As we ran through the tall ivy-covered walls of the Maze, I couldn't stop thinking about Newt. I felt like I should've talked things out with him before I came in here, but I couldn't just leave the boys to go alone. Thomas and I killed the Griever together, therefore I should have the right to go check it out too. But as we moved our legs down one corridor and another, I couldn't stop making up arguments in my head. Every time, I tried to get myself out of the situation, I imagined Newt becoming madder and madder.

I could lie and say I was in the forest thinking, or I could just tell him the truth and apologize. Either way, he was going to be upset. There's no doubt about it. We just had to get back before the walls closed.

Zart, Winston, and Frypan were in awe the entire time. They couldn't take their eyes off of the towering walls, which is what I would've probably been like last night if I weren't...ya know, running for my life.

The sun was beginning to dim, and I remembered what I was doing around this time yesterday. I was holding Newt's hand underneath an awning, waiting in anticipation for Minho and Alby to return. I remembered how nervous he was...and I remember the words I said that almost brought him to tears. Now, he was going against what I told him for everyone else's good.

But he always did that. I've known Newt...well I've known him for as long as I can remember. He always put other people before himself, and that's what makes him such a beautiful person. Sometimes I feel as though I don't deserve the heart he has. Even though it isn't mine. I've grown so fond of him within the last month that I can hardly imagine what a life without his beautiful soul would be like. It's to the point where I can't even explain it. I felt like I've known him my whole life. Even if I couldn't remember anything else, I still remember him. I can remember the feeling he gives me whenever he placed his hand on my lower back or intertwined our fingers. It just feels so right. I may be looking at murky water when it comes to our relationship before the Glade, but I don't think that matters anymore. Even if we were together before the Maze, it doesn't make any difference because even though we lost our memories, we still found our way back to each other.

"Just a little farther," Minho called back to us, breaking me from my thoughts of Newt. I felt a heavy feeling in my chest. Not one of pain, like I was going to have an asthma attack, but one that I couldn't quite comprehend.

When we finally stopped running, I turned my head to the side to see what the boys were looking at. My eyes suddenly met the metal claw of the thing that would probably haunt my dreams for the rest of eternity. Minho looked back at me, but I didn't meet his gaze. I moved my legs towards the squished Griever, hearing the rest of the guy's footsteps behind me.

The guts were splashed all over the concrete floor, and the claw was just sticking out. If the thing wasn't already dead when I threw my knife into its head, it was definitely more than killed now. I scrunched up my nose at the foul smell...

"That's disgusting," Zart said to all of us. I sniggered at his comment, but nobody else did. When I inhaled for a breath, I coughed, feeling like I was going to throw up again.

"It smells like death..."

"No shit," Frypan muttered.

I squinted my eyes and leaned forward just as Thomas did, our brains once again on the same page, "There's something in there..."

Fry scoffed, "You mean besides a Griever pancake?"

Thomas and Minho exchanged knowing glances as we all put our heads together to look in the same spot. There was something inside the Griever. A red, blinking light shone just from the inside, separating itself from the rest of the dark guts that were hidden.

Being the brave shank he is, Minho stepped up to the crack in the wall where the Griever was squished. Before he could overthink it, he raised his eyebrows and stuck his hand in, and tried to reach for anything unusual. I heard the squeezing of the guts as his hand moved through it, but as he got his arm in, the grinding metal made a noise, and the claw moved.

We all screamed and pulled Minho back, feeling the adrenaline rush at the reflex the creature had. All I was getting was flashbacks from almost being killed for about fifteen minutes straight. Running for my life with Thomas and hiding underneath a broken piece of wall as we literally hung onto our leader's life. I let out a nervous whine and rolled my head back, thankful that the Griever didn't try and move out of the wall.

"I thought you said it was dead!" Frypan called us out. I looked at him with a blank expression as Zart spoke my thoughts.

"Was it a reflex?"

Winston raised his eyebrows, "You hope..."

