I woke up feeling a different way than I did the night before. The light showing through the holes in the trapdoor made me squint my eyes and hold my hand up to shield the rising sun. I closed them once again, wondering how in the hell I got any sleep on a ground like this. I probably looked even more dirty than I did yesterday. But as my mind began to unfogg, the memories of what happened last night finally made their way into my head.

I remember Newt. I remember us finally telling each other how we felt, and I remember wiping the subtle tears as they flowed down his cheeks. I remembered admiring him for the millionth time, and wondering how he could be so perfect despite what he thinks of himself. He seemed like he was holding in a bottle of emotions that he only cracked open for me. He only let two tears fall, but I could tell he was holding back a tsunami of them. He kept beating himself up... and every word he spoke burned a hole in my heart.

And then we kissed.

Somehow, in the whole shucked up mess of what happened yesterday, we managed to finally break the ice of our feelings and kiss each other. I remember feeling like I was floating in the air... Even though I was half asleep, I still felt the tingle on my lips right now, and the fluttering in my heart. He seemed so hesitant, but as soon as he gained enough confidence to close the gap between our wanting lips, it was like a fire erupted within both of us. I could hardly describe it...but I remember the feeling. And that's all that really matters.

Lazily, I smiled to myself at the memory. Newt was no longer sitting my my side, asleep and dreaming dreams about whatever our lives could be. I didn't really have a problem with that, I knew Minho would come in soon to pick Thomas and I up for our first day as official Runners. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see Newt before the fact. It would give me some kind of motive to come back safely and to try and not do anything stupid. So, until then, I just sat down in the pit, twiddling my thumbs and willing myself not to go back to sleep.

At times where I sit alone like this, my mind wonders. Sometimes I contemplate whether that's a good thing or not. I'm given the opportunity to create scenarios in my head that are probably never going to happen in real life...Things like what would happen if we were never in this stupid shucking Maze, would Newt and I still know each other? Would I be living with my family? Are they even still alive? When I'm alone my mind wonders into the inevitable void of the what if's and the could be's. Things that I'm not even sure exist can happen, like flying unicorns and no pigs on the entire world. All in my mind while I'm sitting alone. And when I'm pulled back into that reality, sometimes I see things from a different perspective. A motivation to create that own world for myself.

When I heard the shuffling footsteps from above, I was torn out of my perfect world and brought back into the harsh reality of the real one.

"Hey, Maisy," Minho was quick to tease me first thing this morning as he crouched down and began untying the knot on the trapdoor. I rolled my eyes at him as soon as Thomas stepped into the picture, "You sure we can't leave her, Thomas?"

I scoffed, "Please...you two wouldn't last two minutes in there without me."

They both raised their eyebrows cockily, "Are you sure? Maybe we should leave her in here just to prove her wrong.."

"Minho, I swear to god if you—"

"Take a chill pill, Mae," He laughed, finally pulling back the trapdoor to let me out, "I'm bettin' you didn't get any sleep last night? What's that, four—five days?"

Thomas held his hand up in the air as I stood to my feet, "Actually I think you're right, Minho...Newt came down here last night..."

I rolled my eyes and started walking in a random direction, trying to pretend I knew where I was going to get away from these shanks and their annoying attitude first thing in the morning. Minho let out a loud whistle before catching up with me and placing his arms around my shoulders, "Mae Mae has a boyfriend finally?"

"No, slinthead," I pushed his arm away, "And quit being so nosy or I'm never gonna tell you."

"Ah, well I'll find out another way then," He turned us around casually to walk in the right direction, towards the Map room, "Newtie just loves my advice."

Thomas let out a loud laugh as I nodded sarcastically, "I bet he does. I'm sure you give nothing but great advice...When was the last time someone actually listened to it?"

He hummed, trying to think of a witty answer quickly. But he was unsuccessful and just ended up hitting me in the back of the head, "That doesn't matter, shank."

