If There Is A Light

Chapter 36

"Light him up!" Alby gave the command and they pelted the wooden figure with the lit spear like sticks. Newt briefly wondered if perhaps that sent the wrong message to the new arrival. Cheering filled the night air and thus began the night activities.

Some of the boys started banging on makeshift drums, playing whatever beat sounded good, and then in good spirit and appreciation of the music a few started dancing. He was sure that Gally's recipe had a good bit to do with the flips and turns.

Newt drank, laughed and chatted with everyone else. When he was half-lit it was not all that hard to actually find some of the Gladers' stories funny and entertaining, but then other times it also made it easier to reminisce on things that never actually happened.

His thoughts easily drifted to Ellia. Sometimes he wished that at least one other person knew her... someone that could relate to what he was feeling, but then again he would not really want anyone to feel the way he felt most the time. He smiled briefly as he thought back to his memories (if you could call them that) of her. Listening to the homemade music made him think of Ellia's dancing (in that portion of his dream he remembered her having a few sips of Gally's special drink). She laughed and stumbled around like she had no idea what she was doing, but the movement was hypnotic to Newt.

He plopped down onto the dirt beside the new kid and leaned his back against the log. He was staring at the now closed entrance to the maze, "Hell of a first day, Greenie." He did not seem to be in too much of a talkative mood so as Newt chewed on his food he passed him his mason jar, "Here. Put some hair on your chest."

Reluctantly he took it and then immediately regretted it. He spit every drop he had in his mouth out in disgust, "OH! Oh, my God! What is that?"

Newt chuckled a bit. That was always funny no matter how many times he did it, "I don't even know. It's Gally's recipe. It's a trade secret."

"Yeah, well, he's still an asshole."

"He saved your life today... Trust me. The maze is a dangerous place."

"We're trapped here, aren't we?"

Newt should lie to him... that would be the right thing to do in this case, wouldn't it? Maybe it would be better to lace the truth with a lie, "For the moment." He should have left it at that, because he knew the truth, but call it common decency he could not. "But, you see those guys? There, by the fire? Those are the runners. That guy in the middle, there, that's Minho. He's the Keeper of the Runners. Now every morning, when those doors open they run the maze, mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out."

"How long have they been looking?"

Too long. "Three years."

"And they haven't found anything?"

Newt would admit that he was slightly annoyed with the question. It was easy to be there a day and criticize their progress, but he put on a fake smile and pretended the question did not drive him up a wall, "It's a lot easier said than done. Listen... 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 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 had ever survived a night in the maze."

The words seemed to frighten him slightly, but Newt would admit that their new Greenie had quite the curious mind, "What happens to them?"

"Well, we call them Grievers. Of course, no one's ever seen one and lived to tell about it, but they're out there." The boy stayed silent for a few moments, perhaps Newt's words were sinking into him. He had to say that he felt slightly bad. Maybe he should have sugarcoated it a little more, he would have plenty of time to realize what this place really was. Tonight he was supposed to be having a good time as he was officially welcomed to the Glade, "Right, that's enough questions for one night. Come on. Listen, you're supposed to be the guest of honor. No! No, come on. Let me show you around."