This Conspiracy

Chapter 27

Author stuff: I'm hungry again.

Oh, hey, look! It's Graham! Remember him? It's been a long while.

Chapter 27

In Which Graham Reappears (Dude, Where Have You Been?)

It didn't take long for the Creators to supply Newt with a pair of crutches and, shortly after that, he was mobile. True to his Runner nature, he couldn't sit still for very long. He ended up helping out in the Gardens where he could, which wasn't much, and he'd help the Runners by mapping in the evenings. They even created a new job just for him: Map-maker.

Flossy knew he was getting restless. She understood the feeling. She was starting to get restless just being in the Glade. She hadn't thought it was possible before then, but there she was watching the North gate to the Maze during her mid-afternoon break.

"What are you doing?" Graham said, tapping her shoulder. She jumped at his touch and voice.

"Oh, uh," she said, "hey. Long time no see."

"What are you doing?"

"Just... thinking."

"About going into the Maze?"

"What? No! No. Not that. Just... thinking. About what's out there, you know? What life beyond the Walls is like."

"Can't be too good if we're sent here." He placed a hand to his forehead, shading his eyes. He still squinted. Wherever they were, the sun was very bright.

"Maybe we're near the Equator," she said absentmindedly.

"What?"

"The Equator – the invisible line that encompasses the Earth, splitting into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres?"

"How do you know that – Why do you know that?"

"Don't know. I just do." She paused for a moment. "Do you think I'm right?"

"About what?"

"Being near the Equator."

He shrugged.

"I don't know anything about geography to give you an answer," he said. "You should ask Gally. Maybe he'd know."

"Why would I –"

"Have fun!"

He patted her shoulder and waved to someone behind her. She turned to look and see. Of course it was Gally.

"Oh, um, hi!" she said, wiping her hands on her cargos. She hoped that she didn't leave behind too many finger streaks. "What's, uh, what's going on? The Builders giving you a headache?"

He scratched the back of his neck and scuffed his shoe on the ground, his eyes not meeting hers.

"Just checking in," he said, shrugging.

"You saw me looking at the Maze, too?"

"You're not thinking about asking Nick if you can try out too, are you?"

"What? No. No! Just... thinking about what life is like outside of the Maze. Is it really that bad that they had to send us here?"

"It's bad out there," Gally said, glaring at the North door.

She frowned.

"How do you know?" she said, looking him up and down.

"I was stung."

"Stung?"

"Yeah."

"Like, by a Griever?"

"That's... that's kind of the only way here. Other than bees."