The Maze Girl

Keep Me Alive

I smiled in my sleep while remembering Newt next to me. The thought brought a blush to my cheeks. I dreamed about the boy for a couple moments longer when suddenly I was uncomfortably awaken. Something was nudging my shoulder almost painfully. Frowning, I kept my eyes closed and shifted away from whatever it was. I was just about to drift off to peaceful bliss again when I felt the nudge again.

"Hey," a loud and rather obnoxious voice said.

I groaned and kept my eyes shut tight, hoping the annoying person would just go away.

"Wake up Greenie," the voice continued more tauntingly this time.

My eyes opened and I scowled when I realized that I'd know that voice anywhere.

Gally.

I looked up to see him towering above me. I came to the realization that he'd been kicking me with his foot in the shoulder. This was not the wake up I was expecting.

He smirked when he saw me looking up at him. "Good morning sunshine," he said sweetly.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"It's time to get back to work. Minho and the rest of the runners are waiting at the entrance." He said looking away, not able to meet my glare anymore.

"Fine," I said while sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "I figured we'd be going back in soon. Too much time has already been wasted."

I jumped up with a certain boost of energy. I'd expected to come eye to eye with Gally, but his large figure loomed over me. His head was turned toward the maze. His eyes looked far off as if they were in another place, seeing another world.

I felt unable to leave, but not wanting to just stand uncomfortably while he had his moment, so I coughed awkwardly. His intense eyes shot back to meet mine.

"Just be careful," he muttered then turned around and to walk off.

"Wha-" I said but he was too far gone.

Shaking the thoughts of his strange behavior from my head, I ran off toward the entrance.

Minho was waiting with a couple other Gladers at the entrance of the maze. I didn't see Newt among them and wondered where he was. He had been with me early this morning, I was sure of it, but he was gone by the time Gally had woken me up.

"Alright Marie, we are just going to do a normal run." Minho said interrupting my thoughts.

"No crazy exploring or any risk taking today, got it?" He said with a wink and a smile.

"Mhm," I said jokingly, "but no promises."

He rolled his eyes, while he turned to instruct the new runners he'd recruited. After a couple of minutes, I felt the shaking as the maze opened its heavy doors. The maze was now open for business.

We all lined up and took off into the maze. Although Minho had instructed not to try anything new, I was remembering a new path of the maze. This day was meant for training and warming back up to running, but I was ready to make an actual breakthrough.

Hours had passed, but I hadn't stopped running. I took different paths and they all seemed to lead me to dead ends. Although they were numbered, I'd end up repeating some of the paths I'd taken. It was getting late, I knew I should go back. I knew it, but I continued to run through the maze. There was something freeing and exhilarating about running through the maze. I felt like I could make a change that I could be the one to save everyone. I could prove my worth to the Glade. I could maybe help those I care about..

After another hour or so, I realized how dark it was really getting. I began to realize I needed to get back as soon as possible. The walls would be closing soon, and staying in the maze after dark was not really an option. It pretty much guaranteed a horrible death. I was unsure of what truly lurked in the maze once the sun went down. It all reminded me of something so familiar.

I traced my path back to the entrance with minutes to spare. I jogged back to the doors surprised at what I saw. A very frantic Newt was pacing back and forth in front of the entrance. His head was down and there were soft mutters coming from him. He was talking or rather fighting about something with himself.

"Hey," I said breathing heavily, "where's everyone else? Did they make it out alright?"

He jumped a little if startled by my sudden presence. His look of shock turned to one of anger.

"Where have you been?!" He yelled.

I stuttered, confused by his sudden outburst.

"Everyone got back an hour ago. You know the rules! You should never cut it that close!" Newt shut his eyes while rubbing his forehead. Right on cue, I felt the walls behind me begin to close.

"I'm sorry," I said feeling my vision go a little blurry.

Newt didn't say anything for a couple minutes. His eyes remained shut and his expression was stressed.

"I really didn't-" my voice cracked before I could finish the sentence.

This caught his attention and his eyes flew open. His hard expression immediately shifted to a softer, worried one.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell," he said taking a careful step toward me. "You're just my responsibility and well you know. I just take that seriously but also you and I..." He said trailing off. He was blushing and clenched his jaw as he refused to meet my eyes.

I smiled, genuinely smiled, and in that moment I forgot about the maze and I simply thought about this person in front of me.

"I'm sorry for being late," I said honestly but then continued by saying, "It won't happen again." I knew deep down that I shouldn't promise that, but I said it anyway.

He finally met my eyes, relief was clearly seen in them. Abruptly, he stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. I was still for a second, shocked by his sudden outburst, but then hugged him back. He rested his chin on the top of my head and muttered, "Don't bloody leave me Marie. You might not realize it, but you're one of the rare things that keeps me alive here."

And with that we stood hand in hand looking up at the tightly sealed doors of the maze. I was unsure of what any of this was going to become, but I had a bad feeling something earth shattering was coming.