Into the Maze

Chapter 5

"Uhh, no." I shook my head as the boys around me laughed some, and Gally smirked. I hated letting him think he was the big guy, but I was smarter than that.

"Oh come on, are you scared?" He stepped forward, as I put my foot down, ready to take a step back if he got any closer. What was I supposed to say to that? Yes?

"I'll do it." Someone said, as I turned and looked for the voice. It was the boy from the box, he had stepped into the ring.

"Not the greenie I was looking for, but a fight's a fight." Gally turned his back on me and faced the boy, getting in fighting position, as the boy mimicked his stance. "Alright, the rules are simple, greenie. I try and push you out of the circle, you try and last more than five seconds. Ready?"

Gally charged at the boy, shoving him into a crowd of boys. I didn't realize it, but I had started chewing on my lip nervously. This kid couldn't get beat up, because then it would be half my fault, because he volunteered for me.

The boy bounced back and tried to run at Gally, but Gally grabbed him and threw him into the sand. 

"Come on Greenie. Is that all you got?" Gally taunted, grinning, and putting his fists in front of his face, even though there was no real punching going on.

"Stop calling me greenie." I heard the boy say, becoming a little angry. The boy pushed his feet into the sand, getting ready.

"Stop calling you that? What do you wanna be called? Shank?" Gally asked, circling the boy, as everyone laughed at what he said. Was it supposed to be funny? "What do you think boys, does he look like a shank?"

The boy charged Gally, grabbing him, but Gally grabbed back. Gally threw him into the sand again, as I bit my lip harder. This was getting a little hard to watch.

"You know what, I think i'm settled on shank." Gally grinned as the boy stood back up, running at Gally again. Gally pushed back, pushing the boy far. The boy suddenly let go, pushing him to the side as Gally fell to the ground.

I smiled and turned to Newt, grinning. The boy had did something. Newt just looked at me, smiling back, and he kind of nodded, like he was half-excited, but also like half his mind was somewhere else.

I turned back around and watched as Gally furrowed his eyebrows, as everyone hooted and cheered. The boy stood up and looked down at Gally, when he moved. He kicked his foot into the boy's leg, sending him flying to the floor, his head slamming into the ground.

I let out an audible yell, and covered my mouth. That had to of hurt, his head bounced a little. I watched him groan, and then his expression changed, like he just thought of something.

He muttered a word I couldn't hear, then stood up, stopping the cheering and gasping. Everyone watched as he turned in a circle.

"Thomas!" He yelled, and then laughed a little to himself. "I remember my name, it's Thomas! I'm Thomas!" I stared at him, he remembered his name! Now I could call him something besides the boy from the box.

"Thomas!" Alby yelled after a second, and everyone went in, clapping and cheering. I stayed back though, not wanting to get smushed by the boys.

"Welcome home, Thomas." Frypan, the one who was the cook, handed him a cup of that drink, laughing and smiling. The boys backed up some, so I went in.

"Good job." I smiled as I approached him, and he smiled back. I didn't think a hug was really the best choice, so I stuck my hand out for a high five. Thomas high-fived me back, and I thought maybe this place wasn't so bad after all.

My hope was cut off as a loud, piercing shriek echoed through the air, coming from the walls inside the maze. I looked around, and the boys around me seemed startled, but not too scared, besides Thomas.

"What the hell was that?" Thomas muttered from beside me, as we all watched the maze doors, even though staring at a wall wouldn't do anything for us.

"That, my friend, was a griever. Don't worry, you're safe here with us. Nothing gets through those walls" Gally explained, looking from Thomas to me, then brushed past us.

"Alright guys, let's tuck it in for the night." Alby commanded, and started clapping, as more people congratulated Thomas. We were supposed to sleep knowing that thing was out there?

No way I could sleep tonight. The griever noises were too much for me, and not to mention, I didn't feel comfortable actually closing my eyes around these boys.

So, I went to my hammock and laid down, but as I predicted, I couldn't sleep. After about half an hour I looked around. The boy who was passing out the drinks was asleep, rocking a little bit. Some boy who's name I didn't know was snoring like a pig, and I couldn't tell if Thomas was awake.

I guess, many hours later, I did fall asleep. But whatever peace I kept for those few hours didn't last long.

"Shhh." Alby whispered, as I sat up really fast, a little scared. He had meant to wake up Thomas, but his speaking had startled me. 

Alby looked from Thomas, to me, and then smiled. He waved me over anyways, leading Thomas and I across the Glade, just as the sun was rising over the east wall.

"It's peaceful isn't it. I know it's hard to believe but it wasn't always this way." I looked at Alby's hand, he was holding a knife. I wonder what that is for. "We had dark days, we lost a lot of boys to fear. To panic. We've come far since then, established order. Made peace."

"Why are you telling us this?" Thomas asked, we had stopped in the middle of the glade. Alby looked from me, then to Thomas, and sighed.

"Because you're not like the others," Alby answered. Well what did that mean, I know I wasn't, I was the completely opposite gender. "You're curious. But you're one of us now, and you need to know what that means."

Alby took the knife and placed it in Thomas's hand, then nodded over to a section of the wall beside the door, which was still closed. 

Thomas looked at me, then at the wall, as we walked over. On the wall were many names, some of which were scratched out.

"What happened to them?" I asked, reaching my hand out and tracing one of the names with my fingers. 

"Like I said before, we lost a lot of boys to chaos." Alby explained, as Thomas shifted the knife in his hand, then walked closer to the wall.

Slowly, he carved his name in the wall, then blew away the extra stone, before stepping back. He nodded, and then handed me the knife.

I felt the smooth handle of weapon in my hand, as well as a wave of power. I shook aside the feeling and held the knife up to the cold stone, right beside the name crossed out name 'George'.

I took a deep breath in, and started carving. Slowly but surely, my name was inscribed upon the wall. I stepped back and sighed, then handed the knife back to Alby. I debated on keeping it, but decided I might do something stupid.

"Alright, now, who's hungry?" Alby smiled, clapping his hands together and rubbing them. As soon as my stomach was reminded of food, it rumbled, cheering for anything to digest.

I guess I had completely forgotten about eating, heck, I can't even remember the last time I ate. It's been around a day, maybe a little less, and now food had become my priority.

Thomas and I exchanged a look, I guess he forgot about food too. I nodded at Alby, and grinned, I was starving.