❝listen for the sound❞

IT WAS A QUIET NIGHT IN THE GLADE. Hardly anyone got any sleep, and if they did, it was very little. How could they sleep when two of the people that had been in the Glade the longest might die in the Maze with the Grievers?

Iris did not need a bunch of people huddling around her and asking if they were going to be okay and what would happen if they didn't make it. She just would not be able to take it, so she spent the night on the top of the scaffolding.

When she finally decided to stand up, she leaned over the railing and stared out at the Glade. That place would not be the same without Alby and Minho. It already felt gloomier. She heard someone climbing up the ladder, but she didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Jem leaned next to her and looked out over the fields too. She was too worried to even remember what he had said earlier. She sighed, "They're dead, aren't they?"

"We don't know that," he replied, but his tone was grim and not very convincing.

She glanced at him with an unconvinced look as she tapped her foot nervously on the wooden ground so that it made a noise. "No one has ever survived a night in the Maze."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," he muttered, trying to keep her spirits up. He knew she would never forgive herself if she gave up on Minho, especially if he was still alive.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Since when did you become such as optimist? I'd have thought you'd be the one telling me that they're dead and not to get my hopes us."

"Well, I thought I'd try to be a gentleman, but it's a lot of work," he told her, and she chuckled a little bit. She did not catch the proud smile that appeared on his face when he got her to laugh. "Look, all I know is that if anyone can survive a night in the Maze, it's Minho. He'll find a way."

She sighed with a nod and shot him a grateful smile. "You're right. Thanks for that."

"Yeah! Yes! Yeah! Yeah!" The sound of Chuck yelling excitedly caught their attention. They whipped their heads around to see the Gladers that were standing by the Doors cheering excitedly.

When three figures appeared on the grass, Iris's frown turned right into a smile as she breathed out, "No shucking way." She laughed out loud as Jem chuckled in disbelief before following her as she practically fell down the ladder. She sprinted across the grass to where they were standing and did not waste any time is embracing Minho.

She was so happy that he was okay. She did not know what she would do without him there. She pulled back just slightly as he stumbled a bit but held her back. She looked him in the eye. "Do not scare me like that again, you fucking slinthead."

"Woah, language. There are children present," he joked, gesturing to Chuck with a smile.

"What happened in there?" Gally questioned as he walked over to them. Iris pulled back and stood next to the rest of the boys so that he could explain. Alby was on the ground next to her, and it was clear that he had gotten stung as well. "How did you guys make it out?"

Chuck looked at Thomas in question. "You saw a Griever?"

"Yeah, I saw one," he told him, nodding slowly and shrugging it off as if it happened every day and did not mean anything. No one had ever seen a Griever and lived to tell the tale.

"He didn't just see it," Minho corrected, and his next words shocked everyone even more than the fact that they made it out alive. "He killed it."

《 ✢ 》

"THINGS ARE CHANGING," GALLY POINTED OUT. They were all at the Gathering to decide Thomas's fate. This time, instead of just having the Keepers, they decided to include the entire Glade. "There's no denying that. First, Ben gets stung in broad daylight. And then Alby. And now our Greenie, here, has taken it upon himself to go into the Maze. Which is a clear violation of our rules here."

"Yeah, but he saved Alby's life," Frypan added, and that was a very important factor in the decision since Alby was their leader. They might not be able to survive without him.

The Keeper of the Builders scoffed, "Did he? For 3 years, we have coexisted with these things, and now, you've killed one of them. Who knows what that could mean for us?"

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Newt asked him with raised eyebrows. The blonde was supposed to be second-in-command, but it seemed that Gally had taken it upon himself to run this Gathering.

He answered, "He has to be punished." That was met with a lot of protests and yelling, so it was pretty clear that that was not what was wanted by the people. However, they did not really have a say in anything. They were just there to watch as the Keepers made a decision.

"Minho," Newt called from where he was leaning against a tree, and everybody's eyes shifted to the Runner. "You were there with him. What do you think?"

"I think...in all the time we've been here, no one has ever killed a Griever before. When I turned tail and ran, this dumb shank stayed behind to help Alby. Look, I don't know if he's brave or stupid, but whatever it is, we need more of it. I say we make him a Runner," Minho announced to the group.

That made everyone's jaws drop. Many crowd members let out remarks of confusion, and Frypan exclaimed, "Minho, let's not jump the gun here, all right?"

"Thomas! Thomas! Thomas! Thomas!" Chuck chanted, trying to get some others to join in, but when no one did, he fell silent and looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

Minho looked over to the girl that had been pretty quiet the entire time. "Iris, you haven't said anything. What do you think we do?"

"Thomas broke one of our three rules — don't go into the Maze unless you're a Runner," she breathed out, and she wasn't really sure where she was going with what she was saying. She was kind of more thinking out loud. She glanced over at Jem whose gaze was switching between her and Gally. He was not a Keeper. He could not contribute to the conversation. "And we can't have people thinking that they can just go breaking rules and be left unpunished. But, he also saved the lives of two Gladers. I agree that he should be punished, but that also shouldn't go unrewarded."

"All right, if you want to throw the newbie a parade, that's fine. But if there is one thing I know about the Maze, it is that you do not..." he trailed off when he was interrupted by a loud noise, one that they usually only heard once a month.

Iris furrowed her eyebrows and followed Gally and Newt as they sprinted out of the room and toward the center of the Glade. "What the hell?"

The Box was coming up.

Jem and Minho pulled open the gate of the top of the Box as the doors opened before them. The girl stood waiting above with Jem in confusion as Newt jumped down. The Box had never come up early or late. It had always been on schedule, which was why they were all so freaked out.

"Newt, what do you see? What's in there?" Frypan quizzed as the rest of the Gladers gathered around them to peer down into the Box, wondering what was happening.

Newt paused for a moment before looking back up at them, specifically Iris. He announced, "It's a girl." There were mutters of confusion and disbelief as Thomas pushed his way through them to stand next to Jem. They looked down, and sure enough, there was a girl laying unconscious next to Newt. "I think she's dead."

"What's in her hand?" Gally questioned, nodding to the girl's half-open hand, and they could see something sticking out of it.

The blonde boy in the Box crouched down and grabbed it, revealing it to be a slip of paper. He opened it and read it out loud. "'She's the last one...ever.' What the hell does that mean?" It was pretty obvious, though.

That was the last time that the Box was ever going to come up.

Iris's brain went into overdrive. If they weren't getting any more supplies or people, then they would have to ration everything until they could find a way to get out. Food would be even more limited, and injuries would only be cured if absolutely necessary.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a gasp. She whipped her head around to see that the girl had woken up. She locked eyes with the boy in the blue shirt and breathed out, "Thomas." Then, she fell back asleep as everyone looked to the boy. Gally looked around as well.

"Still think I'm overreacting?"