CHAPTER THIRTY- ONE
• things are changing •

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

"go read the last chapter if you absolute forget everything in the three weeks since I've updated"

THE NEXT MORNING couldn't come quick enough. It took great strength to keep herself from rushing to the walls right when she woke; but she managed to restrain herself long enough to wait for the rest of the Gladers to wake up. They all seemed so peaceful as they slept, and for that she was jealous; she hadn't been able to close her eyes last night without picturing Thomas and Minho getting devoured by a griever.

Just the thought of the gruesome scene brought tears to her eyes. She was trying to not accept the fate of her friends, but she knew it was undeniable. Nobody survived a night in the maze. Then again, if anyone was able to do it it would be those two.

Her nails were bit down to the point of bleeding, the dark substance staining the tips of her fingers as if she had just picked up a bloody heart. Which in a way could've been her own heart; after all it felt like it had been ripped out of her chest anyway.

It was one thing to have to handle the depression of the night alone. It was another to listen to the faint sobs from Chuck as he cried himself to sleep wrapped in covers that were brought halfway past his face. She could hear the built up snot in his nose every time he sniffled, and it broke her heart even more.

Newt came and found her around 5:20. She had been slumped up against a tree, nearly passed out from exhaustion, when he tapped her on the shoulder and startled her out of her vivid daydream.

He didn't even say anything. He didn't have to. They just stood up together and made their way over to the North entrance, their hearts heavy with despair.

She saw Aaron sometime during the walk over; he was arguing with Gally over by the Meeting hut. Then she remembered what he had asked of her the night before, and her blood began to boil with hatred and loathe.

She was ready to do whatever it took to make sure he wasn't the one who ended up in any leadership positions.

Newt ran a hand over his chin, checking his watch for what had been the third time since they'd been standing there.

6:59. Only one more minute until the doors opened. That minuete passed slowly-slower than she could ever imagine-and then suddenly the ground began to rumble beneath their feet. Chuck clung onto her left side, while Newt, Max and Frypan were on her right. She glanced around, surprised to see only a few other gladers waiting outside the walls. Maybe it was just her who was expecting more people to care about Thomas, Minho, and Alby, but shouldn't everyone at least be a little concerned whether a fellow glader was alive or not.

Then the doors opened. The doors opened and they revealed...nothing. Absolutely nothing besides an empty corridor filled with rustling leaves and tangled vines.

"They're gone," Fry muttered, but Max was quickly to differ.

"I'm going to look for them," he announced. He started marching towards the exit, pulling a knife that had been stored in his pants out by the hilt. His nostrils flared as he started towards the door.

Evony followed quickly behind him. She knew Max was taking action solely out of the fact of anger. Following him would be the only way he didn't let that anger turn into regret.

"Max wait-"

He didn't stop. He kept jogging, that jogging turning into a fast sprint which Evony managed to keep up with. The two rounded the corner of the maze, aiming to go to the left when suddenly they crashed into something hard.

Both teens fell to the ground, feet tangled in the thick ivy as hands reached out to grab their arms.

"Evony?"

"Thomas?"

"Minho?"

"Evy?"

"Minho?

"Max?"

"Evs!"

Thomas tackled her into a hug which she returned with full amount of force. Her chin dug into the side of his neck, giving a firm squeeze before moving over to do the same to Minho. Only Max stood there awkwardly, unsure whether he and Thomas were close enough for a hug, or whether he and Minho were on talking terms yet. Evony on the other hand, was enjoying every moment of this unexpected reunion.

It was cut short by her eyes spotting Alby on the floor.

"Is that-"

"I had to knock him out," Minho confessed, "He was easier to drag when unconscious."

Max' eyes widened. "Shit, is he okay?"

Thomas shook his head, "We don't know. We need to get him back to the Glade." He nodded towards Minho, and the two of them looped their arms under Albys legs. Max and evony grabbed his shoulders, and together the four of them lifted him into the air and walked around the corner.

She saw Chuck's ecstatic smile first, followed by the proud grin placed on Newt's face; She beamed back at them.

They continued carrying him through the maze, meeting a huddle of Gladers who helped to lower the man to the ground. After he was safely on the ground, Evony backed away, accessing the damage done to their leaders head. She crouched down next to Thomas, letting him lean into her a little as they relished in each other's presence.

"Did you see a griever?" Chuck asked eagerly, his curly hair sticking up in all ways. He pointed his gaze down towards Thomas.

"Yeah I saw one.." the brunet claimed, but Minho was quick to object. His calloused fingers rubbed together, licking his lips in an ever so slight way.

"He didn't just see it...he killed it."

