorry again that I'm a bit late and that it's rather short now that I'm noticing, but life is life. I hope I can get chapter 8 out quicker, where Steph will handle the Maze for the first time (and make the chapter longer again).

Until then, follow the rules and don't run into closing spaces.

Kisses and cake,

Yuna McHill