The three of us made our way all the way to the strange concrete building, the same one I've been wondering about ever since I got here. Now that I was finally getting to go inside, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. But like always, I turned my nerves into excitement. Minho sighed casually as he closed the door behind us, reaching into a giant box for something. Thomas and I were left to gape at everything this room had to offer.

In the center, on a giant round table, was an outline of the Maze. I stepped towards it with furrowed eyebrows and ran my fingers across the glued sticks. I looked to Thomas, who was already staring at me through his eyelashes, smirking as if he knew something I didn't. I pointed to the outline, and he shook his head, confirming my unsettling thoughts. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, pushing myself away from the table and over to Minho, who had already handed Thomas some kind of satchel that he was trying to tie around his shoulders. He growled in frustration.

"Mae, what size are you?"

I paused, "What size am I?"

"Yeah."

"Uh..." I tried to come up with something to help him, he must've been looking for something for me, "I...Definitely not large."

He looked up at me with a deadpanned expression, "You're so helpful."

Thomas laughed again, still trying to figure out how to tighten his satchel thing. I threw my arms into the air and pushed past Minho, grabbing the smallest satchel I could find. Immediately, I flung it over my shoulders and tightened it quickly, making Thomas subtly roll his eyes. When I adjusted it, the thing fit perfectly.

Minho smirked and shook his head, "I should've known..."

"Known what?" I asked him.

He cocked his eyebrow and looked up at me, pointing at the satchel around my chest, "That was Newt's old one. It's the smallest we have."

I felt my heart contract in my chest at the gesture. Maybe it was a coincidence, but for the sake of pleasing myself, I chose to believe that it was destiny. Smiling, I walked over to Thomas and quickly tightened his satchel, making him nod towards me as thanks. Then, we both turned to Minho to listen to what he had been mumbling under his breath.

"Normally, we break in the new recruits slow," He spoke, "Give them a chance to get their feet wet."

"Lame," I joked, making Thomas chuckle once again.

Minho continued, "Seeing as you two shanks are already soaked, I'm thinking we'll just dive right in. If that's alright with both of you..."

I scoffed as Thomas responded, "Oh, yeah."

The Runner nodded, "Good. I like your enthusiasm," He smiled, "Don't get sloppy."

"Wow, way to make us feel better, Min," I muttered under my breath so only Thomas could hear. Minho walked over to the outline of the Maze and sighed, leaning on the table and turning towards us.

"Okay, listen up," He grabbed our attention, "We're gonna take this route through the Narrows until we reach section four...all the way to section seven," He walked around the table until he reached a rock with a painted number seven on it. I nodded and felt my stomach turn at how far we had to run.

"Still don't have an inhaler," I mumbled, making Thomas worriedly look at me. He pat my back and gave me a warm smile, calming me down in this moment of anticipation.

"You'll be fine Mae," He told me. I looked him in the eye and bit the inside of my cheeks and sighed, agreeing but not feeling the best about it. He noticed this, "Hey. You stopped your last asthma attack by yourself. You can do this, okay?"

"Yeah," I finally agreed, remembering the time where I ran for about fifteen minutes straight with panic flaring through my chest, "You're right. I'll be fine."

Thomas pat me again and turned to look back at Minho, who was staring at us like a proud dad, "You guys are so sweet..."

"Slim it, shank," I rolled my eyes just as he handed me a long knife. I furrowed my eyebrows, but took it into my hands, "What's this for?"

"Just incase..." He answered.

"Incase what?" Thomas asked, feeling just as curious as me.

Minho rolled his eyes and groaned, "Will you stop asking questions? It's just for protection. Now listen up," He pointed towards the mini Maze again, "Speed's the name of the game. If we're gonna make it to the outer ring and back, you've gotta keep moving. Unless you want a repeat of last night's adventures... We don't' want that."

He turned around and began to move out of the hut. Thomas and I followed after getting one last look at the outline, almost as if we were trying to memorize the thing ourselves. I shook my head once again and walked outside, finally getting a whiff of the fresh air and the sun that was now in the sky. I was beginning to think I wouldn't last very long in the map room...it smelled like wet copper.

