Two and a half years later
"So where are you guys going today?"
"We're probably only going a mile or so out and look through that area again. No use wasting our energy going to the outer section of the Maze."
Ivy nodded as she stood beside Minho, their hands intertwined. They had gone to the wall earlier so they could talk before Minho went on his run.
"Make sure you keep an eye on the Greenie," Minho said. "I want to hear about the dumb things he does when I get back."
"I'll tell you at the bonfire then."
"Are we ready to run, or do you two lovebirds need another minute?" The two turned to find Ben walking up to them, a smirk on his face. Ivy rolled her eyes at the comment.
"Morning to you too, Ben," Ivy said. A second later, the doors groaned and started to open. She squeezed Minho's hand before pulling away. "I'll see you guys later."
The two boys nodded and darted into the Maze, but not before Minho sent Ivy a small wink. The girl laughed to herself, shaking her head as she walked to the Mess Hall to grab breakfast. The reason she wasn't running today was simple. It was a Greenie Day. Every Greenie Day, Ivy took a day or two off to help the Newbie adjust. She figured it would be good to have someone around who wasn't constantly picking on the Greenie.
Ivy greeted Frypan as she took a plate and filled it with breakfast. Snatching a piece of fruit as well, Ivy walked to where a familiar curly haired boy was sitting.
"Good morning, Chuck," she said as she plopped down across from him.
"Hey, Ivy," the boy replied happily. Chuck had come up in the Box last month, scared out of his mind; the guys hadn't been able to get him about of the Box. Ivy had to go into the Box herself and convince him to come out, which still took some time but in the end she was more successful than the guys had been.
"You ready for Greenie Day?"
"Absolutely. Now I won't be the Greenie anymore. I can show the new guy the ropes."
"He'll be lucky to have you, Chuck."
The boy smiled at her, making Ivy smile back. Ivy loved Chuck. He was like a little brother to her. When Chuck first showed up, some of the older Gladers made fun of him. Ivy had stepped in and told the boys to shuck off and leave the kid alone. She had even taken a couple extra days off from running to keep Chuck company and help him get used to life in the Glade. Since that, Chuck was almost always by Ivy's side when she wasn't in the Maze, or with Minho.
"Morning, you two." Ivy and Chuck looked up as Newt approached them, sitting beside them. "Excited for today?"
Chuck nodded while Ivy smiled. The three friends chatted away, talking about everything and nothing all at once. Once they finished eating, they gave their dishes back to Frypan and walked outside to get ready for the Greenie's arrival.
~
"So what do you think the new Greenie will be like?" Chuck asked.
"Not sure," Ivy replied, slicing a pepper. "Each guy is different."
"Do you think he'll like me?"
Ivy paused her work to look at Chuck, who was sitting on table close by, working on a small figurine.
"I can't think of anyone who doesn't like you, Chuck. No one has a reason too. Listen, if you're there for this Newbie and you keep him company, I'm sure you two will be good friends."
Chuck smiled.
"Thanks, Ivy."
She smiled back at him before going back to preparing dinner. It had become a tradition for Ivy to cook dinner for the bonfires. The shanks loved her cooking and she needed something to do while she waited for the Greenie to arrive. Chuck had chosen to hang out with her to keep her company as she worked.
It wasn't long before Ivy had finished cutting up the veggies. She just needed to wait until closer to the bonfire to finish putting the skewers together and to cook them.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded outside. Ivy looked at Chuck, nodding. Chuck smiled and followed Ivy outside. Gladers ran to the Box, quickly surrounding it to see their newest addition. Ivy peeked through the boys, putting Chuck in front of her so he could see better.
Gally dropped into the Box, hauling the Greenie up a moment later. Ivy winced when the boy landed on the ground. Looking through the boys around her, she could see that the shank was overwhelmed with all the people around him, some making comments about what job he might end up with. The boy stumbled to his feet, shoving through the wall of Gladers. Ivy's eyes widened when he began sprinting away from them.
"We got a runner!" Zart cheered.
Ivy rolled her eyes, pushing through the Gladers so she was in front of them. She wanted to be ready in case the shank started heading toward the walls. There had been several guys that she had to tackle because they made a beeline for the Maze. Just as Ivy was about to start running, the Newbie suddenly tripped and fell to the ground. The boys laughed at his actions, clapping for him. Ivy rolled her eyes at them.
She kept her eyes on the Greenie as two of the Gladers approached him. They grabbed his arms and dragged him toward the Pit as the other Gladers began to disperse. Ivy turned her gaze to Alby, who had his hands on his hips.
"What do you think?" he asked, looking at the Greenie as he was pushed into the Pit.
"I think you slintheads freaked him out by surrounding him," Ivy replied. "I don't get why you guys always do that. It just makes my job so much harder." Alby chuckled. "I'll go check on the shank. You go find Newt and I'll bring the Greenie around, alright?"
"Good luck."
Ivy shoved Alby's shoulder, causing him to laugh. The girl headed toward the Pit, briefly waving to the two shanks who put the Greenie in there. Ivy stepped in front of the Pit door, apparently scaring the Greenie since he stumbled into one of the back corners. Ivy knelt down, an apologetic look in her eyes.
"Hey, Greenie," she greeted. "Listen, I want to talk to you but you've got to promise not to run, okay?" When the boy didn't respond, Ivy took that as her answer. She unlocked the Pit door and pulled it open, kneeling in the doorway. The Greenie was kinda thin but appeared to have some muscle. He had short brown hair and eyes and wore a blue shirt. "My name is Ivy. You don't need to worry, I'm not going to hurt you. No one here will. I just want to ask you a couple questions. Can you tell me anything about yourself? Who you are? Where you came from? Your name?"
