𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 hasn't been very eventful; it's just Blake's typical day running through the maze, chatting with Minho as they sprint through section 3.

Minho's been joking about Blake and the greenie being 'hot and cold' with each other and then their usual banter during runs. The topic of Ben getting banished this evening even came up—but neither of the runners wanted to continue talking about it.

Blake tried to ask Minho about letting Thomas become a runner, but all Minho would tell the girl is that the council has to decide on it first. Blake eventually let the topic go to avoid any arguments between her and her best friend.

As the day grows closer to the banishment, the two runners make their way back to the glade as the boys get ready.

Blake jogs up to her blonde friend as he walks with one of the sticks.

"Hey"

"Hey," Newt responds, still walking as Blake follows him. "We doing it right now? The doors are about to close."

"Yeah, gotta get Ben out of the slammer." Newt continues walking. He's sulking.

Blake nods, turning back around to grab her stick.

The girl had liked Ben; they became pretty close, being one of the few runners. Ben would always ensure Blake would be right behind him wherever they were in the maze, but whoever was in the slammer now was not the Ben she used to know.

This Ben was different and aggressive. He tried to kill her and Thomas, but all Blake could think about was marking another name off of the wall. They lost yet another glader.

Blake stood with the rest of the gladers by the maze doors, waiting for Minho to bring Ben. Her eyes flicker over to see Minho pushing a growling Ben.
Ben's arms are tied up by his head as he begs Minho to stop this and let him go, but Minho's face only shows anger and a hint of sadness as he guides his once 'friend' to the entrance of the maze.

As they pass through the crowd, Ben pleads, "Alby!"

Alby only adverts his gaze from the boy, holding onto all the strength he has left, knowing exactly what will happen once Ben is locked in the maze.

Minho pushes Ben to stand before the doors as his hands push down on Ben's shoulders, making the boy drop to his knees facing the entrance. Taking his blade out of his waistband, he cuts the bindings, holding Ben's hands up before backing away.

Ben growls and coughs as he looks forward to his undeniable future. A sob escapes his lips as he turns to look back at the gladers who surround him.

Thomas had seen the gladers gathered at the concrete doors as he walked back from the bathroom. Lifting an eyebrow at the group, he sprints over and comes to a halt beside Chuck. His whiskey-brown eyes widen as he realizes what's happening.

Minho pushes back through the crowd as he stands before Ben with a bag.

Ben continues begging, "No, no, please, please don't. Please."

Blake has to look away from the scene, her eyes threatening to burst into tears as her lip quivers slightly.

Her green eyes find Thomas' as he stands beside Chuck. The greenie gives her a quick, soft smile before turning back to Ben.

Minho turns his head to look to Alby to see him give him the 'go ahead' nod. Hearing the doors start to rumble, Minho throws the bag on the other side of the doors—into the maze.

Ben continues to sob as the wind blows through the glade. The infected boy rises to his feet as Alby shouts, "Poles!"

The surrounding gladers lift their poles toward Ben as they take large steps to push him toward the maze. Blake's hands shake against her grip as she moves forward with the others.

Ben shakes and frantically turns to look at the gladers moving towards him. "Move in!" Alby orders as they continue pushing Ben closer into the maze.

"No....no..no...no! Please!" Ben shouts as he continues begging.

Blake walks forward—pushing with the other gladers as Ben tries to push them back, clawing at the poles that guide him.

"No, I can get better! Please! Just listen to me!" Ben begs again

Blake feels a drop flow down her cheek as she pushes with the others. Wiping the stray tear away, she stiffens her shoulders.

The group pushes Ben into the doors as they slowly click closer and closer—making Ben run into the maze. The boy screams from the other side as the doors finally come together with a thud.

The gladers all stand in silence as they bow their heads in sorrow.

Blake turns around slowly as she spots Thomas watching, with a mixture of sadness and horror on his face.

Blake squeezes her eyes shut and takes a deep breath as she walks away from where she had just pushed one of her friends to their death.

