Maze Runner: The Subject Experiment

15 ❀ Exile

Newt shook the girl awake.

"It's time," was all he said.

As the keepers made their way out of the council hall she noticed the sense of dread that filled the Glade. The other Gladers rose from their hammocks. The whole place was in perpetual silence. No one dared to break it. As she looked from face to face all she saw were solemn expressions.

She wondered how they would do it. Knock him unconscious and carry him out into the maze to leave him there? Maybe Alby himself would push him through the doors?

Whatever way it would happen it must be wrong. Throwing a friend into the danger zone to be killed was against the very rules Alby sought to protect.

The group walked to the doors of the walls where Mihno and Gally were holding Stephen. He was in tears again. Alby stood in front of them. Beside him was a pile of long wooden poles. Alby picked one up.

Soon, one by one the Gladers picked up a pole.

Stephen was begging now as Gally and Minho threw him to his knees before the ominous, looming doors.

She looked at Stephen. She had to do something. She marched right up to Alby.

"Stop this!"

Alby turned to face her. "You have another solution?" His voice cut through her like cold steel.

Stephen turned his head towards the girl. "Please, don't let them do it!"

"Hypocrite!" she screamed. She turned to the others. "Your leader is ordering the death of your friend!" she shouted, anger filling her body. 

The boys shuffled about, guilt painted all over their faces.

"He's disobeying the rules he made himself! How can you trust a leader who'll give up on you and throw you out to those monsters?! Who'll turn on you the second you're no longer of use to him?!"

She turned back to glare at Alby. To her surprise, he didn't look angry, or even irritated. His eyes glistened with sadness, a knowing sadness.

"No one wants to do this," he said.

"You have a choice."

Alby shook his head.

She turned around to look at the keepers with their poles. Then her heart sank and her eyes widened with horror. Newt was picking up a pole too.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Not you too, Newt."

Newt's sorry eyes met hers for just a moment before he looked away.

The Gladers circled Stephen. 

With a loud grating sound, the doors opened.

Alby gave the signal, a nod.

She bolted towards the boy but someone grabbed her from behind, it was Gally. She twisted and struggled to get free but he held her tightly. There was nothing she could do.

Minho tossed a bag through the doors. Alby gave the order.

"Poles!" he shouted.

The boys pointed their poles at Stephen, forming a semi-circle around him, forcing him out. He grabbed the poles, clamouring to get past. Something changed within Stephen. He was more an animal than a boy now, desperate, clinging, scratching at the poles.

Then he started shouting. "You bastards! You all deserve to die! Every last one of you! Burn in hell!"

The girl screamed. "Stop!"

Ben turned around, then, without warning, while he was distracted Stephen grabbed a hold of Ben's pole and pulled it forward, causing Ben to fall to the ground. Then he lunged on him, beating him. He punched Ben's head, hard, again and again and again. Everything nearly dissolved into unorganised panic, until Minho dropped his pole and flung Stephen off. Ben got up, he walked to the boy and, with all the strength he had, dragged Stephen through the doors and kicked him into the darkness. Both Minho and Ben took back their poles and re-joined the formation barricading the door. Stephen was left on the other side as the doors began to close.

A beast-like rage took over the banished boy. He wasn't Stephen anymore, he was a furious, savage animal. The girl froze in Gally's grip, what she saw terrified her. He kept shouting, "I'll kill you all! I'll kill you!" over and over. Those were the last words anyone ever heard from Stephen again. The doors met each other, that was the end.

Ben collapsed to the ground.

"Med-jacks!" Alby shouted and Clint and Jeff rushed to help Ben to the hut.

Alby turned to the girl. "He'll only have bruises, not much blood. Now would be a good time to try out for the med-jacks, especially because it's you're fault he's been hurt."

The girl looked up in denial. She was about to argue that it wasn't her fault, but Alby's condemning stare made her unable to retaliate and she was too shocked to be angry any more.

"Go on, help fix him up."

She ripped herself from Gally's grip and walked in the direction of the med-jack hut. Soon enough, as predicted, Newt followed.

...

When they entered the hut Ben was already lying on the bed. He was covered in bruises that were already starting to show and his nose was bleeding slightly but he had it covered by the tissue he held pinched over his nose.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" the girl questioned.

"See that bucket of water?" Jeff pointed to a bucket beside the bed and handed her some cloth. "You need to cool down his wounds."

She set to work, dunking the cloth in the ice-cold water before holding it down on Ben's wounds. He winced at her touch.

Suddenly, something occurred to her.

"Sit up," she told Ben. With a struggle, he managed it. 

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Clint.

"Trust me, I just know, okay?" she replied.

Clint looked to Newt. She looked to him too, her eyes asking for trust. Newt nodded at Clint, allowing her to continue. She smiled. Could it be that Newt trusted her judgement?

"Don't tilt your head back, sit up straight and lean your head forward."

"Why?" Ben asked.

"Do you want to choke on your nose blood?"

Ben shook his head.

"Good, and don't stop pinching your nose with that tissue."

She continued to work on cooling his bruises.

Ben's injuries were serious. As she tended to his wounds she finally understood what Alby and Newt had meant. They were right, Stephen really had become dangerous. If he had kept hitting Ben, he could have killed him.

That thought sent a shiver down her spine.