➊ 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 - 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐨, ᵗᵐʳ

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎: 𝐍𝐨 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐀 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐳𝐞

When I woke up, I wasn't against the wall but on the ground. The wall had moved from my back to my side. I growled and stared at my leg and the red tissue covering it.

"Shuck."

That weird Glader slang came out of my mouth before I could stop it. I sighed dramatically, realizing I was still in the Maze.

After all, that's where Minho and Ben found me—alive, no less. Maybe the Grievers didn't like the smell of girls. Or perhaps this one was only against Minho.

Speaking of tall, fast, and full of himself—Minho was nowhere in sight. Guess I really insulted him yesterday. The guy had an ego the size of the Maze itself and clearly wasn't used to anyone calling him out.

I wasn't about to drag myself through this oversized hedge maze with a shredded leg just to go find him, so I plopped myself down and waited for something to happen. Preferably someone.

The sky was still dark, but without those stupid walls, I was sure a sunrise would be on the way. Funny. I could remember algebra and cafeteria pizza but not a single sunset. Not one.

Why? Why was that missing? What was it about a sunset that made WICKED wipe it clean from our brains? Too emotional? Too poetic? Too threatening?

Maybe the sun had something to do with the world in catastrophe. Maybe that's why we're in this hellhole. Maybe—

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Minho finally showed up. I stared him down with a face that practically screamed you took your sweet time, then opened my mouth just to close it again.

"Listen I know I'm handsome and all, but it's really not the time to be speechless right now." Minho scoffed.

"Ugh, just help me up, Narcissist." I sighed like this was such an inconvenience.

He bent down and slid his arm under my shoulder. I flinched as soon as I tried to stand on my leg. Pain shot through me like lightning and I basically used Minho as a crutch. Not that he complained, which surprised me, he usually had something smart to say about everything.

"Yeah, you're gonna have a lot of explanations to do." He mumbled.

"To who, exactly? Pretty sure my decision made perfect sense. Sorry, it didn't come with a presentation."

"Let me think, um, the whole Glade?" he replied, voice hard.

"That still doesn't sound like my problem." I grinned sarcastically, just to irritate him. He sighed, like being in my presence physically hurt him. Good.

Then he gave me that same weird look he had when he found me in the Maze. The kind that said you're a problem I don't want to deal with but now I'm stuck with you.

"Listen, no one has ever survived a night in the maze, no one understands how a girl could have arrived here and from the maze. Something is wrong with you being here and I'm not just mad you kicked my crotch you're just crazy. And everything you do is wrong."

"Wow, should I be flattered or offended? You're really bad at pep talks. Last time I checked you were the one who sacrificed himself to save me from something no one ever did."

He ignored me, following with his words.

"So you're going to listen carefully to what I say Asinego. You will tell them you got overwhelmed by everything and you didn't know what you were doing. You got lost and I helped you get out. You do not want to be a Runner right now, it's unsafe for you."

I blinked. Hard.

So now I was supposed to lie? Just so they'd all keep seeing me as the confused girl who couldn't handle the Maze? Oh, absolutely not. But underneath the irritation, I noticed something else, maybe this wasn't just a control freak moment. Maybe he was trying to protect me.