The sweat dripped from my forehead as we turned the corner and began running through the Maze. Nervous wasn't really the right word to describe what I was feeling. It was more of a combination between excitement and fright. Whatever the hybrid of the two is, that's what I was feeling in the moment.

I kept looking back at Newt to see him hobbling along with the rest of us, a little farther back in the group because of his limp. I wasn't too far ahead of him, my leg was probably hurting just as much as his. But I kept running, knowing that if I stopped we would probably take much longer to get to the Griever hole.

Minho led the way, like always. But this time was different. This time he wasn't just leading the Runners through the Maze for another day, but he was leading the Glade to their freedom. At least the ones who wanted to come. I've tried to catch up with him so I could talk to him for just a moment, but I always ended up feeling a sharp pain in my leg, so I just stayed back. I wonder what he's thinking though. Is he happy that we're leaving? Is he scared like everyone else? Or is he just focusing like he's running any other day through the Maze?

Eventually, the Runner fell back with the rest of us—Frypan, Newt and I. He didn't say anything, I just think he might've been a bit worried that we would become detached from everyone. He knew I was fast, but with the bruise and new limp, I was just about as fast as anyone else. I tried to keep my breathing steady so that I wouldn't have to calm myself down from another asthma attack, which would not be good at the moment. But the pounding of my feet against the hard concrete was just about to send me over the edge.

I coughed once into my elbow. I didn't look towards anyone to make it obvious that I was struggling a little, but I knew that some people could tell.

Some people, being Newt.

"Hey, you okay?" He ran along beside me. I nodded, not wanting to waste my breath on giving him an unhonest answer. Newt just nodded along with me, deciding not to question the matter any further until we were safe and we didn't have to run anymore.

When I saw the giant number seven on the wall to my right, I almost cried out in joy. I couldn't feel my leg anymore, and my chest was starting to burn from the way I had to drag it along. At least you could say that I had a newfound respect for Newt and what he had to go through everyday. Thomas shouted encouraging words at us as we all reached the outer sections of the Maze, following the path that it had so kindly made in the middle of our run yesterday. At this point, I think Thomas, Minho and I were running for our lives and trying not to get squished. But all in good time... Everything happens for a reason.

Finally, we made it past the Blades and to the catwalk that led to the ninja star. Thomas stopped and moved behind a wall, making all of us follow. He pressed his finger to his lips and shushed us, looking around the corner. He then turned back to us, fear plastered all over his face. I grabbed my spear from my satchel and held onto it, knowing what was to come without even having to look around the wall.

"Is there a Griever?" Chuck asked, a panting mess from the journey we had just ran.

Thomas nodded, looking at me, "Yeah."

The little boy sighed and stomped his foot on the ground, annoyed, "Shit..."

"You take this, Chuck," Minho handed him the key to the ninja star, surprisingly trusting him with such a thing. I would maybe think that the kid would drop it... "Stay behind us."

Just as I was about to speak, Teresa spoke over me, tying her hair up with some weird string, "It's okay. Just stick with me..."

I rolled my eyes and shifted my weight onto my right leg, due to my limp one aching. I leaned on the spear, mentally preparing myself to fight off this stupid creature that has featured in so many of my nightmares. Been the star actually... I looked over my shoulder at Newt, who gave me a small nod and placed his giant hand on my lower back, sending me a comforting touch. I relaxed under his fingers, taking a breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, calming me down even more. I wasn't going to do much damage to these Grievers if I was stiff. I learned that from somewhere...I just obviously can't remember where.

"Once we're through, it'll activate, and the door will open," Thomas started his inspiring speech. I nodded, agreeing with him and whatever he was gonna say, "Alright? We stay close...we stick together. We'll get through this. We get out now," He looked right at me and Newt, "Or we die trying."