Thomas followed me, but I stopped in my tracks when Minho did. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the Greenie with an annoyed expression, "What are you doing? Close the door..."

I choked back a laugh while Thomas rolled his eyes and quickly ran to shut the poorly made wooden door. Minho wiggled his eyebrows at me in amusement, clearly enjoying messing with Thomas.

He ran back up to us and only then did all three we move towards the East doors. In the distance, I could see some of the Gladers lining up for breakfast in the Homestead. My stomach grumbled, and I rolled my eyes, remembering that Newt told me that I couldn't eat. Last night, I heard Chuck bring Thomas some food, but I think he must've forgotten about me, because I'm still hungry. Or maybe I was sleeping when he came by...

"Good look for you," A girly voice spoke up from behind a tree. The girl came into sight and strutted over to us, making me want to cringe at the annoying way she walked.

Thomas looked back at Minho and I before walking towards her, smiling, "Thanks..."

Minho sighed, "Ladies man..."

"Exactly," I spoke back to him. Minho and I watched the two converse in silence for a couple moments before their mouths just stopped moving and they were silent, both staring at the other. Before I could stop myself from speaking, I cleared my throat loudly, "You two need a minute?"

Thomas looked back at Minho and I, and we rolled our eyes, and walked past the girl, but I managed to sent her a secret glare. She furrowed her eyebrows at me, and I very gently pushed my shoulder into hers as I walked behind Thomas and Minho. As we were walking, I somehow managed to put my hair into a braid in the back of my head so it would stay out of the way while I ran. I focused on my long breaths, and I reminded myself that if at one point during all of this, I started to feel a pain in my chest, I just needed to remember the words that Newt spoke to me.

In through your nose, out through your mouth.

We walked up to the closed walls and I finally felt my stomach turn. I still found myself in awe at what they looked like up close. From the lookout tower, they didn't look like much of a problem, but up close, I was almost sick to my stomach. I clenched my jaw and sighed, jogging to keep up with the boys. Even though I knew what was out there, nothing could keep me from going back into the Maze.

Just as Minho stopped walking to look at the two doors, the all too familiar grinding of metal sounded throughout the Glade. The walls began to separate, and I took another last breath before looking over my shoulder at what I would be leaving behind. My eye immediately caught the body of a thin British boy, who was already looking in my direction. He was biting his nails as usual, and right as I caught his eye, I smiled. Newt paused and moved his hands to his hips, returning the action no matter how nervous he seemed. Without a second thought, I brought two fingers up to my forehead and I saluted him, a small gesture, but a meaningful one. He let out a laugh and looked down to the floor before looking back up at me. Only then did I turn around to face the walls again.

"Let's go!" Minho called to us.

"Well shit," I murmured before looking at Thomas with a smirk as we began sprinting after Minho.

Right, then left, another right, a left, another left...it never seemed to stop. The familiar fog of the Maze clenched my heart as I remembered running for my life not too long ago. The ivy climbed up the wall as if it were going to reach out and trip us at any moment, but through all the twisted mess of the Maze, I somehow found it somewhat...beautiful. Or maybe I just have a thing for the messed up things in life. Newt was an exception to that.

We were easily running for half of an hour before Minho finally spoke again, "Not much farther," He spoke, "Not much farther 'til the end of the ring, let's go!"

I pushed my legs to go farther, and I let my mind wonder as I followed him. I didn't try to focus on my vibrating bones every time my feet clashed with the concrete below me, and I didn't focus on the musty smell, or that the walls were slowly going to close in on me. I kept my gaze ahead, thinking of more random scenarios in my head.

But just when I began to get into a groove of running and breathing and thinking, the Maze started to change around me. The walls began to open up, creating more space between each corridor. Thomas fell back to my speed, and we both looked around while trying to keep up with Minho, who didn't seemed fazed at all. He looked like he'd seen this a million times, if not more. He was experienced, and if I'm being honest, that scared me. After running the Maze everyday for two years straight, you would think the poor guy was beginning to lose hope. But he was still here, running and running until he found something.