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

It was safe to say the Glade erupted into chaos after that. Alby was immediately reported to the med-jack hut, while the majority of the boys gathered for a highly needed meeting. This was including Thomas-who, even though not a keeper-was put in a scarce position. It would've been bad enough if this was the first time he had run into the maze without permission, but no, this was the second occurance.

She knew some of Gladers would use that knowledge to their advantage when deciding his punishment. ( again ).

For now he was seated on a ledge, separated from the rest of the crowd. The attendance for the meeting was a larger quantity than usual; it seemed that the interest had been peaked for several gladers. Evony didn't know what to think about it all, for she was still relishing in the fact he, along with Minho and Alby, were standing before her.

Gally stood up from his chair, fingers cracking against the side of his thighs. His arms crossed over his chest in a way to prove dominance. It kind of made her want to laugh.

"Things are changing," he began; solemn looks displayed on the gladers faces, "there's no denying that."

He stopped to glance around at his audience-more than half were staring at the ground. "First Ben gets stung in broad daylight-then Alby...and now our dear Thomas has taken it upon himself to go into the maze-for the second time. Which is a clear violation of our rules here."

He points his fingers at Thomas as he talks.

"Yeah, but he saved Albys life," Frypan objects, which she is suddenly glad for, as him restating the positive side of this was heavenly needed to persuade the jury.

Gally only huffed. "Did he?"

"Obviously he did," Evony spoke up, "You saw him: alive and breathing."

"Let's calm down," Newt reasoned. His voice seemed to smooth over the sea of people, settling the incoherent rambling into only small whispers. "The reason we're here is because almost every lovin' kid has come up to me in the past few days either boohooing about Thomas or begging to take his bloody hand in marriage."

Her head shot over to the brunet, who's eyes were wide with shock and perhaps annoyance. A part of her knew he liked the attention, but she could also dictate most of his expressions. This one was rather easy; he looked like he was about to throw up.

Evony really hoped he didn't do that.

"Exactly," Gally agreed, "Which is why we need to talk. For three years we have coexisted with these things"-he pointed to Thomas-"and now you've killed one."

Evony glanced at Minho, whose jaw was clenched rather tightly, matching his knuckles that were found white. Then to Max who was sitting next to Chuck on the spectating seats. He was pretending to talk with his hands, mouthing what looked like blah blah blah.

It took her only a moment to realize he was mimicking Gally. She snorted, which caused Max to struggle to hold in a laugh as well. The counsel glared at them and their inappropriate timing for misbehavior.

"What's so funny?" Aaron spoke up, taking his place next to the other builder. She hadn't a clue where he'd come from, but him arriving just made the situation more ironic.

She covered her mouth, and Max stared with wide eyes. "Uh," he sputtered, "Your-"

"That's enough! Max, you've been reprimanded from this meeting." Gally urged him on by gripping the side of his shirt, pulling him up from his seat. The runner was doubled over at this point, wheezing uncontrollably as if he was being tickled. Evony wasn't quite sure what was so funny anymore, but seeing it was Max, she was sure it was something stupid.

"The exit is on your left."

"Get off me," Max huffed, "I know where the damn door is."

Everyone stay quite as the boy exited the room, his last words cursing Gally for being an idiot. Gally only rolled his eyes in return. "Behavior like that is what's going to get us killed."

"Enough about Max," Newt cut in, "What do you say we do about Thomas."

"I say he needs to be punished."

"And how would that be?" Evony questioned, pacing herself closer to Thomas in a half attempt to block him. "Because last time he was the center of a meeting half of you slint-heads voted to end his damn life."

Gally stayed still; Aaron shrugged.

"I think we revoke Thomas' job as a runner," Aaron proposed. The uproar began again, except this time several more gladers seemed to be agreeing with the proposal.

"Everyone slim-it!" Newt yelled out, overbearing the noise of the boys. "Minho, you were there with him. What do you think?"

She looked eagerly over to her best friend. He would side with them, she knew it.

He sighed, "I think, in all the time we've been here, nobody has ever killed a griever before. When I turned tail and ran, this dumb shank stood behind to help Alby." Minho paused, a flash of hurt appearing on his face in a swift motion. Him and Thomas made eye contact, each exchanging a subtle nod. "Look I don't know if he's brave or stupid, but whatever it is we need more of it.

"So what are you saying?" Aaron questioned. His eyes switched between Minho and herself, as if he was keeping watch on her reactions to his words.

Minho licked his lips, arms staying crossed with his lips pressed into a thin line. Both boys were subconsciously puffing their chests out in pride to make themselves look bigger. She had seen a lot of that over the three years; she figured it was a guy thing. He quickly glanced at her, then with a faint smirk he leaned back against the wall. "I say we make him Keeper of the Runners."