The both of us nodded once. I slammed my spear onto the ground in a statement of pride and power. Thomas cocked an eyebrow at me and took a step closer, "We're gonna need you for this one, Mae. You can probably fight that thing by yourself—"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, suddenly confused. Thomas gave me a knowing look, and I suddenly got the memo. He had his memory back, and that probably means that he remembers things about me as well. So I nodded, not so scared anymore. If Thomas said that I could probably fight one of those things on my own, I probably should stop complaining about the pain in my leg and give it my all.

"Ready?" Thomas asked everybody. I smirked as Minho pulled a knife out of his sack, and Newt did the same. A strange confidence suddenly washed over me, and I felt like I could do anything. That we could get through this Griever, and that we were going to get through the ninja star. At times when this confidence has washed over me, I felt powerful. Like I could punch Gally in the face. I have no idea where it came from, but I didn't complain. I embraced it.

I was snapped back into reality when Thomas shouted, "Let's go!"

He then started to sprint towards the thing, letting out a battle cry that the rest of the Gladers followed. We were no longer running from our greatest fear, we were fighting it. Making it go away. And I hope that it does.

Once the Griever noticed us, it let out one of it's own cries and started charging towards us. We kept advancing, and once it got close enough, we plunged our spears into it's stomach, bringing it up into the air and over the edge. We were now on the other side of the catwalk, the side closest to the hole.

The creature launched itself at us once again, and we kept plunging our spears at it with whatever strength we had left. I was in the front, jabbing it in the head, and Thomas and Minho were on both sides of me, Newt being next to Thomas. When the Griever screamed once again, I shouted for everyone to push it off of the edge, and I threw my spear into it's mouth, watching it go right through it's head. The Griever screamed, and I quickly pulled the spear out, gaining my weapon back.

I watched as the claw began to fly around us, making everyone duck. My head swiveled around to look for Newt, who was now in the back. He flinched when the claw came close to him, but grabbed another boy by the waist and threw him into the air and off of the edge. I didn't have time to mourn him, because the Griever then let out another scream, bringing it's metal leg up into the air and slamming it back down right in front of Teresa. She screamed, but hit the leg with her machete, causing it to break off and hit Chuck in the arm.

I let out a grunt as I hit the Griever in the head with the spear, keeping my eyes on Chuck as he ran close to the edge to retrieve the key. I couldn't get myself away from the Griever, boys were surrounding me, and their weapons were keeping me in a one step moving radius. But I watched Teresa run over to him just as he leaned over the edge to catch the piece of metal. I turned my head back over to the Griever, and saw how it was now falling off of the edge. With one battle cry and a fierce hit to the eyeball, the creature plummeted off of the catwalk and to its death.

I sighed in relief, but then turned back around when I heard the cry of Chuck, "They're coming!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, running towards us with Teresa, the key in hand, "Thomas!"

Thomas turned his head towards the boy, "Chuck?"

Before we even had time to register what just happened and what was going to happen, two more Grievers were running towards us. I groaned and rolled my head back, immediately jabbing one in the eye with the sharp end of my spear. The Griever let out an ear-piercing wail, and only then did I know that I had blinded it. I let out a proud laugh, and I kept jabbing the thing along with a few other boys. But it was weak now. It didn't know where to look.

"Blind it!" I screamed to anyone who could hear me, "Hit it in the eye!"

Thomas seemed to hear me because he then jabbed the Griever he was hitting right in the eye as well. But that plan didn't work as well as he wanted it to because another boy charged the Griever, going for the mouth just like I had done previously. The creature bit off the stick and tugged it back, sending the boy lurching forward. He fell onto his knees, and right as I moved to help him up, a claw grabbed him by the waist and tossed him into the air like he was nothing but a pebble in the way. My mouth flew open in horror, and I hit the Griever in the head again, anger coursing through me.

"...a code! Eight numbers!" I heard the last of Teresa's yell, and I knew it wasn't for me. I kept lurching my spear at the Grievers while my muscles ached, and I longed to be somewhere safe. My leg was killing me as we seemed to be advancing backwards, towards the Griever hole, but with Grievers following us. I was right next to Newt now, hearing the small conversation between Thomas and Minho as they talked about the sections of the Maze. Suddenly, Minho started calling out what seemed like random numbers, all between one and eight.

