Serendipity - The maze runner, Newt

Chapter 9 - Runner trials

I headed towards the maze's doors, but Minho stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going, miss ?" He said.

"To the maze ?" I replied, raising an eyebrow, surprised by his question.

"The tests happen here. How could you think I'd send the Greenies into the maze without knowing if they'd make it out !" He exclaimed, laughing.

"That makes sense." I replied, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"You're going to start by running around the glade at a pace you can sustain for a long time. I'll time you—if you're too slow, it's over." He explained.

I began to run at a brisk pace as Minho instructed. I was quite fast and had good endurance, so it wasn't difficult.

As I ran, I felt the adrenaline in my lungs. I loved running. I felt all my problems fade away behind me as I picked up speed. I eventually caught up with Minho shortly after I started.

"Well done, miss ! 2 minutes and 14 seconds, almost as good as me !" He said with a smile. "And you don't seem out of breath, which is a good sign."

I smiled back at him, and he moved on to the next exercise. He had me work on my agility by setting up a few obstacle courses. He also had me practice my reflexes with various small exercises.

"Well, I'm forced to admit that you're pretty good." He said.

"Thank you !" I replied with a big smile.

"Now, let's test how athletic you are. You'll do 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups, hold a plank for one minute and thirty seconds, and repeat this three times. Only 10 seconds of rest between each exercise, not a second more."

I followed his instructions. Once finished, I took a moment to catch my breath. I hadn't imagined the tests would be so intense, but I supposed it was necessary.

Minho then had me sprint over distances of about 25 meters. He finished by having me run toward him, and I couldn't help but feel proud when I almost reached him at the same time.

After I had finished the physical tests, Minho sighed.

"I have to admit, Maylin, you're pretty strong. But we also need to test your memory now. Runners must memorize every corner of the maze, so if you want to be one, you need to be capable of this."

I nodded, and he began testing my memory. He lined up various objects—kitchen utensils, machetes, stones, and more. He gave me a few seconds to memorize the placement of each object and repeated this several times. After about a good hour, he stopped and sighed.

"Newt is going to scold me, that's for sure." He said.

"Why would he do that ?" I asked, puzzled.

"Forget it." He sighed again. "You're really doing well. I don't know if you practice magic or something, but you made no mistakes and you have solid energy. You've got all the qualities of a Runner. Honestly, you're even better than most." He told me.

Joy filled me, and I gave him a big smile.

"Does that mean I'm in ?" I asked, my eyes sparkling.

"If it were up to me, yes. But I need to talk to the Keepers and the leaders first." He explained.

"Okay. I really hope I get chosen." I said, looking at the towering walls that housed the Maze.

I chatted with Minho for a while since we had nothing else to do for the afternoon. It was too late for him to go into the Maze, and I still hadn't been assigned any work.