Escaping This Ivy Nightmare

Chapter 22

"We hid the maps, Tommy." Newt told the boy after letting Casey out of the Slammer. Both Thomas and her had gone on a rant about how the maps were a code, and eventually Minho and Newt had to tell them. 

"Huh?" 

Minho pointed at the Homestead as he saw Audrey and Thao making their way towards them. "We hid the freaking Maps in the weapons room, put dummies in their place. Because of Alby's warning. And because of the so-called ending your girlfriend triggered." 

"So the special assignment Newt gave you yesterday?" Thomas asked when the girls finally reached them. 

"What special assignment?" Audrey asked, moving to give Newt a hug for the first time that night... day. He wasn't sure which it was anymore, and the gray sky wasn't any help. 

"Hiding all the real maps in the weapons room. They're all safe and sound, every last one of those suckers. Thomas and Casey have a theory." 

"Let's go then!" Casey and Thomas insisted, making everyone else follow behind them. Minho switched on the light, making Newt squint to adjust for a second. He pulled Audrey closer to him, so revealed that she hadn't gotten a single scratch on her yet. 

"There's a hidden storage closet back here." Minho explained, walking past some shelves into a dark corner. "Only a couple of us know about it."

Newt heard the wooden door creak open, and watched as Minho and Thao pulled out the cardboard boxes across the floor. 

"I put each trunk's worth in it's own box, eight boxes total. They're all in there." 

"Which one is this?" Thomas asked, kneeling down next to it. 

"Just open it and see-- each page is marked, remember?"  

"Okay." He said, pulling out a stack. "The Runners have always compared these day to day, looking to see if there was a pattern that would somehow help figure out a way to an exit. You even said you didn't really know what you were looking for, but you kept studying them anyways, right?" Minho nodded, arms folded. He looked as if someone was about to reveal the secret of immortal life. It almost made Newt chuckle. 

"Well," Thomas said, bringing Newt's attention back to the Maps. "what if all the wall movements had nothing to do with a map or anything like that? What if instead the pattern spelled words? Some kind of clue that'll help us escape." 

Minho and Thao snorted at the same time, shaking their heads. "Words? Did you hit your head Thomas?" 

"Dude, you have any idea how much we've studied these things? Don't you think we would've noticed if it were spelling out freaking words?" Minho said, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Maybe it's too hard to see with the naked eye, just comparing one day to the next. And maybe you weren't suppose to compare one day to the next but look at it one day at a time?" 

Newt laughed. "Tommy, I might not be the sharpest guy in the Glade, but sounds like you're talking straight out your arse to me."

"Okay, okay." Thomas tried to restart his point. "You've always had one Runner assigned to one section, right?" 

"More or less, yeah." Minho answered, and looked genuinely interested to understand. 

"And that Runner makes a Map every day, and then compares it to the Maps from previous days, for that section. What if, instead, you were suppose to compare the eight sections to each other, every day? Each day being a separate clue or code? Did you ever compare sections to other sections?" Minho rubbed his chin, looking over at Thao and Newt.