𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨 awakes with a sudden gasp, jolting into a sitting position on his hammock. Another memory just came back to him.

As he catches his breath, his eyes subconsciously glance around to check if anyone else is awake.

Across Chuck, Blake also pants heavily as she looks around her—connecting her big emeralds to Thomas' topaz.

As Blake's eyes meet his, her eyebrows furrow in confusion. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰?—𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥?

Thomas throws his legs off the side of the hammock, rising to his feet as he comes to a stand. His feet carry him over to Blake, who sits with a hand covering her forehead, trying to process her dream.

"Nightmare also?" Thomas asks

"No, I had another memory come back. I haven't had another since your first day." Blake says as she rubs her eyes.

The girl pushes off of the sides of the hammock to sit herself up as she looks up to Thomas' gaze. Patting the seat beside her, Blake throws her legs over the side of the hammock as Thomas gets the gesture and sits down.

"I had one also. They kept telling me over and over again that Wicked is—"

"Good?" Blake questions.

Thomas' eyes widen a bit as he nods. "I saw you and that same girl again. I remember when you got your memories erased." He confesses as he fiddles with the hem of his shirt.

"I-I got that same memory back also, except—I could see you from inside the tank they put me in. You were yelling and cursing at the people beside you."

Thomas didn't want to tell her that part; he knew they were friends, but apparently, they must have really cared for each other.

From what he remembers—his heart was torn out of his chest when he watched the small girl kick and punch at the glass.

He can't get the image of her screaming at the top of her lungs into the water as the guards and people in the white coats tried to hold him back.

"I think we used to care for each other—" 

"You mean like—?" Blake questions

"I don't know." Thomas responds, looking back into Blake's green eyes. "I remember that I was about to tell you something—before the guards grabbed you and took you away."

The two shift awkwardly at the thought of them together—not that it would be bad, just something new that made their hearts beat faster and cheeks dust with a light shade of pink.

Blake blinked before she interrupted the awkwardness. "I uhm— I'm gonna go shower and get ready for the run today." She says, standing up and moving to grab her clothes.

Thomas sits on her hammock, watching the girl as she bends down to grab her tank top. His eyes almost immediately fall to her ass before quickly realizing what he is doing; he snaps out of it.

As Blake turns back around to face him, Thomas's lips twitch upward into a slight smirk.

"You wanna—" He starts to say as he dips his tongue over his bottom lip.

"No," Blake interjects as she shoots a glare at the boy sitting on her hammock—not missing the action he did.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰! Blake internally groans at herself.

"You don't even know what I was going to say?" Thomas continues

"I don't want to know, but I do know that you have a problem with staring at my ass—and I know that comment was gonna be—"

"Be what?" Thomas' lips pull into a bigger smirk as he moves to stand.

Blake grins at his cockiness.

"Nothing. Nothing.." she says before walking away toward the showers.

𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐.

Blake smirks to herself as she makes sure to sway her hips a little extra.

And to no surprise, Blake looks back to see him expectantly gazing at the sway of her hips.

"Told you, staring problem." She laughs as she throws him the middle finger over her shoulder.

"Tease!" Thomas shouts to Blake, rolling his eyes and turning around to see Chuck grinning from ear to ear.

Thomas' face immediately falls upon seeing the curly-haired boy awake and grinning.

"I uhm—" Thomas stands in place as he scratches the back of his neck, not knowing what to say.

"Minho is going to kill you." Chuck laughed at the embarrassed greenie.

Blake finishes her shower and pulls her new set of clothes on. Pulling on her white tank top over her head, she tugs the bottom to cover her torso before reaching for her beige cargo pants.

Slipping her legs through, she tugs the pants up to her waist before grabbing her belt and securing it through the loops.

After getting dressed, Blake walks over to the sink to brush her teeth and fix her. Braiding her midsection on the sides as the rest of her hair cascades down her shoulders.

Once she is done, Blake heads to grab her lunch from Fry—telling him a quick thank you before she goes to find Minho.

Alby stands beside Minho at the concrete entrance as Blake jogs to stand next to the two.

"Alby?" Blake questioned with an eyebrow quirked. "What are you doing?"

"Going with y'all today to trace Ben's steps."

Thomas shoots back up out of his sleep from another nightmare/memory coming back as his head whips to Blake's hammock, noticing she's still gone.

𝘎𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳.

Thomas' eyes cast over to the whirling sounds of the maze creaking open, seeing Blake, Minho, and Alby starting to jog in.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘦?