"Seven!" He called. I hit a Griever with my spear and took another step backwards.

"One!" Minho jabbed the creature with his weapon in the eye, making it scream and launch towards us. Newt hit it again, and we all took another step backwards.

"Five, two!" He screamed back at Teresa and Chuck. I thrusted my spear into the Griever's mouth, making it take a few steps backwards.

"Six!" Minho yelled. Newt suddenly let out a scream and pulled me back by my shirt, almost causing me to topple over backwards. But when I looked up, a Griever was falling from the small opening in the ceiling, where the last of the light was showing through. None of us had time to register that the Griever was falling at an astronomical speed, and it landed right on top of Minho.

He screamed, and tried to push away the spear that the Griever was biting down on. It's jaws were clamping together, and it immediately reminded me of when Ben sank his teeth into my shoulder as I tried to get him off me. I would've told him how to escape from the creature if it maybe wasn't so big and it didn't have claws that could kill him.

"Get off of me!" He screamed at the Griever. Just as I was about to save him, a battle cry erupted from someone on my left, making me turn my head towards the noise. Jeff was advancing towards the Griever, and he sunk his spear into its head. I screamed after him, telling the boy to let go of the weapon, but he didn't listen to me. He kept a tight hold of it like his hands were glued, and the Griever grabbed him by the waist, pulling him backwards and out of sight. The other two Grievers that we had been fighting previously now stepped in front as I moved to get Minho off of the ground. He scrambled to his feet, and I clutched onto his shirt as someone else pulled me back. I turned around and saw Newt move in front of me, slowly making me advance backwards and step up inside the ninja star.

"Minho! Come on!" A high pitched voice from behind called.

Minho started yelling out the last few numbers of the sequence just as we all made it into the Griever hole, still jabbing our spears at the slimy creatures. My chest started to burn as I pushed Newt behind me after his weapon was bit off by a Griever.

Suddenly, a loud clanking noise was heard, and everyone stopped moving when the walls started coming down from the ceiling. The Grievers all screamed just before they were cut off by the weight of the concrete falling down on them. The one that broke Newt's weapon launched forwards towards us, and before I had the chance to think, I threw my spear at it, sending it toppling backwards and to be crushed by the concrete door. I just got a glimpse of it's guts spewing out of it's body before the door to the ninja star closed, and we were left in pitch black.

"Mae?" A familiar British voice called to the darkness, "Where's Maisy?"

I let out a sigh of relief as I coughed, "Right here. I'm fine."

Another sigh was heard, and although I couldn't see him, I know Newt was okay.

Suddenly, the grinding of metal against metal was heard, and a bright light shone through the darkness. I held my hand over my eyes, squinting at the sudden change in the atmosphere. The door to the tunnel had opened, and we were all met with the smell of bleach ahead of us. I looked around for Newt, who was right behind me. He gave me a small smile and grabbed a hold of my hand just as we all started to file out of the tunnel, Thomas going first.

The floor was tiled, and it all seemed strangely familiar to me. My hands began to shake for a reason I didn't know, and my breathing started to pick up as I breathed in the scents of everything else. Newt furrowed his eyebrows at me, but Thomas was the one who came over.

"It's okay," Thomas nodded, looking into my eyes like he knew something I didn't once again, "Nobody's gonna hurt you." For a strange reason, I found comfort in his words. My breathing began to slow down, as I nodded towards him, and I felt Newt squeeze my hand gently. I ran my tongue along the side of my cheek nervously, feeling all of my prior confidence being shattered as we all walked through the halls. I stayed behind everyone else, staring at the ground.

We made our way to a door, and only then did I lift my head. We all stared at a fluorescent green EXIT sign that was perched right above the entrance. I rolled my eyes and let out a breathy laugh, letting my sassier side show for only a moment.

