Losing Hope

Twenty

The party finally started and everyone seemed more than happy to be having a break. After all, it was one of the only real thing we had going on other than just the working and boring evenings.

I helped Gally put his special drink in mugs and passed them around to the boys. I then took two smoking kebabs and went to find Newt, but only found Minho. I sat with him, asking him if he'd seen our second-in-command, but he shrugged. I nodded, eating my food in silence, staring at the fire.

I wanted to talk to Newt about the fact that I thought I knew the Greenie before coming here, but I wasn't sure if I should or not. After all, I wasn't sure if it was even his name. A part of me was also scared about how he would react, and I wondered if he would keep it secret if I asked him too.

"Hey, you alright?" Minho wondered, and I turned to him, giving him my best smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking," I said, and he smirked.

"Just thinking about your cute little Newt?"

"What is it with y'all? I can't be close to one of you without being his girlfriend?" I complained, laughing.

"Oh come on. Look me in the eyes and tell me there's not even a little thing going on between you two," Minho challenged, crossing his arms on his chest. I stared up at him, smirking, then rolled my eyes and looked away, feeling the heat rising to my face. I heard him laugh, and I tried to push him off his seat, but he wrapped his arm around me.

"Your secret is safe with me," he swore, and I scoffed, pushing him away.

"Seems like you two are having fun," a very smiling Newt came up to us, and I felt myself blush again.

"She was actually looking for you," Minho explained, and I sighed, getting up.

"He's right. Kebab?" I offered him, and he took it as I threw the empty stick of mine in the fire.

"Wanna check on the Greenie with me?" He asked, and I nodded, following him to look around for the boy.

After a little while, Newt and I found the Greenie sitting alone on one of the logs, facing the maze. We went over and sat down, Newt in the middle. The boy didn't really react, he just looked up at us and kept picking at the grass under him. Newt chewed on his kebab, then turned to the Greenie.

"Hell of a first day huh, Greenie?" Newt said, and the Greenie sighed, nodding his head. "Here. Put some hair on your chest," Newt continued, handing him his mug of Gally's beverage. I held back a laughter, but the boy noticed. I shrugged, motioning for him to take a sip of the drink. He frowned at me, took a sip anyway.

He spat it all out in front of him, coughing while Newt and I laughed. Newt took back his mug and handed it to me, and I took a few sips. The Greenie looked at me round eyed.

"Oh my God, what is that?" He asked between coughs, and Newt laughed again.

"I don't even know. It's Gally's recipe," Newt started, looking around to see where Gally was.

"It's a trade secret," I added with a wink, and the Greenie rolled his eyes, looking back down at the grass.

"Yeah, well, he's still an asshole," the Greenie commented, and I shook my head, smirking.

"He saved your life today. Trust me, the Maze is a dangerous place," Newt said, and I looked down at my fingers, fidgeting with my bracelet. Thoughts of him jumping off a wall crossed my mind and I tried to shake it away. Newt took a sip of his drink and seemed to notice that I was somewhat uneasy, because he rested his arm on the log behind me, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me to him ever so slightly. I smiled, the embrace relaxing me a bit. I tensed up again at the Greenie's next words.

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

Newt squeezed my shoulder and I looked up at him. He was staring at the doors in front of us, nodding. "For the moment," he said. The Greenie looked at me and I tried to smile, but looked away very quickly. "But," Newt added, pulling his arm away from me and turning to lean up on the log, "you see those guys? There by the fire?" he continued, and the Greenie and I turned to look at who he was pointing to.

"Those are the Runners. That guy in the middle there, that's Minho. He's the Keeper of the Runners. Every morning when those doors open, they run the Maze. Mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out," he explained. Minho looked up, as if he felt observed, and I send him a small wave, to which he answered  with a nod. I smiled, turning back around.

"How long have they been looking?" the Greenie asked, and I sighed.

"Three years," I said at the same time as Newt, and I shared a look with the Greenie.

"And they haven't found anything?" he asked, dumbfounded. Newt had a small scoff.

"It's a lot easier said than done," Newt said, sitting back down to face the Maze. "Listen," he suddenly said, and I heard the loud thud of the walls, moving into the Maze. "Hear that? It's the Maze. Changing. It changes every night."

"How is that even possible?" The Greenie asked, and Newt turned to him, smiling.

"You can ask the people who put us in here if you ever meet the bastards," he said, and I scoffed, rolling my eyes. He turned to me and I shook my head. He shrugged, turning back to look at the walls.

"Listen, the truth is, the Runners are the only ones who really know what's out there. They're the strongest and the 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're stuck out there for the night. And no one's ever survived a night in the Maze," Newt added, and I took a deep breath.

He didn't really seem to notice how confused and slightly scared the boy was, as he took a sip of his drink without looking at him. I could see the boy was trying to process the information without being really sure he believed it. "What happens to them?"

"We call 'em Grievers. Of course no one's ever seen one and lived to tell about it. But they're out there," Newt said, eyes lost in front of him. I elbowed him slightly and he turned to me. He seemed to understand by the glare I was giving him that he might've said too much, and he nodded, turning back to the Greenie.

"Right well, that's enough questions for one night, come on," Newt started, and I nodded, the Greenie staring at us. "You're supposed to be the guest of honor!" The Greenie slightly protested, but Newt shushed him, getting up and pulling the boy up in the process.