Wicked Heart [The Maze Runner]

Chapter Three

The sky was dimming. Darkness fell over the Glade in an hour.

"Where are we going?"

"Tonight's special event."

Newt and the girl followed the rest of the Gladers as they crowded around what seemed to be a firepit: long sticks assembled into a teepee-looking shape. The boys were carrying long sticks that were sparking with flames.

"Light 'em up!" Nick leaded them, and they tossed their torches into the pit making a big fire. They cheered and repeatedly shouted "Gladers!"

Newt was with them, leaving the girl by her lonesome sitting on a log as she watched everyone. She sighed as they all said cheers to their glasses of whatever they were drinking. Minutes later, Newt came back and plopped next to her. "You're not a fan of parties?"

The girl gave a shrug. "What's there to party about," she said with no emotion in her voice.

"Supposed to be a celebration. Every Greenie gets one their First Day."

The girl propped her elbow on her leg and held her head. It was quiet for a moment. "I'm trapped here now, aren't I? Why would I want to celebrate that?"
Newt exhaled deeply. "Well, it beats sitting here alone."

She avoided eye contact and said grouchily, "Thanks, but I'd rather be alone. I already am alone. I'm the only girl here, and it'll be like this forever until God knows how long." There was a long pause, and then she slowly shifted her eyes to see Newt's face. "How long have you guys been here, anyway?"

Newt pursed his lips in thought. "Two years."

"Two years?" the girl repeated, stunned. "And you haven't found a way out?"

"Hey, shut up and I'll tell you something." Newt pointed to four or five guys sitting in the far left corner across from them. "See those guys over there? They're the Runners."

"Runners . . . . what—"

"They run"—Newt interrupted her, pointing to the nearest closed passageway of the walls—"what's out there. Mapping it. Memorizing. Try and find a way out."

"Well what's taking them so long to find an exit?" the girl asked impatiently.

"It's not that easy," Newt said. "The maze changes every night."

"Maze?"

"What?"

"You just said maze."

Newt didn't say anything for a moment.

The girl perked up. "So that's what's out there? Just a dumb ol' maze?"

Newt stared at her with all seriousness. "If I were you, I wouldn't talk about the Maze in vain . . . see, the walls change overnight. New maze every day. Harder to find a way outta here."

Processing the information, the girl swallowed hard. "How unfortunate are we?"

"Quite a bit, for the moment," Newt forced a laugh. "But those guys haven't given up yet. Every morning when the Doors open, they run the Maze, and they return here just before the Doors close. The only catch is—if those guys are in there and the doors close, then they're stuck out there for the night."

Newt looked deadly serious again. The girl lifted up her eyebrows. "So?"

"No one has ever survived a night in the Maze."

She froze. A stuttered "oh" was all she could manage.

"How . . . how do the walls change?" the girl asked, trying to change the subject.