Maze Runner: The Subject Experiment

24 ❀ Set in Stone

Alby led Sky towards the wall of names, Newt tagging along.

"Congratulations on surviving this long. Here's your reward." Alby handed her his knife.

She looked over the names:

There were some she was close to:

Alby, Newt, Minho, Gally, Winston, Frypan, Zart.

Ones she knew quite well:

Ben, Hank, Clint, Jeff, Billy, Jackson, Benjamin, Eric.

Then there were names of boys she'd barely talked to:

Dave, Scott, Doug, Carl, David, Brandon, Will, Lee, Alec, Wyck, Henry, Rob, Ric, Jim and Marc.

She touched her hand lightly on the wall and brushed her fingers over the scored out ones:

George,

That name...the same as the one on the headstone.

Alfred, Justin, and Stephen.

Her hand lingered over Stephen's name.

She counted them.

34. Thirty-four boys had lived in the Glade.

"You've been here for almost three years?" she asked Alby.

"No, the box used to come up every half-month until a certain point. I've been here for around one year."

She looked back at the wall.

This was a contract. If she wanted to belong she had to sign. She had dreamt of this moment in recent weeks - when, finally knowing her name, she'd carve it beside the others, cementing her place as one of them. Even though this dream hadn't exactly come true. Newt's name for her was almost as good as the real thing.

"I can write my name anywhere?" she asked.

Alby nodded.

She examined the wall to decide where her name should be.

Newt's name had Adam's above it. Jeff was to the left and Ben's was to the right.

But there was a small space underneath Newt's name.

There. It made sense to put her name there.

She began to carve 'Sky' into the stone.

...

That night Sky was made to stay with Jeff and Jackson while she waited for the keepers to finish their council meeting. They were finally deciding what job she should have.

Whoever was the keeper of her job would be her new 'supervisor'. Nerves wracked her body. Who would she have to spend all her time with now? Just after she'd grown to like Newt...

****

The keepers sat in the Council Hall. Tonight they were deciding Sky's job.

Alby asked each keeper for a review of the girl's ability, as was the custom. Newt held his breath and silently wished she'd be given the track-hoe job.

"Well, we'll start with Winston," declared Alby. "Do you think she could be a slicer?"

Winston shook his head. "She's a lovely girl, it's just she's too squeamish of blood. I don't think she'd be right for the job."