•unedited•

Victoria

"Victoria."

"Victoria."

"Victoria!"

I awoke with a start and flailed my limbs frantically. Someone was shaking me while calling my name. I opened my mouth to scream, but someone's hand flew on to my mouth.

"Shh, Victoria. It's just me, Minho. It's time to get up and run." I breathed a sigh of relief and motioned for him to remove his hand from my face. He removed and looked at me with a smile on his face.

"Seems like your not a morning person."

I muttered under my breath and stretched. I looked at Minho waiting for him to give me intructions.

"First we will go to the Runners room and get you gear and supplies. Then let's stock up on food, eat breakfast, and wait for the doors to open." He told me while opening my bedroom door. We walked down the hall and out of the homestead.

The Runner room was a small shed surrounded by forestry. The door had a code lock on it and Minho easily code.

"Once you start running on your own I'll tell you the code." He stated before opening the door for me like a gentlemen.

The inside of the small shed looked way bigger than the outside. There were shelves that had new, good quality, running shoes, a table with note pads and pens, and backpacks hanging on hooks that were all along one wall. The room had everything a runner would need.

Minho led me over to the shelf full of shoes. He turned to me and asked, "What shoe size are you?" I looked around for a couple seconds wondering.

What shoe size am I? I'm not even sure. I removed the shoes I was already wearing and looked at the bottom for the size.

"Size seven." I responded to his question. He nodded and handed me the correct shoe size. I quickly took of my shoes and slipped the new ones on. They were very comfotable and didnt compress my feet. I smiled happily and starting jumping in the shoes so I could get a feel of it.

"What the shuck are you doing?" Minho said trying not to laugh.

"I'm trying to get a feel of the shoes." I responded before sitting on the floor and tying my shoes. After finishing, Minho led me to the backpacks, grabbed one, and handed it to me to try on, I put it on but it was a little big, so Minho tightened it around the straps so it fit snuggly on my back and wouldn't fall off while running or bother me.

Minho handed me white watch. It looked fancy and the time read, 6:07. Minho then handed me a note pad and a couple pencils before leading me to a door that I hadn't noticed before. There was another lock on this door. Minho unlocked it and opened the door which lead to a room full of weapons.

Weapons? Why would runners need weapons? Grievers. I answered my own question.

"Pick any two that will be easy to run with and won't hold you back." I nodded and looked at the walls which were full of weapons. I picked one small dagger and a small sword. Both would be easy to carry, but would be useful against a griever.

After Minho and I picked our weapons, he ushered us out of the room and locked the door behind us. In the previous room, some other runners were grabbing shoes and note pads. They greeted Minho and I as we walked past them. Minho just nodded and pulled me out of the room.

"Time to eat breakfast and pack lunch for the run." He informed me before leading me to the kitchen. We stood in line and waited. A couple minutes later, a tired Newt joined us. He yawned before greeting us.

"Morning Minho. Morning Victoria." Minho nodded and I smiled at the tired looking Newt.

"Morning. You look tired. Didn't get enough sleep?" I asked.

"Bloody grievers kept me up all night. Constant screaming and all." He rubbed a hand across his face before pushing his hair out of his face.

I nodded before grabbing the plate of food Frypan handed me. All of us walked in silence towards our table at the back. We walked past Nathan's table, and I saw Matt and Zach eating together. Deciding not to bother them, I continued walking with New and Minho to our far table. I took a seat beside Minho and across from Newt. We ate in silence before Newt spoke.

"Excited to run?"

"Yeah. When I first heard about runner's, I knew I had to become one." Newt nodded like he knew the feeling. We quickly finished our food and I followed the two boys to grab our lunch. Frypan handed all three of us a two bottles of water and two sandwiches. We put them in our backpacks and headed toward the doors. I stretched my legs and prepared myself for the long, tiresome run.

The doors began to open and the sound vibrated throughout the glade. I watched as the tall maze doors opened and looked at Minho and Newt.

"Be careful okay Victoria?" Newt said while pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my slender arms around him and reassured him.

