Griever Tamer|| The Maze Runner¹/ Minho

|C.31|

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"Did what?" Newt asked. He looked totally lost.

Alby looked up, his eyes red and wet with tears. "I burned the Maps. I did it. I slammed my head on the table so you'd think it was someone else, I lied, burned it all. I did it!"

The Keepers exchanged looks, the shock was clear in their wide eyes. How bad were their lives before the Maze, Blake thought.

"Well, it's a good thing we saved those Maps," Minho said, snobby. "Thanks for the tip you gave us after the Changing—to protect them."

Blake elbowed Minho hard on his arm, but his face only remained straight. She didn't get how he could say something in a tone so cruel. And to his friend.

Alby did nothing.

Newt, instead of showing anger or cruelty, asked Alby to explain. "I'm telling you." Alby sounded near hysterical, inhaling and exhaling shaky sobs. "We can't go back to where we came from. I've seen it, remembered awful, awful things. Burned land, a disease—something called the Flare. It was horrible—way worse than we have it here."

"If we stay here, we'll all die!" Minho yelled. "It's worse than that?"

The Flare. A disease. Could that be what Blake's mother had? Burned lands? Could that be what's left of the world wasted deserts? Maybe that was what she remembered that runner training day.

"Yes," Alby finally said. "It's worse. Better to die than go home."

Minho snickered and leaned back in his chair. "Man, you are one butt-load of sunshine, let me tell you. I'm with Thomas. I'm with Thomas one hundred percent. If we're gonna die, let's freakin' do it fighting."

"Inside the Maze or out of it," Thomas added, proudly. "We still live inside the world you remembered."

Alby stood again, his face showing defeat. "Do what you want." He sighed. "Doesn't matter. We'll die no matter what." Then, he walked to the door and left the room.

Newt's face fell. "He's never been the same since being stung—must've been one bugger of a memory. What in the world is the Flare?"

"Some virus I think. Maybe my mother had it," Blake shook her head.

"I don't care what it is," Minho said. "Anything's better than dying here. We can deal with the Creators once we're out. But for now, we gotta do what they planned. Go through the Griever Hole and escape. If some of us die, so be it."

"Aren't you nice, Minho." Blake crossed her arms, rolling her eyes.

Frypan snorted. "You shanks are driving me nuts. Can't get out of the Maze, and this idea of hanging with the Grievers at their bachelor pad sounds as stupid as anything I've ever heard in my life. Might as well slit our wrists."

Blake opened her mouth to protest, but her voice was overlapped by the other Keepers. Soon, Newt yelled at them all to shut up.

Thomas spoke again once things went quiet. "I'm going through the Hole or I'll die trying to get there. Looks like Minho will, too. And I'm sure Teresa's in. If we can fight off the Grievers long enough for someone to punch in the code and shut them down, then we can go through the door they come through. We'll have passed the tests. Then we can face the Creators themselves."

Newt's grinned, but it showed no humor in it. "And you think we can fight off Grievers? Even if we don't die, we'll probably all get stung. Every last one of them might be waiting for us when we get to the Cliff—the beetle blades are out there constantly. The Creators'll know when we make our run for it."

"I don't think they'll sting us—the Changing was a Variable meant for us while we lived here. But that part will be over. Plus, we might have one thing going for us."

"Yeah?" Newt asked, rolling his eyes. "Can't wait to hear it."

"It doesn't do the Creators any good if we all die—this thing is meant to be hard, not impossible. I think we finally know for sure that the Grievers are programmed to only kill one of us each day. So somebody can sacrifice himself to save the others while we run to the Hole. I think this might be how it's supposed to happen."

The room fell into an unsettling silence until the Winston barked a loud humorless laugh. "Excuse me?" Winston asked. "So your suggestion is that we throw some poor kid to the wolves so the rest of us can escape? This is your brilliant suggestion?"

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Yes, Winston, I'm glad you're so good at paying attention." He paused. "And it seems obvious who the poor kid should be."

"Oh, yeah?" Winston asked. "Who?"

Thomas folded his arms, a smile creeping on his face. "Me."

The room exploded into a chorus of argument. Blake was one of the many voices trying to pill over the others. Newt very calmly stood up, walked over to Thomas, and grabbed him by the arm. "You're leaving. Now."

Thomas looked stunned, his eyebrows raised. "Leaving? Why?"

Blake couldn't hear their conversation as Newt pushed Thomas out the door, but she could tell it was intense; both boys were getting into each other's faces. When Newt finally walked back inside, she could see the determination in his eyes—something that wasn't there before.

"Blake," Newt said, clearing his throat. "I need you to leave."

Blake nodded, walking over to the door. She stopped in front of Newt, raising her eyebrows. "What are you going to do?" She asked in a low whisper.

"Convince them," Newt whispered, his voice stern, unreadable. Blake left with the hope of Newt finding a way to do what he said he would convince them. Enough was enough, they needed to escape.

They were going to escape. Blake knew it—she was sure of it. But she knew that there would be people—people who wouldn't want to face the very thing that made them coward into the Glade in the first place. The Gladers were gonna have to fight the Grievers. Blake was gonna have to fight the Grievers.

She was ready to bring them down. If she could create them—she could destroy them too.

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Does anyone else take like an hour to find a gif for their chapter? No just me. I find a perfect gif then I realize, oh it doesn't fit! Great. Then I have to go find a new one, that one doesn't fit either, yay just great! I had tried at least nine different gifs before getting that one of Thomas. I swear it takes me less time to write the chapter then it does for me to actually find a gif. Sorry for my frustrations, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter!