𝙁𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙧

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨 gazes at the maze in front of him as he spots the three runners jogging out. His eyes scan over Blake's figure, checking for any visible injuries. Of course, he can't see them up close, but he can't help to check. Blake, Minho, and the other runner run straight past—disappearing into the thick brush.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨?

Thomas' head turns back towards the maze—brainstorming ideas to find a way out.

"Anyone try climbing to the top?" Thomas wonders as he shovels the dirt beneath him.

"Tried it. The ivy doesn't go all the way to the top, and besides, where are you gonna go from there?"

"Yeah, well, what about the box? Next time it comes up—" Thomas starts to suggest

"No, we tried that. The box won't go back down with someone in it."

Thomas shoves the shovel into the dirt, leaning on it, "Okay, well, what if we—" he begins

"No, we've tried it all. Twice! All right, trust me, anything you can think of—we've already tried." Newt says, leaning on the side of the garden support.

"The only way out of here is through the maze."

Thomas fiddles with the shovel beneath him awkwardly.

"Now you want to be helpful?" The blonde reaches down to grab a bucket beside him, throwing it at the greenie. "Go dig us up some more fertilizer."

Thomas takes the small shovel out of the bucket as he trips over a root beside the garden, walking away.

"Just get the fertilizer, Thomas." The greenie mutters to himself while walking through the woods.

"Are you sure, guys?—Can't help in any other way?"

"No, just get the fertilizer." He huffs out

"You sound crazy." A feminine voice sounds from his left, making the boy jump.

𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦.

A smirk stretches across her face as she leans against a tree with her arms folded across her chest.

Thomas rolls his eyes at the sight of the cocky brunette. A scoff rises from his throat as he continues walking.

"Yeah, well...I'm gonna go crazy—" the boy says as he stops at a wooden cross with the name 'George' written across it. His eyebrows knit together in confusion at the random grave.

"That was George—didn't know him. Only saw him once when I first got here—before he went all—crazy and tried to kill Minho." Blake says as she moves to Thomas' side, still keeping her arms crossed as her eyes scan over the grave before them.

Thomas' eyes cast up to look at the girl, keeping his eyebrows knit together. "Why are you out here?"

"Well, green bean—This is where I come to clear my head....." Blake says, casting her eyes over to the boy beside her.

"Why are you here?" She quizzes the boy back as she raises an eyebrow at him.

"I—Newt sent me to get fertilizer.." Thomas confesses, "I don't exactly know where it is, though." He continues, pressing his lips together.

Blake smiles. He's every glader's bitch right now and for the next month.

Sure, they had become friends—ish, but it's still funny to see him get the jobs nobody wants.

Blake nods her head in the other direction, "it's over here" She says as she walks towards the pile.

Thomas follows the girl as they trek through the woods, watching her hips sway as she navigates through the thick brush and trees.

Blake feels eyes burning into her and turns her head to see him staring below her head—making the girl roll her eyes.

𝘔𝘦𝘯.

"Quit staring at my ass." She laughs out, making the greenie's eyes snap to her face. The boy's body stiffens as soon as the words leave her mouth, knowing he has been caught.

"I wasn't—staring at your—" Thomas starts, but Blake chuckles at his attempt.

"It's okay, greenie." Blake teases the greenie, continuing to walk.

The boy steps towards the girl as they halt, "𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥—calling me greenie. It's annoying." Thomas says, unable to hide the annoyance in his tone as he glares at Blake.

Blake's eyes narrowed at his sudden outburst, growing angry herself at his attitude. "What is your deal?" Blake questions, spinning around to face him.

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 and everyone calling me that!—It's so annoying!"

Blake huffs out a dry laugh at his irritation. Everyone gets called greenie their first month, so why is he so angry about it?

"Would you like shank better?" She asks as a smirk twitches her lips upward. "Because the shoe fits—"

Thomas throws the pail down—suddenly pushing the girl's back up against a tree behind her.
"Stop." He growls.

Blake frowns at his outburst, trying to squirm out of his grasp on her. Her eyes connect with his as they stare at each other.

