Into the Maze

Chapter 18

"Like this." James dug his trowel into the soft soil, rooting up a curling weed. He raised his eyes and looked at the chubby boy kneeling across the row of cabbages from him. The Greenie's brow was furrowed and he watched the action carefully.
"That's what I did." He mimicked the digging action as best he could, but so far this Greenie had possessed very little talent in anything, though he often gave the group a good laugh.
"No, Chuck, that is not what I did." James wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed.
"I did exactly what you did!" Protested the Greenie named Chuck.
"Hey, Jackie!" James waved over Chuck's head.
Minho and Jackie, who had just run out of the maze, paused and located James and Chuck kneeling in the garden. Then Minho jogged away, toward the map room, and Jackie trotted in their direction.
In his two weeks there, Chuck had seen the girl multiple times around the campfire at night and in the Glade in the morning, though she disappeared into the Maze every morning and was in there for most of the day. It was more common to see the other girl, the smaller one, hiding in a tree and staring down at him curiously.
Chuck had not yet questioned why there were only two girls in the maze, but as Jackie stopped next to him and struck up a conversation with James, he couldn't help but wonder.
"Why are you a girl?" He blurted before thinking.
She started and looked down at him, then a smile broke out over her face. "It's our Greenie!" She exclaimed. "Chuck, right?"
"Yeah." The boy turned a bright shade of red, but persisted. "How come you're a girl?"
"Chance." She waved her hand and turned back to James. "Listen, I got to go, I think we're really onto something in the maze!"
"What?!" James asked excitedly.
She hesitated, knowing that she shouldn't tell him about the Runners' process, but then answered, "we finished it. Today. Minho and I ran the last part of the maze. It's all mapped!"
"And the way out!?" James questioned intensely.
She paused, her head dropping slightly, as she delivered the words she knew would crush everyone in the Glade.
"There is no way out."
Minho felt it worse than her. When she saw him that night at dinner, she realized how hard he was taking this blow. She sat down beside him, and silence ensued.
Neither said a word until there were very few boys left, mingling around the fire, unaware of the terrible situation.
"There has to be a way out." Even to herself, her voice sounded dead and unconvincing. "The Creators wouldn't have put us in here if-"
"The Creators don't care anymore," Minho cut her off. "Can't you see? They put a nine-year-old girl in here to suffer. They sent a thirteen-year-old boy here. I understand it now. They put us in here to die."
"Yeah, maybe so. But I'm not dying quietly. I'd rather fight."
"Jackie, we can fight all we want! We're just pawns in their game!"
"But what if we somehow get out!?"
"What about it!?"
"Well... we could all make a new life. All of us. Together."
"That's your problem, Greenie. You have hope. And you care too much about everyone else."
"And you don't care about other people!?"
"I'm not allowed to care, shank!" Minho exclaimed exasperatedly. "Even if I did bother to care for anyone else's problems, they wouldn't let me. We aren't allowed to care for people in the maze. If we were, then I would've-" he glanced furtively at her and cut himself off.
"Would've what?"
"Never mind." Minho's voice was quiet.
"Were you going to say you would care about someone?" She realized just as she said it how taunting it sounded.
"Maybe I did care, at some point in my life. I guess I just don't remember my life when I was allowed to care about other people." Minho's voice was quiet, dead.
A Griever's scream was the only sound in the Glade. Minho sighed, then stood up. "I have to find Alby."
As he stalked away, Jackie found that she now felt lonelier than she had in her entire time in the Glade.
The next morning, when she woke up, Ellie was curled against her back, and most of the Runners were mingling near he Homestead, but Minho was not among them.
Newt was standing among the runners, his thin frame looking weak next to the burly boys', though Jackie knew how strong he could be. He told her that Minho had gotten an early start and that he had instructed that she run with Ben. Though it was innocent enough, she knew that he was still angry.
Ben, however, was cheerful as always, complaining good-naturally to the other boys and poking fun at Newt, making the other boys double up with laughter.
Even when they were in the shaded, dark maze, his good mood continued as he jogged along, and Jackie could almost forget her problems in his presence.
"I don't understand," Ben said, when they finally stopped goofing around and had a normal conversation. "How come we mapped out the whole maze but keep having to run?"
Jackie sighed wearily. "Minho said that we aren't going to stop running until we find a way out. Honestly, I agree with him, as much as it hurts to say it."
"You two been fighting again?" Ben slanted her a knowing look through his shaggy hair.
"How-"
"Everyone who has a brain can tell."
"Well, then how do you know?"
"Ha, ha, very funny." Ben rolled his eyes to express his amount of distaste. "Seriously though, everyone was placing bets on how long it would take you to to get together."
"What!?"
"Yeah, but it still hasn't happened, sadly."
"Why does everyone keep talking about us?" She demanded.
"I still haven't heard you flat-out deny it."
"Deny what?"
"You like him, don't you?"
She stared at the ivy-colored walls, thinking of how the sunlight weaving through the vines glinted in Minho's eyes when he teased her. Thinking of how he was alone in the maze. Though she knew he would be fine without her, she couldn't help but wonder if she would be okay without him.
"Let's go then. Rest is over." She jumped to her feet and pointed at Ben. "You. Move it."
"You sound like a Creator, ordering us around," Ben joked.
She put on her meanest face and stamped her foot. "You there! Get your butt up and get out of this maze that has no way out!"
Ben laughed insolently. "Not on your life! You can't make me move! You can't make me do anything! I'll stay here all day, and all night if I want to!"
"What about the Grievers?"
"Let 'em come! I'll fight 'em off with my bare fists!" Jackie doubled over laughing, Ben's laughter intertwining with her own.
When Ben's laughter cut off suddenly, instead of fading away into a chuckle like it usually did, Jackie knew that something was wrong. She looked up to see him still sitting, but his face was tense, as was his voice when he whispered. "Did you hear something?"
"No, I-"
Click.
Her eyes widened in terror, she grabbed Ben's arm to help him to his feet. She recognized that sound, and it didn't bring back good memories. "Run!" She whispered. "Go! Get back to the Gla-"
A Griever's triumphant scream drowned out her words. It crawled around the corner ahead of them, pincers poised to attack. Whirling, they began to run, feet pounding on the stone floor. But the Griever was not one to be distracted. It's claws dug the ground as it screamed after them, body low to the ground as it scrambled to catch them.
"Not much farther! Go, Ben, go!" Her voice was hysterical.
It was just when they were rounding the corner that it got her. One of the Griever's razor-sharp pincers caught on the back of her jacket, pulling her down. She screamed, twisting away and attempting to scramble away from the creature, which roared in triumph.
She heard Ben scream her name, she felt the Griever's spike pin her down by her arm, blood pouring from the wound. Then Ben was next to her, armed with a thick vine he had yanked from the wall, beating the Griever's metal appendage. The force upon her arm lessened slightly, though the world was going fuzzy as blood poured from her arm.
She felt it. Less than a jab or a stab, just a prick in the palm of her hand. Her eyes dropped down, but it was unnecessary. She knew before she saw the needle embedded in her skin that it was over.
"No!" Ben was beside her, kneeling next to her. "No, Jackie, it's okay. I'll get you back! You'll be fine! I can save you!"
As the maze walls faded away to blackness, Jackie managed a smile at the worried boy leaning over her. "I know you can."