CHAPTER THIRTY- FIVE
• run boy run •

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EVONY SHOULD'VE KNOWN that Max would wake her up at the crack of Dawn. He was probably awake for a solid hour before he had even dared to tamper into her hut. His outmost positivity was refreshing though, since the dream she had woke up from was anything of the sort. Besides that, however, she didn't need his blonde curls being the first thing she saw as she forced herself up and out of bed.

"Rise and shine," he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows in a jagged pattern. Evony slapped his hand that had tried to pull away her blanket.

"I'm up," she insured. She forced her body to push itself up onto her elbows. "Give me five minutes and I'll be ready."

"Better be; your boyfriends waiting."

"He can wait as long as he needs too," she retorted back. Max only shrugged.

"That's funny since it seems you couldn't keep your hands to yourself for one night."

His words took a minute to sink in, but once they did she shot up and out from under her covers. She was sure her eyes had gone wide—there was a good reason for them to after all. Max was slowly walking backwards towards the door, a steadfast smile on his face that was a bit too snarky for her liking.

He let out a sharp laugh. "Don't worry. I just saw you walking back from that direction, but you know me, assuming the worst."

He turned and left after that, waving his fingers goodbye before he shut the door behind him. Evony swore there was no privacy in the Glade. Somehow somebody knew something about her no matter the situation. It was like how everyone knew she liked Thomas before she did. Except looking back she had realized how obvious it was during the later months.

Evony went through her normal morning routine, finishing it off by pulling her runners harnest over her head.

A flash of an image from her dream spun in her head, quickly enveloping her back into the picture.

Her eyes darted back and forth to both ends of the hallway she was in before grabbing the collar of a shirt and pulling the body out of view. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" The blurry face stammered in a panicked state, "What are you doing here!"

She clasped a hand over the figures mouth. A boy behind them, who she didn't recognize, gave them a funny look in which she responded with pressed lips and a shrug. She looked back over to see the figure staring at her with the most shocked expression that she had ever seen.

"Look-" She started, her tone sharp from the anger bubbling up inside her.

"Evony, why are you here?"

She rolled her eyes, "it's fine-"

"Tell me what they told you."

"Its fi-"

"Evony, tell me exactly what they told you." The figure ordered, but this time the voice was louder and somehow deeper at the same time. She let go of their shirt, pushing at their chest so they would back away from her.

"You want to know what they told me?" Her arms crossed in front of her. "They called me a lying bitch when I explained what you said to me last night. Yeah, that whole thing about me not going into the maze—bullshit."

"No.."

"Yes." she snapped, "You lied to me, again. This is the second time, and it's a good thing that I'm not going to have to see you for awhile, because I really don't want to be mad at you."

She blinked back into reality. The dream was clear as day, with every detail of the picture in perfect quality. The only part that seemed to be missing was the face of the person she had been talking too. For whatever reason they're features had been blurred by her brain, only increasing her confusion and curiosity. She had plenty of dreams, but none of them had feel this real and this...alive.

Whoever she had been talking to was a boy—that much was decipherable from the voice—but it was squeaky and a tad pitchy, almost like he was going through puberty. She could also tell from the energy radiating off both of them that their argument was unexpected. And then there was the mention of the maze...

All the elements led her to a suspicion that this was bigger than just a regular dream. If she found time later in the day, maybe she would ask Newt or someone for their opinion.

Evony grabbed her satchel and ran to Fry's kitchen to load it with the necessity's. She had her hopes up that they wouldn't be spending the entire day in the maze, but with her chosen company she could never be too sure.

She found Minho, Max and Thomas in a huddle near the entrance of the doors. Minho stuck his hand in the air to wave to her. With a quick jog she managed fo catch up to the group, and Thomas greeted her by pulling her into a quick side hug, gently rubbing her arm.

"Disgusting," Max coughed.

Minho slapped him in the chest, "Watch your words. We all know what you get up to."

"And you don't?" Max gritted back—a challenge—but the Keeper had already jogged off. The exchange usually would've sounded playful, but there was a sharp edge to their words when they spoke. The deeper meaning that led to Ben stayed hidden underneath them. She wasn't sure if either of them had spoken about it yet. It wasn't exactly her place to ask.

Evony felt confusion for only a split moment on why Minho had so suddenly ran off to the side, but it was quickly replaced by the sight of Aaron. His dark curls stuck to his forhead from what looked like a morning shower. A clean pair of running shoes had been gifted to him along with a fresh satchel. She wondered who had been in charge of giving such new items. Certainly not her or Minho—they wouldn't give up such precious necessities to somebody like him.

