𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓-𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨

IV- TUSSLE WITH MUSCLE

"Aesara wait!" Someone laughed behind me, chasing me down a dark path made of stone, walls rose above us. A blue sky above us, sun bright.

"You're too slow!" I laughed back.

A girl sat in front of me, hair dark and blue eyes. She held no expression, but in a split second it went from blank to scared, her face dirty. And then it was back to nothing.

I stared at a screen, a video of who I'm sure was Thomas in the Glade, played. A lady stood beside me. "Don't worry. WICKED is good."

The light was dull when I opened my eyes. A lot of boys were still asleep. Teresa was curled up in a ball beside me. What time was it? Slowly I got out of bed, quietly put my boots on, and walked around the Glade. I didn't really have any spot in mind, since I didn't really know my way around. But somehow I found my way to a spot with weird things sticking out of the ground. I walked closer and noticed they were bars made out of bamboo.

I looked in one of them and saw it had enough space to hold a person. After coming across one that held Thomas I realized these were the slammers. Thomas was asleep, but woke when he heard my footsteps. "Sorry for waking you."

"It's ok. Wasn't a great sleep, considering the conditions."

"Huh." I plopped onto the floor, sitting cross legged. "So what did you do to get in here."

"I broke a rule."

"Oh so you're a bad boy?"

He chuckled. "Not really."

"What rule was it?" I wasn't aware there was rules. Well, there ought to be with this many boys.

"To not go out into the Maze."

I turned to the wall that had closed during dinner last night. "Why are Runners only allowed out there?"

"I'm not surprised no one told you. And because I know how it feels to not get any answers I'll tell you. There's monsters out there. Ugly creatures called grievers." On cue something screeched from inside the Maze. "They only roam the Maze at night, but they do come out during the day. That's why I went into the Maze. One of them got one of the Runners so Minho and Alby went to check on it. They didn't come back until the doors started closing. I couldn't stand there and watch them get trapped out there."

As I was trying to process what he just said I asked, "What do you mean 'got'?"

"The grievers have scorpion like tails that have a stinger on it. If you get stung by it, there's a fifty-fifty percent chance that you'll go crazy or survive."

"Stung? Chuck said Alby was stung. Did he get stung by a griever?"

Thomas nodded. "It was the reason they came back late that day. Alby couldn't walk by himself."

"Oh."

Footsteps alertes us both and Minho crouched beside me. "Morning shankette, what you doing here?" He smirked.

I blushed. "I woke up early and went for a walk."

He looked from the sleeping area to here. "This is some walk." I blushed harder. "Anyway. Big day, greenie." He said to Thomas. "Sure you don't want to sit this one out?"

Thomas sighed, let out a laugh with it. "Get me out of here man."

"Alright." Minho pulled out a set of keys, unlocking the bars from the supporting walls and opening it. Thomas climbed out, looking funny because he came out feet first. They started to walk away. Wait was Thomas a Runner now?

I stood up. "Wait can I come with you guys? Not into the Maze of course" I added quickly. "Just to the doors?"

Minho shrugged. "Sure but don't talk or ask questions while I explain things to Thomas." I imitated zipping my lips and throwing away the key. "Good. Come on."