Into the Maze (English Version)

3

J was right, the next morning Alby woke the Greenie up, just as early as the runners always got up. So Minho and J were able to watch Thomas carve his name into the wall. The wall where all their names were immortalized. However, it had to be said that a few had been crossed out again. J wasn't innocent of some of it, but she wasn't sorry about it. She understood that some of the boys had been suspicious of her. But some of them had gone really crazy when they had seen the girl in the box. And those who hadn't had have themselves under control were of no use in the glade.

Ben hadn't gone out in the maze with them today, he had said he wasn't feeling too well. But that was okay. Every now and then a runner would get sick, but in total they had two more runners than maze sections. A runner could sometimes be unavailable.

But when they returned from the labyrinth today, a bad surprise awaited them. There was chaos, but nobody really wanted to speak about what had happened.

However, Minho went straight to the cards hut to make his sketch for today anyway. J did the same. Back when he had trained her to be a runner, he had made her understand that that was always the priority. First into the labyrinth, then make a sketch. This had to be done every day, no matter what. But J caught herself sloppily finishing the sketch today and then storming out of the hut. She wanted to know what was going on.

The atmosphere in the glade seemed tense to breaking point. While they had been in the labyrinth, something had happened here. J was sure, she noticed it in the strange murmurs, saw it in the stressed faces of the others.

"Hey! If you draw a sketch that inaccurately again, I'll fire you without hesitation," Minho hurried after her. J didn't look at him. Her eyes searched for someone who could give her an explanation. "Then you'll lose your best partner."

"My best... Yes, of course, compliment yourself...", but J wasn't listening to him anymore. She spotted Newt and Alby and ran to them. They were standing with Fry Pan, near the kitchen. When they saw J and Minho , their looks became very strange.

"What's going on here?", J wanted to know immediately, without even bothering to greet them. But the three of them hesitated to speak up.

"Answer her! Why are you standing here like that, looking like you're about to cry like little kids?", Minho also said.

"Be careful how you talk to me," Alby snapped. His dark eyes flashed angrily. "You'll stop laughing soon, Minho."

"Dose it look like I'm laughing to you?", Minho growled menacingly, narrowing his already narrow eyes even further.

"Pull yourself together, Minho!", Pan said. The usually cheerful chef didn't have an ounce of joy on his face today. "It's about Ben. He knocked our Greenie down."

"What?", Minho and J sounded equally incredulous. With good reason. They knew Ben. He wouldn't do something like that, he was a nice guy. Maybe a little cheeky at times, but J had always gotten along with him well. So that sounded not very believable, except... J swallowed hardly. "He wasn't..."

"Stung," Newt looked his sister directly in the eyes for the first time since she came to them. "Yes. We saw the wound. It's already infected."

"But we would have noticed that, we... We see him every day," J didn't want to believe what she was hearing. But the leader interrupted her.

"Stop it! You know what that means," Alby sounded so cold that it sent a shiver down J's spine.

"But...", J wanted to protest. Of course she knew exactly what that meant. That meant, that they would soon erase Ben's name on the wall. But somehow she didn't want to accept that. She looked at Minho for help, but he just stared silently in the air in front of him. His face was hard, there was no way to get through to him. Damn it!