Rachel was gone the next morning when I woke up, which didn't surprise me. But what did catch me off guard was that Lillie actually talked. After trying for over a month, she finally said some words. It wasn't a lot to her response, but it was a start.

When we went to get breakfast, I quickly got my food and sat down beside Lillie. I looked around, making sure that we were alone. "So..."

She looked down at her food. "So..."

"You talked last night," I blurted out.

"Glad you noticed, Piper," she stated.

"It just...I was caught off guard, Lillie," I admitted. "I've been here for over a month and you finally said something to me. I'm happy that you trust me enough to finally engage in a conversation with me."

She looked up and gave me a small smile. "It's weird, though, finally talking after not saying anything for so long. It feels good. I'm glad that you didn't force me to talk to you in the time that we've known each other. Everyone else did and it just made me want to keep my sticking mouth shut even more."

I grinned, nodding my head. "Well, thank you for trusting me and also for listening to my rants. I know they were annoying."

She nodded her head. "Yeah, most of them were."

So we chatted until breakfast was over, then we did our usual patrolling around the Glen for the rest of the morning. Then, Emily came by, needing Lillie for a favor, so our small talk was over for now. After eating lunch, then continuing my patrol all through the afternoon by myself, I decided to go check on Harriet. I was hoping that she was a little bit better than yesterday, but I had a feeling that she would still be stable. Sure enough, when I saw her upstairs, she was fast asleep. I sighed in disappointment, staring down at Harriet.

"She's been asleep all morning," someone said behind me, making me jump a little.

I turned around and saw that it was Aris. "When do you think she'll wake up?" I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "No idea."

"Where's Gwyneth and Amelia?"

"They went to get her some more water." He paused, then spoke up again. "My name is--"

"Aris," I cut him off. "Rachel told me. I'm--"

"Piper," he finished for me. "Rachel told me." I let out a small grin in response. "I-I want to apologize about yesterday, about reacting the way I did when I first saw you."

"You mean, when you threw a chair at me?" I clarified.

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head nervously and awkwardly. "Yeah, that."

"Well, I forgive you," I told him. "When I first got here, I slapped Beth."

He smiled. "I bet she deserved it, with the way she treats everyone around here."

"You get used to it," I said. "Just ignore her and you'll be fine."

He nodded his head. "Thanks for the advice."

All of a sudden, the sounds of rumbling came from outside. I widened my eyes. "The Maze," I whispered. I turned towards Aris. "I'll see you later. Nice to properly meet you." With that, I quickly waved at him, then rushed out, practically skipping over stairs and running towards the Doors like everyone else. "What's going on?" I asked Sonya.

"I have no idea," she replied. "It's coming from inside the Maze."

"I hope Rachel and Maeve are okay," I stated.

We waited a few minutes, which really felt like an hour. The time was moving slowly and the two Runners were still out there. I didn't want them to get stuck in the Maze again. They were able to survive it once, but that didn't guarantee that they would be able to do it again.

Then, relief came over me as Rachel and Maeve came into view, jogging back in the Glen. "What the hell was going on out there?" Sonya asked.

"What the hell have you done now, Rachel?" Beth snapped.

The two went from jogging to walking as we followed them. "We found something, a new passage," Rachel said. "We think it could be a way out."

"Really?" Esther spoke up.

Maeve nodded her head in agreement. "She's right. We opened a door, something I'd never seen before. The object we found? We think it's some sort of key to some kind of Griever Hole, where the Grievers go during the day."

"Wait, so this Griever Hole must be where they live," I pointed out. "So you want us to go in it?"

"Their way in could be our way out, Piper," Rachel stated.

"Yeah, or there could be a dozen Grievers on the other side!" Beth added in a harsh tone. "Of course, as usual, Rachel has no idea what she's done!"

Filled up with rage and irritation, Rachel spun around, glaring at Beth. "At least I did something, Beth. Aside from hiding in the Glen, what have you done?"

Beth stepped forward, clenching her fists. "Let me tell you something, Rachel, you've only been here for a few days. I've been here for two years."

"Yeah, and you're still here, Beth!" Rachel shouted. "So what does that tell you? Maybe you should start doing things a little differently around here!"

"Oh, so now you think you should take charge?!"

"No, I'm just saying that--"

"ENOUGH!" Sonya yelled, a yell so loud that my ears began to ring. "I'm so sick of all of this arguing! Rachel and Maeve found something in the Maze, that's great. That's the closest thing to an escape we've gotten in two years." The blonde took a few seconds to calm down, then she looked at the Runners. "Let's go to the Map Room and talk more about this." She scanned her eyes to the rest of us. "Everyone else, get back to work."

We all scattered to our designated locations before Sonya released another rage on us. Lillie and I went to the Deadheads and mostly sat around, dragging the shovels into the dirt, since there wasn't really much to do at this point. "That was pretty intense back there," I said to Lillie.

"Yeah, it was," she agreed, drawing a circle with her shovel. "I wonder if this Griever Hole really is a way out."

"Well, the only way to find out is if we go in and see for ourselves."

"And if it's not a way out?"

I hesitated, then gave her a reply. "At least we tried."

She bit her lip. "At least we had hope."

I nodded my head. "I still have hope. Everything is changing around here."

Lillie sighed. "Let's just hope it's for the better."

*******

It was almost time for dinner when Lillie and I went back to the Glen. The tension had vanished into thin air and like in almost every situation here, everyone went back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.

But that went away when Gwyneth barged in during dinner and announced, "Harriet's awake!"

Rachel took my hand and led me upstairs, followed by Aris, Sonya, Maeve, and Esther. Gwyneth explained to us that she hadn't said anything ever since she woke up. When we got upstairs, Harriet was sitting up in her bed, her arms wrapped around her waist, tears slowly falling down her face.

Sonya carefully sat down beside her. "Harriet...Harriet, are you okay?"

When Harriet wasn't responding, Rachel walked in front of her and got down to her knees. "Harriet, we might have just found a way out of the Maze. We could be getting out of here."

With a quivering lip, Harriet briefly shook her head. "We can't leave. They won't let us."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, slightly confused.

"I remember," she replied, her voice cracking a little.

"What do you remember?" Rachel asked.

Harriet turned her head and stared down at Rachel. "You. You're one of their favorites, Rachel."

More footsteps entered the room, which made us turn around. Beth was standing there, her mouth partly opened. "Harriet remembers her, too."

"What?" Rachel questioned.

"I went through the Changing, Rachel, and I saw you just like Harriet did. You're the reason why we're here, why we're stuck in the Glen."

Suddenly, a madness downstairs began due to the shouting and screaming that came from downstairs. We all ran downstairs and out of the Homebase, finding the other Glenners running towards the Doors with their torches.

"Cora, what's going on?" Sonya asked.

"It's the Doors," she replied, sounding worried. "They're not closing."

~~~~~~~

A/N: Uh-oh! More trouble is coming!

So the next chapter, if it goes the way I want it to, will be a bit shorter. But hopefully you guys will like it either way!

I'm almost done with this book? Isn't it exciting?!

Song above is This Means War by Nickelback.

Comment, vote, because the action is about to start!

-A