Later on in the day, Thomas and Chuck lean against a tree that the builders have recently chopped down. Both newbies watch as a few boys hack at the tree in front of them.

"Okay, well. Why would Alby go into the maze? I mean..he's not a...he's not a runner." Thomas questions, looking around to see Newt stop.

"Things are different now. Alby went to retrace Ben's footsteps before sundown." Newt informs the curious greenie.

"Look, are you gonna help?" The blonde asks, growing agitated at all the greenie's questions, but Thomas doesn't let up.

"Okay, so he's gonna go back to where Ben was just stung—?"

"Alby knows what he's doing. All right? He knows better than any of us."

Thomas throws his hand to the side, still questioning, "What does that mean?"

Newt stops again, lifting his hand to wipe away the sweat, sniffing. "All right, it's like you've heard, yeah? Every month, the box sends up a new arrival, but someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spend a whole month in the glade alone. And that was Alby."

Blake and Minho run through the maze, covering section 5 today.

As they near a good stopping point, Blake comes to a stop. Leaning her outstretched hand onto the wall beside her, she pants.

"Break time?" Blake questions

Minho pants beside her, nodding, "Yeah."

The two sit down, leaning against the wall with their legs out in front of them as they eat their lunch.

Blake's eyes look to the sky as she notices the clouds growing darker, covering a good part of the maze with a shadow.

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵.

"Let's split up. We need to find Alby and get back to the Glade before it pours." Blake suggests as Minho nods in agreement.

Blake runs for a bit before she turns a corner to see Alby.

"Alby!" Blake shouts, "We gotta get back to the glade!"

As the rain starts to sprinkle around them. Blake raises her arm to see her friend looking unwell—and mad?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭?

"Alby?" She questions taking a step forward

"You did this, Blake! You and your little boyfriend!" He shouts as his chest heaves up and down. Not even a split second later, Alby starts charging toward the girl.

𝘉𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢—

Blake doesn't get a chance to finish her thought as her side suddenly hits the hard ground beneath her. A loud crack sounds as a sharp pain shoots through her once-injured wrist. The girl screams in pain as she tries to push Alby off of her.

As if right now wasn't enough with Alby trying to kill her, the rain starts to pelt the two as Blake continues squirming.

"You and Thomas! You're the reason we are here!" Alby shouts above her face as water drops down his angry features.

The small drops of water rush down his chin and fall onto Blake's face as she spits the pouring rain out of her mouth.

Alby's hand shifts to grab Blake by the neck. Putting a good amount of pressure, he pulls both of his hands up to strangle her. Blake chokes and claws at his hands as they clamp down on her windpipe. Her vision slowly blurs as black spots form in her vision.

Just as Blake feels herself about to go limp, Alby is suddenly knocked off her. Blake coughs and gasps as she sits up.

Her eyes move from Alby's unconscious form to see Minho standing over to the side with the butt of his machete lowered.

Blake glances back to Alby as she notes the blood seeping from the side of his head. Her heart pangs, seeing him like that.

Minho reaches his hand out for Blake to take. "I heard you scream." Minho says, panting as he pulls the girl to her feet. "I ran as fast as I could."

Blake finally catches her breath as she leans on the wall. Holding her throbbing wrist to her stomach, she connects her eyes to Minho's dark one.

Rain pours as it slicks down the concrete, turning the light grey into a dark grey. Blake gazes at the ground as she watches the spots form together. A slight shiver rolls down her spine at the now-soaked material of her clothes.

𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱.

Minho lets out a deer breathe as he walks over to Blake. "Let me see your wrist."

Blake shifts to face him as she moves her hand over to Minho, hissing as his finger grazes the top of her wrist. Minho thinks for a  pause before reaching for the edge of Blake's tank top—ripping the hem as a tear sounds.

"Min, what are you doing." Blake asks with an eyebrow raised in question.

Minho stretches out the material to make it longer as he removes one of his gloves.

"Making you a makeshift cast—ish, now hush. This is going to hurt—so just bite down on your shirt so we can get your hand into my glove." He says as he finishes pulling his gloves off. Minho then hands the material over to Blake. She lifts it up to her mouth, clamping her teeth on it.

Minho opens his glove up and positions it to her hand. "Okay, on three?"

Blake nods hesitantly as Minho inches the glove closer.

"One, two—"

Blake screams out in pain as Minho suddenly shoves her hand into the glove, quickly helping her fingers reach the holes. Blake bites down hard as tears threaten her eyes.

