Her || The Maze Runner

Thirty Eight

They ran for another two hours, short breaks were added in here and there but they seemed to get shorter and shorter. Each minute brought on more pain in Mara's muscles, but she blocked it out. Running felt good.

Once again, Minho pulled to the side, and removed his pack from his back one more time. They sat with their backs against the ivy blanketed wall as they ate their lunch. No one spoke, just munched on their sandwiches and veggies, which were delicious. Mara really did envy Frypan's cooking skills. He really was that good.

"Anything different today?" Thomas broke the silence. Mara turned her head to Minho, halfway through a bite of her sandwich.

Minho patted the top of his pack, which rested against his leg in between his body and Mara's. "Just the usual wall movements. Nothing to get your skinny butt excited about."

A blink of sliver and red caught Mara's attention in the corner of her eye. She looked up to see a Beetle Blade watching them from the ivy wall opposite them. It seemed to have caught Thomas' eye too, where as Minho continued to stare at the floor in deep thought, Mara assumed.

"What's the deal with those Beetle Blades?" Thomas asked. They were everywhere, observing their every move. Mara didn't blame Thomas for wanting to know what the creatures wanted. Of course, she knew they were the creators' way of watching the Gladers, but she knew nothing more than that. "And why do they have the word wicked written on their backs?"

"That's the name of the creators." Mara told him as she watched the Beetle Blade, who watched her. She stood up, levelling their eye contact. "They watch us through them. Probably enjoy watching as kids get torn apart by those Grievers." Her voice was rising in anger. She was directing her words more towards the bug, towards the ones who trapped them all. Towards her mother. "I hope you enjoyed watching me almost die you shanks! I hope you enjoyed watching Nick, and everyone else die in this bloody place!"

"Cool it Mara. No use in winding them up." Minho tugged on her arm, pulling her back towards Thomas and himself. Mara sighed, holding her head in her hands. Why was she letting them get to her? She had to stop herself before they started to get their revenge and take their anger out on the other Gladers. Before they took it out on Newt, or Minho or Thomas. Or anyone.

Something broke Mara from her thoughts; a dull grey shining under the ivy, just under where the Beetle Blade sat. She moved closer, causing the bug to scuttle away. 

"What's that?" Thomas' voice grew in volume as he came to stand by Mara's side. She shrugged.

"Oh, yeah, that," Minho said from behind, his voice didn't even flicker in curiosity. He had probably seen whatever it was before, he probably knew exactly what it was but just left it out of his little tour and the 'inform the new Runners' session.

Mara pulled apart the curtains of ivy to reveal what they hid. A frosty plague of metal hung on the wall with words stamped across it in block capitals. She ran her fingers along the surprisingly smooth surface. The words were recognisable, but she knew she hadn't seen them before. Of course, she knew it spelt W.I.C.K.E.D. but she had never figured what the acronym stood for. 

                                                               WORLD IN CATASTROPHE;
                                                    KILLZONE EXPERIMENT DEPARTMENT

"What's this?" Thomas asked, peering at the words from beside Mara. He narrowed his brows, and Mara turned to Minho, hoping he would tell them more. 

"I don't know, shank. They're all over the place, like freaking labels for the nice pretty Maze they built. I quit bothering to look at 'em a long time ago." Minho shrugged, staying where he sat and looking up at the two of them.

Thomas turned back to the sign, but Mara could see that Minho was preparing to leave soon. She leaned down and wrapped her pack around her shoulders, waiting for Minho's command.

"Not much here that sounds very good. Catastrophe. Killzone. Experiment. Real nice." Thomas shuddered. Mara turned to him, pulling him gently away from the sign. Minho stood and grabbed Thomas' backpack, shoving it into his hands a few seconds later.

"Yeah, real nice, Greenie. Let's go."

Minho began to get into the rhythm of a jog, and Mara joined him. Thomas reluctantly followed behind the two of them, who ran side by side.

"How many more stops do we have?" Mara kept jogged as they turned a corner.

"Three. Be about an hour till we get to the last dead end." He replied, keeping his focus on the pathway in front of him.

The boy was right--they reached their last dead end an hour after lunch. It was straight with no other turnings, just a dead end like Minho had said. He announced it again once they got there, "The last dead end," He had said. "Time to go back."

It didn't seem like they were only halfway done with their lap for the day. Mara sucked in fresh air to keep herself breathing, which Thomas seemed to be doing too.

"Nothing new then?" Mara asked, looking at the walls around her. She hoped there was something- anything- to help them get out, but there really was nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

"Just the usual changes to the way we got here- day's half over." Minho huffed between breaths. He soon caught his breath. His face remained emotionless as he checked his watch. "Gotta get back." The keeper turned without a second glance and began his trek back through the Maze.

Mara began to follow, eager to get back to the Glade. Th first day had been an experience she had enjoyed, but now she wanted to get back. Newt had told her he had a surprise planned for her when he got back, and she was excited to find out what that surprise was going to be. 

She turned to Thomas, who seemed frustrated. He began to speak but Minho soon interrupted him. 

"Just shut it, dude. Remember what I said earlier- can't take any chances. Plus, think about it. You really think there's an exit anywhere? A secret trapdoor or something?"

"I don't know... maybe." Thomas replied, and Mara could only hope there was an exit. The boy seemed quieter than normal, something seemed to be on his mind, bothering him. "Why do you ask it that way?" 

Minho shook his head, spitting phlegm to his left before he began to answer Thomas' question. "There's no exit. It's just more of the same. A wall is a wall is a wall. Solid. People willing to send Grievers after us aren't gonna give us an easy way out."

Deep down, Mara knew Minho was right. She knew there was no easy way out of the Glade and the Maze. But there had to be some way out, and Teresa had convinced her of that.

Once they got back to the Glade, Mara and the two boys had written up their Map Route in the Map Room, but her words stuck in her head. She had left after analysing and comparing that Map to the previous ones.

Newt had been too busy to give Mara her surprise. "Tomorrow, love. I promise." He had said, but she didn't mind, Mara was too tired and weak to do anything but sleep.

It was while after lying in silence, trying to get to sleep, when Teresa had spoken up again. Her voice had been worried and frustrated; she was scared. Those words stuck with her, along with the others. Mara couldn't help but wonder what Teresa had meant by her words, but she knew that what was to come wasn't going to be good. If anything, it was going to tear the Glade apart. Those six words stuck to her brain for the rest of the night.

Mara, I just triggered the ending.