"I SHOULD START PRACTICING MY archery skills on the pigs," Winston offered as he pulled the string back on the bow and released it. It stuck about half a foot away from the bullseye, which was surprisingly an improvement from last time.

"And compromise our food?" she questioned with raised eyebrows. There was no way she was letting him ruin their food with his awful archery skills and the dirty arrows. "No way."

He shook his head and explained, "Well, I would hit them in the eye so none of the meat went to waste."

"Like you could hit a pig in the eye," she scoffed, gesturing to the target where his arrow was so far away it would not have even gotten close to the pig. The pig would not even be startled, it was so far away.

He stuck his tongue about at her before picking up another arrow and knocking the arrow. "I think I could. It would be a lot more efficient." No, it would not.

"Shoot a bullseye right now, and I'll give you a bow and arrow to use on pigs," she offered, pointing to the bow in his hands that he was raising to shoot the arrow.

He smiled and nodded slightly, glancing at her smugly as he got ready to fire. "Deal. Prepare to be low a bow in a second." He was about to release the string when yelling in the distance caught their attention.

Their heads whipped in the direction of the yelling, and the distraction caused Winston to let go of the string. His arm was not pointed at the target anymore, so the arrow flew straight past Alex, almost nicking her ear, and stuck in the tree behind her.

She was not really concerned about that, though, so while the boy shot her an apologetic look, she just ran past him and toward the Glade to see what was happening, Winston on her heels. They arrived just in time to see Ben on top of Thomas.

"Hey!" Newt yelled to them, causing the blonde boy on top to look up. Then, he swung the shovel in his hand at his head, knocking him off the Greenie. "Hold him down. Calm down. What are you doing?"

"Calm down, Ben," Gally ordered as Alex and Winston rushed to help them hold down his legs. She watched as he writhed under her fingers, and furrowed her eyebrows. He was not like this.

Frypan kneeled next to them and asked the crowd, Thomas in general since he was the one fighting with him, "Yo, what the hell happened?"

"He just attacked me!" the blue shirt boy exclaimed, panting as Alby made his way through the crowd to see what all the commotion was about. He also needed to decide what they were going to do about him.

"All right, lift his shirt," he ordered as Ben cried out pleas for him to stop. That only made him even more suspicious of what was under it. "Lift his shirt." They did as they were told, and they were all shocked with what they saw.

A Griever sting.

Gally furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at Alex. "He's been stung. In the middle of the day?" That made him the second person to be stung during the day time, which was really starting to freak them out.

"Help me, please. Please. Please, just help," Ben sobbed out, looking around the circle for someone, anyone to help him. No one knew what to do because he was a trusted member of the community. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Put him in the Pit," Alby demanded, refusing to look at the boy since they all knew what was going to happen to him, what always happened to stung people that attacked others. "Everybody, help. Take him to the Pit."

Alex and Winston backed up a bit and allowed Gally and Newt to drag Ben to the Pit despite the boy's desperate protests. She sighed and glanced at her friend with a grim look on her face, knowing what was bound to happen soon. "Time for the Gathering."

"No Gathering this time," the leader replied to her almost immediately after he heard her mutter to Winston. That shocked everyone. They always had Gatherings, no matter how serious the problem was. He looked down at the ground and explained, "I think we all know what conclusion we're going to come too."

It was true. Ben attacked one of their own, so he had to be Banished.

《 ✢ 》

BEN PANTED AND GROANED AS HE was pushed toward the Keepers. It was time for his Banishing, and needless to say, he was not best pleased. There were ropes all around his arms and back, keeping him from being able to move too much.

"Just listen to me. Just, please, listen to me!" Ben pleaded as the Keeper of the Runners forced him into the circle with the poles. "Please, Minho! Alby! Alex, come on! No, please. Please, don't. Please, don't do it."

Alex could not look him in the eye when he begged her for help. How could she? Although they did not really get along all of the time, she had known Ben for almost two years. It hurt to watch him go for something that was not his fault, something that he had no control over. 

There were Gladers on either side of him with spears, pushing him toward the middle, and the Keepers had their poles that they used to push him. Minho dropped Ben to his knees and used a knife to cut away rope, causing the blonde boy below him to let out a high-pitched gasping breath.

Thomas walked over and stood next to Chuck curiously, and they watched as Minho made his way in front of Ben, closer to the Maze with the boy's pack, the thing that kept him alive while he was in the hell hole. He sobbed, "Please, don't. Please, don't do it." Minho did not listen. He just chucked the bag into the walls as the Doors began to close.

"Poles!" Alby caused as Ben began to whimper. He allowed Minho to rush over and grab his pole and stand next to Newt and Alex. She could never watch when she did this. She always had to look away or close her eyes. "Move in!"

"No, no, no! Please! No, please! Please, don't! I can get better! Please, just listen to me! Please, stop, please!" Ben panted in between crying as he was forced into the closing walls of the Maze. He was pushed so far that he was forced to walk all the way through in order to not be crushed by the stone and become a Ben pancake.

His scream was the last thing they heard before it fell silent.

Alby turned around and looked at each of them, but they were all staring at their feet, not sure what to do or say. He was the one who spoke, partially explaining about Thomas. 

"He belongs to the Maze now."