Six Feet Under.

chapter three

CHAPTER THREE: NOT ENOUGH TIME

     It was decided by Alby that Ben's footsteps would need to be retraced, as a way to see what had happened to him when he split off from Layla and Minho. The leader himself would be accompanying the two Runners, which only happened when absolutely necessary—the last time Alby went into the Maze was long before Layla even had arrived in the Glade.

     Newt stood by the three early that morning, waiting for the Maze doors to open as he bid them good luck. "Hey," he turned to Layla, "be careful out there, all right? He was stung." He reminded, "you watch each other's backs, yeah?"

     Layla nodded in an instant, "always." She agreed. It was her first time speaking since Ben's banishment, and her voice was scratchy and hoarse, but she didn't care. She wanted to know that Newt could trust her, and that he knew she would be careful. He frowned, seeming to finally take in her puffy eyes and and lack of a smile, before nodding in approval.

     The Maze doors opened exactly on time, just like they always did, with a booming sound. Layla watched as they stretched wide apart, clicking as gears and chains shifted into place. Layla didn't bother to question how it worked, however. She had stopped asking questions like that a long time ago, and focused more on the important ones—like who she was, and if she would ever leave the Maze.

Layla turned to Newt as the two boys began running, and smiled softly, despite her sadness over Ben. "See you later, Newt."

Newt smiled back as best as he could, and nodded. "See you, Layla."

Then, Layla quickly caught up with the other two boys, following them through twists and turns. When they had made it to the fork in the path, they turned left—the way Ben had gone. They followed the path, going the way the Ben had most likely gone, before stopping at another fork in the path.

     Alby turned to Minho and Layla, "best we stick together." He said. "We don't wanna end up like Ben." Layla flinched, her mind swirling with thoughts of the changing and what it could do to you. "Good that?"

     Layla nodded in agreement, not feeling comfortable splitting up again. "Good that." She said, as Minho nodded.

     Minho then pointed to the left, one way that Ben could've gone. "This way leads to another fork, and both paths eventually lead to dead ends." He then pointed right, "this way would've lead down to an open section yesterday, but today it closes off early. So if we wanna look there, we won't find much."

     Alby thought for a long moment, "best to check out both sections. We'll go left first."

     Both Minho and Layla agreed, and they were quickly off. Layla's legs soon began to burn, as she kept her breaths controlled, but she made no move to stop—a Runner never gives up.

     Just like Minho said, they came to another fork. Layla expected it, as she had been a Runner for quite a while, but she trusted Minho's word more than her own. The group made the silent agreement to take a left first, and that was around the time when Layla got tired.

     Minho noticed, and glanced at her, "best we don't stop for a break until we know it's clear." He panted, "don't want to be caught by anything."

     Layla lazily nodded, hoping he caught that so she didn't have to answer out loud. She was sure if she tried to speak once, she would go up in a coughing fit.

     They made it to the dead end, and nothing was found. Alby huffed, but didn't show his annoyance in any other way. "There's gotta be somethin'." Was all he said, before taking off the way they had just came. Layla sighed as Minho pat her on the shoulder before the two followed their First in Command.