"Don't worry I have Minho with me. Make sure that you are careful." I felt him nod into my neck and tightneded the hug. I felt like this would be the last time I would see him. We were both putting our lives at risk by going out into the maze. But we needed to do this. We have to find a way out.

We pulled apart and Newt took off running. I watched him run as he took off down the long corridor. Matt quickly walked up to me and wished me luck while running. He made sure that I promised to be safe before he walked away.

Minho nodded at me and led me into the maze.

***

The maze looked just like it did on the outside. Tall, grey walls, with ivy hanging on them. The only thing different was the fact that we were actually in the maze. I was in awe. Whoever designed this, must have been a great architect. The walls were built precisely so they were able to change each and every night. Minho led me down our section of the maze, turning corners with confidence. Like he knew the whole maze by heart.

He probably does. My subconscious reminded me.

I continued running with Minho and watched as he pulled his knife out. He quickly cut a piece of ivy off the wall without stopping. Every few minutes he would cut off another piece, never stopping.

Minho stopped us around 11 for a break. We sat in silence and drank our water.

"We cut off pieces of ivy just in case we get lost. When break is done, you will have to try. You can't stop while doing it." He told me. I nodded and continued drinking my water. Minho stood up and offered me hand, telling me our break was done.

We started running and every couple minutes, Minho told me to cut a piece of ivy off. The first couple of times I had to stop, but after getting the hang of it, I barely stopped. While running, I had formed this section of the maze in my head. I remembered each turn and where it lead to. Minho pulled a notebook and pencil out, telling me that we had to record stuff that we see in the maze without looking down at the paper or stopping. I record random stuff that Minho told me just to try it out. When I was on my own, I would have to write down stuff about the maze and take it to the Map room and map it out.

We reached the end of our section and stopped for lunch. We sat together in silence and ate. The doors would close in a couple hours and we need to start heading back. Minho told me that talking wasted energy so we didn't talk the whole way back to the glade.

Once in the glade, Minho took my to the map room and showed me how we mapped the maze out, and where we put our information. I mapped out the maze as I remembered and Minho told me pointers about how to make it better; such as straighter lines. When we finished Minho led me to the kitchen for supper.

We stood in line and Newt once again joined us. We grabbed our food and sat at our table, Alby joining us as well.

"How was your first day running greenie?" Alby asked.

"It was okay I guess. Felt good to be away from the glade for a bit." Alby nodded and we finished our supper in silence.

Newt then grabbed my hand and took me to the deadlands. We sat against a tree and looked up at the dark sky. The door started closing and I flinched from the loud sound. Newt held my hand and I looked at him in suprise. He wasn't looking at me, but at the sky.

"The stars look beautiful. Sometimes I wonder if we're seeing the same stars as the people outside of this bloody maze." He looked deep in concentration. His eyes shown and a smile was on his face. I relaxed into the tree and Newt, looking up at the sky.

"There's one star that shines brighter than the rest. I've always wondered why." He pointed to oneof the stars. I couldn't see the star because of the leaves.

"Which star?"

"This one." Newt pulled me closer to him while pointing at the noticably brighter star. I could feel Newt's breath on my cheek seeing as we right up against each other.

"It's beautiful." I said. The star was very beautiful, especially in a place like this.

"The star reminds me of you sometimes." I looked at him like he was crazy.

"How on earth would that star remind you of me?" He looked me in the eye and my breath hitched.

"You're the only girl in the glade. You shine bright in a place that normally is dull, just like that star. You bring out the best in the people in the glade. Before you came, all we did was work. We didn't have time or reason to laugh or joke around. Ever since you came, this place has been bearable." His words were sincere. I felt my heart pound in my chest at him words.

"That star is beautiful. Just like you." I blushed after hearing that. Newt thought I was beautful?

Newt pulled me even closer to him and I layed my head on his chest. I could hear his steady heartbeat and soon enough it lulled me to sleep.

***

An: Awe, a little romance for you guys. I actually really like this chapter. Another early update. 3 updates in 2 days? I'm just awesome like that. I might not update for a couple days cause I have a couple projects due, which I should be doing right now.

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