Subject A0 - The Magic

My Name

A/N: picture is a ai generated image of Mary Cooper at the end of this chapter

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For a place that was pretty much barren, the Glade sure was a busy place.

Nick, who we had all decided to dub our leader, had decided that order needed to be established if we were all going to survive. He made me and a dark skinned boy, who remembered a day after Nick that his name was Alby, his second and third in command and together the three of us did our best to run things smoothly in the Glade. The three of us had decided that we needed leaders for each individual group as well, and while we were still deciding who those people would be, we decided we would name those leaders "keepers".

It had been a week since we all found each other here, and nobody had been in the Maze since.

While I knew that establishing a colony of sorts in the Glade was important, the Maze was something I pestered Nick about daily. I just knew that the Maze was our key to getting out of here- it had to be. Nick agreed that the Maze needed to be explored, but Alby always reminded us that the Gladers were our responsibility and they had to come first. At the end of the first week, I was getting tired of Alby's 'reminders'.

"Common Nick! We have a small group for builders, cooks, gardeners, and even a clean up crew! Surely I can get a group to come with me and explore the maze- or better yet, I can explore by myself-"

"Absolutely not! You can't even remember your own name, what makes you think you can remember how to get back to the Glade?"

"Nobody asked you Alby." I huffed, continuing to follow Nicks stride across the Glade.

"Well as third in command, I have to remind you that you're second in command! The Gladers look to you for guidance-"

"Oh be real Alby," I scoffed, halting and whirling around to face him to Nicks muttered protest. "None of the boys here look to me for guidance. The only reason they don't riot about my position is because I've been in the Maze!" I said, throwing my hands up exasperatedly. He frowned. "Which is exactly my point," I said pointedly, looking to the blonde behind me. "I've been in the Maze Nick, and it's the only reason the other boys even tolerate me. If not just to look for a way out, then let me go back out there to prove that I belong here and that making it out wasn't just a fluke."

Nick frowned at my pleading, sharing a look with Alby as he strode up next to me.

"Look, I've been keeping an eye on the doors and remembering what I saw in there, and I think I have a plan." They both looked at me intrigued. I hadn't really said much about what I saw or did while in the Maze, and seeing as they didn't let anyone step a foot in there, I was the only one who knew what it was like. "The doors open and close on a consistent schedule, and there have been no irregularities so far. So as long as we time things carefully, nobody should get trapped in the Maze. There's also a ton of vines growing on the walls in there like weeds, I figured I could cut a strip of them off at every turn so I'd be able to find my way back. Once I get back, I can draw out the paths that I've gone down and-"

"You can make a map." Nick murmured, eyes shining as he looked at me. I nodded, grinning. "And if we can make a map, then we can find the way out."

Alby sighed, and we looked at him as he shook his head. "I hate to admit it... but that's a fairly solid plan." Nick snickered as a did a little victory dance, poking at Alby as he tried to swat me away.

"It's settled then, tomorrow you'll go in the Maze-"

"Ow!" I yelped as Alby landed a hit to the back of my head. He snickered as my vision swam for a moment, his laughter quickly ceasing as I stumbled into Nick disorientedly. "Hey, you ok girl? Look, I didn't mean to hit you that hard-"