"Get up."
Minho spoke directly into the girl's ear. His breath on her skin made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and his voice was too loud in her ear so she reached out to push him away. She reached his cheek somehow, her eyes still closed and longing sleep, and gently moved it away from her face muttering about needing five more minutes.
She did need five more minutes. Between her nightmare and her trip to the kitchen, she didn't get much more than a couple of hours of sleep. How was she supposed to run the Maze today?
But there was no excuse apparently.
Minho was in the exact same position, except he was already dressed, had eaten, and had all of his things ready to take off into the Maze. Florence envied him for this. It was incredibly unfair how much of a morning person he was.
"Get out of bed you lazy shank." He murmured, not entirely intending for the girl to hear him. She immediately snapped upright, met by a guilty glance from the boy who tried to not crack up in laughter.
"Don't call me a shank." She used her pillow to whack him before pushing herself out of bed.
She got dressed moodily, using her silence as a way of proclaiming that she had no energy to run the Maze today. However there was no point in this, as Minho was busy staring out the window and making running commentary on how Ben was walking to the Homestead.
"See you out there!" He called, eventually getting bored of waiting, winking cheekily before leaving the room.
Once ready, Florence left the room and came across Chuck who was sweeping the corridor her room laid in. She greeted him with a wide smile and stopped as he waved enthusiastically at her.
"Hey, Chuck." Her voice came off a lot more monotone and drained than she intended.
"Florence! Woah, you look exhausted. Are you okay?"
She frowned a little, and forced away a yawn that attempted to come over her. She flashed him another smile before sighing; there was no point lying to him.
"I'm so tired Chuck. I only had about three hours of sleep last night because I had a bad dream then I got up to go to the kitchen and eat Frypan's food, then I had to wake up early because I'm running the Maze today."
She spoke all in one breath, hurriedly and Chuck looked like he was having a hard time digesting everything she was saying.
"Sounds like you probably need a bite to eat." was what he decided on saying in reply, and it was a safe answer. Agreeing with the younger boy, she moved past him before realising something,
"Wait Chuck, you're a Slopper?" She felt a little bad that she hadn't taken the time to see how he was settling in, but in her defence, she had been having a busy time since he had arrived.
The boy beamed back at her, his curls bouncing up and down as he nodded his head to say yes. "I think I'm pretty good at it."
She couldn't help but let his happiness infect her face and she smiled again, feeling a little more awake. His energy was influencing her to feel a lot more upbeat.
"I'm happy for you Chuck. Oh actually, there's a bunch of clothes I need washing-" Rolling his eyes he shunned her from the corridor, refusing to listen to her requests.
"Go, eat!"
In the food hall, she found an equally as tired Ben eating his food gratefully, who thankfully managed to wake himself up enough to lecture Florence again about the fact she should be dating Minho already.
"You know, I am a matchmaker."
He began to blabber on about the hundreds of people he got together in the Glade, with Florence choosing to ignore how much he was exaggerating the figure. There wasn't even a hundred people in the Glade.
"Okay Ben, I believe you."
She really just wanted to shut him up at this point, so agreeing with him was the easiest way to achieve that. But he didn't stop.
So as he continued to chatter on, Florence let herself focus on the boy he happened to be planning to set her up with. Minho was stretching outside the walls of the Maze, rolling his neck to avoid any muscle strains whilst running.
Shuck, he looks hot.
Florence was certain he knew she was watching him at times like this. The way his face was ice cool and collected and his biceps just happened to be on show was all convincing her that he was purposely trying to look good in front of her. But then again, she wasn't complaining.
"I think I would date him."
Ben narrowly avoided choking on his food at the girl's confession. He broke out into a satisfied grin as he took in her words, her eyes immediately widening and her face turning a bright red.
Shuck. That was out loud.
"Sorry?"
She stuttered over an excuse for what she had blurted out accidentally, but there was nothing she could say to take it back. Ben had already gone off on a tangent about how he knew that she liked him, and that it was only a matter of time before they would be dating.
"Listen, you're going to get together if it's the last thing I get anyone to do in my life."
Florence shook off the boy's certainty as they approached the Maze together, and willed for him to stop talking as they neared their Keeper. He didn't shut up, and so in fear of Minho hearing his words, she elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ouch!"
Minho's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, and a smile flickered across his lips. Ben just glared at the girl, rubbing the spot she had hit him with his fingers. She didn't look at him.
"What'd you do that for?" Minho asked curiously.
She let her mouth hang open, holding out an excessively long 'um' as she struggled to think up an excuse on the spot. Her eyes darted to Ben who just let her struggle, and she swore at herself in her head.
"He's just being a shank." was what she finally said.
Minho just nodded, clearly not believing her, but not pushing the topic any further. The doors began to open, distracting them all, and Florence thanked the Creators internally for the very interruption.
Minho took off into the Maze immediately, winking at the girl, and then the other two went after him trailing behind. Ben hit her arm, causing her to wince and then stop herself in guilt for when she had nudged the boy herself, a little too hard.
