The First Gladers

Chapter 14: Back Into the Maze

 Newt looks at you with a kind of sympathy that is so pure and genuine, you truly feel cared for. He knows how you feel, and he wants to help, but that's not his job. You should be helping him, and you'll soon realize just how much help he needs.

"How long did you say you've been here?" Newt asks in a whisper, his hand still rests on your shoulder comfortingly.

"A month." You respond softly.

"That's horrible. I'm sorry." Newt says sweetly. "We're going to get out of here. I'll make sure of that. " Newt says confidently.

"Thanks Newt. Let's start with these sandwiches first, there's a whole bunch of hungry boys to feed." You say with the brightest smile you can muster. No need to dwell on your missing past any longer.

The two of you fix up eight grilled cheeses and call all the boys in for lunch. The boys and you gather in the kitchen, sitting wherever you can.

"Okay guys. What do we know?" You ask once everyone gets settled.

"Me and Gally have come up with a list of requests, you can finalize it then we'll send it down. Gally also had the idea of staying in the box so when it goes down, we can go down with it." Alby explains.

You bite your lip, deep in thought. It's too easy, it'd never work, or if it did, you'd be met by Grievers at the bottom. Is it worth a shot?

"We'll talk more about that idea later, anything else?" You decide.

"We have cleaning supplies, a chart explaining the edible parts of animals, and more building supplies. Chris states.

"Oh sweet! That means we can eat some protein!" Alby exclaims.

"If you want to kill those animals, I'll cooks the food." You shrug, thinking that no one will want to kill this sweet innocent animals.

"I'll do it." Gyllen says.

"What?" You ask. No way. Why would anyone volunteer for that?

"I'll do it if no one else will." Gyllen says again.

"Alright then. We'll have to be smart though, we can't just kill 'em all at once or else we wont have anymore." You explain. Gyllen nods in understanding.

"Well, I guess back to the question of staying in the box." You start with a sigh. "There's definitely risk. We don't know what's down there, there could be Grievers or guys with guns. We just don't know." You explain.

"There's no way to know unless we try. It's been a month and you guys haven't found a way out, I think it's worth a shot." Gally argues.

You bite your lip. "Fine. If you're willing to volunteer yourself, we'll try it." You declare.

Gally nods. "Alright. I'll do it."

You sigh. "Alright then. Everyone get back to work, except Alby and Chris, I need to talk to you guys." You instruct. The boys follow your orders and head off into their separate directions.

"What's up Y/n?" Chris asks.

 "We need to explore the maze. We have paper now and more people. It's been a month, we really need to get out of here." You say warily.

"What do you suggest?" Alby asks, a hint of fear lining his voice.

"A couple people go out every day, map as much as they can until we find a way out."

"What about the Grievers.?" Chris asks.

"I've got a feeling they won't be bothering us for a while. I think it was just a warning. Although we'l make sure no one gets stuck over night." You say.

"We don't know that for sure though, we could be sending people to their deaths like we did before." Alby says heatedly, "I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the lives we lost."

His words hit you hard in the gut. Your first instinct is to lash out and yell. Yet somehow you remain composed.

"No. We don't know for sure, but like Gally said, we won't know until we try. We have to get out of here, and somehow I don't think going down in the box is the right way."

"I'll explore the Maze." A voice offers behind you.

You spin around to see Minho listening from the doorway.

"Minho, aren't you supposed to be working?" You question with annoyance in your voice.

"Well, I was going to do that, but this just seemed so much more interesting." Minho adds with a shrug.

You roll your eyes. "This conversation doesn't concern you yet, get back to work."

"Wait Y/n, he wants to go into the Maze isn't that a good thing?" Alby asks.

You suck in a deep breath. "Yes. We'll have to explore in pairs. The others will all need different jobs, we'd have to bring weapons, someone else will have to make food, I guess Gyllen could do that. We need more rooms, someone will have to build them..."

"Hold up Y/n." Minho interrupts, "You're not making any sense."

You sigh. He's right, you can't even make sense of all the craziness in your mind.

"I need a minute." You announce before walking calmly out the door. You walk into the woods and find the scrappy graves of the lost boys. You let out a deep breath and allow yourself to relax. You know what's coming next, you're going to have to go back into the Maze. Minho can't go alone and you can't force anyone else to go. You'll have to do it right this time, leave bread crumbs, make sure to be back before the doors close, take notes, and bring weapons. You'll have to assign jobs to the other boys, make sure things are still getting done. Your leg starts to ache at the thought of returning to the Maze. It has gotten stronger since the Griever attacked you, but you still have a limp. Your heart starts to race faster and faster the more you think about it.

Leaves rustle behind you and you turn your head to see Chris.

"Hey, you alright?" He asks. You're getting tired of being asked that.

"Yeah. Just thinking everything through." You respond

"You're going back out there aren't you?" He asks, already knowing the answer.

"I don't have any other choice. I can't sit here and let the newbies go in there on their own. I'm going out there, but I'm going to do it right." You answer. 

A/N: Hey guys, I know I've been horrible on updating, I've just had a really really hard week. I'd love it if you guys would keep commenting and voting on my chapters! Thank you all for your support, and I hope you all have a wonderful day!-- Mary H