They Don't Own Me

Chapter 6

Ivy's legs felt numb as she ran, but she wasn't that worried about it. The numbness in her legs was normal, just like the feeling of her racing heart, her labored breaths, and the sweat flowing down her face. The girl rounded a corner, arriving at the Glade. She caught a brief glance of Alby and waved to him. He waved back as she raced to the Map Room. She quickly went through her normal routine of making her map and adding to the model.

Glancing at her watch, she saw that she was back early. Ivy walked outside and sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. Everything around her seemed so peaceful it almost made her forget where she was.

Almost.

The large Maze walls were a constant reminder as to what her life was and the constant danger that she faced every day.

Ivy jumped to her feet when she heard a sudden cry. She quickly sprinted off in that direction. Following the sound of the cry, she also found herself following the sound of a fight. Breaking through the trees to come to a view of the Glade, Ivy froze.

Justin was attacking someone.

Without thinking, Ivy ran towards the two boys, trying to pry Justin off the boy.

"Justin!" she shouted. "Knock it off!"

Justin swung his arm at Ivy, but the girl ducked back. She gave him a hard shove, pushing him to the ground. Justin quickly turned over and lunged at Ivy. The girl moved out of the way, and as Justin made to jump at her again, she punched him in the face. The boy fell to the ground. Ivy moved forward quickly to pin him to the grassy floor.

"Get a hold of yourself, Justin!" she said, but the boy ignored her, thrashing around.

Several other sets of hands helped Ivy pin the boy down. The fight had grabbed the attention of the rest of the Glade. Someone ripped a knife out of Justin's hand so he couldn't cut anyone.

"What happened?" Gally asked as he held one of Justin's arms.

Ivy's body shook as she realized something about the Runner's behavior. She looked Justin over before noticing a rip in his shirt.

"Someone lift his shirt," she ordered. Several boys looked at her strangely but none moved. "Now!"

One of the boys quickly raised Justin's shirt. Ivy stared when she saw the hole in his skin, black surrounding the puncture and seeming to spread. Ivy looked back at Justin's face. His eyes were bloodshot and crazed, but he also looked scared.

"What the shuck is that?"

"What do we do with him?"

Questions bounced around the Gladers, trying to figure out what could have happened to the boy. Ivy glanced behind her to see Alby staring at Justin in shock. Their eyes met, both of their minds going back to one thing, one person.

"Put him in the Pit," Alby said. "The rest of you, get back to work."

Ivy quickly got off Justin to allow the boys to carry him away, struggling the entire time.

"Zart," she said, seeing the Keeper of the Track-Hoes starting back for the Gardens. He stopped to look at her. "Call the Keepers and have them meet us at the Council Hall. We're having a Gathering."

~

"Let's get started," Alby said, getting everyone's attention. "We need to talk about what just happened."

The boys nodded.

"What happened to him?" Frypan asked. He glanced at Ivy, hoping to get an answer from her since Justin was a Runner. "He just randomly showed up from his run and attacked someone!"