The Mistake

Chapter 3

*the whole story and everything in it belongs to James Dashner and "The Maze Runner Series" except for Joan.

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I wake up on something soft. Light penetrates through my closed eyelids and I know it will cause my splitting headache to hurt even more if I open my eyes. I slowly open them, last night replaying in the back of my mind.

I can see that I'm on a cot, and I can see medical equipment. I was with the Med-Jacks?

I can hear voices from outside. I recognize one of them as Alby, and I can almost hear Newt's voice.

"But I feel like..." Newt says, but his voice fades away again. I jump as I see a figure in the doorway.

"Oh. I see you're awake. I'm Clint. One of the Med-Jacks."

Part of me was slightly worried. He wasn't wearing the usual medical garments that I remembered doctors wearing and he was probably the same age I was. Another frustrating thought: I could remember what a doctor looked like and what they did, but I couldn't remember ever going to one.

"How does your head feel?" He asks. I lift my head only a little, causing pain to spark through me and my head to swim. I gently touch the back of my head. It had a huge lump on it and gauze, but my head wasn't completely wrapped.

"Horrible." I smile lightly.

"Here's some pain meds. I'm going to go get Alby and Newt. They said they wanted to see you."

I wrap the warm blanket around myself even tighter. I grab the water they set out for me and take the two pills. I struggle to push myself into a sitting position, so I just slide back down. The memories replay in my mind, and it almost makes me angry. I was so weak. I barely even fought back. I tried to run away like a coward and even stopped. How stupid was I?

Only seconds later Alby strides in with Newt close behind him. They look so grim that I refrain from smiling at them.

"Hey Greenie," Alby sits on a stool by my bed. Newt stands there patiently. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that I've felt better before I came here. So I've been better I guess."

Alby nods, a small smile on his lips. "Clint and Jeff told me that you have a huge bump on your head and you 'll probably be sensitive to light and sound for a while. You're taking the rest of today off."

I bite my tongue. I didn't WANT to rest. I wanted to get started.

"What will happen to the boy?" I ask. They glance at each other.

"Will is going to be in the Pit all day today. And then he will be banished." Alby explains. My throat tightens. Banished? From the Glade? I blink. He would be stuck in the maze.

"Isn't that suicide?" I question.

"We don't want to do it." Newt speaks for the first time. "But we have to keep order. We can't let men hurt others." He looks away, "or disobey the rules."

"We were lucky that we heard your screaming and Gally was around to come in and rescue you." Alby nods.

I blink. Gally? I remember seeing him once and hearing about him more often. I had been told he wasn't a good guy. But he couldn't be that bad if he saved me.

A rock forms in the pit of my stomach. He was going to be killed because of me. It was my fault.

But it was his fault, I counter in my mind. Why do I feel bad? He ASSAULTED me. He could have harmed me or worse.