"The Keeper?" Frypan asked astonished, "Minho let's not jump the gun here,"

But Minho stayed still, holding firm in his decision. A rejoiced smile appeared on her face, a mixture of pride and relief. Gazing over to Thomas, she saw him on the edge of his seat, mouth parted open like how it was when he fell asleep at night. His hands brushed over the material of his pants, rubbing anticipatingly over his knees.

Evony loved Minho-In an extremely platonic way of course. She loved the way his brain worked in social situations. While his words seemed to sound serious, his declaration was no more than a fraud. Anyone with a brain should be able to see that, because what part of Minho's ego would really let him give up that power position? His statement had been nothing more than a way to cause chaos, and it left room for bargaining.

Though, to the rest of the Gladers they only saw truth behind his eyes, so the chatter began.

She could hear Chuck chanting on the other side of the room, raising his fist in the air while screaming Thomas' name. She saw several boys rise from their seats to strut over to Minho, yet the Keeper simply shoved them away. Then when she saw Thomas she winked at him, hopefully to let him know that everything was under control. He, however, raised his eyebrows back with a tilted head.

Evony gave up signaling things to him after that.

"If you want to throw him a parade then fine, go ahead. But if there is one thing I know about the maze, it's that you don't-'' Gallys words were cut off, replaced by a blaring sound coming from outside. Bodies stopped, mouths closed, as everyone turned to listen intensively to the noise. Faces turned to shock, and suddenly every individual was rampaging their way out of the hut.

Evony waited for Thomas before she sprinted out, and together the two ran to catch up with the rest of the crowd. The entire glade was surrounding the box, necks cranes to inspect what was inside.

There was no reason for a box to be coming up now; they had gotten their shipment of items yesterday, and they hadn't had a new greenie in months. That was unless...

"Newt, what do you see?"

"It's another girl..."

Evony couldn't believe it, there was no way she heard the three words she's been waiting for for three years. Yet, when she managed to peer her head over the other boys she saw the girl for herself.

She was beautiful. Her hair was like a ravens, skin so smooth and body like a porcelain doll. There was an element to her that she couldn't place. It was so near, so close, though just looking at her made her heart burn with rage.

Newt peered around in confusion at the other Gladers, like reassurance that they were seeing the same thing as him. His gaze then flickered back to the girl, and he spoke the words everybody was thinking. "I think she's dead."

"Well, what's in her hand?"

Newt paused for a second, then kneeled down and unraveled the piece of parchment from the girl's fingertips. Thomas' fingers twirled with each other, an action that she knew only ever depicted one certain emotion.

But, why was he nervous?

"She's the last one ever," Newt read aloud, causing the gladers to look at him with blank stares.

Evonys mind immediately began to spin, analyzing what the words could mean for the future. Last one ever? That meant that there was never going to be another greenie. So did that mean they would steal their monthly shipments? Or was the note referring to the box in general. And if the box was never coming back up then how long would they be able to survive off what they had?

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Suddenly the girl woke up, her eyes shooting open while. gasping for air. "Thomas..." she breathed, then was out again as quick as she had woken up.

Slowly, Evonys eyes dragged up towards Thomas' face. His eyes were stuck fixated on the girl in the crate, his nose scrunched, eyelids blinking excessively in disbelief. She wasn't surprised when everybody else turned to look at him too, after all this was the first time a greenie has ever knew another glader.

Aaron clicked his tongue in almost an unbearing way. "Still think we're overreacting?" he asked the crowd, and Evony felt her stomach twist seeing the shaking heads that scanned across the group. From there they dispersed, leaving the med jacks to take care of the new girl.

"You coming," Thomas inquired, his eyes drawing in on her with admiration. His fingers reached out for her own, which barely brushed his before she turned her head back around.

The med jacks were handling the girl now by lifting her onto a sling they had made for occasions like this. In this position she could see the girl's arm more clearly, as it hung down to the side, limp from all motion.

And there it was, the reason she had felt off at her presence.

OD

The letters carved directly into her skin that resembled ones like Thomas'-like Alec's.

"I'm coming," she clarified, realizing it had been a few seconds since he had spoken.

"but we need to talk.."

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

MAE's FUN NOTES
everyone pretend this took
three days and not three weeks
okay? OKAY??

I just have no motivation to write
after school so yea 👍 but I
promise im gonna try my best

next few chapters in the maze
are gonna explain a lot and there's
some things that have happened
that u might've forgotten that are
gonna get brought up again

also, favorite tell me your
favorite song on Midnights ->

love u guys !! ❤️