The sun peaked through the window, the warm sun rays touching her skin softly. She could feel herself slowly waking up, but her eyes remained closed, hoping she'd go back to sleep as she snuggled in her thin blanket. The mattress she was on wasn't the softest, but it definitely beat the hammock outside.

She felt at peace, despite her predicament.

''WAKE UP, SHEBEAN, WE GOTTA GO EAT!''

And just as she'd thought she could have a peaceful morning, Minho had come to prove her wrong. A soft groan escaped her lips as she snuggled closer to her blanket, thinking that if she ignored him long enough, he'd leave.

''Y/N!''

One would think that after a month in the Maze, she would be used to waking up like this.

''BLOODY HELL, MINHO, SHUT UP! YOU'LL WAKE UP THE WHOLE GLADE!''

''. . . Oops?''

Y/n laughed as she heard Newt scold Minho from the room next to hers - the walls of the Homestead were thin, so it sounded like they were in the same room as her.

''Fine, I'm coming. Give me a minute.''

With a heavy sigh, Y/n kicked away her sheet, feeling the chilly morning air nipping at her skin. She laid on her back for a moment, her eyes staying on the roof of her room, contemplating if its worth getting up. She finally did, knowing that if she were more late Minho would probably barge in her room.

She sat on her mattress as she put on her running shoes - not that she had any other pairs - and grabbed her backpack from the ground. Looking around the small, cramped room, she made sure she'd gotten everything and opened the door.

''So it's true girls take longer to get ready than guys?''

''It's six in the morning. Don't test me.''

Minho and Y/n were the last Runners to arrive for breakfast. Idle chatter filled the table as the two sat down and greeted everyone.

''Tomorrow's Greenie day, isn't it?'' Theo spoke up, looking at Y/n sitting next to Minho. ''You'll finally be promoted, aye?''

Y/n shrugged and took a bite of her breakfast. A month had passed. Thirty days since she's arrived in the Glade. If she had to be honest, it felt like it's been more and at the same time as if she'd arrived just yesterday.

The Runners finished their breakfast, grabbed their lunches from Frypan and filled up their water bottles, then made their way to their respective doors.

Minho and Y/n stood shoulder to shoulder, talking about which section they'd be running today. Ben, on the other hand, looked at the beaming Theo in curiosity. ''What's got you so smiley in the morning, shank?''

Ben's words grabbed Y/n and Minho's attention as well. Theo shrugged. ''I just have a good feeling about today. That's all.''

Minho turned to Y/n, his arms crossed across his chest and a small smirk across his face. ''Maybe he's finally loosing his mind.'' Y/n snorted and nodded in agreement.

After being filled in on everything by Minho - even things Alby had forbade him to tell others - Y/n knew there was little to no hope left. She was pessimistic as it was, but she kept on running to at least not feel stuck in one place. And to keep Minho company, since she didn't want to leave him alone, being the great company she believed herself to be.

Yeah, Minho would definitely be bored if he had to run the Maze without her.

The doors opened fully at last and the four ran in, Minho and Y/n taking a right and Ben and Theo a left. ''See ya guys later!'' Theo waved at the two, weirding everyone out even further.

Minho and Y/n ran side by side in silence until lunch when they decided to take a break and eat their food. ''Ray and John told me they found something new yesterday. We'll be going with them tomorrow to inspect it.'' Minho chewed on his sandwich, bits and pieces falling out as he spoke. ''We should also ask the Creators for more glue for the Maze model. And we need to find more sticks.''

''Good luck with that.'' Y/n hummed as she chewed on her own sandwich in content. Minho fell silent and she looked at him, noticing him giving her a look. She groaned. ''Oh, c'mon, you know I hate picking sticks.''

''My right hand man . . . woman,'' Minho quickly corrected himself, ''gotta help me with mapping out the Maze as best as I can, no?''

''I thought Ben was your right hand man?''

''He got demoted after spilling his drink on me.''

''Can't I just spill my own drink on you so I get demoted, too?'' Minho gave her a look, almost daring her to. She sighed. ''Fine, I'll help you. Not like I have a choice.''