I looked around at Thomas and Minho for what to do, cause I wasn't about to just sit here and wait for the thing to come back alive. If we didn't get this thing within the next three minutes, I was going back to the Glade.

"Okay," Thomas muttered, moving towards the claw, "Let's try and pull it out..."

"Oh for crying out..." I groaned but let myself trail off as the rest of the guys walked up behind Thomas and grabbed the claw. I grabbed the back, while Frypan was in front of me, grabbing onto the front of the leg.

"On three," Thomas told us. We all nodded and waited for his cue, "One, two, three!"

Just like he said, we began to pull with all of our muscles, using our legs as much as we could. I leaned back with all of my weight and grunted as the leg finally detached from the dead Griever. I yelped and fell back onto the concrete, my legs flying up and then back down as I just laid there, too tired to get up.

"You alright, Mae?" Thomas held his hand out to help me up. I grunted and took it, being flown into the air from his grip.

"Thanks, Tommy," I groaned.

He smiled and turned back to the Griever. I think he liked being called Tommy. It suited him.

I watched as Minho walked back up to the guts that had spilled out. The death smell was more overpowering—now that most of the slime was pooled out onto the floor. With his hand, he reached down and grabbed the red blinking light, which was wrapped in what looked like a Griever's heart, making me freak out a little bit. Maybe Clint gave me a bit too much Adderall.

"Ew, what the hell is that?" I stepped back and made a disgusted face. Seeing all of the slime and green goo, I gagged as Minho looked over at me with a smirk.

"A Griever heart I think," He moved closer to me jokingly.

I stepped back behind Zart, looking away, "Yeah, I can see that!"

Minho stopped joking around and stuck his hand into the heart, making me gag again and everyone groan in disgust and discomfort. He pulled out some kind of metal thing. It sort of looked like a bomb or a key to something. We were all silent as Minho examined the thing he pulled out, and he looked just as confused as the rest of us.

"What the hell is that?" Thomas asked.

The Runner didn't answer, but instead, he just shook his head and rubbed his thumb over it, trying to clear off the goo, "Interesting..."

Frypan shifted in his spot, "Okay, whatever it is, can we take it back to the Glade? I don't wanna meet this guy's friend."

I nodded, agreeing with him, and noticing how dark it was getting. If we didn't go now, we would probably have to spend another night out here, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Minho seemed to agree too because he nodded and basically said the same thing I was thinking.

The six of us made our way back to the Glade quicker than we were out there. As soon as I saw the green grass and heard the commotion of all the guys, I let out a sigh of relief that we weren't stuck out there all night again. I would've probably just climbed over the walls if that was the case. Now what I had to worry about, was finding Newt so that I could talk to him as quickly as possible. Or...maybe I just needed a few minutes to come up with the perfect thing to tell him so he wouldn't be so mad at me. Who am I kidding...he's gonna be mad either way.

"Guys!" Chuck's voice was the first thing we all heard as soon as we stepped into the Glade once more. But he sighed, "Gally found out you guys left. He called a meeting of the Keepers...everyone's at Council Hall."

I clenched my jaw at the thought that Gally called a meeting without half of the Keepers there. Minho seemed to have the same idea as me because he started to run towards everyone as soon as Chuck finished his sentence. We all followed after him in anticipation and curiosity. I knew that Thomas and I weren't Keepers, but we ran with them anyway...the meeting being caused because of our idea and something we did last night.

Minho stormed through the door just as Clint and Jeff were leaving, and I was right on his heels, my heart beating as I met eyes with Newt. His lips parted, and before he could speak, Gally stood up.

"It's nice of you to join us," He said cockily, "You guys enjoy the little field trip?"

"What the hell, Gally," Minho glared at him, fuming from head to toe, "You think you can call a Keeper meeting without us?"

I kept my eyes on the floor, not daring to meet them with Newt's, who I felt was still staring at me.

"Last time I checked," Gally started, "The Greenies weren't Keepers. Do you mind waiting outside?"