"Seriously?" Frypan asked, speaking the words that all of us were thinking right now.

Thomas looked at all of us for reassurance as he placed his hand on the cold metal clasp of the door. The rust on it squeaked, making me flinch and my fear rise as a blaring siren made it's way into my vision and hearing. As I got a view of what was through the door, I suddenly whished that we would just stay in the taunting hallway forever. I took a step back, but I slammed into someone's chest, making me let out a small yelp. Newt placed both of his hands on the sides of my arms and walked with me as Thomas and everyone else made their way through the door.

Bodies laid unconscious in pools of blood. My eyes darted from one to the other, peeled as wide open as they could possibly get. I felt like crying, like screaming, and I felt like running away from it all. But I let Newt guide me along as I tried to stare anywhere but the dead people, but they seemed to be all over the place.

"What happened here?" Someone asked. I tried to close my eyes and rid my mind of the thoughts, but so far, what I was seeing was beginning to become what I saw when my mind slipped into the dark abyss of my wondering thoughts. This was what I saw; the worst possible situations. People dead, lives lost...blood. All of it was something that seemed strangely familiar to me, but it was just as traumatic. I wanted to tell someone that we should get out of here. That we should just go back to the Maze or hide out in that Griever hole forever. But my mouth couldn't form words as we kept walking through the halls. Newt pushed me along so that I wouldn't end up staring at one body for too long, and I was grateful for that.

Suddenly, we came to an opening in the hall. Where the walls opened up, and glass was shattered all over the floor. Bodies still scattered across the premises, but that wasn't the first thing I noticed. The first thing that my eyes laid on was myself.

"What the..." My voice trailed off as I pushed past everyone else and over to a giant computer screen. I stepped over the glass, not even caring about it anymore. I looked at a picture of myself, but I was glitching. Like the computer were to give out at any second. I didn't look like myself. Hell, I didn't even know what I looked like until now. I had dark hair, but in the picture it was lighter. Almost like a light brown. My lips were in somewhat of a heart shape, but in the picture, they were pale. Almost unnoticeable. Actually, I looked as white as a ghost. I looked almost deceased. But what stood out were the blue veins that penetrated from my neck, all the way up to my eyes.

"I look like a monster," I whispered to myself as I felt someone's presence on my right. I felt Newt's calloused hand grab mine and squeeze tightly. I tore my eyes away from my face and I began reading some of the words that were right next to my head aloud, "Subject A-3. The Experiment..." My voice trailed off as I felt Newt pull me over to the side, not letting me read more of the description.

"Newt, Mae," Frypan's voice called to us as we turned around. We walked over to him, quickly, seeing him point at a different computer screen. I gasped when I saw what he was motioning towards.

It was Newt and I in the Glade. We were laying on the ground with our heads against the wall, watching as the sun rose from behind, shedding light on the rest of the land around us. I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes...that moment felt so special. Like it was just us against the world. I hadn't even noticed that someone was watching us the entire time. Invading our privacy... It made me wonder what else they watched.

"So they really were watching us," Newt murmured, clutching onto my hand, "This whole bloody time..."

I kept my mouth shut and tore myself away from the screen, feeling my eyes glass over with emotion. This was all too much.

"Hello," Another voice spoke out, invading my thoughts. I looked around, and my eyes landed on a new screen that seemed to have appeared. Everyone made their way toward it as the picture of a lady appeared. Someone who seemed too familiar.

"My name is Dr. Ava Paige. I'm director of operations of the World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department," She paused and I looked at Thomas, who furrowed his eyebrows and muttered something under his breath. We all moved towards the screen to get a better view, hoping that this woman would tell us something useful. Give us some answers...anything.

"If you're watching this, that means that you've successfully completed the Maze Trials," She gave us a small smile that wasn't at all comforting. I clenched my fists together as I watched the people behind her move around like they were doing their job. Living a normal day watching over us and spying on everything we did. Every decision we made...