We finally made it to the outer ring, and only then did I look back for a fraction of a second. It was like we had just solved the Maze, but there was still more of it. It was like we had reached the dead end of all dead ends. But the boys kept running and so did I, despite the stinging in my chest.

What I hadn't noticed was the giant red numbers on the sides of the walls. I furrowed my eyebrows as we passed number 5, and I thought that must've been something Minho explained to Thomas when I wasn't there. I swallowed the lump in my throat and sprinted as if my life depended on it, because it probably did. We kept going and going until I never thought we were going to stop.

The giant number 6 appeared on the wall, and I told myself that we only have one more before we can slow down and I can finally breathe.

Just as I thought, we finally slowed down as soon as we reached the giant wall with the number 7 on it. The pounding of our feet against the concrete finally stopped, and the three of us stood in some kind of an archway, just staring at the towering walls that kept us from seeing the outside world. We walked along the large corridors without a word, Thomas and I still awestruck about what we were seeing.

Only when we came to another opening, Minho spoke, "It's strange..."

My head snapped down to look at the boy who was still leading us, "What?"

"Section seven's not supposed to be open for another week."

Section? Then, it suddenly clicked in my mind. All of those numbers must've been sections to the Maze. Great...

I shut my mouth again, trying to control my need to wheeze and cough. If I gave in, it just made it worse. So, I placed my hands on my hips as I calmly walked behind everyone, hoping they wouldn't notice. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth like I always did, praying that I didn't experience another asthma attack and take up time. We were so close to figuring something out, and the last thing I wanted to do was hold everyone up.

"What the hell is this place?" Thomas spoke, bringing me out of my medical problem. I sighed and let a small cough pass, covering it up with my mouth as I looked up at what he asked about. It was about a hundred or so massive metal plates, all facing the direction we were walking. Each one of them was rusted over like a giant tin can, and again, I wondered how those things moved, because they probably could.

Minho huffed, "We call 'em blades."

The three of us continued to walk for what seemed like hours, but then, Minho broke out into a jog, making Thomas and I follow. He stopped a few feet ahead and bent down on his knees, picking up a bloody tank top. Immediately, I knew it was Ben's. I clenched my fists at the memory, still feeling guilty about the whole situation. Nobody survived a might in the Maze, especially after being stung. Now that I knew Ben had been taken, it just made me want to slap myself for surviving when he couldn't.

"It's Ben's, isn't it?" Thomas asked.

Minho nodded and dropped the torn shirt, "Yeah. A griever must've killed him down here."

We all stood up, but I kept my fists clenched, reliving the memories of a few days ago. It marveled me at how some people could just shrug it off like Ben was a stranger. I know he tried to kill Thomas and me, but shouldn't some people at least still feel bad for him? Nobody deserved to be eaten by blood thirsty booger creatures, but then again, there's nothing I can really do about it now. I guess that's just the way the world works. Karma always takes it's toll on the ones who deserve it.

Suddenly, a high pitched screeching sound came from around us. My heart started to beat faster, wondering if a Griever was just around the corner, like they always seemed to be. But the more I listened, the more I realized that the sound wasn't one I recognized. I looked up at the boys, and saw them as they were furrowing their eyebrows as well.

"What the hell—" I started, but Thomas quickly turned Minho around and grabbed the small metal item out of his bag that we had discovered yesterday. I furrowed my eyebrows more, now utterly confused at how the boy managed to figure that out in only a few moments. Minho looked just as appalled as I was, because his mouth was slightly agape, staring at the thing Thomas was examining.

He turned to the left, and the clicking noise became quieter. He took a couple steps to the right, and the clicking became louder. When he looked back up and into my eyes, I inhaled a sharp breath at the realization. Of all the shucking things to get, we managed to find some sort of tracker that led to nowhere in particular.

Thomas let out a breathy laugh, "I think it's trying to show us the way..."