Fervency

CHAPTER: T W E N T Y-THREE

"Whatever you say" Elodie turned back to Newt and did some finishing touches on him.

"Don't get used to my kindness. This is a one time thing." she assured him. Sunlight hit her green eyes in just the right direction to reveal that they were sparkling with mirth.

"I wouldn't dare." he stood to his feet, towering over the girl. His chestnut gaze connected with hers as he lifted the washcloth from her fingers. With his other hand he slid his thumb beneath her chin and lightly washed away the ink mustache that lined her upper lip.

Elodie struggled to come to terms with their closeness and tried as hard as possible to refrain from looking directly into his eyes.

"There we are" he breathed, smiling gently at her. "All done."

She didn't utter a word and instead took a moment to stare up at him with calculating eyes. Before he could make a remark, she turned away and ran off to the deadheads.

"What was that?" she asked herself. Being so close to him sent her mind whirling. She felt the jarring sensation of trepidation. It filled every fiber of her being and she didn't know why.

Her heart was thumping wildly against her ribcage now. She desperately wanted it to be because of her running but she knew somewhere deep down that it wasn't the case. There was something more to how she felt about Newt.

And she didn't like it one bit.

It wasn't that she got any kind of bad vibe from him-she loved being in his company. But when she was faced with the opportunity of intimacy with anyone, she instantly felt an unbearable mixture of anxiety and distress. It twisted and pierced the insides her chest, tangling together until it felt as though she was suffocating.

"Took you long enough." Minho's voice called from up ahead. He was standing at the entrance of the deadheads with Thomas. His dark gaze filled belligerence as he turned and led the way in a melodramatic fashion. Suddenly, all that Elodie was stressing over had dissipated. Laughter pooled from her lips. She knew that his anger wasn't directed at her but at Newt.

"Aw c'mon Minho. Jealousy doesn't look good on you." Thomas nudged him.

"Jealous? Of Newt?" he turned to Thomas and released a dry laugh, "yeah right"

Elodie exchanged looks with Thomas and Minho stopped in his tracks.

"I know what you two are doing. Just so you know: you're wrong."

"Whatever you say" Thomas drawled.

The three of them continued their way through the vast forest, occasionally avoiding nettles and pesky insects until finally, they had arrived in front of a hut.

"What is this place?" Elodie wondered.

"A secret. Don't tell any of the Gladers this is here, got it?"

"Especially you, shuck-face." he pointed at Thomas before opening the door. Once they were inside, Elodie was astounded by what was before her. In the middle of a large circular table sat a replica of the maze. Each section was labeled by number. Wax paper and notebooks were scattered throughout the place.

"What is this?" Thomas asked. Minho's browns hardened and he gave a small nod.

"It's the maze. All of it." He slid him one of the notebooks and Immediately Thomas dived inside the booklet, turning page by page to reveal extensive research.

"What do you mean?" Elodie inquired, her brows cinched together in concern.

"-Yeah, I thought you were still mapping it" Thomas enjoined.

"There's nothing left to map, I've run every inch of it myself. Every cycle, every pattern-if there was a way out we would have found it by now."

"Why haven't you told anything this?" Thomas's whispered, his brown deepening even more due to what was said.

"It was Alby's call. People needed to believe they had a chance of getting out." Minho explained. He reached into a nearby cabinet and pulled out the part they dissected from the griever. He then tossed it to Elodie, who studied the object.

"Maybe now we have a real chance at escaping." he finished. Immediately, Thomas looked up from the book.

"Take a look at this" he pointed to the stones that marked the sections of the maze. "About a year ago we started exploring these outer sections of the maze. We found these numbers and put them on the walls. Sections one through eight."

"You see, every night when the maze changes it opens up a new section. So today, section 6 was open. Tomorrow it'll be 4 and 8 and 3... The pattern always stays the same."

"Wait" Thomas interjected, "that thing we pulled out from Griever. It had a number on it."

"I know." Minho replied.

Elodies eyes fell to the object which read 7. Thomas read the number aloud from over her shoulder and then met Minho's gaze.

"What's so special about 7?"

" I don't know... the night when you killed that griever section 7 was open. I think it must be where it comes from."

"And if they come from that section, that must be our way out. Tomorrow, were gonna take a closer look."

Instantaneously, Jeff came to the entrance with another Glader.

"Hey, what are you guys doing? You're not allowed in here." Minho stepped in front of them, so they couldn't get a clear view of the maze replica.

"Sorry. It's just the girl..." Jeff trailed off.

"Is she awake?" Thomas asked.

"You could say that..."

Jeff lead them out of the deadheads with Thomas at his side eager to see the girl. Elodie watched him closely, wondering to herself if he knew her. Or maybe it was the same with the way she felt about Newt-She seemed familiar but he had no recollection of how.

"Hey smelly" Minho whispered, nudging her with his elbow.

"What's up, Man-child?" she proceeded to look ahead unfazed.

"We need to train you."

"Train me, huh?" she crossed her arms as they approached the clearing.

"I wanna see what you're made of" he flashed her a wink.