all for freedom
Jude wants to scream at the sight of the monster on the other end of the passage. It looks like its been waiting, appendages clicking and spinning, like it was lying in wait for her to come running through the corridor.
Before she can even react, a loud spinning sound resounds behind her, and without even thinking she's spinning and backing away from the creature whirring loudly, sword raised.
Fuck. Shit, this is bad. She's trapped, two monsters on either end of the corridor. She doesn't get the time to run her sword through herself like she wants to before both monsters are simultaneously barreling towards her at the same time.
Fuck.
Without another second to doubt her insane and possibly terrible plan, she starts sprinting straight for the monster on her right, going as fast as humanly possible with her injured shoulder.
The monster jerks to a halt, presumably shocked at her insane frontal attack before it's extending the attachments on it's body and resuming it's scuttling straight towards her.
Blood freezing in her veins, she sprints as fast as she can, glancing back to make sure Sluggy Number Two is still following.
Sluggy Number Three, meanwhile, is barreling straight to her, snarling and shrieking. Tears brim at Jude's eyes as she sprints, fear and rage and pain and worry and exhaustion all bubbling up inside her all at once.
Pushing herself, she races until she's almost in Sluggy Number Three's reach before, with a quick glance to make sure Sluggy Number Two is right behind her, she swerves out of the way, spinning away to avoid the two monster's multiple attachments.
Not even pausing to confirm the sound of the two creatures slamming into each other, all enraged screams and clicks as they're launched into a wrestle, she takes off to the end of the corridor even as she's aware of the two monsters chasing behind her.
She's just barely crossed halfway before a heavy grating sound fills the air, resounding all over the maze. Something fucking drops in Jude's stomach when the walls at the end of the passage start to close, like the doors leading to the Glade.
Fuck. All things considered, Jude really shouldn't be surprised. This is hardly the worst thing in this hellhole. Even so, she can't help but jerk to a halt and stare wide eyed at the shifting walls, ears ringing.
The sound of rolling and the scrape of metal against stone behind her has the girl jolting out of her daze and immediately sprinting towards the closing passage.
The walls are nearly shut when Jude throws herself through them, a horrible sense of deja vu taking over. Mere seconds after she's through, both Sluggy Number Two and Sluggy Number Three push themselves into the narrow opening not nearly big enough for their bodies. And they never make it any farther because the walls slam shut right on the inhumane creatures, a disgusting mess of their slimy, gruesome corpses blasted against the shut walls.
Jude lets herself collapse onto the stone ground a few feet in front of the wall, turning her eyes away from the mess on it. It isn't until she's fumbling around on the floor next to her until she's pushing herself up, eyes wide and sweeping across the ground.
Her sword is gone.
She must have dropped it while getting through the walls. Fuck. Jude is overwhelmed with the urge to slam her injured shoulder into the stone just to punish herself for being so stupid as to drop her fucking sword. She resorts to biting her tongue so hard the metallic taste of blood fills her mouth.
It's not an alarming problem, because she knows it'll be back on her finger in ring form in about five minutes, but those five minutes could be what kills her in here.
She doesn't have the time to punish herself further, though, because the sound of clicking and moaning behind her nearly has her screaming in every emotion ever known. Just how many of these fucking things are there? The cruel maze is probably crawling with these things.
Shoving to her feet with a stifled groan, she swivels around to face the monster with nothing but clenched fists and gritty determination.
Sluggy Number Four is slightly smaller than the other three Judes encountered, but it's a small consolation to the girl.
The monster shrieks, appendages waving and clenching like they're taunting her. Gritting her teeth, Jude takes a step back. The disgusting creature seems to take it time with her, scuttling closer as its tail snakes around behind it. There's a large kind of needle attached to its end, a syringe filled with thick dark liquid. Something tells Jude to stay the fuck away.
