The First Runner

Bonfire Night

Thomas POV

"Hell of a first day, Greenie. Here. Put some hair on your chest," Newt said, coming over and handing me a jar with some kind of beverage in it. I took a hesitant sip.

"Oh, my God! What is that?" I spluttered, coughing.

"I don't even know," Newt laughed. "It's Gally's recipe. It's a trade secret." He wriggled his eyebrows, clearly amused.

"Yeah, he's still an asshole," I retorted, handing the jar back to Newt.

"He saved your life today," Newt replied with a pointed look. "Trust me. The maze is a dangerous place."

A wave of hopelessness threatened to overwhelm me as I processed everything. "We're trapped here, aren't we?"

"For the moment," Newt said, his tone steady. Then he turned to look at a group gathered near the fire. "But... you see those guys there? By the fire?"

I followed his gaze to the group. They had an air of experience about them. Some were laughing and joking, but most looked focused and serious.

"Those are the Runners. The two in the middle there? That's Minho and Jess. They're the Keepers of the Runners."

I focused on the pair sitting together, engaged in quiet conversation. I realized they were the same ones I'd seen earlier with Chuck. Minho had an athletic build and an air of confidence about him. Jess, sitting to his left, had long, dark brown hair that flowed down her back, but what stood out most was her calm authority.

"Jess," I said slowly, piecing it together. "She's the only girl here, isn't she?"

Newt nodded, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, she is. But there's more to her than that. Jess isn't just the Keeper of the Runners—she's the Keeper of the Keepers. She runs the whole bloody show."

I blinked, surprised. "What do you mean? Like, she's in charge of everyone?"

"Exactly," Newt said. "Jess has been here longer than anyone—longer than Alby even. She's the first Glader, the first person to wake up in this place, and she's the reason we're not all running around like bloody idiots."

I glanced back at Jess, watching as she spoke to Minho. Her voice carried a quiet strength that made the others listen intently.

"But why only one girl?" I asked, genuinely puzzled. "And why her?"

Newt's expression turned somber. "That's the million-dollar question, innit? No one knows why the Creators sent her first or why she's the only girl. All we know is she woke up alone, spent a whole month here by herself before Alby showed up. She had no one to help her, no one to guide her through the terror of waking up in the Box with no memory."

I tried to imagine what that must've been like—no answers, no support, just endless confusion and fear.

"She's earned every bit of respect she gets," Newt continued. "Nobody questions Jess. She's smart, fair, and she's kept us alive this long. She might not act like it, but she's the one holding this place together."

I glanced back at her again, noticing how the Gladers seemed to gravitate toward her. Even from a distance, it was clear Jess was more than just another Glader. She was the foundation of the Glade, the one everyone looked to when things went wrong. And in a place like this, I figured things went wrong a lot.

"You see, every morning, when those doors open, they run the maze... mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out." Newt continued

"How long have they been looking?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me

"Three years."

"And they haven't found anything?"

"It's a lot easier said than done. Listen." He stopped talking and I listened, a distant grumbling filling the air. "Hear that? It's the maze, changing. It changes every night."

"How is that even possible?"

"You can ask the people who put us in here, if you ever meet the bastards. Listen, the truth is... the runners are the only ones who really know what's out there. They are the strongest and the fastest of us all. And it's a good thing, too... because if they don't make it back before those doors close... then they are stuck out there for the night. And no one has ever survived a night in the maze," Newt paused thoughtfully, "Well except for one,"