Rain continues to pour on the two as Blake growls through the pain. Her wrist throbs in the glove as Minho then tears the bottom piece of his shirt. Repeating the same technique, the boy stretches the material before gently wrapping it around Blake's gloved hand.

Tying it tight, Minho secures the wrap, gently patting Blake's elbow once he's done.

Blake winces at the tight-wrapped hand in front of her, shifting it from side to side as her eyes scan over her best friend's work. She had to admit he did a good job. It's not as bad as it was with nothing around it.

"We gotta get you back and then have Clint look at it. But right now, we have a bigger problem." Minho says as his eyes glance to his watch before gesturing to their leader, lying unconscious a few feet away.

"I'll hold him up on the side your injury is on. You take the other side—" He suggests, moving to grab Alby.

Blake moves quickly to Alby's side and swings her arm underneath his, holding him upright.

As the two runners start to haul their friend back to the glade, Blake winces at her wrist— throbbing with pain.

The other gladers all stand under the shelter of one of the buildings as they stare out towards the maze. Thomas shifts on the other foot as he leans on one of the beams.

"They should be back by now" He shouts over the pouring rain. He drums his fingers on the beam, growing impatient as worry continues to bubble in his stomach.

"What happens if they don't make it?" He asks, turning behind him to see Newt watching the doors intensely.

"They're going to make it." The blonde reassures Thomas—and himself as they continue watching the rain pour.

Thomas huffs as he walks over to Newt. "What happens if they don't?" He questions again.

Newt doesn't take his gaze off the entrance as he responds with the same answer.

"They're going to make it."

As the rain finally stops over the Glade, the boys all crowd around the entrance to the maze—trying to see any signs of the two runners and their leader.

Thomas shifts in his spot, looking for any movement.

𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

The boy grows even more worried when they stand there for a while, seeing—nothing. Thomas shifts his feet, hearing the maze rumble. His heart drops as there is still no sign of the small girl.

"Come on, guys, can't we send someone after them?"

"It's against the rules." Gally answers from his spot, kneeling on the ground.

Newt's hand covers his mouth as he stares into the maze. His heart hammers against his chest at the thought of losing more of his friends.

The curly-haired boy beside Thomas starts to worry even more about the runners, but more specifically, the female who looks after him.

"Come on, Blake." Chuck whispers as his leg shakes in anticipation.

Thomas turns his head towards the boy and then back towards the maze, thinking about the green eyes he would miss.

"Either they make it back, or they don't." Gally says dryly, earning a glare from Thomas.

"Can't risk losing anyone else." Newt says

The maze doors start creaking, signaling to the gladers they're closing. The familiar wind blows through the entrance as all the boys block their faces from the gust.

The doors start to move slowly, closing. Chuck mutters an "Oh, no." as the boys watch.

His heart sinks even further into his chest as he realizes they aren't going to make it.

Just then, Thomas sees movement. Minho appears out from a corner as he hauls Alby. "There!" Thomas points.

Newt's eyes find Blake and Minho struggling to carry Alby to the gate. Both runners hold Alby up by his shoulders as they push to walk faster.

"Wait, no! Something's wrong." Newt says

As the doors close closer and closer, the two runners pick up their speed. Both runners stumble to make it in time, but suddenly, Blake's foot catches on a crack in the maze—causing the two to drop Alby.

The gladers continue to shout and scream for them to hurry, but as Blake and Minho go to pick Alby back up by his arms—Blake's wrist shoots with pain, making her drop Alby from her side. Minho stumbles as the weight is unbalanced.

"Minho! Blake! You gotta leave him!" They hear Gally shout.

Blake's heart feels like it's about to explode out of her chest when she looks up to see Thomas through the entrance.

Her breathing slows as the sounds around her fade out. Her only focus being the whiskey-colored eyes that stare back at her from across the wall.

"We're not going to make it." She whispers as a tear rolls down her cheek.

𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵. Thomas watches Blake's mouth. The boy's body stiffens at her words, and his breath hitches in the back of his throat.

He could practically hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears as adrenaline surged through his body. Bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, he makes a split-second decision—

Time seemed to slow as Blake realized what he was about to do.

"Thomas, no!" Blake shouts almost in slow motion as the greenie suddenly rushes forward through the maze doors. Newt's hand barely misses the greenie as he squeezes through the doors.

Barely making it inside the maze, Thomas falls on his stomach, panting as the maze doors come to a click.

Blake falls onto her knees as she plops down onto the concrete.

𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥.

Thomas' head swivels up to the two as he finally realizes what he's done.

"Good job, you just killed yourself." Minho pants.