She considers tricking the dumb thing into ramming itself into the wall so she can escape behind it briefly. It's a pitiful plan, but it's the best one she's got. She doesn't get to execute though, because the monster fucking pounces without a second of warning, entirely relaxed one second and enraged the next.
Jude doesn't even get a second to react before a sharp bloom of pain strikes her right calf, and a scream rips out of her throat involuntarily. Her shoulder was nothing compared to this. The wave of pain rises higher and higher, never crashing.
Without even thinking, she lashes out, rage spiking as she bends to rip the metal spike out of her calf, despite the wave of pain that nearly brings her to her knees. Foot dragging, she limps on her good leg and draws her arm back to stab the monster straight in its eye, and then the next, and the next, until all six blinking red spots have disappeared. Sluggy Number Four's haunting screech echoes in the wind as it whips around so its tail is directly in front of her, and Jude just manages to stumble out of the way before its tail crashes into the stone behind her, cracks webbing around the point where it's stabbing the stone.
Jude's vision spins, black crowding the edges of her eyes, and she knows she doesn't have much left. Grabbing onto its tail, Jude flings herself up, her ruined right leg uselessly trailing behind her, pain stabbing into her over and over again, getting worse with every pang.
The monster screams and flails around blindly, swinging and thrashing, but the girl doesn't let up, the long metal spike in her hand stabbing into the monster as she pulls herself up to collapse onto the creature's back, and then she's drawing herself up to shove the spike straight through it's skin, over and over and over again.
Something in her snaps and Jude drives the metal into the creature so many times she loses count, stabbing into it's corpse long after the monster collapses, a low moan escaping it in it's last moments.
Repeatedly thrusting the metal into the corpse, Jude hardly registers the choked sob that escapes her, and the tears running down her cheeks, and soon she's sobbing, choking on her tears, on her breaths, choking on the blood.
The blood is everywhere. Under her fingernails, in her hair, running down her arm, down her leg. It's smeared over her clothes, coating her tongue. Even her shoes are red with it's stain.
Jude only stops when the first rays of the sun break over the stone walls, illuminating the passage. With a start, she looks up at the blinding sun and stumbles off the corpse onto the stone floor.
And promptly collapses.
With a cry, she crumples to the floor, her hurt leg giving out under her. She sobs, pain riding above everything else. Pushing herself to a sitting position, Jude examines her wound through blurry eyes. Her calf has been stabbed clean through, and the sight of the blood and ripped flesh has her nearly gagging. She reaches up to rip her intact sleeve, which she then uses to wrap her calf, the blood immediately soaking the black material.
With a start, she notices the light of the sun reflecting off her ring. The ring. Her sword. It's back. Of course, she knew it would be, since it has been far more than five minutes since she dropped it, but it still sends a wave of relief through her.
Returning to her wound, she prays it doesn't get infected and then cranes her neck to check on her shoulder. The fabric wrapped around it is also entirely soaked, blood dripping down under the cloth. It's the best she can do.
Wiping her bloodied hands on her shirt, she swipes her palms over her cheeks, wiping away the dried tears.
She looks up, ignoring the mess of the monster's corpse next to her. The passage seems to have shifted entirely, the wall on her left having moved forward, leaving an opening at it's end. The passage behind her had closed up entirely and the wall to her right had shifted horizontally, leaving a large new passage in it's place. But more importantly, the passage in front of her, the one she had managed to crush Sluggy Number Two and Sluggy Number Three in, had opened back up, leaving the disgusting mess of both the crushed monsters in the middle.
Jude could cry with relief, and well, everything else too. Bracing herself, she stands, holding most of her weight on her good leg. Still, her right calf sends a wave of pain nearly enough to knock her out as she limps over to the wall, bracing her hand against it.
Her gaze falls to the bloodied metal spike lying by her feet. After a second of thinking, Jude stoops to pick it up, wincing as her shoulder shifts with the movement.
She limps over to the open passage, favouring her left leg as she follows her trail of cut ivy and vines, tracing her way back to the Glade.
