Into the Maze (English Version)

4

When she went into the card hut the next morning to put on her equipment, all the runners, plus Newt and Alby, were already waiting there. The leader explained that he would accompany Minho today, to follow Ben's trail and possibly find out where the boy had been stung. However, that also meant that J had the day off. She accepted it that way. Resting for a day wasn't the bad. Mainly because she was damn tired. She had thought about Ben again and again at night, wondering whether he was already dead, wondering how much he had suffered. This meant that she hadn't really been able to fall asleep.

In front of the gate, Minho did his usual stretching exercises while Newt talked to him.

"He shouldn't do anything stupid." J turned to Alby, who was also warming up a bit. She suspected that Minho wasn't in a good state. Ben's death stuck with him, no matter how much he denied it.

"Lovely how you care for him," Alby rolled his brown eyes.

"You should take care of yourself too," J grinned at the dark-skinned boy. It took a moment, but then he smiled back. Before he went to Minho, he gave her a quick pat on the head. "Everything will be fine, don't get on your brother's nerves too much."

"Well then, see you Buddy," Minho patted J goodbye on the back before he and Alby jogged off.

"Buddy?", Newt repeated as he watched the two of them go. J twisted her mouth in a decidedly uninterested manner and looked at her brother. "Anything wrong with that? You wanted me to get him to eat yesterday. It didn't matter to you how I do I did it."

Newt raised his hands placatingly. "I did not say anything."

Apparently she had sounded a bit quick tempered. Somehow she didn't like Minho calling her Buddy either. She didn't know why, she called him her friend all the time.

"Good," J murmured, then they went off together to have breakfast at Fry Pan.

J then helped the others with the harvest. Because the climate in the glade was fairly constant, they were able to plant vegetables and fruits here continuously.

"Tell me about the runners," Thomas was also standing with J and Newt. Together they had already filled a few boxes with vegetables, that they would later take to the Fry Pans kitchen.

"They are the best, they have to be, everything depends on them," Newt was handling a few tomatoes as he spoke. J had to admit that his words flattered her, even if she wasn't in the maze herself today.

"Then why aren't you one of them?" Thomas asked further and looked at Newt expectantly. J's eyes immediately flicked to her brother, he also looked at her. The topic was... a bit sensitive. However, Newt reacted quite well. "I was, until I injured my foot a few months ago."

Her brother rubbed his right ankle absentmindedly. Meanwhile, he explained to Thomas that this happened while he was running from a Griever. But J knew that was a lie. It had happened before J arrived here. But at some point Minho had told her how he had carried Newt out of the labyrinth, after he had thrown himself off one of the walls. Newt and J had never talked about it. But she knew, that Newt knew that she knew.

"You know, Tommy, runners shouldn't be suicidal or neither too careful," Newt continued. J nodded. "You also have to be able to imagine the labyrinth in your head all the time, and that while always being afraid that you won't be able to get back, because it changes."

This left Thomas silent for a while. But then he looked at J with determination. "Can you tell Minho I want to talk to him? I want to be a runner too. Please."

"You haven't even been here a week yet, isn't that a bit early to be rushing to your death," Newt immediately stopped him.

"I'm serious," Thomas protested.