Thomas and I took a deep breath to calm ourselves, feeling like we were being put in the spotlight again. But when I moved to turn around, Minho stood up for both of us.

"They stay!" He yelled. My head shot up towards him as he looked back at Newt, who was leaned against his normal pole with his arms crossed. He looked so tired... "What's the point of all this?" Minho asked him.

Newt sighed, "We got two hours until sundown. We gotta figure out what to do with Alby..."

My heart dropped at the thought of seeing the leader banished. Of course, nobody wanted to banish him, but Thomas, Minho, and I spent all night trying to save him and bring him here. Now they just wanted to throw him back in? A wave of anger spread through my body as my palms started to sweat. I clenched my fists together tightly, noticing that the bandages were no longer there. They must've fallen off last night when I was holding onto the ivy...

"You wanna banish him?" Winston asked Newt.

Gally interrupted, "No. No one wants to banish anyone. Alright? But he's stung. We don't have a choice..."

Yes, you do, I thought.

"Yes, we do," Thomas said aloud, making me widen my eyes, creeped out at how similar our thoughts were.

"You say somethin' newbie?" Gally mocked him, making me roll my eyes and clench my fists harder. I felt the sting start to erupt again, bringing me back to the night of Ben's banishing. I looked at Newt, who was furrowing his eyebrows and looking at me and my hands. Immediately, I unclenched my fists and moved them behind my back so that he could no longer see.

Thomas exhaled a shaky breath before speaking again, "Yeah. We have a choice, we don't have to banish Alby."

"Right," Gally started mocking again, "And how's that?"

He suddenly reached his hand down and grabbed the piece of metal that we had brought back from the Maze. He handed it to Newt, who furrowed his eyebrows even more and took it.

"We found this," Thomas started, "On our field trip... It was inside a Griever."

Newt moved his finger around it, examining and looking for any hints that it could be something useful. I hoped with everything I had that it was, or else we would have just gone out there for nothing.

"These are the same letters we get on our supplies," He muttered, looking back up to Thomas and Minho.

Thomas nodded, "Yeah. Whoever put us here obviously made the Grievers," He pointed at Newt and Gally, trying to prove a point, "And this is the first real clue—the first anything that you've found in over two years, right, Minho?"

The Runner subtly nodded, "Right."

"Newt," Thomas called him in a soft voice, "We gotta go back out there. Who knows where this might lead us..."

He looked at me with a clenched jaw, then at Gally, who was already glaring at him. "You see what he's tryna do, right? First, he breaks our rules, and now he's trying to convince us to abandon them totally? The rules are the only thing that's ever held us together, why now are we questioning that?"

I turned my eyes to Newt, who was still watching my hands. As reassurance, I moved them out from behind my back, showing that I wasn't clenching my fists any longer. He looked up at me with a knowing glance that showed me he appreciated the gesture.

"If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me," Gally continued, making it hard not to punch him in the face right now. He pointed to Thomas and me, "These two need to be punished."

Clenching my jaw for the hundredth time today, I looked back at Newt. I could tell his mind was swimming with the possible answers he could say. I nodded, letting him know that I was okay with whatever decision he decided to make. Hopefully, he already knew that I was going to support him no matter what.

He looked down at the ground, and then back at us, handing the metal back to Minho, "You're right. They broke the rules. One night in the pit and no food."

"Oh come on, Newt," Gally yelled at him, "One night in the pit—you think that's gonna stop them from going into the Maze?"

I took a step forward, not holding back anymore. The anger bubbled up inside me, mixing with the fatigue and annoyance was enough to send me over the edge. But just as I took a step onto the same platform Gally and Newt were on, Newt held his arm out, refraining me from going any farther. I looked at him with confusion, but he didn't meet my gaze.

"No," He casually said back to Gally, "And we can't just have non-Runners running into the Maze whenever they feel like it."

I nodded, understanding and taking a step back to stand next to him.

"So let's just make this official," He sighed, looking Thomas and me in the eye, "Starting tomorrow, you two are Runners."

