Think. Just think.
Darkness. Cage. Boys. Girl. Walls. Trapped. Glade. Doors. Grievers. Maze...
Maze.
Keep thinking.
Teenage boys. Enclosing walls. Safe Glade. Opening and closing doors. Monsters that live in a maze. A maze that leads out.
Out of where?
Wrong question.
Out TO where?
Does this question matter? No. Getting out of the Glade matters. Now why does getting out of the Glade matter?
Start over.
Only boys. One girl. In a walled off square. Any way out? A maze. Why a maze? Why not just an open door? Because it's something to piece together. A puzzle to complete. The maze is sign we need to leave.
Answer 1: the maze is a challenge.
I take a deep breath before returning to my mind palace.
Glade. Maze. Free. It's a game. A game that hungers for participation. We, the boys and I, are here to play a game of mousetrap. We are here to solve problems that will require both mental and physical strength. We'll face a labyrinth filled with monsters, our very lives at risk.
Answer 2: solve the maze.
I can feel a coming headache.
But go back to the beginning, I think. Face the big question: why are we actually here? Why was it so important to erase our memories? To use a maze as the problem to solve? To only use teenagers? Only male teenagers? WHY?!
Now I definitely have a headache.
Figure it out Y/N, I mentally beg. Figure it out. Get it out. Get it out! Get...out!
GET OUT!
That's it!
Everything I've learned, seen, or felt since I came up in that stupid box held the same message, the same meaning. The same answer. All of it pointed toward the one and only thing we need to know. The only thing we need to strive for. And that's to get out.
Answer 3: get out. And its the only answer the Gladers need.
But I need more. One more question is all I have left to answer, or at least that's of importance.
Why am I the only girl?
At that moment, my thoughts are interrupted as I hear footsteps make their way up the homemade ladder. I look up and spot a head-full of Newts dusty blonde hair before he climbs one last plank to reveal his whole face. He came up with a smile, but after he meets my eyes, his face automatically falls with concern.
"Y/N, you look aweful," is all he says before he finishes climbing up and crawls next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as he sits beside me.
"My head hurts," I mumble as I lean my head on his shoulder.
"You look like you've just seen Gally's bare behind after he's taken a dump," he replies.
"Worse," I squeak.
"What were you thinking about?" he asks.
I begin coughing and lean forward to try and catch my breath, all the while Newt rubs my back soothingly. My throat has become exceedingly dry and I would kill for a glass of water right now.
Finally, I can breathe.
"Thoughts," I croak.