Silence

Chapter 13

Minho and I were the first to wake up the following morning. We were going back into the maze. I rose from my hammock and looked over at Minho. He was sitting as well, changing his shirt. I decided to get back at him for scaring me his first morning in the Glade, so I snuck over and placed my hands on his waist.

"What the shuck?" Minho shouted as he fell face first onto the ground. I placed my hands over my stomach, it hurt from laughing. "What's going on?" Newt's sleepy voice could be heard. "I'm just going to feed Em to the maze, go back to sleep" Minho said and sprinted towards me. No way he was getting to me I thought and ran away from him.

"Get over here you" Minho laughed as he chased me. I ran towards the homestead and slowed down a bit. Just as I felt Minho coming behind me, I turned quickly and ran back to the sleeping area. "Em!" Minho shouted at me. By now, everyone was awake.

As I reached Gally's hammock, I jumped over it and landed between Winston and Clint's beds. "Just. You. Wait!" Minho huffed between his breath. I continued running until I reached Newt who had stood up from his hammock. I looped my arm in his and spun him around, using him as a human shield.

Minho stopped in front of Newt, hands to his knees and breathing hard. "Just let me get her" He said and looked at Newt. Newt turned his head to look at me as I shook my head and mouthed no at him. He turned his gaze back to Minho. "Well, sure" He said.

My eyes got wide in surprise and before I could take a step back, Newt had seized me. He locked my arms behind my back, holding them to his chest. I shook my head at Minho as he came closer. "Oh yes" He smiled wickedly at me.

He started to tickle me and Newt held me in place as I squirmed. Soon, the three of us were laughing and Minho stopped. "Minho, Newt. Stop torturing the smallest one" Alby laughed as I stuck out my tongue at him. "Fine" Newt let me go and Minho ruffled my hair. "Good that" Alby nodded, "No let's get ready for the maze".

*******

"Everybody know the plan?" Alby asked as we stood in front of the doors. We nodded at him, some looking scared and some looking determined. We would find a way out this time. "Last time someone went into the maze" Alby looked over at Minho and me, "The West door was used as the exit from the Glade. This time we will try our luck through the South door". With that we walked.

Alby walked in the lead with me and Minho. Afterall, we were the ones who knew the way in here. "It looks little like the West door did during our fourth day" Minho commented as I sketched our path down onto a piece of paper. A lot of paper pieces had arrived with the greenies, as if someone knew we would need them to map the place.

"But there was no right turn" Minho stopped for a second to let me catch up with the sketching. After a week of searching the maze together, Minho and I had noticed that the corridors changed. No walls moved while we were present, so we figured it must be done during the time of the closed doors.

We turned right and continued for a bit. After an hour or two, Minho and Alby stopped quickly. Sketching and walking at the same time, I didn't notice and bumped into Minho's back. I looked up from the paper and felt my jaw drop. There was no wall in front of us.

"What the shuck?" Gally's voice was heard from behind me. He and Newt had been walking behind the greenies to keep an eye on them. "Is this an exit?" Nick asked. "I don't think so" Alby said and carefully stepped closer to the edge. "I can't see the bottom of it" He said and backed away from the edge.

"Maybe it's an invisible floor?" Winston picked up a rock and threw it out in the open. It soared through the air and vanished down into the abyss. We waited for a sound of it hitting the bottom but everything was quiet. "Nothing" Winston whispered and took a step closer. "I can't even see the rock anymore" He leaned closer to get a better look. "Woah!" He yelped and lost his balance. "Winston!"

Alby and Minho quickly grabbed Winston's arms and tried to pull him up. "He's slipping" Alby grunted out as they tried to get him up. Gally and Nick ran up and grabbed Alby and Minho. "On three" Alby commanded, "One, two, three!"

Gally and Nick pulled in Alby and Minho, who tightened their grip on Winston. "Don't let go!" He screamed. "Again!" Alby shouted as Gally and Nick pulled even harder. By now, Newt had grabbed Alby and I had grabbed Minho to help Gally and Nick. "One, two three!" We pulled with all our might as Winston slowly rose and flew over the edge, landing on the stone floor.

Everyone was breathing hard, Winston shaking in fear. "We're going back to the Glade" Alby said and no one protested. I took out the paper with our path and started to guide the way back.

*******

"You're back early" Frypan said as he walked over to greet us. Everyone was silent and Winston walked away to the sleeping area with Nick and George following. Frypan's smile faded. "What did I miss?" He asked. "We found a cliff" Gally said heavily, sitting down on the grass. "A way out?" Frypan questioned. "No visible ground underneath" Minho answered. "Winston fell, but we managed to get him up". "No wonder he looked so pale" Frypan said and looked after Winston. "We should leave him alone for a bit" Newt said, "Let him process the events". He turned to Frypan, "Need any help in the kitchen?"

Newt walked with Frypan to help with the food as Gally, Minho and I sat down on the benches. Alby had walked over to the homestead to talk with Jeff and Clint in case they needed to help Winston, who was still quite pale.

"Now we'll never be able to go outside the Glade again" Minho kicked one of the table legs. "I personally don't like it there" Gally looked over at Minho and me, "But I know we need to find a way out of here. And the ones who can do that are you two". "But we'll never get Alby's permission" Minho sighed. "Maybe if more than you go? I don't think Newt or Winston want to go back, but maybe Nick and George? They seemed to handle the whole thing quite alright".

Minho looked up from the table. "Yeah, you're right" He rose from his seat, "The more people we are, the less chance of doing a Winston or an... well Emily" He looked at me with a small smile. "You know it's true". I just shrugged my shoulders at him. "I need to talk to Alby about this" Minho ran away to the homestead.

"Do you think he'll convince Alby?" Gally looked at me. Well, it all depends on who is more stubborn I wrote on my board. "Good that" Gally smiled at me. "I'll go see if Newt and Frypan need some help, you just sit tight alright?"