Speaking of Minho, his face held a scowl as he walked behind Aaron's prideful steps. A firm crease set inbetween his eyebrows as he listened to the builder mumble words she couldn't make out.

As they approached, she caught Thomas straightening himself up. Whatever fued the two boys had going on was most likely to only advance after today; there was no telling what could go wrong.

"Well, well, Tommy-boy. Looks like your wish came true." Aaron grinned down at him with pleasure. He adjusted the straps on his vest. "I'm your new partner."

Thomas grimaced and gave a slight nod of the head, showing that he was beyond not interested in him or his words. In fact, she was quite proud that he managed to turn away instead of firing back a comment.

"You got any tips for me, princess?" Aaron whispered next to her. She was thankful Thomas was already inbetween Minho and Max, probably stopping their bickering.

She glanced unempathetically at him, "Try not to fall behind; we don't slow down for new candidates."

He blinked back at her, but she didn't stay long enough to hear what his comeback was—she already took off behind the three other boys.

"All right," Minho shouted to each one of them before he took off jogging again. "Let's go! This way."

The four carried on with the instruction. They passed tons and tons of overgrown ivy and stone walls—the average surroundings for where they lived. It wasn't long until they reached the inner ring, and Minho announced it to them by waving his arms to make them stop.

"That's strange," he muttered, mostly to himself, except his eyes were facing Thomas. The two boys huddled closer to eachother, leaving Evony and Max to stand off to their side. Her accomplice side-eyed his friends.

"What?" Aaron pointed quickly, "Well, what is it, Minho?"

He looked up, eyes not making contact with the boy who had spoken. "Seven isn't supposed to be open for another week." The group stifled, each of them avoiding contact with the others as they processed the information given to them. Evony for one knew that the maze always worked in the same flawless pattern, so it was almost unbelievable that there was a mistake to be made.

Grey walls seemed to close in around them. The eery gloom that usually surrounded them only Inhanced with the echoing sounds, almost as if there were creatures lurking in the walls. Her shoe caught on a peice of ivy as she advanced forward, and she kicked it away for good measure. Thomas was scanning the area around them, his eyes crazed which led her to believe his brain was working a mile a minute to conjure up a solution.

Minho slowly led the way. One step at a time he made the journey into the widened area. Sharp slabs of metal were placed throughout, each peice sticking up as high as the maze walls. The Blades. They were deadly, fast paced machines that dared anyone a death sentence if they stepped near. A while back one of their runners had Injured his leg pretty nastily on the edges of one. Ever since then Evony had made sure to avoid the area, running around the sides instead of cutting through the middle.

This was, of course, since she started running with Thomas. Apparently Minho and Max had no problem marching straight into the line of terror.

"Shouldn't we walk around?"

Minho refused, "It's quicker this way. We're fast, if anything happens just...run."

"You make it sound so simple," she jabbed back, but he had already stopped paying attention. Something new had caught his eye; when she followed the line of where he was looking she too became curious.

"Holy shit," Aaron cursed into the air. Evony noticed the rare look of disbelief on his face.

Torn peices of a shirt laid scattered on the ground. Slits and holes split apart the fabric at the seams, it's maroon color stained with stone shavings. Next to it sat a pouch—it too was shred apart.

Thomas was the first to crouch down. Then Evony. Then Minho and Max who bent down after a quick glance—more like a glare— at eachother.

She suddenly noticed the shift in posture from Aaron. A creaking noise filled the air, causing everyone to rise with the sound. Her train of thought stopped once she saw Aaron's hand reach out for the back of Minhos harnest, leaving her to rush towards the boy.

Aaron grabbed the metal cylinder quickly, pulling back and holding it high in the air. The group stood at once—none attacking the builder immidiantly, but it was clear any of the four of them were ready to charge if needed.

"Give it back, Aaron," Thomas asked warningly.

"Yeah, man, you don't know what you're doing," Max said.

Aaron laughed, but it faded as the clicking sound increased at a rapid pace. He looked up at the object in his hand, the red light was blinking faster—and brighter—than it had been a few moments ago.

"Hand it over," Minho tried, more forcefully. Aaron dodged where he'd stepped forward and the creaking sound shifted.

The group stopped at the sudden change in sounds. Staring at the metal object, Evony pleaded for Aaron to hand it back to Minho. After all, he was in charge, it was rightfully his to be holding.

The culprit just shook his head, continuing to back up, and in return increasing the creaking noise even more. Again, the sound was changing with every step. It was becoming more recognizable—more familiar.

It clicked in an instant.

"Aaron, you need to give it back right now," she exclaimed, her voice urgent and tense.

"I'm doing my part."

Thomas got in front of her, advancing on Aaron. "Hand it over," he spoke, somehow the calmest out of the four of them.

