THE SURVIVOR!
new spark of hope.

MARG!

   𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐒 were running for their life toward what they had previously identified as the exit from the Maze. All that Margaret could hear were the sound of her friends' boots against the concrete and the mechanic noise coming from the grievers that were right behind them.

They'd lost six people so far, ever since they decided to leave the Maze altogether, some had been eaten by the monsters while others perished trying and succeeding in saving some of their lives. She noticed that the remaining five young teens had reached the big metallic door on which side stood a circular panel for them to enter the code that would have given them the chance to finally leave the place. She was too focused on what was happening ahead and making sure no one else would have died today to hear the gruesome noise coming from behind her.

"Marg! Behind you!" Her attention went from Levi, the boy she considered as a brother, someone she'd die for, to whatever he had just mentioned just to come face to face with one of the wicked things she'd spent three years fighting against.

"Get the sequence going! Do not dare to come here, I've got it under control!" They were all used to the teen barking orders as she was their leaders and knew fully well that disobeying one of them wouldn't go down well, therefore they all started to work on what was still keeping them locked in that massive cage.

The fiery redhead's eyes were focused on the monster in front of her, one of those who must have killed one of the Survivors as blood was dripping from one of its mechanic arms. She twirled the last big spear that she had left in her hands before sprinting in the griever's direction with a determined expression etched on her face. The monster was taken by surprise as, instead of attacking it heads first she plunged the end of the spear on the ground and sent herself up in the air landing on her two feet on top of the monster's back.

The creature started emitting weird noises, trashing its legs around to wound the already wounded girl when she finally spoke again, this time to the killer monster itself.

A loud battle cry left the girl's mouth and soon after the spear she was holding in her hands was thrusted inside the monster hitting one of the few open spots many of them had on their backs. The weapon went through the creature causing it to let out a loud screeching sound before thumping on the ground with Margaret still on its back. The girl didn't flinch, she was still standing up on the dead monster's body while extracting the spear she had just used against it from his body, a green substance coating each part that had pierced its skin. Her face didn't show any sign of fear or hesitance, her piercing stare was directed toward the dead griever, a look that, if possible, would have killed by itself.

She jumped off the creature and reached her friends, they were all kids, they didn't deserve to die in there nor to live three years like she did.

Finally, Levi seemed to have figured out the correct sequence as the heavy metallic door clicked open, giving them the chance to leave the dreary place they had been forced to call home for so long.

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   Margaret eyes snapped open, she could barely sleep as whenever she closed her eyes images of her fallen friends, the friends who were taken away from her even if she had vowed to protect them, kept plaguing her mind. Whenever she managed to sleep she was either haunted by her losses or by memories of a life she never had or was long forgotten.

She let her eyes focus on the spot right in front of her, a hand curled under her pillow holding the makeshift blade someone she deeply cared for had once given to her. Her calloused fingers kept tracing the name carved onto the handle, the name of a boy they had taken away from her, the name of a boy who was probably already dead, killed by the very same people who had so-called rescued them once they made it out of the maze.

Two weeks had gone by since she first stepped inside the facility and by now she had gotten used to leaving her bed at the same time each morning to shower, change her clothes and find a new place to hide her weapon; all of this had to be done before the same three guards that were assign to look after the Survivor would show up to escort her to breakfast in order for WICKED to believe she was now cooperating.

She wasted no time, deciding that wallowing in her own self-pity was not going to help anyone, and left the only comfort the place was able to provide before entering the small shower and turning on the warm water to wash herself clean, somehow trying to wash her thoughts away along with the sweats caused by one of her memories. Not wanting to lose track of time she quickly exited the washroom to get dressed before lazily getting rid of the condensation that had formed on top of the small mirror placed on top of the sink.

For years she wondered what she looked like, how old she was, and now that she was looking at her own reflection she refused to see a girl who was probably around seventeen years old, long auburn air and green eyes, instead she chose to see a soldier, someone who had endured hell as the scars that littered her body would remind her of every single wound she had received because of the very people that were keeping her locked there. She chose to see someone who had survived this long and would have kept fighting regardless. A girl her age would be smiling, would be happy, at least that's what she thought, but all she could see in the reflection in front of her was a determined expression sculpted on her face, the willingness to fight and avenge those she lost.

She flipped the blade closing it in half by hiding the metal side inside the wooden handle before letting it fall inside a pocket she had cut on the inside of her pants, a place no one ever dared to check as every guard knew her to be someone who wouldn't go down without a proper fight.

