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Hazel's P.O.V

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I watch as my big brother grabs a bunch of markers from the messy pile and hands them out to us. He grabs a sheet of wax paper and places them onto the table.
A popping sound fills the air as Thomas pulls the cap off the marker. "All right, everybody trace the last few days onto a piece of this stuff. Make sure you write the days' info on it so we know what is what. When we're done, I think we might see something."

Minho scurches up his nose in confusion. "What-?"
"Just keep cutting the bloody thing," Newt orders. "I think I know where he's going with this."
Thomas visibly relaxes when he hears Newt say those words. I place my marker in between my lips as I tear a sheet of wax paper from the box with my free hands. Taking the cap off, I begin to follow the boys' lead, transfering the copies of the original maps onto the wax paper.

I trace out the maps with my black marker, jotting down little pieces of notes onto the wax paper every now and then. Perspiration drips down my forehead as I feverishly try to keep up with the others, trying to keep my work accurate and correct while working as fast as possible. Box by box, section by section, we continued on tracing out the maps.
"I've had enough," Newt speaks up after what feels like an eternity. "My fingers are burning like a bloody mother. See if it's working so far, Tommy."

Thomas wipes the sweat off his face, flexing his fingers as he places his marker down. "Okay, give me the last few days of each section -make piles of them along the table in order from Section One to Eight. Place One here-" He points at one end of the table. "-And Eight there." He points at the other end.
The rest of us then go to work with no questions asked. We sort thorough the wax paper maps that we'd traced, only stopping when eight piles of the maps are lined up on the table accordingly.

Anxious, I hold my breath as my brother brouses through the pile, making sure that everything is placed correctly. He then places them one on top of the other so that each drawing matches the same day and the day before it. He does that until we're looking at the eight different sections of the Maze all at once. Teresa lets out a gasp as the lines start appearing to cross over one another, forming the letter F in the middle of the map.

I feel a wave of emotions wash over me as I glance at the maps.
"Man," Minho breaths, staring at the aligned maps in awe.
"It could've just been a coincidence," Teresa comments, skeptically. "Let's hurry up and do more."
That we did. I sorted out the maps while Thomas laid down the eight pages of the day down onto the table. Each time an fairly obvious letter started forming in the middle of the wax papers, where the lines crossed over each other.

"Look," Thomas announces, pointing down at the line of stacks we'd all formed together. "It spells FLOAT then it spells CAT."
"Float cat?" Newt questions. "Doesn't sound like a bloody rescue code to me."
"We just need to keep working, I bet the words will be clearer as we finish mapping them," Thomas says, confidently.
A few minutes and a couple of tires later did we realize that the second word was actually CATCH.

"This can't be a coincidence," Minho states.
"Definitely not," Thomas agrees, nodding his head excitedly.
I can tell that he couldn't wait to go through all the maps to find out what the code was. I can't blame him, I want to get this all over and done with so we'd finally be able to get out of here. I need to find Gally. I have to make sure he's alright, that he is still alive.

"We need to go though all of 'em," Teresa says, gesturing towards the boxs in the storage cupboard. "Every last box."
"Yeah," Thomas agrees, barely containing his excitement. "Let's get started."
"We can't help," Minho says.
The four of us look at him, confused. Minho returns out glares. "At least not Thomas and I. We need to get all the available Runners out in the Maze."
"What?" Thomas exclaims. "But this is way more important!"

"Maybe," Minho replies calmly. "But we can't miss a day out there- at least not now."
I can tell by the look on Thomas's face that he's disappointed beyond measure.
"But why, Minho?" he asks. You said that the pattern's been repeating itself for months, surely one day won't make a difference."
I recoil back as Minho slams his hand onto the table. "That's a load of klunk, Thomas! Of all days, this might be the most important one."

"Something might've changed, something might've been opened up. In fact, with the freaking walls not closing I think we should try your idea -stay out there overnight and do some deeper exploring."
Stay overnight?
This definitely piqued my brother's attention, but it didn't stop him from asking, "What about this code? What about-?"
"Tommy," Newt speaks up, his tone patient and consoling. "Minho's right. You shanks have to go out in the Maze and get runnin'."

"I'll round up some Gladers we can trust and get workin' on this," Newt tells him, sounding more like a leader than ever before.
"Me too," Teresa agrees, nodding her head. "I'll stay and help Newt."
Thomas turns his attention to her. "You sure?"
His tone seemed like he wasn't going argue, but his body language showed that he was slowing giving in. Teresa flashes my brother a smile as she crosses her arms.

"If you're gonna decipher a code from such a complex set with different mazes, then I'm pretty sure you need a girl's brain runnin' the show," she replies, her grin turning into a smug smirk.
I'm liking her more and more.
"If you say so," Thomas responds, crossing his own arms as he flashes her his own smile.
Ooo. Someone's got a crush.
Minho nods as if reading my mind. "Good that. Now that everything's fine, let's go."

He begins to make his way towards the door but stops when he realises that my brother isn't following him. Minho turns around, tapping his foot impatiently.
Newt chuckles, smirking at my brother. "Don't worry, Tommy. Your girlfriend will be fine."
I stifle a laugh as Thomas's cheeks turn crimson. I watch as he shakes his head, then proceeds to follow Minho up the stairs without another word. I cross my arms, turning to face Newt, who's already started working on the maps.

"You're not gonna let me join them, are you?" I ask.
"Nope," he replies, not looking over his shoulder.
I sigh. "I'll go and see if Clint and Jeff need any help with the wounded."
"Good, as long as you don't go out into the Maze again," Newt says.
"I'll keep you updated if we find anything," Teresa assures me as I turn to leave.
"Thank you," I say.
She nods, and I make my way out of the dusty room.