####
The sun has risen.
Jude isn't back yet.
The sun has risen and Jude isn't back yet.
Which is, well, understandable, seeing as the Doors haven't even opened yet.
Turns out news spreads like wildfire in the Glade, because apparently all the Gladers have found out about Jude getting trapped in the Maze. Only a handful have shown up at sunrise to see her make it back, though. Newt tells him it's because nobody thinks the girl will survive, and haven't bothered waking up early for nothing.
Fuck them, honestly. Nico couldn't care less.
Those who have bothered to show up are scattered at various distances from the Doors. Nico, Newt, Alby, and some guy named Minho whom Newt introduced as the Keeper of the Runners or something -Nico wasn't really listening- are all waiting by the Doors for them to open. Two other Gladers, also dressed in the same clothes -Runner's clothes, Minho said- are also hovering nearby.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blows through the Glade, and Nico holds his breath as the huge stone Doors part with a loud grinding noise.
To reveal entirely empty stone corridors. Silence settles over the Glade, and Nico can feel it the second all the Gladers' eyes drop to him.
No. Nico can't accept it. Won't accept it. Jude is alive; he knows it.
The Gladers, however, don't seem to share the sentiment, because all the boys scattered around the Doors, turn to walk away, shaking their heads.
Nico stares into the Maze, shoulders hunched and fists clenched. Alby and Minho turn to each other, talking in low voices. The two Runners hesitantly linger behind, and Nico can feel Newt behind him, practically feel the hesitation and sympathy radiating off of him.
Nico turns away from the Doors, eyes glued to the ground. Newt turns to him hesitantly. The two Runners Nico doesn't give a fuck about exchange glances, and even Minho and Alby drop to silence as they look at him.
"Come on, Nico, you didn't think I'd leave you alone in this hellhole, did you?"
Nico hasn't even fully turned around before he's sprinting.
####
Minho's jaw shucking drops.
The girl is standing just inside the doors, looking like she's been through hell incarnate, which, he considers, is true. Her black t-shirt is stained with blood, visible even through the dark fabric, and her grimy long shorts are also bloodstained.
The sleeves of her shirt have been ripped off, and her left shoulder is wrapped in black fabric -the sleeve of her shirt, he guesses- stained through with blood. It's still bleeding, blood dripping down her arm from under the cloth, rivulets of blood running through her fingers and staining the metal rings on her fingers.
Her right calf is wrapped in the fabric of her other sleeve, blood dripping down her leg even heavier than her shoulder. In her hand, she's clutching a long metal spike dripping blood at its end.
Her long curly dark hair is wild and untamed, falling over her shoulders, and Minho doesn't have the chance to look at her properly before Nico is sprinting to her, not even hesitating to cross the threshold into the Maze and wrap his arms around her. Without a word, he sweeps her up in a hug and lifts her in his arms as she buries her face in the crown of his head.
She flinches when he sets her down, and Nico seems to catch on that something is wrong. He pulls away, and Minho can't see his expression, but the girl, Jude, hesitates before catching hold of his wrist and saying something, low enough that no one else can hear it. Nico nods, fists clenched at his sides.
Meanwhile, Newt, Alby, and even Minho, along with every other Glader around are staring at the two in slack-jawed shock. Newt has both hands interlocked at the top of his head, cursing like a sailor under his breath. Alby's eyes are blown wide, jaw open in shock.
The two turn around abruptly, and immediately, Jude's eyes harden, hands twitching at her sides. Her gaze sweeps over them, lingering on him with narrowed eyes for a second before her eyes settle on Alby, and her jaw ticks when he steps closer.
Nico glances at her before nodding. Jude inhales sharply, but sets her jaw, stepping out into the Glade.
"Newt, go get all the Keepers. Gathering in fifteen minutes. Tell them it's important." Alby instructs, not once taking his eyes off the greenies. Newt nods, jogging away to the Homestead.