Aaron laughed, "What even is this thing? You all are acting like it's a gift from God. Should I be worshipping this peice of metal?—down on my knees type of shit?"

"Just give to me."

Thomas kept walking towards him, which coincidentally made Aaron step backwards at the same pace. She was even with her boyfriend, so she could see how his eyes were strained on the area of wall behind the builder. Her nose scrunched, wondering what plan he had made in such short amount of time.

"Have you ever seen this place, Minho?" Thomas questioned carefully. The Keeper shook his head quickly.

Evony looked around at the room they were in; it was different than anything she had ever seen before. A long narrow passageway made of stone was built in the center of the room, with deep endless pits of darkness along the sides. Aaron must've noticed he had walked into a different surronding, because he turned around and ended up moving to the back of the group. She guessed his once confident demeanor was soon abolished when actually put in the face of danger.

Thomas on the other hand was making his way across the path, quickly arriving at the end where a large slab of concrete was placed.

"Wow," Max deadpanned, "Another dead end. What a shocker."

"Hold on," Evony cautioned, as she caught Aaron off guard and grabbed him by the shirt. He had been looking around at the new scenery, and wasn't prepared by the sudden force. The cylinder fell out of his hands, dropping to the floor and slowly rolling to the bottom of the stone. Once the metal connected with the slab, a small click filled the air before the red buttons flashed green.

The wall in front of them began to rise.

"What the hell," Max blurted out. Minho shushed him.

One by one the seemingly solid stone before them rose into the ceiling. Thomas led the way, Evony right behind him as they emerged into the new room. She didn't need to look behind to tell that Aaron was at the back of the group.

At the end of the room was a large circular cutout. She couldn't see what was beyond it, as the pitch black darkness washed out any available light. Minho reached his fingers down towards the side of the hole. A layer of a goopy substance covered his hands; slowly he rubbed it back and forth against his fingers, a grimace on his mouth.

Evony crept towards him, "Minho?"

"Grievers," he replied instantly.

Then suddenly, blinking from the back of the dark hole, was a large red light. It illuminated the area, but still not enough to see what was going on around the sides. Thomas stepped back, knocking into her which caused a domino effect amongst her friends. The light grew, turning into a flashing red circle that only got bigger and bigger.

From this circle produced a flash of light. The red beam starting from the top of the circle and moved quickly to cover their bodies. She realized instantly that it had scanned them, and she panicked.

"We've gotta get out of here, guys," she urged, already moving back and preparing to run.

Thomas grabbed her arm, taking a few steps with her, "Yeah, maybe we should-"

The ground shook. Then the walls. And then suddenly everything around them was rumbling with warning.

"What the hell-" Aaron shouted, "Thomas what did you do!"

"Give me the key," Minho exclaimed, waving his hands to Thomas in urgency, "Give me the key!

Max snatched it from his hands, "Give him the damn key, shuckface!"

"Run!" Evony ordered, and the group took off down the channel at once. Once they made it out of the passageway with ease, they soon arrived back at the deadly blades, except this time they were in action. From her far left she could see how they were starting to close in on themselves, shutting off entry inbetween.

Aaron, not knowing where to go, was standing there anxiously moving back and forth. Minho pushed at his back, forcing him forward and into the curves of the metal slates.

"We gotta go!" he yelled, "We're gonna get trapped!"

Thomas grabbed Evonys arms, pulling her with him as he ran for one of the blades. It was closing fast, and they made it by barely a second. The next one wasn't any better, and it actually closed before they were able to slip through it. Evony pulled him the other way, deciding to try to speed up and run ahead so they could make the next blade before it shut.

"Come on!" Minho yelled, "This way! Let's go, let's go! Come on, move!"

She watched Max, Minho and Aaron run through the next set of blades. With a quick movement she was able to slip through the tiny gap aswell. She had expected Thomas to of made it too, but when she looked behind her he was nowhere in sight.

If possible, she ran faster.

"Thomas!" she screamed, except it felt as if she was speaking to a wall. A wall of metal in this case.

She saw the blades closing in front of her, and she tried to keep up with the pace so she could look through the tiny gaps of light. On the other Side she could see Thomas sprinting towards the metal, waiting for a moment to slip inside.

"Come on, Tom!" Max called out.

Thomas ran for a few more seconds, then in a fast change of direction flung himself over to the other side. He ran directly into her, almost knocking her over with the unbalanced weight.

The group skidded to the right, away from the blades and out into an open area. Shot like sparks of dust blasted from her left, causing one hand to go to her ear and the other to push Minho out of the way. The ground shook again, and this time it was the actual floor being lifted up.

