"What do you mean dead?" I asked.
"Exactly that. It was just there, in the hallway. It didn't move when I went up to it and it was cold."
"You touched it?" Disgust was dripping from Newt's words. "Why would you do that?"
"To see if it was actually dead."
"What if it just came on and attacked you?" Minho looked at me like that was the stupidest question I could have asked. "Alright."
"It didn't do that. I remember what it felt like when I had to pull you from it. It was hot, like it was a living being. This one was cold like it was dead for a day or two. It couldn't have been a coincidence that thing just shut off and stayed there. Someone had to do it." He looked at Alby, waiting for him to say something.
"So what do you want to do with it?" He finally asked.
"I want to check it out farther, but I'm not doing it alone."
I was going to suggest that I go, but Alby stepped forward. "I haven't been in the Maze in a while, might as well be good to get a refresher. And I would like to see it for myself." Minho nodded his head.
"If you said it was there for a couple days, and you ran yesterday, how did you miss it yesterday?" Thomas asked.
"Shut up greenie you don't know anything." Minho's words were harsh.
I frowned. "That's why he was asking."
"It doesn't concern him." He was back to being cold to me. He started to walk away.
I stared at him in shock. "Why are you being a jerk?"
He didn't stop walking. "I'm not."
I caught up with him and pulled his arm to stop him. "You can't even be bothered to stop and talk to me."
"I don't want to talk. I want to make my map, shower and rest. What is wrong with that?"
"I'm trying to talk to you. We haven't said a word to each other for weeks and...I miss you." My voice broke.
Minho sighed and turned. "Do you know why I haven't spoken to you?" I shook my head, wiping at the tears that burned my eyes and fell down my cheek. "Because I look at you and all I see is-" he choked on his words, clearing his throat. "All I see is Nick and all I can think about is how I promised him with my life that I wouldn't let anything happen to you in the Maze."
I stared up at Minho, wanting to do nothing but hit myself. How can I be so stupid. "That wasn't your fault."
"No, but it was my fault for not seeing it and stopping it."
I shook my head, laughing. "You could not have stopped that. I...I needed to remember. And that was the only way."
"You didn't have to. You could have died!"
I wanted to cringe back. Minho had never really yelled at me. Not the way he just did. I stood my ground. "But I didn't." He scoffed and started to turn away. I stopped him again. "You're telling me that if the person you loved very deeply died and you were forced to forget, you would not do the same thing?"
"I am not suicidal."
"Really. What about today? Touching a dead griever."
"That's different."
"How?"
"God, Jane. I didn't promise my dead friend I would keep myself safe out there!" Tears fell slowly down his face. "I promised him I would keep you safe. And I couldn't do that."
I knew the others were watching, they stayed silent the whole time, but I felt their eyes. I didn't care. I crashed into Minho and held him tight. "I'm sorry Minho. I didn't mean to make you break that promise. I didn't. I just-I couldn't continue living knowing I loved someone and not knowing who. I couldn't just forget Nick like that. Not after everything."
MInho took a second and then hugged me back. "It's okay. Just...don't try and get yourself killed again. I don't know what I would do if you did die."
I pulled back but held onto his arms. "I'm not going to. I promise."
Minho nodded and wiped his eyes. Then he sucked in a deep breath and looked behind me. Newt, Alby and Thomas were watching and then when they saw us staring, they turned quickly and picked up their own conversation. I laughed and turned back to Minho. "You should go make your map, before you forget."
"Yeah. I miss having you in the maze with me."
"Really?"
"Really. You made making the maps so easy." We laughed and then a thought hit me. Before I let the thought out, Chuck ran up to us.
"Chuck, what's wrong?"
He was panting, his pudgy face red and sweat along his hairline. He held up a finger until he got his breath back. "Ben...he's not...dead."
We all stood at the west wall again later that night. The keepers had a gathering and they all had the same thought, well except Gally, but he couldn't really say anything against the rules. Actually, I've never seen him do anything against the rules. He followed them religiously.
With the sun starting to set, the temperature dropped. I was glad that I put my sweater on instead of my thin pullover. I still shivered all the same. Everyone was here, everyone was mandatory to watch. Newt walked towards us with a long pole, its end scraping horribly against the floor. There was a loop at the end that Newt worked at, making sure it was on right. When he got to us, he handed the pole to Alby, who stood closer to the collar.
There was grunting from the back of the group, Kevin pulled along a feral Ben. His face was covered in a big patch, a smaller one on the other cheek. He looked worse than earlier this morning. He literally looked like he had risen from the dead. And I guess he did. He grunted and pushed against the Bagger that practically dragged him.
I had never heard of a Bagger before, and they weren't anything new. They were basically the police of the Glade and took care of the dead bodies. Kevin's role made sense now. He didn't even flinch at Ben. He's probably seen and dealt with worse.
Kevin held Ben in front of Alby, who fasted the collar around his throat. Ben knew what it meant and fought harder, spitting out apologies. Alby ignored all of them. There was a boom and grating sound, wind picking up, as the Maze doors opened. "Keepers!" They all lined behind Alby, holding tightly to the pole. "Push!" Ben dug his heels into the dirt, but he only slipped and it allowed the Keepers to push him easier. He continued to scream, begging.
But there was nothing he could do. He was already halfway into the Maze and the Keepers made up their mind. He was a danger.
The walls got closer and I wondered how it would close with the pole, but at the last second, he pushed a button on the last attachment of the pole and it sprung loose. He pushed the last bit of the pole and Ben into the Maze. The sick boy got up and tried to run at the doors, but they closed on him, a resounding and final boom.
I had seen nothing like that before and I can only imagine how the greenie is taking it. I looked at him, his eyes and mouth were wide open and he looked like he might throw up. I laid my hand against his arm. "Hey-"
He jumped and then saw that it was me. "They killed him. Alby told me no one survives a night in the Maze."
I sighed. "He could have killed you." Everyone else started to scatter a thickness of despair hung in the air.
"But I didn't want this for him."
"Ben was sick. He could have hurt someone else."
"But-"
"Just drop it. There's nothing we can do about it now."
His face fell and he walked away. I hated having to be tough, but there was no way to get him off the topic. Newt walked to my side. "How are you doing?"
"Crappy. How about you?"
He shrugged. "Not my first Banishing. Doesn't make it better. Let's head to bed."
"There's no way I'm sleeping after this."
Newt shrugs. "You can only try."
