The Silent Runner

12. maps

I lead them to the place where the grievers entered the Maze but I had totally forgotten about the cliff where the grievers leave. I had little to no knowledge of it but knew it was a possibility of escaping the Maze.

Though it finally hit me, I should've been keeping the Gladers here, in the maze. Outside was filled with cranks and viruses. Besides the fact, the boys didn't have their memories and we're terrified of grievers, they were lucky to have such a protected place. I wanted, more than anything, to tell them what was out there and why they were in here. Either way, nothing would change their minds. They'd have to see the world for themselves and they had a right to. They deserved to know.

Finally out of the small building, I now saw boys running around the glade. Some were disassembling the other buildings and others took that wood to people who were securing the homestead. Builders were grabbing every loose item they could find and piling them in the gaps, nailing things together as best they could. I knew there was no chance it'd keep the grievers out. Frypan was running back and forth from the kitchen to the homestead, carrying over all the food he could.

I didn't spot Thomas but another boy, who I'd never seen before, approached me. His shaggy brown hair covered half of his face and acne covered the other. "Follow me," he began to jog towards the mapping room and I struggled to keep up, crutching along. He held open the door before leaving after I entered.

"Angelina!" Thomas smiled, looking up from small papers. "Okay, listen to this." I nodded before sitting in chair surrounding an oval table, setting the crutches by my side. "So each night, when the walls move, they create letters. Each section makes a different letter every night." He looked up while I nodded. Teresa acknowledged me from her small stack of papers. Newt was nowhere to be seen and Minho kept staring at his papers. The papers were all from the runner's drawn maps. Boxes lined the back wall and they were all full of each sections maps. It was a well-organized system.

"Thomas suggested we compared different map sections to one another," Minho began. "Tracing over them on wax paper and then piling them together in order from each section." He sighed. "First try, we got the letter F." I sat in awe. I had no idea that this was the actual way out.

"After piling maps from each day and each section, there were more and more letters," Thomas said. "The first group of maps spelled the word FLOAT. Then we got CATCH, BLEED, DEATH, STIFF, and PUSH." I tilted my head in confusion.

"I know," Minho chuckled. "We have no idea how the words fit together or can even be used but we're hoping that when we jump off the cliff, and into this hole, he'll figure it out and we'll follow." I furrowed my eyebrows.

You want to jump off a cliff and escape through an invisible hole?

Thomas looked towards me, curious about how to talk back. He only nodded, biting his lip and tilting his head. "We've gotta try," he shrugged. Minho looked back and forth, from me to Thomas.

"What the hell?" He asked. Thomas was silent. "Is something going on between you two?" Teresa looked up from her maps. I shook my head no and nodded meaning, to continue. "No- no!" Minho shouted, now getting angry. "If you two know something about anything that we don't, you have to tell us. We're in this together now. There's no going back." Thomas looked down and rose his eyes to meet mine. He licked his lips and pinched his nose before speaking.

"She can talk."

"What!" Minho shouted, standing up. Teresa now stood too.

"Not talk with her voice but with her head and- and I'm the only one who can hear her." Thomas threw his hands up and tried to calm Minho down. His face showed anger and confusion. "I know- I know how it sounds but it's true. We just found out about it too, okay?" His voice was shaky.

"Is this klunk true?" Minho asked, facing me. I only nodded. I wanted to say yes but I couldn't focus enough. It felt like I could only do it when there was something important to be said or I was genuinely angry and I had so many questions. Could he hear my random thoughts? What did this have to do with the trials? Can more people in the maze do this?

"It's true," Teresa begun. "I can do it too," I looked at her, barely able to understand. "Not with you but with Thomas-"

"Why me?" He asked, a sudden burst of rage filling his face red.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "All I know is I've only been here a few days and I hate it." She looked down. "We have to get out of here."

"I've been here three years, alright? Believe me, I know." Newt said in the doorway. "Where are we with the maps?" He walked into the room, setting his hands on the table.

"We've got six words," Thomas said. "We've tried more but it's just repeating the same six." Newt looked up towards the ceiling where a small gap in the wood sat showing a gloomy sky. The sound of a Griever's scream echoed through the Glade, signaling to us all that there wasn't much time.

"We need a plan," Newt spoke. "The grievers are coming." Finally, Alby and all the other keepers gathered in the small room.

"I say we make a run for it tonight."

"The Gladers aren't prepared yet."

"Who's to say we aren't?"

"The grievers will rip us apart!"

"The homestead is packed with people now. We're just sitting ducks."

"We have to get over there now!"

"Quiet! The lot of ya'." Newt yelled. "Those grievers are coming one way or another and you all damn well know some of us will die." He spoke sternly. You could hear the exhaustion in his voice. "I'd rather die trying to get out of this maze then sitting in it but we have to wait. They've got the upper hand already but especially in the dark so tonight we hope. Tomorrow we run." Newt explained the maps spelling out words and how exactly we were jumping off the cliff. Some believed it was suicide but most were hopeful.

"If there is a tomorrow." Said a voice in my head. I looked up from the ground and looked to Thomas. It was his voice. He noticed me staring and mouthed, "Did you hear that?" I slowly nodded and he almost looked excited. He was learning.

"We've got to get to the homestead now if that's the plan," Alby said while others agreed.

The keepers filed out while Thomas, Teresa and I followed. When in the homestead, two boys locked the doors behind us and everyone sat still. Chuck found us and made sure to stay close. The poor guy was shaking with fear.

After just a few minutes, clicks and eerie moans could be heard from outside. It sounded to be about three or four of them. Newt crouched low to look through a small hole in the wall and Thomas joined him. Chuck sat close to me, his palms sweating like he'd just talked to the girl of his dreams. No one made a sound, as they were all so frightened. The metallic clicks on the floor sounded mesmerizing and, in a sick way, even relaxing.

Suddenly, the door leading to the hallway whipped open. Most Gladers gasped and others flinched but seeing who it was made half of them want to scream. It was, none other than, Gally.