The First Runner

We can't keep doing this

Jess POV

"Nope," I shouted down to Minho and Newt. We had decided to try and climb up the ivy to reach the top of the wall, and I had drawn the short straw. Now, I was roughly two hundred feet above the ground, where the ivy had come to a stop.

"You sure?" Minho asked, concern evident in his voice.

"What the hell do you want me to do, slinthead? Stick to the walls?" I shouted down. I was having none of it. We had already run for six hours, and now I'd spent the last while scaling the maze walls. My arms ached, and I could feel the strain in my legs.

Newt cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Alright, come back down slowly! We need another plan!"

I thought for a moment, then tugged on one of the thicker vines. Ain't no way I was going slowly. I adjusted my grip and then slid down the large vine like it was a fireman pole. The rough texture of the vine scraped against my palms, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins dulled the pain.

As I neared the bottom, I leaped off the vine, landing steadily on my feet. I straightened up, dusting off my hands and giving Minho and Newt a defiant look. "See? No problem."

Minho smirked, shaking his head. "You're a crazy shuck-face, you know that, Tiger?"

Newt nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "But a brave one. Alright, we should probably keep moving."

"Yeah, you're right," I said, looking at the sun. It was sinking lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the maze. The light was fading, and I knew we had to get back to the Glade before nightfall.

Minho glanced at me, then at Newt. "Let's get going. We can't afford to waste any more time."

We took off running until the concrete changed to grass, and we were safely through the doors. The familiar sight of the Glade brought a brief sense of relief. Without missing a beat, we headed straight to the Runner's hut to regroup and write down everything we'd seen today.

"Shuck, it changed again!" Minho shouted in frustration as he compared notes.

"No kidding, Einstein. Did you think it was going to make us a welcome mat this time?" I shot back, rolling my eyes.

Minho smirked. "Well, excuse me, Professor Know-it-All. Maybe next time you can outrun a Griever and take notes at the same time."

"I'd do it better than you, Captain Complainy-Pants," I retorted, grabbing his notes and flipping through them.

"Jess, you're impossible," Minho said with a laugh, shaking his head.

"Thanks, I try."

Before I could throw in another jab, there was a knock on the door. Newt opened it, and Nick walked in, looking like he'd aged ten years in the last hour.

"Newt, Minho," Nick greeted them before turning to me. "Jess, uh, I need your advice."

I leaned back in my chair, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, you must be desperate if you're coming to me. What's up?"

Nick didn't laugh. "Two more ran into the Maze today. Leo was one of them."

The humor drained from my face. "Shucking slintheads," I muttered, slamming my fist onto the table.

"Whoa, Tiger, easy on the furniture," Minho teased. "We kinda need that table for... you know, important things like mocking you. Do we need to send you to anger management?"

"I dont need anger management, I need people to stop pissing me off," I said rubbing a hand over my face before turning my attention to Nick. "We can't keep going on like this, Nick. It's chaos out there."