"Just because you have a dick doesn't mean you need to act like one." Blake taunts the boy, pushing the greenie off her.

Thomas stumbles back a bit as he steadies himself. Blake marches up to him, and she jabs her finger into his chest — backing him up this time. Thomas' eyes flicker around them as he continues taking steps backward.

"Look—I don't know what your problem is today—but you need to cool it. I thought we were somewhat friends—"

Thomas trips over a rock behind him, as he catches himself before he can fall. Standing his ground this time as she stops before him, he squares his shoulders and plants his feet into the ground as he hears her babbling about something but tunes it out.

"Yeah. Sorry for the outburst, princess. Not a fan of collecting literal shit and being everybody's bitch." Thomas says as he rolls his eyes.

Blake narrows her eyes even more, growing even more pissed off at the big brown eyes staring back at her.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥. Thomas thinks to himself as he watches her nostrils flare.

Blake raises her arm to punch the boy, but before she can connect it with his face—he catches her wrist, pulling her towards him so his face is inches above hers.

He pulls his lips down to her ear in a low and husky voice. "Wanna try that again, princess"

Blake's eyes connect with his once again as he moves his head back.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘗𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩.

Both teens stand inches away from each other as they both breathe out shaky breaths. Green eyes bore into whiskey brown as Blake narrowed her eyes at him again—feeling butterflies in her stomach. Blake's knees grow weak as she watches his eyes flicker from her emerald to her lips.

Just as Blake thinks she feels Thomas closing the gap between them— a twig snaps from the left, making both teens whip their heads around to see—

"Ben?" Blake questions, knitting her eyebrows.

The girl steps away from Thomas, noticing Ben breathing heavily and staring at the two.

Blake slowly walks toward her fellow runner as Thomas grows uneasy about how the boy is acting.

The greenie tries to grab Blake's shirt to pull her back, but she steps out of his grasp.

"Ben? Are you okay?" She asks.

Ben only growls a reply as his chest heaves up and down. His growls grow louder and louder as Thomas notices Ben's veins protruding from his clammy skin, along with the crazed look in his eyes.

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

Thomas quickly jots forward, grabbing Blake by her wrist and pulling her behind him.

"Ben?" He questions, slowly backing up while his hand behind him holds the girl in place. Ben starts slowly inching toward them, his breathing growing heavier and heavier until—

Suddenly, Ben charges at the two, making Thomas let go of Blake's wrist and land on his back with Ben on top of him.

Thomas struggles under Ben as he shoves his arms away.

"Get the hell off me!" Thomas frantically yells, squirming.

"It's your fault!" Ben seethes in Thomas' face as he throws a punch at the boy. Thomas' head hits the ground, making black spots form in Thomas' vision.

Blake quickly jumps into action after she recovers— springing onto her feet as she tackles Ben off Thomas.

Throwing him to the ground as she straddles her once—friend, She tries to pin his hands on either side of his head to calm him, but Ben overpowers the girl— flipping them over.

The crazed boy lands a  punch to Blake's face, making the girl's head whip to the side. A warm liquid runs down her face as Ben shoves her back down.

"It's both your faults!!" Ben screams in her face as spit drips out of his mouth.

"I saw both of you!—-You did this!" He screams before bringing his hands around her neck, pushing down on Blake's windpipe.

Blake chokes for air as her vision becomes blurry— black spots form as she scratches at Ben's hands to let her go.

Just as she feels herself growing weaker, air fills her lungs—gasping as she sits up to see Thomas fighting off Ben.

"Don't touch her!" Thomas shouts as he throws a punch to Ben's face.

Blake stands up, panting—before charging Ben as he gains on Thomas.

Blake tackles the boy off of the greenie as the crazed boy regains his ground. Ben throws a hard blow to Blake's face, knocking her unconscious.

Thomas watches as her limp body slumps to the ground, turning his attention back to Ben—as the runner stomps toward the girl.

Thomas quickly gets Ben's attention off of the unconscious girl, pushing the boy away from her. Ben growls as he turns back to Thomas.

