The Link // Maze Runner Fanfiction // Book 1

chapter eight

He kissed the top of my head and my sorrows faded away as I slipped into a peaceful sleep.

When I woke up, I instantly knew something was off. Newt was getting dressed and the sun still shone down on the Glade, but something felt different. It was like a nag in my gut that I couldn't explain. It was a foreshadowing feeling that I couldn't seem to shake.

"Are you alright?" Newt asked.

I nodded and got up to get dressed. He shot me a suspicious look as I changed into a black t-shirt and blue jeans, but said nothing. The feeling grew stronger throughout the day, almost making me vomit up my breakfast.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Newt questioned.

"Yeah, just a weird feeling. Like something bad is going to happen."

He nodded and didn't ask any more questions. My feeling grew stronger, but I focused on my work and tried to ignore it.

"Where's Ben gone?" Zart, another Track-hoe with droopy eyes and black hair, called over. Somebody replied that Ben had gone near the South entrance to get some fertilizer. My gut feeling grew and I struggled to ignore it.

Nothing bad usually happened in the Glade, I tried to reassure myself.

It was around noon when Ben stumbled out of the woods, groaning in pain and clutching his stomach. His clothes were tattered and bloody gashes decorated his skin. I set down the basket I was using to collect tomatoes and hurried over to him. In my mind, I didn't care that he could hurt me. All I cared about was getting Ben to the homestead.

"I..got..stung," he coughed out.

I ducked under his arm and let him lean against me. Since I was stung before most of the Gladers arrived, they stayed a certain distance away from us. I half-dragged Ben to the Homestead where Clint and Jeff, the two Med-Jacks, took him upstairs to a room. He would be restrained to the bed and given the serum. I sat on the bottom step of the staircase and ran my hands through my chestnut-colored waves.

"He could have hurt you," Newt stated. He had appeared in the doorway of the Homestead with a grim look.

Unwilling to listen to a lecture, I stood up and looked him in the eye. He was about 5 foot 10 inches tall, so I could easily peer into his cinnamon colored eyes.

"Don't even start. I don't care if I got a tiny scratch from him. I've experienced worse and we both know it. I'm going to stay with him when I can. It's hard enough alone, at least I can provide some comfort for poor Ben."

Newt looked determined and decided that he was going to stay with me. One thing I adored about our relationship was that we never really argued. Our little quarrels were resolved within minutes, leaving not despise but love and gentleness in its wake.

Two days later, the box came up as planned. This time it brought us a boy with olive skin and very dark hair. He was just like every other Greenie, terrified and stubborn, but there was something different about him. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place where I had seen him. A name popped into my mind as I stared at him. Thomas.

The boy looked around at the Gladers and paused when he saw me. His face showed the slightest hint of recognition and maybe some disbelief.

"Which twin are you? Ellie or Virginia?" he asked. I blinked and furrowed my eyebrows. He looked confused, but his eyes softened. "You're Ellie, aren't you?"

How did he know my name? And how did I know his name? Before I could respond, Gally pushed past me and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath. He grabbed the Greenie and roughly threw him onto the grass at everyone's feet.

Scrambling up and pushing people out of the way, the Greenie took off running across the field. He had the potential to be a Runner until he fell and landed face-first in the dirt. It would have been hilarious if I hadn't been so puzzled by our weird greeting.

"I'll take Chuck and we'll give him the tour," I muttered to Newt.

With Chuck tailing behind me like a puppy, I jogged over to the Greenie and helped him up. "What the hell is this place?" he demanded, brushing off his blue shirt and looking around the Glade.

"Relax, will you? This is the Glade. We have three rules. Do your job, don't harm other Gladers, and never go beyond those walls. We eat and sleep there, grow food there, bury dead people there, and raise and slaughter animals there," I explained, pointing to each section in the Glade.

"The box brings up supplies every week and a new boy every month. We get electricity and water from the ground," Chuck added.

Thomas looked around again and fixed his gaze back on the walls. "What are beyond the walls?"

"None of us really know what's in the maze. Well, except the four Runners. Two are on duty and the other two don't talk much about it," Chuck informed him, shooting me an uneasy look. I intervened and told the Greenie that he would find out soon, but not yet. Before he asked any more questions, Chuck dragged him away to try out the different jobs.

Off in the distance, I could see Thomas working with Newt and Zart. I had already done my share of work so I wandered off to the Deadheads to think. So many questions without answers flooded my mind. Why did he know me? Why did I feel like I knew him? Who is Virginia? Do I have a twin?

A flash of memory hit me. It was the little girl with brown hair and hazel eyes, the same one I had been seeing in my dreams. Another memory escaped the locked box in my mind. I saw the Creators in their harsh white coats, but their faces were a little more clear. I recognized one of them now. The Greenie was standing next to a girl with brilliant blue eyes and charcoal colored hair. To the left, I saw another girl with short-cut brown hair and familiar hazel eyes. I felt a twinge of familiarity towards the girl with almost black hair, but I pushed her out of my mind and focused on the girl with brown hair. Everything Thomas had said and the image of her clicked in my mind and I let out a gasp. I now knew why she seemed so familiar. I had an identical twin sister somewhere in the world, presumably named Virginia.

After the shock had worn off a bit, I decided to tell Newt. I was going to wait until dinner, but I was going to visit Ben first. It had been two days since he was stung and he would be experiencing the worst of it right about now. When I saw him, I resisted the urge to vomit. His veins looked like they had been turned into sickly green ropes that stemmed out under his pale skin. His blonde hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat and his muscles strained as he tried to escape his holds. He was only wearing a pair of shorts and I could see purple and green bruises covering his body.

When I couldn't take another minute with Ben, I crept down to the field and plopped down at a faded picnic table. Dinner would be served in around an hour, but I doubted I would eat it after the shock of today. It didn't take long for Thomas to find me and start pounding me with questions, none of which I could answer.