"Minho, you too. Send Ben in your place to run today. Take her to the Med-Jacks." Nico's eyes flare, but Alby speaks before he can. "Go with them if you like, Greenie. You're gonna be at that Gathering too. No funny business, both of you, or you'll be thrown into the Slammer for a week, yeah?"
Nico nods, even as a muscle jumps in his jaw.
"Good that."
Her eyes are green, Minho discovers when she turns to drop an arm over her brother's shoulder and looks at Minho. Very shucking green, surrounded by the smattering of freckles etched across her cheeks and nose.
Looking at the two greenies side by side, it's quite obvious they're twins. They share their dark hair, pale skin, even the fire in their eyes are identical. They have the same nervous energy, hands twitching and clenching, eyes darting around sharply like they expect the Gladers to jump them at any second. Nico's dark eyes, however, are a stark contrast to Jude's green ones.
As the three turn to the Med-Huts, Minho awkwardly glances sideways at the siblings, Nico helping Jude limp over the grass, unsure of what to say.
Jude's arm is looped over Nico's shoulders, and she's limping heavily, wincing with every step. Minho hesitates before stepping to her side and raising his arm to hover at her elbow, silently asking the girl if she needs help.
Judging by the look she gives him, she does not.
He steps back, lips pursed. Nico pauses suddenly, making Jude jerk to a halt and raise an eyebrow at him. Nico turns to Alby, who's still standing with his arms crossed and staring into the Maze like it will give him answers.
"I told you she'd prove you wrong." There's a kind of fierce vindication in his voice, like he's enjoying the feeling of having proved Alby wrong. Alby turns to him, not offended in the slightest, lips twitching at the corners, and Minho knows he's fighting a rare smile. "That ya' did, shank."
Nico turns, ignoring the amused look his sister sends him, and even Minho has to stifle a grin as they traipse over to the Med-Huts.
####
Jude fucking hates this. So very much. She very much would like to kill every person staring down at her right now in a semicircle, but Nico, who is sitting in the wooden chair on her right, has his eyes locked on her's, and she restrains herself, because for some reason, Nico seems to trust the Gladers. Not entirely, obviously, but enough to not want to slaughter them all on sight. Something happened last night while Jude was out in the Maze, and she has no idea what it was.
Jude is tired. Really. She's exhausted. The kind of exhaustion that settles in your bones and holds you down in the mornings. She just wants to talk to her brother, wants to get out of this place, wants to go home, wherever that is. Her shoulder and leg are still giving her grief, making her wince every time she either moves too much or moves too little. She hasn't even gotten to talk to Nico, because as soon as she made it to the Glade, a guy called Minho had taken the two of them to what he called the Med-Jacks, whom Jude learnt were basically just the medics of this place.
Minho had explained the entire Glade, along with it's rules and system, to them the whole time Jude reluctantly and stiffly let two slack-jawed Med-Jacks -Clint and Jeff, she'd learnt- tend to her wounds, while Nico stood by like a drill sergeant, making Jude roll her eyes even as she fought off a smile.
She looks up at the boys, all seated in chairs in a semicircle around her and Nico. Alby is there, right in the middle chair in front of her, and so is Newt, on his right. Turns out Eyebrows is also here, glaring and huffing.
On Alby's left is Minho, Keeper of the Runners. The dark-haired Asian boy has his arms crossed over his chest, leaning back in his chair to balance it precariously on it's back legs. Jude is unsettled to see his eyes trained directly on her, brows furrowed and fingers drumming on his biceps. She looks away, resisting the urge to hit him for some reason.
Her head snaps to Alby when he speaks up loudly, voice carrying over the large room in the large building called the Homestead.
"As leader of the Glade, I declare this Gathering begun. Neither of you are allowed to say a bugging word until you're asked to, good that? " Jude has to refrain from rolling her eyes at the formality of it all, but she nods along with Nico. Alby turns to the congregation, satisfied.