Just as she was leaving the washroom the noise of three pair of boots announced the presence of the guards inside her room causing her to casually smirk in their direction.

"We are here to escort you to breakfast." Was all that the captain of said team told her and she didn't waste her breath on him, opting for a single nod in response before following in their footsteps and leaving her room behind. She did not utter a single word to any of the men that were assigned to escort her, instead she tried her best to listen to the different hushed conversations among the different doctors, scientists and even everyday workers as they walked by them.

They were only a couple of turns away from the cafeteria when she heard the unmistakable voice that belonged to Janson himself. Knowing she couldn't stop and pretending was not an option she just slowed down hoping to hear anything important, even a flimsy little detail.

"Group A is leaving the Maze as we speak." She tried not to give away any kind of reaction as they neared the scientist that had just delivered the news to the man who was running the compound. "We might..."

"Don't worry, we'll put everything in motion. You can go back now." Margaret found herself biting the inside of her cheek as the icy cold voice of the men reached her ear. She would have given anything to get some revenge, but she knew she had to be careful and getting revenge on him wouldn't have solved anything in the long run, as, with the departure of one Rat Man another would have followed soon after.

She kept her stoic expression as the guards neared the man himself with her hot on their trails and didn't even look his way once she walked past him in order to let him believe she didn't hear a single word that had been exchanged between the two WICKED employees.

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   The crowd in the cafeteria was the same as it had been the past two days, each person sticking to the table where the rest of their group was seated, chatting away sporting big smiles and showing way too excitement for the announcement of today's chosen ones.

The guards let her walk in and stopped by the door to guard its entrance, making her believe she was the last one to be brought in there that very day. 

Even if there was no one left from group C, apart from her, she walked in the direction of the same table she had been sitting at for a while now, reaching her only other friend, Aris.

Aris was a scrawny boy, quite shy but very intelligent. He quickly turned around hearing footsteps approaching him as he didn't know if it was going to be a friend or someone else, but the panic on his face was quickly replaced with happiness and vivacity. There were so many things that reminded Margaret of Levi whenever she looked at the boy who was waiting for her to join him.

"Aris." She greeted the boy sitting in front of him and placing the tray of food on the table before her. He nodded in return, knowing that the more they spoke to each other in public the more attention they would have received from WICKED.

As if on cue, Jensen entered the cafeteria with two armed guards beside him. Margaret clenched her jaw, trying to repress any urge to attack the grey-haired man and Aris seemed to have noticed as he leaned forward and placed his right hand on her forearm signalling for her to relax and not to do anything reckless.

The man had managed to gain everyone's attention with his speech, reassuring those who were not called that day that, one day, they would have.

"And you're gonna wish you weren't." Margaret whispered through gritted teeth still staring at her breakfast, somehow managing to get a small smile out of Aris.

Ever since he had been left behind as all of his group had been called, the boy and the redhead had bonded and became very good friends, especially when, due to Aris' persistence, he had managed to get her to follow him through the air-vents and they had both witnessed what WICKED was truly doing to those whose name was called in the morning, only confirming Marg's bad feeling about the compound that only Aris had actually shared.

Even without any solid proof and only managing to see bodies been wheeled inside one of the facility's rooms, they came to the conclusion that nobody had ever left the compound. Aris was the one who took it the worst, being worried sick about her friends who had welcomed him in the maze regardless of his gender, while the whole ordeal had only managed to get Marg even more determined to get away from the godforsaken place they were stuck in. The first night they saw a body being wheeled in, resulting in Aris almost chocking due to his tears, Margaret had vowed to herself she would have done anything in her power to keep the timid boy safe.

From that very moment, the pair had tried to warn, without divulging everything just in case someone would have seen fit to rat them out, each member of every remaining group, but no one ever believed them, branding them as 'freaks' and, in Marg's case, as 'crazy'. While the girl could clearly see that the boy was starting to doubt if they'd ever make it out of there alive, she never gave up hope, knowing from experience that a lot could change in just a day.

Janson's speech in regards to the evening's calling was something that Margaret had heard only once, that time being when Group B made it out of the maze. Nobody really cared if Rat Man was in the cafeteria speaking to all of them in the morning while he usually came over at dinner time, but this did spark even more interest in Margaret as she could only predict that this was no ordinary group and hoped that whoever belonged to that group would have helped them to get out of the compound.

