Rogue | Group B → The Maze Runner¹

i.eight

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● [ viii . one year and four months ]
*huge thank you to amneris1178 for creating this incredible fanart! 

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OVER THE course of seven months, Rogue had watched three more girls die.

First, there was Kate. She had attempted to climb to the top of the Maze walls using the vines that lined the Glen. Upon reaching the top, she realised the vines didn't extend all the way. Unable to find a safe way down, she fell. She was buried in the Corpsewood, only five weeks after the sending.

Then, Alice. Rogue hadn't known her well, if at all, though she worked with Diana as a Chopper. Rogue returned to the Glen one day to hear that Alice had been cut clean in half by jumping into the box as it descended. It was a welcome sight for the Blondie, Rogue assumed. Alice was buried three months after Kate.

Finally, there was Tiera. She had volunteered to spend a night in the Maze, embarking with only a backpack of food and water. The next afternoon, Rogue and Miyoko found it mangled on the floor, her clothes torn to shreds in the heart of the Maze.

'Oh,' Miyoko said, slowing her pace. They had just returned from the seventh and final section of the Maze, having mapped it completely. What should have been a celebratory evening was suddenly replaced by a burial — another one, just four months after the last.

Rogue stopped beside her, sighing. 'Come on. We knew we'd find it eventually,' she said. She stooped, lifting the rags from the ground. They were stained with blood, Rogue noticed. Her stomach churned just imagining what had happened.

'I know,' Miyoko replied, shifting her backpack to her front and unzipping it. Rogue gathered Tiera's clothes and piled them into the bag. 'I hoped we wouldn't, though.'

Rogue silently harboured the same hope, despite knowing deep down that there was almost no chance Tiera had survived. No one survived a night in the Maze. Rogue and Miyoko stood there in silence for a few minutes, staring at the ground. It was a reckless decision for Tiera to make, but it had ultimately been Ximena's. Rogue could her in her mind. Ximena constantly spoke of sacrifice and courage, but all Rogue felt was Bitterness. She should have never let her go.

A few more moments passed, and then Rogue glanced towards Miyoko. They shared a solemn look, and began running again.

Rogue and Miyoko arrived back at the Glen an hour before the Gates sealed, the evening heat enveloping them. Girls were scattered throughout the green, tending to various tasks, their faces streaked with dirt and sweat.