"As you all know, yesterday the shuck Box came up with two greenies this time, a boy and a girl. Twin siblings. Jude over here, ran into the bugging Maze and was trapped for the night." A stifling hush of silence falls over the room, thick with something Jude doesn't bother deciphering.
Alby's dark eyes level on her's, voice low when he speaks. "And somehow, she survived." Out of the corner of her eye, Jude sees Minho tilt his head, letting the front legs of his chair drop onto the wooden floor with a low thud.
"Before punishments are discussed, and they will be discussed, believe me," Jude can't help the subtle roll of her eyes at that. "Questions are in order, shank. I'll be asking you the questions I'm sure every one of these shanks want to know. If any of the Council has any more, you'll go after I'm done."
He doesn't wait for a response before he's dragging his chair forward and turning it around, sitting down on it, and propping his arms on the back of the chair. "How'd you survive a night in the Maze, greenbean?"
Jude isn't quite sure how to reply to the question. "What exactly do you want to know?"
"Let's start with this. How'd you avoid the Grievers?"
Jude frowns, well aware of her hands twitching at her sides. "Grievers? You mean those huge ugly monsters? That's what you call them? I didn't avoid them. How in Hades' name would I do that? I killed them. Obviously. " Her voice trails off when she notices the shock and disbelief in the wide eyes and open mouths of the Gladers around her.
"You what?"
####
"I killed them?" Jude frowns, entirely oblivious as to why this is such a big deal.
Nico has to grin a little bit, pride surfacing as his glance bounces between Jude and the Gladers.
His eyes fall on Minho. His eyes are wide, and he's clutching his knees like he thinks he might fall off his chair. The boy is staring at Jude like she hung the moon in the sky. Nico narrows his eyes at the Runner.
Newt cuts through his thoughts, british accent sounding downright stunned. "You killed a Griever?"
Jude's frown deepens, hands twitching quick, and Nico discreetly grabs her hand, crushing it enough to hurt her knuckles. He knows Jude hates when her hands twitch and she can't control them. The pain of hurting her knuckles grounds her. She doesn't look at him, but Nico knows.
"Well, four, but-"
"You killed four Grievers?!" Voices erupt, and Nico forces himself not to wince. He's always hated noise. Jude makes an annoyed noise in her throat, and Nico glances at her. Her confusion has clearly given way to irritation, and now she's just pissed.
It takes a second for the room to quieten down, but Alby quickly shuts them up with a shout of "Slim it, you shanks!"
When the noise dies down, Alby turns to Jude, who now has both arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. "Are the lot of you done yet?" She retorts, venom on her tongue.
Alby gives her a warning look, but Nico knows she isn't bothered. A boy speaks up suddenly, and when he looks, Nico realises it's the same boy who jumped down into the box after Newt.
"This is a bugging joke! You expect us to believe a greenie who hasn't spent a day in the Glade could kill four Grievers? Alby, we-"
"Slim it, Gally! Another word out of turn from you, and you can leave, got that?" Newt cuts him off harshly. When Gally slumps back in his seat, glaring daggers at Jude and Nico in turn, Alby turns back to Jude, eyes hard and stony. "Explain everything that happened in the Maze, greenie. One word out of line, and you'll be getting yourself Banished, got that?"
Jude works her jaw, tension etched in every line of her face. "When the doors shut, I figured out easily enough that they would open back up in the morning, so I-"
"How?" Alby demands. "You hadn't gotten the Tour or anything yet."
"When Nico and I came up in the Box, you said to Newt that the Doors would be closing soon and that 'Minho and the others' would be back by then. I didn't know back then who Minho and the others were, but the way you'd said it, like it was normal, regular, told me that it was routine. The Doors would be closing soon, you'd said. Meaning they would also open. I figured there was a pattern. As for the morning, that was a guess. Or an estimate. Whatever. It seemed most likely, anyway, so that's what I chose to assume."