Once the speech was over no one clapped or said anything, it was common knowledge that the man did not care much about those kind of things, instead everyone went back to eating their breakfast while Janson left the big room followed by his own personal guards. The redhead's eyes stayed focus on the retreating figure of the man and, even once he had left the room, she still waited a couple of minutes before she finally decided to address her best friend.

"Group A made it out." The redhead whispered bringing her head in between her hands in order to cover her moving mouth from prying eyes. "They should arrive later today." She let one of her arms fall on the table and went back to play with the food she had been given upon her arrival.

"Do you think...?" Aris' gaze was locked on his tray, not daring to look anywhere else as he didn't want to be brought out and questioned like Marg had been when she went ballistic as her best friend's name got called by Rat Man. He knew the girl in front of him considered him her friend, but what he didn't know was that said girl would have protected him no matter what.

"Might be. We just have to wait and see." She replied before putting down the fork she had been holding on for a while now and opting out for the bottle of water instead. Having been there the longest both her and the boy stopped being called to the 'hospital wing' for 'tests and check-ups' a while ago, but that didn't mean they had any free time whatsoever. WICKED kept testing all their 'human subjects' by putting them through a series of physical tests such as, in Margaret's case, running on a treadmill for hours on end.

While many other people coming from other Mazes either struggled or were stopped after a few hours due to exhaustion, Marg's, whose past three years consisted of constant running, exceeded everyone expectation by being able to run more than five hours in a row not stopping even for a drink of water as she kept the assigned bottle in front of her instead.

"Where are you going today?" The boy asked her, hoping she'd be assigned to the same testing room as him even if the chances were very slim since they'd never been tested at the same time.

"I believe is room 207." She mumbled after having placed the now empty bottle of water on her tray. "More physical testing, go figure."

"Same here." Her eyes went from her tray to her friends who looked rather puzzled as he didn't expect such a reaction on her behalf. "What is it?" The teen picked up her empty bottle and started playing with it causing a series of noises due to the plastic being folded and unfolded over and over again.

"Aris, you have to push yourself. No matter what." She whispered at the boy while she kept using the noise to cover their conversation. She knew the guards wouldn't have questioned such behaviour as many other teens did the same to shake some of their frustration off when one of their friends were called to be taken to the 'safe haven' instead of them. What they didn't know was that Margaret was really good at surviving and if it called for her to manipulate some people in order to protect her best friend, she had no trouble or remorse in doing so. "Diana lasted less than any of the others two days ago." She knew Aris had understood what she meant as he quickly unscrewed his bottle of water and chugged the contents out in order to stay hydrated.

Diana was the last girl to be called the previous evening, something that helped Marg understand that WICKED was first and foremost taking out those who couldn't be helpful in whatever they were planning on doing. The girl was kind and always kept her hair in pigtails, but when it came to physical training she barely lasted thirty minutes on a fully inclined treadmill before falling backwards and face-planting on the ground. It didn't matter that she had proceeded to apologise profusely for her lack of stamina, WICKED didn't care and they made sure to call her name in order to send her God knows where.

While Margaret didn't mind spending yet another day running on a treadmill while being hooked on a series of wires that monitored everything from her breathing to her heart, Aris, much to the redhead dismay, was forced to do the same, which caused small sparks of unusual activity to show up on her tests every single time the scrawny boy seemed to struggle.

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   Lunch break wasn't as long as breakfast and nowhere near the duration of dinner, but it still gave both of the teens some much needed time to catch their breath and actually eat something to keep them going.

Sound of heavy boots brought both her and Aris back to reality, causing the latter to stiffen while the former kept eating what WICKED tried to pass as a 'salad'. Marg didn't need to guess whose boots were causing that noise, she knew it all too well, having had a few face-to-face encounters with the man himself that not even Aris was aware of.

"Margaret." He greeted, a sly and fake smile forming on his face. "I see you never cease to impress any of us, ready to keep going even if it was lunch break." The coldness of his tone and the fact that Margaret would have bet anything he was working for WICKED, something she had previously voiced to Aris causing him to look at her in sheer panic.

"What can I say? I am a Survivor." Every single person in the room would have paid more respect to the man in hopes to be taken to the 'better place', but not Marg. Her voice was laced with venom and showed nothing but strength when the last sentence that left her mouth was pronounced with pride and firmness. "I have faced much worst." Her tone didn't waver as she cocked her head on the side to look at the man who was towering over her while delivering the last sentence. No one but Aris, among the other 'Gladers' understood what she really meant, but the boy couldn't help himself but to be even more proud of his friend as she had just implicitly told Janson himself that he was nothing compared to the hell she had been forced to live for three whole years.

