Her || The Maze Runner

Two

"Who is that shank?"

"How the shuck did she survive a night in the maze?"

"Why didn't the shank come through the shuckin' box like the rest of us?"

"She survived a night? Out there? What?"

"She? It's a girl?"

"She hot?"

"She's mine. I call dibs."

Voices echoed all around Mara, they sounded real, but she still felt unconscious. Every voice sounded like it belonged to a boy but she didn't understand everything they said, they all had strong American accents.

She barely recognised the half of the things they said. It was so confusing, every word mixing and drilling through her mind. What was going on? Why couldn't she understand?

"Shh. I think she's waking." This voice was different, laced with a thick British accent.

Mara's eyelids lifted, darting around the place, trying to help her come to her senses.

She was lying on the cold stone floor, looking up towards the sky. Although she couldn't see the sky; there were too many boys in the way, bending down and each peering at her with persistent eyes.

Who are they? Why were they staring her down as if they had caught their prey?

She looked at each of them, there were about fifty surrounding her. Her gaze fell upon a short, chubby boy standing near the back of the crowd, he looked at Mara with wide eyes. He didn't belong to the group of prying eyes and intimidating frowns. He was innocent.

All of the boys stood except one, who knelt at her side. He had blond sandy hair and a rather square jaw. He seemed vaguely familiar to Mara.

"Do I know you?" The pale girl asked, looking up into the blond boy's chocolate brown eyes.

The other boys began to whisper as more and more boys surrounded her. Some of them laughed, some seemed surprised, some in awe, and others, utterly terrified.

"Damn, she's hot." A voice called out, other boys agreed with him.

"Hey, this shank's got the same accent as Newt." One of the boys called out, but Mara couldn't put the voice to a boy.

"Newt we found you a shuckin' girl with your accent!" Another boy yelled, others laughing after he said it. Shucking? What were they taking about?

The boy knelling beside her reached down and held his hand out, indicating that he wanted Mara to take it.

Reluctantly, she did, and he pulled her up to her feet. There was something about him that made her want to trust him, almost as if she had met him before? But why couldn't she remember?

Every minute part of her brain itched to remember something, even just a fracture of knowledge. It was maddening. She felt so vulnerable and stupid.

She staggered around, trying to regain her balance, but the blond boy had to hold her upright. It took a moment for her to steady herself, leaning on the boy for support.

She could see the faces of the boys around her more clearly, but what she saw was daunting and unknown. Mara was in a place so confined it gave her a rush of claustrophobia, yet it was large enough to make it feel endless. It was a place that sent a rocket of mixed feelings circulating around her mind. 

She stood in the centre of the circle of boys she was surrounded by, trying to take everything in. She turned in a circle meeting the eyes of each individual boy, curiosity taking over her. They were all different in ages, but the oldest couldn't have been over eighteen.