There's a stunned silence in the room. Nico shoots a glance at Minho, who looks rather pleased, or excited, for some reason. He also looks slightly stunned, just like every other Glader in the room. Nico isn't surprised. He's always known that Jude is fucking smart. It's not much of a shock to him that she figured out the Doors' pattern just by a throwaway comment by Alby.
She continues, unbothered, oblivious, or satisfied by the silence, Nico doesn't know. "Anyway, I knew the Doors would open in the morning, so I just had to make it to sunrise. I knew there would be dangers in the Maze, so I tried to hide at first. Climbed up the vines and ivy and tried to hide myself as best as I could. This plan fell through when a Griever rolled into the passage. It discovered my position rather quicker than I would have liked, and started climbing up the wall, just below me. I started using the vines to swing across the wall, but when I hit the corner, I had to slide down to the floor. The Griever just jumped down the walls, which is what I was counting on it not doing, so I had no choice but to turn and run. I ran through the passages, and the Griever followed-"
"How'd you find your way back? You don't know the Maze." It's Minho who speaks up, head tilted to the side.
Jude huffs, clearly annoyed at being interrupted again, but she answers his question. "I memorised the way. Every turn I took, I committed to memory. It wasn't hard to track my way back."
Alby nods, and Jude goes on. "The Griever chased me through the Maze, and at some point, got close enough to dig a claw into my shoulder. I couldn't very well keep running, so I stopped and yanked the claw out. Shit happened, I fought the Griever, and I ended up climbing onto it's back and stabbing it clean through with it's own claw."
Jude opens her mouth to continue, but instead winces suddenly, hissing out a curse as she stretches her bandaged leg out in front of her.
Nico opens his mouth to say something, but he shuts it at the sharp look Jude gives him. Huffing, he settles back and crosses his arms.
Jude continues, pulling her leg back and pretending nothing happened. "Fast forward, I take care of my shoulder as best as I can and soon I'm getting chased by another fucking Griever. I turn into a corridor to see another Griever at the end. It was kind of waiting, I think. So now I'm surrounded, one on either end. I didn't have much of a choice, so I baited one of them into following me and sprinted straight towards the other one-"
"You what?" Minho's voice is loud and incredulous, staring at Jude like she's insane.
Jude doesn't seem to deem this worthy of an explanation, so she just spares the boy a glance before she continues. "When I was close enough, I pretty much fooled them into running into each other. Now I had a way out at the end of the passage, so I started running for it. The walls start moving abruptly, and the passage started closing." Her voice is tired, almost bored, like she can't believe she really has to sit through this and recount the entire ordeal.
"I made it in time for the two Grievers to be crushed between the closing walls. Not a minute goes by before I turn around to face another one of the fucking monsters." Jude scowls, like she's still annoyed she couldn't even catch a break. "I'd accidentally dropped the claw while making it past the closing passage, so I didn't have anything to defend myself with."
Nico nearly snorts out loud at that. He knows damn well Jude had her sword with her the whole time. Of course, he's not going to tell that to the room of mortals in front of them. Jude is a good liar, he admits with an internal smirk. She hasn't slipped up once. In fact, Nico has no doubt the only reason she'd brought that metal spike dripping blood back with her to the Glade was to make her story more believable.
That is her only lie in the story, though, Nico is quite sure. Other than her methods of defending herself, everything else was true. Including the Grievers and her killing them. Nico feels of spike of panic and wrath everytime Jude recounts her encounters with the monsters and the wounds they gave her, but he forces himself to remember that Jude is fine, alive and sitting right next to him.
"The Griever ended up stabbing my calf and giving me this," She nods to her leg. "But at the moment I was running entirely on adrenaline, so that just pissed me off, and I pulled out the spike and stabbed it in the mouth. I climbed up on its tail to stab it through and kill it, same as I'd done with the first Griever. I-" She cuts herself off, leaving the sentence hanging. Nico notices her fists clench. "It was nearly morning by then, and the walls had moved again. The passage that had shut had opened back up, so I wrapped my leg and tracked my way back to the Glade." She exhales, settling back in her seat, like she's relieved to be done and wants to be anywhere but here.
