The First Gladers

Chapter 26: Tension

Months go by, flying past you like moths. Soon enough its been a year since you and Alby first arrived in the Glade. Now there are 17 Gladers. You and Minho, still run the Maze along with the new arrivals Ben, and Nick. Newt now is in charge of the Garden with new arrivals Sam and Gabe. Fry Pan is the only cook still, and Gyllen is the only slicer, but now there are two "Med-Jacks" Which are pretty much just ameture doctors, Clint and Jeff. Gally and Evan are in charge of building with the new arrivals Mathew, Ryan, and Elijah.

Now, only you, Newt, Minho, Alby, and Fry sleep in the Homestead, Everyone else sleeps outside in hammocks. The builders have constructed a whole new building for the Med-jacks. With the help of Clint and Jeff, Newt is now on his feet, limping around the Glade. The runners now use the large stone building as a meeting place for creating maps and strategizing.

"I'm certain that once we finish exploring this outer ring we'll have our way out." Minho says. "Now that we know there are patterns throughout the weeks, we can use those patterns to find our way out."

"And how do you expect we do that?" Ben asks, slumped in the corner.

"What do you mean?" Minho asks pompously.

"How do you expect us to use those patterns?" Ben responds, standing to his feet.

Minho sighs, "Well, we'll have to figure out their importance, it has to be a clue on how to get out of here. The Maze isn't random." Minho explains.

"Yeah, sure." Ben starts, "Easy peasy, we'll just walk on out of here because the patterns are going to tell us where to go."

You see anger starting to boil up in Minho's face. With a sigh you stand to your feet.

"Well this has been a lovely meeting, I think it's time for you guys to eat." You say, purposely standing in between both boys. With pursed lips, Ben storms out of the room with Nick on his heals. When Minho is about to walk out, you place a hand on his chest, stopping him.

"Do you really know what you're talking about?" You ask, not looking him in the eye.

Minho sighs, "No. I have no idea how we're going to get out of here, we've almost mapped the whole shuck Maze."

"Ok." You say. "Make sure word doesn't get out. We have nothing if we don't have hope. First thing when these guys here about this, they'll lose hope and there's no chance of escape." You instruct with a furrowed brow.

Then, you turn to the door... Which is open... And Newt is staring right at you and he looks utterly crushed. Your heart sinks and your stomach begins to churn with sickness. His face showing nothing but devastation. His whole body seems to sag with the weight of the world.

You look back at Minho, and gesture for him to go ahead. He moves silently through the door past Newt.

"We need to talk." You say solemnly.

Newt nods, slowly stepping into the room, letting the door click shut behind him.

Your head hangs low as you contemplate what on earth you're going to say to the poor broken boy. He's been broken so much, all you want to do is give him good news. But you can't, there's no good news to give.

 "Is it true?" Newt asks.

For the first time you know what true despair looks like. Newt's whole body sinks, like the weight of the world is sitting upon his shoulders. His faces is drained of any emotion.

You hang your head low, not wanting to answer. All you want to do is tell him that everything will be ok. That he misheard you, that you're escaping the Maze.

"There's no way out?" Newt asks again with a trembling voice.

You nod slowly, "That's what it looks like." You respond.

"Are you sure you guys haven't just missed something?" He asks.

You shake your head, "No we're not sure. We can't be sure of anything anymore."

Newt looks up at you, "But you don't think there's a way out."

"I don't know what to think. We've practically mapped out the whole Maze."

And at that moment, Newt loses hope. Because if you don't have hope, then there's nothing left to hope. You are the one true source of hope in the Glade.

"We have to tell the others." Newt says solemnly.

"We can't. If we tell them now, they'll give up completely. We'd be wiped out within a week."

Newt jumps to his feet, his despair quickly transforming into anger, "Yeah, and!? There's no hope it's just cruel to lead them on. They should know the truth!"

"There could easily be something hidden in the Maze that we haven't found, we have to keep moving on as if we are going to escape, even if it seems unlikely." You try to explain.

"So you're just going to let them walk about, think that every thing is just dandy!? We're just going to let them think that we're going to get out of here!?" Newt rages.

"They need to keep working, or else we'll all be dead. If we're dead there's zero chance we get out, if we're alive we have a chance!"

Newt shakes his head, storming to the door. "You're wrong! They deserve to know their fate!"

You grab him by the wrist, turning him around to face you.

"You listen to me Newt. I'm in charge here. We aren't going to tell them anything." You demand.

Newt glares at you, "Well maybe you shouldn't be 'in charge'. You're just a silly girl, what do you know about leading!?" He spits.

That's the last straw, without thinking you raise your hand to slap him across the face. To your shock he catches it, pulling you towards him until your faces are centimeters apart. You can feel Newt's hot breath on your face. Both yours and his eyes swirl with passion and anger.

"You want to try that again?" He hisses.

His gaze bores deep into your eyes.

You bite your lip as your heart races. "Maybe." You respond boldly.

Newt falters, his eyes flicking down to your lips, then back to your eyes. You become suddenly aware of his closeness. Your heart races as he leans in slightly, lips parting. He freezes. The two of you stand unmoving, faces only an inch apart. Newt falters, releasing your arm and backing away slowly. Then, without a word, he walks out of the room.