"Why'd you hit me?!" He hissed, and she rolled her eyes.
"Because you were talking about Minho when he was right in front of us!" His anger dissipated and instead he just turned to laughter. It was too funny to him, remembering her embarrassment.
"I can't believe you admitted you like him." She shushed him at these words, glancing to see if the Keeper was close enough to hear their conversation. They were nearing the corridor where they would split off now.
"Whatever." She muttered, and Ben gave her a teasing smile.
"Love you really Florence."
"I hate that I love you too."
She replied jokingly, and she could hear his laughter behind her as she turned to the left into the section she would be mapping. Glancing back, she saw his figure disappear around a corner, and exhaled lightly.
Like always, there was nothing different to this day. She hummed a familiar tune under her breath, and felt grateful for the time she had alone to think to herself.
Slashing ivy from the walls and jotting down notes to remember had become second nature to her; like a reflex. She mapped her section quickly, like always, to give herself the maximum amount of time possible for her break.
During her break, she sat on the edge of the corridor that opened up as a taller section of the Maze, letting her legs dangle down, sending jolts of adrenaline through her body at the thought of slipping. She ate her food silently, peering out at the Maze and wondering where each of the other Runners were in that moment.
And then it was time to turn back. She always felt kind of sad at this point. It was nice to run the Maze alone during the day. It was freeing. She was lucky when she ran, she had never had the moment of running into a Griever, and so this made her naïve to that possibility.
But then there was something different.
Florence heard an eye splitting shriek. Freezing in her tracks, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the realisation it was a boy and not a Griever making the noise. The sound had come from the corridor behind the wall to her right.
Ben's section.
Glancing to her watch, she saw that the walls would be closing in an hour. She had time to make sure he was okay.
Instantly, she turned on her heel and back into the depths of the Maze, straining to remember the source of the scream so she knew which direction to head in. She turned corners at the speed of light, taking the option to turn right as much as possible as she knew that was where Ben would be.
And then she saw him.
He was only just conscious and attempting to drag himself across the floor. Florence could see where he had been stung. The Griever was nowhere to be seen. His eyes found her and his lips turned up in a relieved smile as he let out raspy breaths.
"Flo..."
She raced to his side, remembering how Alby grabbed Gally when they found him in practically an identical predicament. Leaning down, she slung his arm around her shoulder and hauled him up from the floor.
She staggered under his weight as he began to slip unconscious, but managed to stay standing. She wouldn't let herself fall over. She had to get them both out of there.
"Hang on Ben, I've got you."
She muttered, beginning to take steady steps in the direction of the Glade. She didn't know Ben's section as well as she knew her own, and it didn't help that the boy was out cold.
But she managed to guide her way back to the Glade, realising how tiring it really was to carry the boy as her legs began to buckle. She refused to fall. Once over the threshold, she let her legs give way to the floor and turned to using her voice in order to catch anyone's attention.
"Hey! Someone help!"
Surprisingly, Gally was the first to notice her. He jogged over, and as soon as he caught sight of Ben, his eyes grew large in fear. He opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted.
"Get Clint and Jeff." She told him urgently and he nodded, closing his mouth and immediately leaving to do as she told him.
She drew her hand across Ben's cheek, in attempts to sooth him, and also herself, but nerves caused her chest to tighten intensely. She knew they had the serum to help him, but she was still scared.
"You're going to be okay." She muttered, but she didn't know if she was telling him with certainty, or if she was trying to convince herself of the fact.
Gally returned with the two Med-jacks, who had a stretcher to carry the boy to the Med hut specific for Griever stings. She faltered, letting herself stop to watch as they took him away.
Gally watched her nervously, as if he wanted to reassure her but didn't know how. It was a switch from when she was unsure on how to comfort him after the Changing.
"This is the second time a Griever's been out and stung someone during the day. First you, and now Ben."
She finally spoke, unaware of the way Gally winced at the reminder of his own experience with a Griever. He cleared his throat, taking a step closer to her and patting her shoulder.
"Hey, don't stress. He's going to be okay."
She glanced to him, not letting on how confused she was about the way he was acting. He was trying his best to be comforting, but he's Gally, it's obviously not going to go well.
Suddenly Minho jogged up to them both, straight from the Maze and blissfully oblivious to what had happened, a smirk present on his face.
"Hey princess. Gally." The other boy nodded to him acknowledgingly, but the girl didn't reply. Minho's smirk was wiped from his face at her troubled expression.
"What's up? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, it's- it's Ben." She felt her throat tightening and the tears that threatened to prick at the back of her eyes. Worry flashed over Minho's face and he looked to Gally, whose expression also looked sombre.
"What's wrong with Ben?" Minho's voice wobbled in fear, barely noticeable but still present. She couldn't find it in herself to look at him when telling him what was wrong, not wanting to see his heartbroken expression when he found out. Instead, she focused her attention on her shoes.
"Minho, he's been stung."