A heavy pause fills the room for a minute or so before Newt breaks it with his eloquence. "Bloody hell."
"Bloody hell is right." A dark skinned guy in a greasy apron speaks up, whistling low. "Girly's got more guts than most shanks I' seen 'round here."
A low murmur of whispers of various degrees of emotion start up until Alby, who has been silent since Jude stopped talking, silences them. He stands, putting his hands on his hips. "Now that the storytelling is out of the way, let's get on with the buggin' verdict, yeah?"
Verdict. So punishment.
Newt nods, standing up. In his hand, he clutches a little notepad and pen. "Let's hear it then, one by one." He turns to the right, to Gally. His face scrunches up when he notices who's first, like he's annoyed. "Alright, Gally, you start."
The boy jumps to straighten in his seat, like he's been waiting for this opportunity. "She has to be punished. She broke our number one rule! So what if she might have killed a Griever or two? We have to set an example. I vote Banishment."
It's decided. Nico wants to throttle the fucking idiot.
Newt subtly rolls his eyes. Nevertheless, he notes it down on his pad. "Alright then-"
"I'm not done!" Gally exclaims, and a few people jump at his outburst. Newt wrinkles his nose, but nods.
"Think about it. First, we get two greenies. Then one of them is a girl. Then she runs into the Maze, conveniently happens to survive, and comes back claiming to have killed four shucking Grievers? Come on, Alby. You can't believe them."
Alby crosses his arms. "What are you getting at, Gally?"
"I think they're spies from the Creators." A stupid silence follows his even stupider declaration.
Jude, Minho, and Newt all scoff at the same time, breaking the silence. "I knew you were jacked, but-" Minho starts, at the same time Newt says "Well then, moving on-"
Gally scoffs, glaring at literally everybody in sight. "Oh, shuck off. Alby, come on! You have to-"
Alby sighs and glances at Newt. "You know the drill, Gally. Your buggin' recommendation will be taken into account. Now you just slim it and sit tight, shank."
Gally slumps in his seat, glaring at Jude under his stupid eyebrows.
Newt nods to the same dark skinned boy in an apron, the one who'd spoken up earlier. "Frypan, you go on."
Frypan crosses his arms across his chest. "I'll be honest, shank, she did break our biggest rule. Punishment is due. But she did kill four Grievers. This shows that we have a shucking chance. Those things can be killed. And that gives hope. And hope is very important in here."
Newt pauses, nodding. "What's your final opinion, Fry?"
"I'd say give her a few days in the Slammer."
Nico exhales. That he can deal with. A few days in the Slammer would be nothing to Jude, he knows.
Gally starts up again, but is quickly silenced by Alby, who turns to an acne-covered dark dark-haired boy he calls Winston.
"I think she should be punished. No offence, greenies, I like you two well enough. But if she gets off with no punishment, it could give the other guys ideas. I agree with both Gally and Frypan. Punishment, but Banishment is unnecessary. I'd say two weeks in the Slammer."
Newt nods, writing in his notepad all the while as he turns to the next boy. He goes with Winston's idea, the next goes with Gally's. It goes on, rather repetitive, and it doesn't take long for Nico to tune them out. He'll pay attention when the final decision is given.
Briefly, Nico wonders what they'll do if the verdict is Banishment. He'll go too, he knows. There's no hesitation. It was never an option not to go. All things considered, they will die. Or they'll find the way out. It's unlikely, he knows. Then again, if anyone can do it, it'll be a couple of half-gods.
He nocks his head back on the chair, staring up at the ceiling.