The day passed oddly quick and before they knew it, the two were back in the Glade and on their way to the Map Room. After finishing mapping out everything for the day, the two exited to look around for the sticks Minho wanted for his Maze model.

As Y/n held a stack of twigs in her left hand and rummaged around for more with her right, she looked up for a moment and noticed someone - Ben, she thought - standing in front of one of the Maze doors, watching it. Furrowing her eyebrows, Y/n looked back at Minho. ''Why's Ben just standing there?''

Minho looked at the boy as well, though he seemed just as clueless as her. Looking down at his watch, he noticed there were about ten minutes until the doors closed. ''We should probably go check it out.'' Dropping the twigs next to a tree so he can find them later, he started jogging towards Ben, Y/n following behind.

''Hey, Ben!'' The blond looked up at the call, seeing Minho and Y/n coming to him. He bit his lip, his arms crossed across his chest. ''What're you doing here?''

''It's Theo.'' Ben said, scratching his head. ''We decided to separate. Said he wanted to check something out and I should go on our usual route. I haven't seen him in a few hours.'' Minho nodded, looking at the ground, though his eyes unfocused.

Y/n felt a chill run down her spine. If Theo didn't come back in the next five minutes, he would be stuck in the Maze overnight. And from what she knew, no one survived a night in the maze.

''Minho . . .'' Y/n spoke quietly, only Minho, who was standing next to her, managing to catch her words. ''Is he gonna . . .?''

Minho didn't answer.

Five minutes passed in a flash and the loud creaking of the doors echoed through the Glade as the stones started moving to close. Y/n bit her nail - or whatever was left of it - and watched anxiously alongside the two boys. The corridor was as gray and lifeless as ever.

The doors closed with a loud sound, sealing Theo's faith.

''What's going on here?'' Newt and Alby had finally made their way to the scene, looking at the three Runners in question.

''Theo didn't come back.'' Minho walked away after saying this, back towards the woods.

Y/n stared at her shoes. One of them was untied, but she couldn't bring herself to crouch down and tie it. Ben was explaining to Alby and Newt what had happened.

In the month that had passed, she was experiencing someone's death for the first time. She wasn't close to Theo; they were on good therms, of course, but not close enough to cry over him. She did, however, feel the reality of her situation crash down on her like a ton of bricks.

Those crossed off names on the walls used to belong to people. Alive people. They used to live here, too. Hell, she sleeps in a dead boy's room. The thought caused her to feel her stomach turning. The realization that any of them - Minho, Newt, Gally, even she herself - could die at any moment, just like that.

Gally liked to call the Glade their home. But this wasn't home. This was Hell, created specially for them.

She heard steps and she looked up, noticing Ben, Alby and Newt walking away from her, still talking. Her eyes trailed from them towards the woods, where Minho had gone.

Minho looked up when he heard the door open. He was twirling a pencil between his fingers, sitting on the ground of the relatively dark Map Room. His eyes fell on Y/n, who closed the door after herself.

The two made eye contact for a moment before Minho looked back down again. Footsteps neared him and soon enough Y/n sat next to him, leaning her back on the semi-sturdy wall. From the corner of his eye, he could see her tie her shoelaces, then playing with the aglet.

''Are you okay?''

''Fine.''

She nodded at his answer, unsure of what else to say.

Minho was the one who continued the conversation. ''Don't think too much about it. This happens more often than we'd like.''

''And you still go in the Maze? Knowing you could be stuck out there? Left for the Grievers?''

''We knew the risks when we took the job. Theo knew what he was getting himself into.''

Silence.

''Don't tell me you wanna quit, Shebean.''

''No. Not really.''

Y/n wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them to her chest. ''We're all gonna die here, aren't we?''

Minho shrugged carelessly. ''Maybe. Maybe not.''

''I don't want to die.''

''Me neither. Don't worry, shank, as long as you're running with me, you'll be fine.'' Minho looked down at his watch, seeing it was about to be time for dinner. ''I don't know about you, but I'm starving.''

He was about to make his way to the door when her fingers wrapped around his wrist. ''Shuck, Y/n, your fingers are cold.''

''Sorry.'' She didn't let go. ''Is that hammock next to yours still free?''

Minho furrowed his eyebrows. ''It is. Why?''

''No reason.''