"I see." The young girl had to bite the inside of her bottom lip not to reply or to lunge at him as his signature sickly smile seemed to be taunting her even further. "Again, thank you for your cooperation." He clasped both his hands behind his back and stood there a few more seconds until a guard came running in his direction just to end up whispering something in his ear. Rat Man dismissed the guard with a disinterested wave of hand before nodding at the two teens and, as quickly as he had approached them a few minutes ago, he left the room.

"Must be Group A." She whispered to Aris while keeping her eyes on the retreating figure of the vermin. "I am gonna get us out of here." She vowed to the boy sitting across from her who couldn't help but to silently thank the girl who had befriended him so easily and never judged him regardless of his shy demeanour.

Each single Gladers was sent back to their respective quarters to shower and change clothes for dinner. Mags entered her bare room and, as soon as she stepped in, the room behind her was shut close from the outside. She couldn't help but to look around the place once again thinking about how many things had changed since she left the Maze along with her friends. The room they previously stayed in was a grey and dull room filled with bunkbeds, way too many for such a small group, but none of the others dared to question the situation as they were just happy they could finally sleep on something that wasn't concrete flooring while silently praying that a rogue griever wouldn't attack during the day.

Ever since her scene, due the fact that all of her fellow Survivors had been taken away, she was allocated to a room with a single bed with white sheets to go along with the theme of the entire room, which was indeed all white.

Janson had told her that she should have considered herself lucky as she had her own bathroom and didn't have to share the room with another group, but truth to be told being completely alone just managed to push her further towards those memories she was trying to get rid of.

What she did appreciate, though, was that Aris was forced into a room much like hers, which was situated right next to the redhead's, making it even easier for the two of them to communicate and crawl through the air vents together without drawing any unwanted attention.

She hurried and took the quickest shower ever, making sure to wash her hair as well as her body this time around. If she had known or trusted someone to cut them shorter she would have, as heir copper hair now reached below her mid-back, but alas she knew no one with that skill. After having dried her hair as best as she could, silently thanking the fact that her hair was as straight as they come regardless of how she dried them, she put on a pair of black leggings, a white t-shirt and a new pair of boots she found when she returned in her room thinking that Rat Man had probably noticed how the soles of her old ones were basically getting torn apart. She scrambled back inside the bathroom and placed her blade in another inside pocket of her leggings just for safety as no one ever knew what could have happened today.

She didn't need a watch to know that the guards outside her room were waiting to escort her to dinner, therefore she reached the door and knocked twice on the glass to let them know she was ready to go. The same guard she had attacked in the cafeteria less than a week ago opened the door and, without a second glance, started walking toward the main room making sure the girl was right in front of them in order to keep her from trying to do anything funny.

The walk toward the cafeteria was silent as there was no sign of any employees around, the only sound that could be heard was the heavy stomping of the guards' boots and Margaret's as they reached their destination. Once the double doors opened and she entered the room she was greeted with the same chatter as always, the same happy faces apart from those of a new group of people, a group of young boys that was sitting at the same table as group F.

Instead of walking around all the tables to reach hers and Aris' she neared the one where the boys she supposed to be part of group A were sitting at and as she eyed each and single one of them they did the same in return noticing that one of them was staring at her with his mouth slightly agape. The left corner of her mouth rose ever so slightly and before any of the guys could process it she quickly nodded in their direction as she walked past the table they were sitting at before turning her attention to a very confused, yet amused Aris. She could feel it, Group A was different from the others, Group A would have been the one they would have left that facility with.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

 Here we go, the first chapter of this fan fiction! You can't even imagine how excited and nervous I am at the same time. I am a huge fan of the books and the movies, therefore I hope to make them justice while adding my own storyline in the mix.

In this chapter you got to meet Margaret, the main original character (yet not the only one) of this story. To give you a better understanding of her life in the maze etc. you can expect quite a lot of flashbacks.

As you might know, all the Gladers' names come from important historical figures. Margaret's name is inspired by Margaret Fuller, a feminist who, regardless of what society said about her, fought with all her being for the cause she believed in and was, therefore, labelled as quite controversial seeing years she lived in.

Any guesses to who was staring at her with his mouth agape?