the walls; the maze runner

02; Routines

month three; 

Since we were sent into the Glade, we've made a lot of progress. More boys were sent up in the Box. Each had their own personality. One was fearless, one was sarcastic, and one had mean eyebrows. They all figured out their names after a couple minutes of being out of the Box and into the fresh space of the Glade. Alby is a fierce man and has a determined goal in mind. He knew not to panic and handled everything very well. He was cool under pressure, and I knew that we'd have to give him some type of leadership role in the future. Gally, the one with the mean looking eyebrows, had a bad attitude. He was snarky and all over the place. He did prove to us that he was useful, and he also proved that he would make an excellent Builder.

The last guy, Minho, was a hard cookie to crack. For the first couple hours nothing was spoken from his mouth. Besides the small whisper of his name of course. He stuck to himself and strayed away from anything that had to do with socialization. He was emotionless and his body language was hard to read. But there was something about him that I was drawn to. Like a part of me from the past remembers him, maybe not full memories but his presence makes my brain itch.

The first few days with each boy was made trying to get them to warm up to us. To get them familiar with The Glade. Alby was in charge of making sure that each of us did our work. He also kept track of what we had, what we needed, and what was running low. Then at the end of the week he would send a list into The Box with the names of the materials that we needed. I knew that he'd do good as a leader in a place like this.

Gally was a bit of a sourpuss, but he ended up being great friends with Frankie. He knows what he's supposed to do, and he does it well. He ended up making a small pen for the animals. It helped a lot to finally have a place to put the pigs and the chicken for when I don't need to slaughter them. He also messed around when he wasn't in one of his moods. He also made the small hut where Frankie stores his drawings of the maze. All in all, Gally wasn't that bad of a person.

Minho was different. Besides the small whisper of his name, he didn't speak for a good couple days after waking up in the maze. He was reserved and when nightfall came along, he decided to sleep in the cot furthest away from us. I understood not being familiar with a place like this, but I was worried that he wasn't going to warm up to us like the others did. When it came to giving him a job, he pretty much sucked at everything. He burnt himself trying to cook, he can't build for the life of him, and he threw up at the thought of killing the animals. I kinda decided that he should stay as a Slopper for now until we find him something he's good at. A Slopper is someone that cleans up after everyone else and gets to do the chores no one really wants to do like wash the dishes, grab more fertilizer, stuff like that.

That was until Frankie had the brilliant idea to take him into the maze with him one day. Which I thought was a bad idea, but no one ever listens to me.

"Listen Charlie, what else is he supposed to do? He can't stay a Slopper forever, can he? I'm just saying, maybe he can be a Runner like me." The frustration was growing in me. My face became blank with no emotion shown.

"Frankie, when we first came up to The Glade, we made rules. Rules that should not be broken. One of those rules is that no one is allowed to go beyond those walls except for you. It's a rule for a reason."

There's only silence after my statement. Frankie just gives me a look, as if he was saying that he knows he's right. Which to a certain point he is but still we are not to break a rule. But Frankie makes a good point. God.

"Okay fine, one day. Let's see how he deals with it, if he can keep up with you and if he doesn't freak out when he realizes that there's a maze beyond those walls." He says nothing but the grin on his face is words enough. We had decided that he would do a trial of sorts to become a Runner. Frankie would take him out to the maze and run through one corridor. If he can handle it, then Frankie would take him into the deeper part of whatever section was open that day. Of course, someone had to inform the Greenie about it. And of course, I was put to the challenge.

Minho, the latest Greenie [even though he's been here for a little over a week], was sitting a couple feet away from the rest of us. Far enough where he doesn't have to talk to us but close enough that the heat from the fire still reaches him. Frankie gives me a sideway look and points his head towards Minho. A sigh leaves my mouth.

I get up with hesitation and walk towards Minho and take a seat next to him. He looks at me like I grew two heads. "Listen Minho, listen princess. We've noticed that you aren't doing so good in the jobs we place you with. Frankie, ever the genius, decided that we should let you trial the Maze as a Runner. He's currently the Keeper of the Runners but since it's only him it's a bit difficult to map out the whole section. Tomorrow morning, as soon as those walls open, you're gonna go in there with him. How you take it and how you react will determine if you stay a Slopper or if you become a Runner."

He stays silent for a bit. No words come from either of our mouths for a couple of minutes. The fire crackles as the other boy's converse. As I push my arm against the log to get up, he starts to talk. "Why do you guys keep trying to welcome me into this? I haven't done anything useful to help you, I haven't said anything to anyone, and it's been a week since I was brought up from the box into this- this hell. How can you all just go day by day not freaking out? How are you all so comfortable with this?"

I sit back down and scoot a little closer to him. "We don't know why we're here, who put us here, and why we're trapped. But panicking will get us nowhere. Here it's survival or death. When we woke up here alone on that first day, there were times where I thought that death would be better than being in this enclosed space with no knowledge of my past or if we were ever gonna get out. But that's why Frankie runs the Maze. He's looking for a way out. And we'll get there. It may not be soon, but one day. As for why we keep trying to gradually get you adjusted to the Glade? We work better when everyone is in tune with each other. And we're all we have right now. Heck, I don't even know if we have family out there. So, we gotta look out for each other while we can."

He plays with his fingers and suddenly his interest turns to the dirt beneath his feet. "I'll do the trials. But what happens if I don't like being a Runner?" His eyebrows furrow as his lips become sealed in a line. "Well, we'll find you something that you're decent at. If running the Maze every day at dawn doesn't seem like your thing, I bet collecting fertilizer is. And whenever you need someone to talk to, all the boys are welcoming. You can talk to any of us. Don't shut yourself out."

A whisper of a chuckle leaves his mouth. Progress.

I get up and face him. I stick my hand out and as soon as he takes it, I pull him up and drag him to join the other boys. Smiles present on all of us, I clap my hands. "So, what'd I miss?"

After that night, we made a routine. Minho would start running the Maze with Frankie and they would start to map it. His attitude has improved tremendously that we found out he was a sarcastic slinthead. And whenever he needs someone to talk to, he reaches out to me.

So we continue our lives that we have built so far. Doing what we can to survive. And helping each other out whenever we could.