Subject A0: The Unpredictable

The Gathering

Disclaimer: I give James Dashner full credit for the Maze Runner Trilogy. The only character I own is Kelley.

We arrived in the middle of the Glade. My arms were tired from using the crutches all the way there.

On the ground were two metal doors lying flat. They looked like they had been painted and taken care of for a while, but that person obviously gave up. The paint had become faded and cracked.

"What is this?"

"The Box," Newt said, casually.

"...A box?" I asked, thinking it didn't look too much like a box.

He laughed a little, "On the inside it is, these are just the doors. This is usually where our greenies come from. Once a month, every month. You showed up around the time we'd be expecting one, which is the only thing about you that makes sense."

I slowly nodded in agreement, not entirely sure how I felt about that remark.

"But every week it brings us supplies like food, clothes, wood. We usually don't have to ask for anything anymore. We can pretty much run ourselves here." He smiled proudly and I chuckled at him.

"How does it get here?"

Newt shrugged, "I haven't a buggin' clue. No one does. We don't know where it came from or who's in charge of it. The people in charge haven't told us a single bloody thing."

"How do you ask for things?"

"You write them on a piece of paper and put them in the box, they almost always bring what we ask. We tried for a television once, didn't work. Some of the boys were rather disappointed."

I recalled the memory of television, "I'm disappointed too."

He laughed a little and I feel like things were starting to really brighten between us. Some kind of weird connection that words failed to explain. Something that you had to feel for yourself in order to really understand. We smiled at each other, but it also caused an awkward tension, so I looked away for a while.

"Alright, what's next?"

He looked around, "Well, I guess we can go over the rules before we move on to anything else. Remember these, they're important."

I nodded.

"Rule number three: always do your part, slacking is not an option. Rule number two: never hurt another Glader."

I rolled my eyes, "That'll be hard. I'd like to give a piece of my mind to a few of the jerks around here."

He tried not to smile, "No, you can't. I'll admit some days these shanks can be a real slintheads, but it doesn't make it right. Anyway, the most important, rule number one: never go outside into the maze unless you're a Runner."

"What's a Runner?"

"They're the people who go out every day and try to find a way out of the bloody maze so we can all go home. They were the ones who found you."

"Oh... that's cool. I guess." 

Newt looked at me like he was worried.

I shook my head quickly, "But I don't want to go back out there. Don't get me wrong, I hate that place."

He nodded, but still seemed a little cautious, "Let's move onto the rest of the glade now." 

He held up a hand and lifted a finger for each word he listed. "We've got the Gardens, Blood House, Homestead, and Deadheads."

He then turned and pointed to their corresponding corners. "Gardens are in the northeast. That's where we grow all of our crops. There are pipes underground that pump all the water. It's our only source. It never rains here, not once."