Thomas grabbed at her hand, pulling her with him as he started to sprint away. Behind them, a large metal frame was falling down. It landed with a boom that rattled them all, making the stone beneath their feet crack. It continued from there. Slabs of stone were rising up, threatening to crush them if they didn't run fast enough.

"Don't look back!"

She wasn't planning on it.

Another large stone fell and caused the group to trip over their feet.

A strings of curse words were muttered from Aaron's mouth. They could've been actual sentences, but everything was ringing and being faded out by the commotion.

It seemed the entire maze was collapsing.

Smoke and debris from the stone filled the air, and whenever she tried to save her drowning lungs that was all she would intake. It caused her to cough loudly.

Another slab of stone.

Falling.
Collapsing.
Breaking.

Minho ran for a small hole in the side of a wall. She knew where he was headed—the inner ring. That's where they needed to get if they wanted to reach any form of safety.

The five of them ran for the small slit in the wall. Like everything else, it wasn't making their escape any easier as it too was closing hastily on them.

Max went first. Then Aaron. Then her. Then Minho. Last was Thomas, who barely made it through without the entire walls falling onto him.

The group collasped once they made it through the hole. Evony laid her head back, breathing in the fresh air that she'd been lacking the past few minuets. She heard the boys sigh around her, obviously thankful they'd made it out alive.

Thomas reached for her hand, clasping them together tightly. "I'm glad you're not dead," he mumbled.

"So romantic," Max rasped, but she let out a small laugh.

Aaron coughed, clearly not impressed. "You all Are fucking insane."

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Evony watched as Aaron pushed past their group and headed towards Gally. The Keeper was already heading toward them, along with Newt, Chuck, and the rest of the Gladers that had heard the commotion. For a split second Thomas looked over to her, but then his eyes were directed back to the crowd, a hard expression on his face.

"What the hell's going on out there?" Gally questioned. He stopped walking to listen to Aaron who was whispering something in his ear. Evony rolled her eyes; leave it to him to place the blame on somebody else. "What the hell you done now, Thomas?"

"We found something," Thomas defended immidiantly, "a new passage. We think it could be a way out."

"Thats what you're calling that?" Aaron exclaimed, his hands crossed firmly over his chest. Gally glanced over at him, but surprisingly shut him down with a wave of a hand.

"Really?"

"It's true," she added in quickly, "I'm second in command. You have to believe I wouldn't lie about this."

Minho spoke after her, building onto what they had been expressing. "We opened a door, something I'd never seen before. I think it must be where the Grievers go during the day."

Chucks head lifted at his words. His hands waved around wildly, his eyes lit with shock. "Wait! You're saying you found the Grievers' home?" He paused to look at Thomas. "And you want us to go in?"

Her boyfriend calmed his voice, eyes softening with his answer. "Their way in could be our way out, Chuck."

"Yeah," Gally cut in. His voice echoed amongst the group of Gladers. Sharp steps were taken to advance towards Thomas. "Or there could be a dozen Grievers on the other side. The truth is, Thomas doesn't know what he has done, as usual."

Thomas turned around sharply. The veins in his neck inhanced as he began to fire his argument. His fists curled up into balls, his entire figure tensed as he practically shouted back. Evony stood next to him; she could sense the rest of her friends coming to stand near him as a resort of backup.

"Yeah," he threw out, "but at least I did something, Gally. I mean, what have you done? Aside from hide behind these walls all the time?"

"Let me tell you something, Greenie," Gally pointed his finger accusingly. "I've been here longer than you've had time to even figure out who you are. You think you're a hero? Try talking to me when you've been here three years and constantly providing for everyone else."

Thomas licked his lips, "Youve been here 3 years and you're still here, Gally! What does that tell you? Maybe you need stop building makeshift huts and realize that if we don't escape soon we're all going to die."

Gally was obviously trying to hide the hurt that flashed on his face. "Maybe you should be in charge then, what about that?"

"Not me, but I'd like to see Evony and Newt have their proper say in things."

She pushed down a proud smile that was forcing on her lips.

"Hey!"

Evony turned towards the voice. It was easily distinguished, since there only happened to be one other girl in the Glade besides her. Everyone stopped, actually listening to see what the new girl had to say. "It's Alby," she sighed, her eyes flickering over to Evony, "Hes awake."

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MAE's FUN NOTES!
( once again sorry for the three
month wait I do apologize )

on another hand I hope everyone
has been doing good 😊 this book
just hit 100k and i am STUNNED.
Never when i started this like last
February did I think it would get
this much attention as it had. The
Votes, reads, comments and just the
friends I have made on this book
mean so so much to me 🫶

I love you guys, as always,
thanks for reading !!