I had to fight the urge to let out the biggest smile. I didn't even notice Gally storm out. I just looked at Newt, feeling my heart burst with excitement and adrenaline. Thomas sweetly thanked him, but he didn't say anything back as the rest of the keepers and Thomas all filed out accordingly. Now, it was only Newt and me.

Sighing, I took a seat on one of the steps, not knowing exactly what to say to him. All of the made-up conversations that I came up with while running today seemed to have vanished from my mind. And now, I was left with a furiously beating heart and blank thoughts. I kept my gaze on the dirt floor, casually drawing patterns with my foot as I soaked up the atmosphere of the room. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't dare look up.

Suddenly, Newt exhaled and walked up the stairs slowly, making his way to the door. My heart dropped at the thought of him leaving without saying anything, but then he picked up a wooden stick that leaned against the wall and blocked anyone from coming in. I furrowed my eyebrows at his actions as he turned around to face me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, my voice coming out as almost a whisper.

He sighed, walking back down the stairs, "Needed to make sure nobody would interrupt us."

"Why?" I was growing more concerned by the minute.

Newt made his way back towards the pole, leaning against it with his arms folded across his chest. He was silent for a few minutes, studying my face as if he were to be tested on it tomorrow. He reached his hand up to scratch the back of his neck, and before I knew it, he was moving over to come to sit next to me.

"I don't know what to do," He whispered.

As if on instinct, I wrapped my arm around his waist, pulling him closer. He placed his elbows on his knees, covering his face with the palms of his hands. At this moment, I knew that Newt was falling apart. He was just too strong to let it go in front of everyone...hell, I didn't even know he was comfortable enough to be vulnerable with me yet. I saw a hint of what he was going through that one night when we were drunk, but it was like he became sober again and realized what he was saying, quickly shutting the conversation down.

"What's wrong?" I stupidly asked. I wanted to punch myself in the face right after.

He scoffed and sat up, "Everything. Every bloody shucking thing in the world is wrong right now, Mae. I..." He sighed, cutting himself off.

I began rubbing his back in circles, trying to comfort him any way I could, "You can talk to me, Newt. It's okay."

Newt shook his head, standing up and pacing around the room like he couldn't stay still. I just sat in my spot and watched, worried beyond anything I've ever felt in my life. This is not what I mentally prepared myself for. I thought we were going to get in some sort of fight or something, but I didn't expect him to be this...overwhelmed.

"I-I can't be a leader..." He threw his hands into the air, "You saw what happened during the Gathering earlier. Everything went to shit before the bloody girl came up. Now I don't know what to do with her either. A-And Alby...I'm not about to banish my best friend—I don't want to. But it's all about what's best for the Glade, Mae. We have to keep order, and I have to stay strong, no matter what."

I shook my head as soon as he said the last sentence, standing up with him, "Hey," I grabbed his forearms, making him stop moving, "You're doing great, okay? None of this is your fault. The Gathering wasn't either. That was all on Thomas and me. We went out into the Maze last night and—"

"That's another thing," He pointed his finger into the air, taking a step closer. My hands gently remained on his forearms as I shut my mouth and let him talk, "Why? Why did you do it?"

My mouth bobbed open, not knowing how to answer that question, "Newt, I..."

"Don't do that," He stopped me with a whisper, his voice showing nothing but hurt, "Don't...Don't pretend to not know the reason, okay? I just want to hear the truth. Please."

I nodded, understanding his need. The last thing I wanted to do was make things harder than they had to be. He already had enough on his plate. The least I can do is give him some answers to one question he had.

"I wanted to help. I...felt like I needed to protect them," I took a long inhale through my nose, "I-I didn't really think about what it would do to you until I was already halfway through the doors. I'm sorry."

Before he had the chance to respond, someone banged on the locked door, grasping both of our attentions. Newt whined as if he wasn't ready for another emergency. He just needed peace and quiet.

"Newt!" A muffled voice called.

"What?" He answered.

"It's the girl! She's awake!"