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.

Before I could respond there was a knock on the door and Newt went to open it.

"Oh hey, Nick," Minho said, stepping aside and allowing Nick to enter.

"Newt, Minho," Nick greeted them with a nod. "Jess, um, I need your advice."

I knew immediately by his tone that another group had gone into the maze. "Yeah sure, what?" I asked, glancing up from the sketch I had drawn.

"Two more ran in today. Leo was one of them," he said slowly.

"Shucking slintheads," I muttered, punching the table.

"Geez, Tiger, maybe we should get you to an anger management class," Minho said with a laugh.

"I don't need anger management, Minho. I need people to stop pissing me off," I replied, gritting my teeth before rubbing a hand over my face and turning my attention back to Nick. "We can't keep going on like this, Nick."

"I know, which is why I came to you. We need rules and punishments for those who don't follow them," Nick replied.

"You're right. My advice would be don't complicate it, keep it plain and simple," I started, crossing my arms. "I think the biggest one should be that only the runners can enter the maze, and if they somehow make it back by themselves, then it's up to us what the punishment is."

"Alright, that seems fair," Nick said, rolling the idea over in his mind.

"Also, Nick, I think it would be a good idea if we had someone in charge of each job," Newt suggested. "Like a keeper of some sort."