The Greenie shook his head, rubbing his hands together in a slight panic, his eyes full of fear.
"I can't remember anything," he replied in a shaky voice. "Why can't I remember anything?"
"Hey, it's okay. Just relax. It's normal. It's happened to all of us. Your name will come back in the next day or so. It's the one thing they let us keep."
"What is this place?"
Ivy smiled and extended her hand to him.
"Let me show you."
The boy hesitated for a moment, but reached for her hand, letting her pull him out of the Pit.
"Thanks," he muttered once he was on his feet.
Ivy nodded and motioned for him to follow her.
"We eat here," she began, motioning to the Glade. "We sleep here. We grow our own food. We build our own shelter. Whatever we need, the Box provides. The rest is up to us."
"The Box?"
Ivy pointed to the Box where two Gladers were checking over the items inside.
"It's sent up once a month with fresh supplies and a new Greenie. This month that's you."
"Sent up? By who? Who put us here?"
"We don't know," Ivy replied with a sigh.
"Ivy!"
The two looked up to find Newt and Alby walking towards them with smiles on their faces.
"Hey, guys," she greeted. "Greenie, meet Alby and Newt. Alby's in charge around here, and when he's not, Newt is."
"Well then it's a good thing he's always around then," Newt commented, patting Alby on the back. He looked at the Greenie. "Listen, that was some dash you made earlier. For a second I thought you had the chops to be a Runner. Till you face-planted." Alby laughed. "That was great."
"Wait, a Runner?" the Greenie questioned.
Ivy exchanged looks with the other boys.
"Newt, do me a favor," Alby said, changing subjects. "Go find Chuck."
"Alright."
"I'm going to head off too," Ivy said. "Food's not going to make itself. See you later, Greenie."
She patted the boy on the back before heading back toward the kitchen.
~
Ivy grabbed her plate of food, giving Frypan a high five before walking over to where the Runners sat. She greeted the boys as she sat down beside Minho.
"So, I heard from Newt that the Greenie face-planted today," Minho said, eating a piece of meat off of his skewer.
"You heard right. Shank tried to make a run for it but before I ran after him, he tripped and fell." Minho chuckled. "He's fast though, I'll give him that."
"So where's he now?"
"Newt's keeping him company. He'll probably introduce him to a few other people. Hopefully they'll avoid Gally though. Chuck told me Gally shoved him at the wall before it closed."
The two looked up when they heard the Gladers begin to chant 'Greenie.'
"Too late," Minho commented, causing Ivy to groan.
"Come on," she said, standing and walking toward where the Gladers were now surrounding the Greenie and Gally.
"The rules are simple, Greenie," Gally was saying. "I try to push you out of the circle... you try to last more than five seconds."
The Builder suddenly ran forward and shoved the Greenie, knocking him toward the ring. The Gladers behind him caught him and pushed him back, only for Gally to push him into the dirt. Ivy mentally shook her head, having known Gally would use his strength against the new boy.
"Come on, Greenie," Gally said, taking a few steps back. "We're not done yet."
"Stop calling me Greenie," the boy said.
"Stop calling you that? What do you wanna be called? Shank?" The Gladers laughed. "What do you think, boys? Does he look like a Shank?"
The 'shank' charged forward, running into Gally. The two wrestled briefly before Gally threw him into the ground again. Ivy sighed, ready to make a move to step into the circle in an attempt to help the Greenie. Before she could move, Minho gently grabbed her arm, stopping her. Ivy looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but the look Minho gave her told her to wait.
"You know what?" Gally said as the Greenie got back up. Ivy was impressed; normally guys gave up by now against Gally. "I think I've settled on Shank."
The Greenie charged again, his arms going around Gally's waist. Gally moved forward, forcing the Greenie to move with him. A moment later, the boy moved to the side, letting Gally's momentum continue and bring him to the ground. The Gladers cheered in shock; most of them had never seen Gally defeated before. Ivy smirked a little.
"Not bad for a Greenie, huh?" the Newbie asked, looking down at Gally.
Suddenly, Gally kicked out his foot, knocking the Greenie's feet out from underneath him. Ivy winced when the Greenie to the ground, whacking his head. She exchanged a glance with Minho, whose arms were crossed over his chest but still looked slightly impressed.
"Thomas," a voice muttered. Ivy looked back at the Greenie, his eyes wide with excitement as he stumbled to his feet. "Hey! Thomas!" The Gladers looked at him, confused by his sudden outburst. "I remember my name. I'm Thomas!"
"Thomas!" Alby shouted after a moment of silence.
The boys erupted in cheers, moving toward Thomas to congratulate him. Even Gally patted him on the back. The Greenie smiled as the Glader officially welcomed him to their home.
A loud shriek suddenly filled the night air, causing everyone to look at the Maze. Ivy stiffened, easily recognizing the noise for she had heard it many times before. An arm wrapped around her shoulder, giving her a light squeeze to reassure her.
"What the h*ll was that?"
"That, my friend, was a Griever," Gally told Thomas. "Don't worry, you're safe here with us. Nothing gets through those walls."
"All right, guys," Alby called. "Let's tuck it in for the night. Come on. It was a good night."
The boys began dispersing, heading back to their hammocks. Minho pulled Ivy closer to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. She glanced at the retreating Gladers to find Newt looking her way, a question in his eyes. She nodded to him, reassuring him that she was all right. The blond seemed to accept her answer and walked away, taking Thomas with him.
"You okay?" Minho whispered as they walked toward her hut.
"I will be," she replied. "Just a little surprised, that's all."
"Will you be all right tonight?"
Ivy looked down at her feet.
"Would you mind staying with me?" she asked in a hushed voice.
Minho smiled at her, squeezing her shoulders again.
"Of course."