Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter two, ( rules suck. )
A young girl stood, leaning against the heavy metal door beside her, her ear pressed up against it as she tried to hear what the people inside were talking about. She had heard her name a few times, along with the word's 'maze', 'boys', 'dangerous', and 'too young'. She stood up higher, having to stand on her tip toes to reach the small window on the door.
She could see a group of people; a blonde woman, a man with greying hair, and a teenage boy with light brown hair, who looked to be a few years older than her. The rest were doctors and nurses, or at least that's what she assumed. The only thing the young girl knew is that they were talking about her. She didn't know what was happening though, so she was basically clueless. But she was scared.
"Hey!" A masculine voice shouted from behind her. The young girl whipped around to the source of the voice, only to see two men dressed in guard's uniforms standing at the end of the hall. The girl wasn't supposed to be out of her room this late, so she did the first thing that popped into her head. She ran. She turned the opposite way of the door, and the opposite way of the guards, running to her right and sprinting as fast as she could. But eventually, she got lost, having no clue where she was since everything was the same pale, white color.
The girl stopped in her tracks, running her hands through her hair as she tried to catch her breath. She could hear footsteps coming closer from behind, so she turned the opposite way, but came face to face with the two guards that had been chasing her. So, she turned the other way, and saw the three people that she was spying on in the room, with three guards.
"Eliza." The woman said. "Stop running."
"What are you guys going to do to me?" The young girl questioned, her voice shaking. She swallowed back the lump of fear that was forming in her throat.
"We aren't going to hurt you, sweetie." The woman replied, taking a step closer. The girl relaxed slightly at her words, but the moment was short lived when she felt something sharp prick the side of her neck. Suddenly, she felt fuzzy, and the world started to fade in and out.
"You...Liar." The young girl mumbled as she fell, one of the guards catching her before she hit the floor.
Later that day, Eliza was about to finish running. It was nearly 5:00pm, and she hadn't seen anything new. She ran her hands through her hair, tugging at the roots. She usually loved running; it was the only thing she knew she was good at. And nothing would ever change that. But she was sick and tired of feeling helpless, like she couldn't do anything to help the Gladers and herself get out.
Eliza cracked her knuckles, leaning against the maze wall behind her before sliding down, running her hands over her face once she reached the floor. She sighed. She had days like this often, where she had to force herself to do things that she was too exhausted to do. Sure, she hadn't got the best sleep last night, mainly because of the dream she had, but she wasn't exhausted physically. She was exhausted mentally.
She tried to push it aside, to ignore it, but some days it was extremely hard. Eliza forced herself to stand, and she turned on her heel, running back towards the glade. After half an hour, she finally reached the Glade, and was met with Minho, Newt, and Alby standing right in front of her. She halted in her tracks.
"Uh, hi." Eliza said, extremely confused.
"Did you see it?" Alby demanded, stepping close to the girl. A confused look made its way onto her face as she stared up at the boy. "Did you hear it?"
"What?" She questioned nervously.
Alby opened his mouth to say something, but Newt stepped in front, standing in between Eliza and Alby.
"Ben got stung." Newt said, making Eliza even more confused than she already was. She had so many questions.
"What?!" She shouted, her mouth falling open. It's not like Ben was her best friend or anything, but he was a nice guy, and he definitely didn't deserve what was coming for him. "How? In broad day light?"
"Yep." Newt answered, nodding his head. "We don't know how though, we're still trying to figure that out."
"We aren't going to-"
"Yes, Eliza." Alby answered, as Newt stepped to the side. "We're banishing him."
"What?" The girl questioned, an angry yet upset look on her face. "We can't do that! We need him."
"Decisions already been made." Alby said bluntly, turning around and storming the other way. Eliza threw her hands into the air, storming after the leader. Minho and Newt sent each other a look, following shortly behind the younger girl.
"You can't just do that!" Eliza shouted, grabbing most of the gladers attention. "Don't we vote on these things?"
"The keepers get to vote." Alby said, stopping in his tracks. "And you're not a keeper." Eliza shook her head, sighing through her nose. She opened her mouth to say something, but Newt stood in between them once more.
"That's enough." The blonde boy said. And Eliza felt Minho place his hands on her shoulders.
"Come on, girly." Minho said, and she fell silent as he steered her towards the dead heads.
Eliza stood in between Chuck and Thomas; her arms crossed over her chest. She felt useless as she watched Minho drag Ben towards the rest of the Gladers, who were all holding their wooden poles, gathered around the maze doors. She hated banishing's. Eliza refused to participate in them, even though she knew that if they weren't banished, said Glader would get violent and wreak havoc. But she hated watching the people she loved in pain.
Her bottom lip trembled as ben grumbled and grunted, as Minho threw him onto the dirt in the center of the gladers, cutting the ropes that bound his wrists together. Ben landed on his hands and knees, coughing up a black liquid. She could hear him sobbing, begging the boys to not do what they were about to do.
Eliza sucked in a breath, swallowing back the lump in her throat.
"No, no, please." Ben begged Minho, who was standing in front of the doors, holding a sack of raw meat, which would attract the grievers and make Ben's death faster. "Please don't. Please don't do it." Minho didn't make eye contact with the boy as he threw the small bag into the corridor and past the doors, stepping back as the rumbling sound that signaled the doors were about to shut filled the air.
"Poles!" Alby shouted, a sad look on his face. Eliza knew he felt bad. Wouldn't anyone? So, she couldn't really blame him for being upset at her earlier, because this was as hard on him as everyone else. He was the one who had to make the hard decisions. The boys started to close in on Ben, pushing him back towards the maze, as he stumbled around, begging for them to stop.
Eliza felt Chuck's presence disappear from beside her, but she couldn't seem to take her eyes off the gut-wrenching sight in front of her. She sucked in another breath, forcing tears back. Eliza had never cried in front of the boys. She made sure she always cried when she was alone, or in the maze, or silently at night. She mainly didn't cry in front of them because she didn't want to 'be a cry baby'.
Ben screamed and begged, but as the doors got closer and closer together, he gave up, standing behind the doors in hopes to not get squashed in between them. He let out one final scream, that was cut off by the sound of the maze doors finally shutting. Eliza could feel Thomas shaking beside her, and she clenched her jaw, as her hands dropped to her sides, balled up in fists.
"He belongs to the maze now." Alby's voice was soft. And that hurt Eliza even more. Because she knew that it wasn't a choice. It was the only option. It was the rules.