Thomas pauses for a second to flip the boy off as he sprints away, praying Ben will follow.

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦.

The greenie turns around as he runs to see his plan worked—seeing Ben hot in his trail. Thomas bolts for the homestead to get help.

"Hey! Hey!!" Thomas screams loudly as the garden comes into view—waving his arms to grab anyone's attention.

Newt's head whips up at the sound of the boy in distress, quickly grabbing the shovel that lays on the ground.

"Help!" Thomas yells but gets tackled by Ben.

Newt sees the two boys fighting on the ground as Ben's hands grip onto Thomas' neck.

"I'll kill you!" The runner screams in the greenie's face.

The whole glade rushes to the commotion as Newt sneaks beside Ben.

The Blonde swings his shovel back, colliding the metal with the side of the runner's head—knocking him off Thomas.

Thomas gasps for air as he chokes back a cough, stumbling away as Gally restrains Ben.

"Hold him down, calm down!" Newt shouts

Gally pushes Ben down as the boy thrashes in their grasp, "Calm down, Ben." but to no avail; Ben only growls continuously.

Frypan appears next to Thomas with confusion written all over his face. "Yo, what happened?" The boy questions.

"He just attacked us!" Thomas breathes out, still trying to catch his breath.

Chuck walks over to Thomas with a worried expression written all over his face. "You okay?" He asks

Thomas only replies with a nod, still trying to fill his lungs back up with air.

Alby pushes his way up to the front of the commotion, looking at Ben, who thrashes and growls at the gladers.

"Lift up his shirt." Alby orders

"No. No. No!" Ben shouts frantically as he thrashes even more in the boy's grasp. Gally moves to lift Ben's shirt—revealing black veins spreading across his stomach.

"I didn't mean it! No, please! Please!" Ben begs as gasps and hisses sound from around the group.

"He's been stung?— in the middle of the day?" Gally asks, looking around. His eyes scan the group—realizing the female was nowhere in sight. "Where's Blake?"

"Dead!" Ben laughs as his eyes connect to the greenie's.

Thomas lets out an annoyed huff, growing agitated at the crazed boy trying to rile the gladers up.

"You son of a bitch!" Minho yells as he grabs Ben by his shirt, lifting his clenched fist up.

"He's lying. He knocked her out."  Thomas' voice stops Minho before he can land a punch.

Minho breathes out a sigh of relief before throwing Ben onto the ground harshly. The keeper spins on his heels as he grabs the fabric of the greenie's shirt.

"Bring me to her." Minho orders as he pushes Thomas toward the woods.

"Okay, come on."

As they walk quickly to where the fight initially happened, Thomas breaks the silence. "What happens to him now?"

"The shank gets banished, that's what." Minho replies angrily as they continue their fast pace.

The two boys finally arrive at the site. Minho sprints up to the unconscious girl, taking her head in his hands.

He brushes the hair out of her face as he assesses her injuries—

A bruise forms on her jaw, and hand prints form into bruises that resemble hand prints around her neck. Dried blood and dirt cakes her face as her limp head follows Minho's movements as he tries to get her to wake up. "Fuck. Let's get her to the med shack."

Thomas kneels beside Minho as the newbie scoops the girl into his arms.

Blake's head falls out of the keeper's hands as Minho raises an eyebrow at the boy—

"I got her." Thomas says as he meets Minho's expression.

"I'm the reason she got the shit beat out of her. Ben came after me—and she tried to defend me, but then Ben went after her."

Minho lets out a shaky breath as he nods, following behind him.

"Is she okay?" Newt asks in a shaky voice as the two boys walk towards the med hut with an unconscious Blake in the greenie's arms.

"Yeah, she'll be okay." Minho says as Newt pushes the door to the shack open. Thomas carries the girl in as the other two boys converse outside.

The door slams shut as the greenie lays Blake on the cot. As the boy backs away, he gazes at the girl—pushing the hair out of her face.

His thumb strokes over the side of her cheek as his eyes roam her face.

"I'm sorry..."