Sacrifice

Chapter Eleven

Present Day 

Minho led Thomas to the Runner's hut. He had to explain to Thomas the Runner's job in detail so that he would be prepared for tomorrow. 

When Thomas entered the Runner's hut he saw shelves piled with scrolls he assumed were maps. In the center there was a table with a large cloth covering what was underneath. Minho unveiled it to reveal a model of the Maze. 

"Is that-?" 

"The Maze," Minho answered. "Every bit of it. I've ran through every passage myself. If there was a way out, we would have found it by now." 

"Wait, so you haven't told anyone?" 

"It was Alby's call," Minho said. "He thought it'd be better to have everyone live with hope. He didn't want them knowing we were truly stuck here. But now, I think we have a real chance." 

Thomas noticed Minho looking at him with a hint of respect, something he imagined was hard to earn from the seasoned Runner. 

"See the way the Maze works," Minho started to explain, "is that everyday a different section opens in clockwork rotation. The cylinder we got from the Griever is marked with the number seven, that means section seven was open last night. So tomorrow we're going to investigate." 

Jeff and Clint suddenly appeared in the doorway. 

"What are you doing?" Minho demanded. "You're not supposed to be back here." 

"Sorry," Clint panted. "It's the girl." 

"Is she awake?" Thomas asked. 

"You could say that." 

**************** 

Claire had started to doze off when the girl finally woke up. 

She had barely gotten a decent amount of sleep the night before. Watching the dark haired girl rest on her cot doing nothing did nothing to help Claire stay awake. The longer she sat in the unchanging silence, the more sleep called to her. 

It was when the girl groaned that Claire snapped back into focus. At first she thought that she had imagined the noise. But when she saw the girl's hand twitch, she realized that the girl was actually waking up. She was tempted to call for Jeff and Clint, but she was also worried that doing so might startle the girl. 

The girl's eyes fluttered open, her bright blue eyes taking in the room. For a brief moment she looked calm, as if she had just woken up from a pleasant dream. But that was quickly replaced by panic and confusion as the reality of waking up in a place she didn't know hit her. She sat up in the cot, her breathing heavy, she looked desperately around for anything she recognized but not finding anything. 

"Hey, it's okay, you're gonna be alright," Claire said. 

"Who are you? Where am I?" 

"My name is Claire. You're in a place called the Glade. You arrived her in a coma." 

"I can't remember anything!" the girl's breathing was rapidly increasing. 

"Deep breaths," Claire said, remembering her own initial panic when she first arrived. 

The girl listened and she managed to get her breathing back under control. 

"Better?" 

The girl nodded. 

"Are you hungry?" Claire asked. " I can ask Frypan to put together a quick dinner for you." 

Before she could answer, Jeff and Clint suddenly came in.