****

"He's alive?" Nathan asks. "Are you sure?"
"I'm telling you, he's alive," I reply defensively.
Nathan raises his hands in surrender, then winces at the action.
"Careful," I warn, wiping the blood from my hands. "You wouldn't want your stitches to open up again, now would you?"
"Shuck." Nate mutters under his breath, placing his hand over his brused ribs. "I'm not saying that he might be dead, I'm just saying how can you be sure he isn't?"

"I'll be able to feel it if he was dead- Never mind, that doesn't even make sense," I mutter, throwing the bloody rag onto the table.
"You're right, it's a huge leap of faith," he admits. "What if the Grievers stung him? That might explain why he was acting all crazy like."
I shake my head. "I've known Gally for as long as I can remember. I can tell if he's acting up. That was not how Gally is on a typical day and that was definitely not how a person acts like if they're stung."

"But what if he's gone insane?" Nathan asks. "What if he's finally cracked under all the stress of being here?"
"I don't believe that," I say, shaking my head.
Nathan remains silent, but I can tell that he wants to counter my statement. He probably would've done it by now, if he weren't that caring. He knows how much Gally means to me and how much I'll refuse to give in to the possibility that he's dead, or insane as Nathan so nicely pointed out earlier.

"How'd you bruise your ribs?" I ask him, changing the subject.
Nathan notices the tension in the air but is wise enough not to adress it. "I was nicked by the Griever's claws or pincers, or whatever you call their limbs."
"I'm not complaining or anythin', but how'd you survive?" I ask. "They would've dragged you back into the Maze with them once they had you in their clutches."
"Teresa," he replies. "She grabbed the machete that I dropped and hacked at the bugger's limbs until it let go of me."

I nod my head, impressed. "Remind me to thank her later."
"Sure thing," he replies.
We're making progress, guys, Teresa says in my head.

I almost drop the first aid kit at the sound of her voice. I place my hand over my chest, trying to catch my breath.
Nathan looks at me with an expression mixed with curiosity and amusement. "You alright?"
"Fine. I just thought I saw something," I lie.
I hate lying to him but I'm not supposed to tell anyone about our thapathy.

Shuck, Teresa, you sacred me, I reply in my mind.

Sorry, she apologizes sheepishly. Well, anyway, we found a couple more words already, but none of 'em make sense yet.
Can you hear me? Thomas asks.
He just repeats his question when we don't answer quick enough.
Yes! Teresa and I reply in our minds.
It was really clear the second time you said it, I tell him.
I wonder why we can do this, Thomas questions.
Maybe we were lovers, Teresa replies.
I cringe. Is there a way you guys can talk to each other without me being able to listen in? 'Cause I don't wanna hear you guys being all lovey dovey.
Hey! Teresa cries out. We never said anything when you whenever you kissed Newt.

What? Thomas finally asks, clueless.
I can feel Teresa laughing.
This is so bizarre, Teresa says. It's like you guys are strangers but I know you're not.
Sorry to break it to you, but we are strangers. Hazel and I only just met you, Thomas points out.
Don't be stupid, Tom. I think someone altered our brains, put something in there so we can do this telepathy thing. Before we came here. Which makes me think that we knew each other before all of this.

I think I'd remember if I knew you, I state. You don't exactly have a transient impression.
I can feel Teresa chuckling. Yeah, I guess not. But I don't think anyone would know if their brains have been altered unless they've been told.
How do they even alter our brains without killing us in the process? Thomas asks.
I don't know- some memory I can't quite grasp. I think we must've did something big for them to go through so much trouble do that.

Well, I don't know about you guys but I hope we didn't do anything bad, I state.
What are you guys talking about? Thomas asks.
I wish I knew, Teresa replies. I'm just trying to bounce ideas off you guys to see if it sparks any ideas in your minds.
Well, I've been stung by a Griever but I still can't remember that much, I tell them. Just flashes and even then it's still fuzzy.
This code has to mean something.
It's probably a clue to help us get out, I think.

Yeah. And the thing I wrote on my arm - WICKED is good, Teresa adds on to her statement.
Maybe it won't matter, Thomas answers. Maybe we'll find a an exit. You'll never know.

I pack up the salves and medical gauzes as Teresa and my brother continue talking.
"Do you need any help?" Nathan asks, reminding me that he's still here.
"No thanks," I say, turning to face him. "Just get some rest, alright?"
Nathan nods, turning to make his way up the stairs, headed towards the sick beds.

Teresa? I call out, trying to contact her.
Yeah? Her response is swift.
I glance at Nathan who's slowly climbing up the stairs. Thanks for saving Nate.
No problem, Hazel.
Oh, and Teresa?
Yeah?

Make sure Newt takes breaks. Sometimes he forgets that he's human.

Will, do.

I smile, washing my hands under running water. I don't know if Teresa and I knew each other before this but I hope we were close. I've only known her for a short while but she's already like an older sister to me. That makes me wonder if Teresa and Thomas were a couple before all of this. I guess we'll never find out unless we manage to find our way out of here and soon because we're about to run out of supplies.

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Hey guys, sorry it's been forever since I last updated, I was a bit preoccupied with writing Pan's Game (An OUAT fanfic), feel free to check it out, I just finished writing the first book of the Pan's Game trilogy. I'll try to update this more frequently because my exams are over for now and I'm gonna be free during my June holidays

Anyways, that's all for this A/N, I hope you'll check Pan's Game out whilew waiting for me to update this book.

~ Alice xx

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