It's been three years, Minho said. Nico and Jude do not have three years. Whatever is happening, the Gods are aware. They have to be, looking at what a large-scale ordeal this seems to be. A huge Glade, an even bigger Maze. There's no way the Gods aren't aware. They might even be involved, which . . . is an unsettling thought. Nico shoves it away. If they are aware, they will either be interested or offended by mortal arrogance by involving the children of the Gods, knowingly or unknowingly. The Gods will expect their own children to make it out. They will not, however, get them out. No, Nico knows better than that. Their survival is entirely up to them.
If they are involved, the Gods will certainly get tired of the repetitiveness of this. They will push for something. Action.
With a start, Nico wonders if this is it. Their push. The nudge for action. Involving their own children would certainly be interesting.
But, here's what it all comes down to. Why? Why do any of this? A maze? And . . . Nico can't even begin to think about the incredulity of it all.
He turns his head on its side, feeling the bite of the wood on his ear as he looks at Jude. She, funnily enough, also has her head back on the back of her chair as she gazes up at the ceiling, seemingly also having tuned out the discussion around them.
Her eyes are glazed over, and her hands are still in her lap. This is not a good sign. Never is, with Jude. Still, he lets her be, letting her lose herself for a few minutes like she wants to.
Here they are, two siblings who have been through everything together, have had to fight tooth and nail for everything they have ever had, including each other. Here they are, straight back to square one. They were happy, he thinks. Before this. When they had lives. He can feel it. Feel the absence of the love, the peace, the happiness that once flowed through him, a steady pulse of hope that kept his blood warm and his heart beating.
He wants it back. Wants to feel the warmth of the sun, wants to lie down and bask under its smile. Wants to count it's freckles, wants to hold it between his teeth and swallow.
Blond hair and blue eyes flit through his mind, a blinding smile branding the inside of his eyelids.
Inhaling sharply, he straightens, eyes clearing. Fuck. Fuck. Squeezing his eyes shut, he grips the sides of his chair, doing his best to retrace the image. Fuck. Nico wants to scream.
"Are you two shanks even listening?"
Both Nico and Jude snap back to reality, straightening and blinking fast. Alby stares down at them, hands on his hips and disbelief in his eyes.
"Right, uh, yeah." Jude says, eyes wide.
Newt's brown eyes bulge. "You're shucking with me, right? What the shuck is wrong with ya' buggin' slints?"
Nico bites his tongue at the question, ignoring the myriad of remarks that flit through his head.
Minho laughs softly from Alby's left, and immediately stifles it at the look Alby gives him. His grin stays even when Alby turns away.
Alby rounds on the two. "The two of you, pay attention!"
Jude coughs, stifling a snort, and Nico nods for the both of them.
Newt runs a hand over his face, but Nico notices the glimpse of a grin before he straightens, face clearing. He turns to Minho. "Minho, you're the last to go. What's your recommendation, shank?"
All trace of humour leaves Minho's face as he crosses his arms. "Look, shank, this Gathering's gone on far too long, so I'm just going to say my part and be done with it."
Alby nods, seeming to appreciate this. "Go on then."
Minho's eyes train on Jude's, head cocked to the side. "I vote we make her a Runner."
Nico immediately winces, because the burst of voices that erupt across the room has him wanting to decapitate every person in it. It takes nearly a minute for both Newt and Alby to silence the Council, during which he notices that neither Minho nor Jude have said a word, staring each other down like they're each not quite sure what to make of the other.
When the room silences again, Newt rounds on Minho, brandishing his notepad. "You jacked, slint? You don't just drop that!" He sighs, running his hand over his face. "Alright then, noting her down. That's it? You know punishment is also due."
Minho snorts. "Sure, give her a week in the Slammer."
Newt sighs, scribbling away on his notepad. He turns when he's done, handing the notepad to Alby and dropping into his seat with a sigh.
Alby sighs, facing Jude and Nico as he clutches the notepad, not bothering to look through it.
"Alright then, shanks. A day in the Slammer for Nico, for attempting a run." Nico doesn't really care, quite frankly. "And two weeks in the Slammer with bread and water for Jude, and she becomes a Runner after."