Trials Together (Book One): The Maze Runner

Chapter 3

They got some sandwiches from the kitchen and Chuck and Flo explained how things worked to them. New greenies came up every month, always a boy and a girl, they were always similar in personality and skills and often got the same jobs. They were usually the same age but not always and often looked similar. Apparently he and Rachel looked about sixteen and quite tall but otherwise different, no similarities in hair, eye or skin colour.

Harriet and Alby were the leaders, making the rules and keeping order. Having stepped up when Nick and Ximena, the previous pair of leaders, had died. The core rules were simple:

Do your part.
Never harm another Glader.
Never go beyond the walls unless you are a runner.
Everyone is equal.

Each job had two 'keepers', a boy and a girl who supervised the teams who did the job. They would start trying out for all the jobs tomorrow after getting the Tour, one per day until it was decided what they were best at. Chances were they would get jobs together, because that almost always happened.

Outside the walls was the Maze, a dangerous place only Runners were allowed to enter, and they had to be back before the doors closed or they would be shut in for the night with the grievers. Horrible things, they said, if you were stung the medis had to inject you with something called Grief Serum and you would go through the Changing. Called that because no one was ever the same afterwards.

The punishment for breaking the rules was a night in the Slammer the first time for a minor offence, for a major offence or third minor offence you would be Banished. Pushed into the Maze as the doors closed.

No one ever survived a night in the maze.

Runners went out into the maze during the day in attempts to map it to find a way out, almost impossible because the walls changed every night but they still tried, if they gave up everything would fall apart.

"Is there anything else?" Rachel asked once the explanations were finished. It was a lot to take in.

"That's the basics, you'll learn everything else fast enough." Chuck explained. "You get the Tour tomorrow to show you where everything is."

A/N: Basically this chapter is an explanation on how a mixed gender Glade would work, and to clarify in this story Shank means boy and Stick means girl.