Harriet wakes me just before her watch says seven. Everything is a blur as the other girls and I march through the shimmering gray material. Immediately, I'm greeted by darkness. I blink rapidly, hoping that my eyes will adjust to the lack of lighting, but they don't.

A sudden warmth of another body hits into my back as another girl steps through the Trans. The others mutter amongst themselves, but I stand alone, welcomed into the group, but still an outlier. The loneliness hits me like a wave and I long for my friends from the Glade; Newt, Tommy, Minho, Chuck, heck I'd take Gally. I just want to see a familiar face. Not see, I suppose, as I'm surrounded in darkness, but I just want someone.

"You alright?" I recognize the voice as Lizzy, or Sonya.

"Fine, just lonely. Scared," I reply. I don't know how she identified me without sight, but I'm grateful for the kindness she provides when she absolutely shouldn't give it.

Sonya, as she seems to prefer being called, chuckles softly and sadly. "No bloody surprise there. Anybody would be, in your situation."

The word 'bloody' shatters my heart and I hear his voice saying it inside my head. It echoes within my mind again and again, the blows of longing hit like bullets that threaten to knock me to the floor. Get a grip, Addy.

"Everybody through?" Harriet calls. "Count off!"

Each girl says their previously assigned number until we reach me at last.

"Good. Everybody link up. Who knows how long this tunnel goes. We don't want to lose anyone."

We follow her instructions and begin our march forward.

---

The darkness is suffocating. We've been walking through the tunnel, one hand against the wall, one on the arm of the girl in front of us, for what feels like hours. I have no idea how long it actually is, but I'm exhausted nonetheless. Finally, Sonya calls for a break and we huddle in a circle on the floor to eat the small portions of food we gathered before coming here. I eat the half apple and bread that make up my ration and stretch my arm out, searching for a wall to lean on. My fingers press against the cold stone and I scoot myself closer.

As I recline, something sharp pokes me in the back. I flinch and grab the object. It's long and thin, but surprisingly smooth. "Hey, Sonya," I call, holding the object up to my eyes even though there's no way I'll be able to see in the darkness. "I found a stick. Maybe we can try to start a little fire for some light."

"Yeah, alright," the Brit says from somewhere to my left. "Give it here."

A warm hand bumps my arm, startling me at first, but I place the stick on her palm. There is a quick ripping sound as she tears some fabric from her sleeve and wraps it around the empty leather sheath that used to hold her knife before it was confiscated by WICKED. It's followed by a series of scraping and the occasional spark before it finally erupts into flame and light fills the tunnel. A few of the girls cheer but suddenly, Sonya jumps up, dropping the stick in her hurry. That's when I realize it's not a stick, it's a bone.

I gag and follow Sonya's example, jumping up and away from the skeleton with a missing bone in the rib cage. The sight is enough to make me want to cry or puke, but I can't do either. I need the nutrients and water too much. Luckily, the girls start moving immediately, but I notice Sonya handing the torch to Harriet. In the flickering orange glow, I can't make out her face very well, but her expression is clearly not one of contempt.

Even with my best efforts to get the horrible image out of my head, I can't help but wonder what killed that person. If they'd been down here long enough to become so... advanced in the process of decomposition, whatever caused their death must be gone too. Right?

---

I, along with all the other girls, try my best to forget how we got the light as we continue our march, but find it incredibly difficult seeing as everything in my sight is there because of the torch, which was lit by- I mentally shake my head. I don't want to think about it. Why is it the only thing in my mind?

My stomach turns, but I force myself to be ok and not panic. With the light, we no longer have to link and hold onto the wall. In fact, I make an effort to stay as far away from the walls as possible, still scarred by what I found pressed against the wall. I close my eyes for a moment, attempting to block everything out with darkness again, but end up bumping into the girl next to me.

"Sorry," I mutter, embarrassed by my idiotic mistake.

"It's alright," Harriet says. "How are you holding up?"

I bite my lip. "I'm... alright."

Harriet sees through me. "Hey, I know this is scary, it is for all of us, but you don't have to isolate yourself or pretend to be ok when you're not. This whole thing... it's freaking awful, but if we ever wanna have a normal life, we've gotta get through this. You got this, you hear me? We're going to make it and everything is gonna be fine." She wraps her empty arm around my shoulder and squeezes a bit. "I'm not usually one for sappy pep talks, so you're lucky Blondie."

I smile softly. "Thanks, but I'm not blonde."

Harriet withdraws her arm from around me and punches me playfully. "It's just slang!"

That pulls a genuine smile onto my face. I can see why I liked this girl. She wears a tough demeanor like armor but melts into a rich chocolately filling of empathy and kindness sprinkled with sarcastic humor.

"What does it mean?" I ask.

Harriet shrugs slightly. "Newbie. Someone ignorant, little bit daft."

"Well I hope you were using it in the context of Newbie!" I tease. "In our Maze, the equivalent was Greenbean or Greenie."

Harriet laughs. "What the finch? Where did that come from?"

"I have no shucking idea!" My heart twinges in longing. "Those shanks were something else, but I miss them."

"They sound like a bunch of crackfaces to me," the older girl says.

"They are." I fall silent and reach into the stretches of my mind, hoping to be able to speak with the Gladers.

Tommy? I try.

Gosh dang it, Addy! His reply is immediate and incredibly gratifying. I thought you were dead! Where the shuck are you? Are you alright? What happened? Is Newt still with you?

I don't know what to say to him. I'm alright, I guess. They put me with a bunch of girls and sent us into these tunnels. I don't know where Newt is.

Don't worry, Addy. We'll find you.

No, Tommy don't! I exclaim as soon as I hear him say it. You have to stay far away from us!

Why? Addy, you're not making sense. What's wrong? Did they make you say that?

I attempt to tell him the truth, assuming WICKED can't hear our telepathic conversations, but find myself mentally tongue-tied. It's as though the button I push to send messages is jammed and no matter how much force I press into it, it won't budge. It's blocked. I can't speak to my brother.

What did I tell you, Addy? The voice in my head does not belong to my brother. Dread fills my stomach. Newt. I knew that he would have to pay for my disobedience and I still tried to tell him. What have I done? Tears threaten to spill over my eyelids. I picture Newt strapped to the horrible chair, writhing and screaming in pain.

"You alright, Addy?" Harriet asks.

I want to tell her. I want so badly to tell her. I can't kill Tommy. I won't. But is it worth causing Newt more pain? I nod shortly to her. There's nothing I can do right now but walk, so that's what I do. I'll find away to get around this. I'll find a way to save Newt and Tommy, along with the Gladers and these girls. There's got to be a way. Gosh, I hope there's a way.