Moving past Thomas, she sniffed and wiped the stray tear from her eye with her wrist—not wanting to talk to anyone.

The boys all stand around the entrance with sorrow as Newt and Minho watch Blake return to the homestead.

"He belongs to the maze now."

Later that night, Blake sits on the grass away from everyone else with a jar of Gally's secret recipe. She gulps down the liquid as the familiar clanking of the metal scraping the cement echoes throughout the glade. Blake watches as Alby hacks at the cement while Gally stands next to him—illuminating the wall with a torch.

𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

"Do you think he might make it?" Blake hears Thomas' voice behind her, turning to see him talking to Chuck.

"Ben?" Chuck asks before turning to look at the maze. "No. No one survives a night in the maze. You just gotta forget about him."

Blake turns back to watching Alby mark out Ben's name as she takes another gulp of the drink.

Thomas sighs as he watches Chuck settle down into his hammock. His head turns back to the maze as he finds Blake sitting in the grass with her legs bent in front of her, gazing at the torch shining right by the wall.

Thomas gets up from his spot by the hammocks to walk over to Blake, plopping down next to her.

"Hey."

"Hey." Blake says softly as she takes another sip—wiping her mouth with her wrist, she cringes at the taste.

"How many?" Thomas asks, gesturing to the maze.

"Too many." Blake responds with a deep breath, moving the jar over to Thomas.

The greenie takes the jar out of her hand, accidentally brushing their fingers at the interception, before he brings the jar up to his own.

Upon taking a sip, Thomas starts coughing and gagging again like he did the first night. Blake's shoulders bounce up and down as she laughs. "Still not used to it, huh?"

"That stuff is awful." He admits with his hand hitting his chest. Blake's laugh turns into a small smile as she reaches to take the jar back.

"It's the only thing we have to get drunk with—so whatever it takes." She says as she lifts the jar before taking another sip.

"Were you and Ben close?" Thomas asks

"Kinda—we used to be running partners. He always made sure I was okay and kept up when I first started. He was a good guy. Always joked around, laughed, smiled—he made the runs not as miserable when I first started." Blake says, reminiscing.

The sounds of the maze changing and the fire crackling behind them from the torches sound through the silence.

"He was a good friend—of course, till he decided to try and kill us. But—It had to be done. He wouldn't stop if we hadn't."

Thomas sat next to Blake, thinking about her words, as the two sat silently for a few minutes.

Blake finally gets up, rising to a stand as she outstretches her hand, offering to help the greenie up. "Time for bed"

Thomas takes her hand in his as Blake yanks him up; both collide into each other as they stand inches apart. A shiver rolls down Blake's spine, feeling Thomas's body warmth so close to hers.

"Sorry," They say in unison.

Both brunettes feel heat rising to their cheeks at the feeling of the other's body heat. They stand there for a second— looking into each other's eyes as Blake swears she sees Thomas' eyes flicker down to her lips for a split second.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Thomas suddenly takes off toward his hammock in a hurry as Blake follows after the boy. Walking past him to lay on her hammock, she settles down, pulling her blanket over herself.

Blake was offered a cabin, but she refused to take it. She gave the cabin meant for her—to Newt; since he had a limp, she wanted him to be able to recline his foot up when it started hurting.

She didn't mind sleeping outside. It was mostly peaceful—listening to the fire crackling from the torches...the rumbling of the maze, and being surrounded by others so she knew she was safe.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of the dark. She hated the thought of something else being out there—even though it was just the other boys.

She had nothing to worry about, but for some reason—she was scared.

She wasn't afraid of any of the boys. None of them had done anything to scare her, so it must have been something before she was sent up into the maze that frightened her, but she couldn't remember what.

Shifting from side to side, Blake finally gets comfortable—letting her eyes flutter shut as she slowly drifts out of consciousness.

From across Chuck, Thomas gazes at the girl, finally falling asleep.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴.