Chapter 4: Mira's POV

Mira woke up to bright sunlight streaming through the leaves of the trees. She sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Mira looked over to Ivory, surprised to see her still in bed. Usually, she was up before Mira, watching the boys go around doing their business. She pulled the blankets off her and stood up, pushing her hair out of her face, and walking over to a makeshift dresser.

Grabbing her jacket from the top basket, she pulled it on and walked over to the door, grabbing her daggers too. Just in case Mira thought as she walked out the door, closing it softly to not wake up Ivory. She decided to see what the boys were doing. Quietly walking through the forest, she made her way to the edge of the trees. She chose a tree that was right at the edge and started climbing. Mira spotted a branch that was good enough to sit on and watch the boys. Reaching the branch, she leaned against the trunk of the tree and sat with her legs straight out in front of her. Looking at the glade, she smiled. Most of the boys were just getting up, while a few others were already starting the day. Mira spotted the cook searching his food supplies vigorously, making sure nothing was stolen. Mira smirked, she and Ivory had taken some food last night for dinner while everyone went to bed. A loud yell from the cook told Mira he noticed, chuckling, she spotted the one they called Alby talking to the cute blonde boy she had teased last night. They looked like they were arguing over something. Probably over us, she thought. The other boy, who she had fought last night - was his name Gally? - stomped towards Ably and the blonde boy. The two boys told Gally something, whatever it was, it made Gally mad. He pointed to the forest and said something. Mira frowned, knowing Gally was talking about her and Ivy. The second boy pointed a finger at Gally's chest, telling him something. Gally turned on his heels and stalked back to the homestead. Bored, Mira decided to go grab some food from the kitchen. Hopping down from the tree, she looked around the glade, making sure everyone was doing something. When she knew it was safe, she walked along the treeline, not wanting to be seen yet. She got to the edge of the forest, the kitchen was only twenty feet away. Mira waited until the cook had his back turned before she ran over to the kitchen. Grabbing an apple that was sitting in a basket by the edge of the kitchen, she smiled and started walking back to the forest

"Mira!"

The voice made Mira jump. Turning around, she spotted Blondie walking towards her. She placed her free hand on her hips and glared at him.

"I'm eating blondie," she told him. The boy frowned and crossed his arms. Mira smiled and took a bite of her apple "Whatcha want?" the boy shook his head

"Well first, I want you to stop calling me blondie, my name is Newt," He told her. Mira's smile grew wider and she tilted her head

"Nah, Blondie is much better," Mira said. Newt let out a sigh and rolled his eyes

"Whatever, second thing, you can stop stealing from Frypan, you guys are gladers now, you can eat with us now," Newt told her. Mira placed a finger on her chin and thought for a moment

"How 'bout....no, we don't trust most of the gladers. And I'm sure most of them don't trust us," Mira said. Newt rubbed his chin and studied Mira.

"At least stop bloody stealing from Frypan," he pleaded. Mira could hear the impatience in his voice. She knew they didn't want to yell at her, and that made it all more fun. She looked at Newt and shrugged

"And if I say no?" she taunted. She watched as Newt tried to figure out how to answer her. Mira took another bite out of her apple and pointed to the kitchen "Just because Ably told everyone to treat us like gladers, doesn't mean we'll all of a sudden submit to his authority and rules. Me and Ivy had lived on our own for as long as we remember. We don't know you guys, we don't trust you guys, I only fought Gally so she and I could live in the forest without you guys trying to put us in the Slammer as you guys call it, and as much as you don't want to admit it's the same thing as a prison. Just let me and Ivy do what we usually do, take some chickens now and then, and grab a bit of food from Frypan. Leave us alone, we'll leave you alone,"

Newt stared at her and rubbed his chin.

"What if we make a deal?" he asked, Mira rolled her eyes

"We just did, leave us alone, we'll leave you alone, simple," she responded. Newt shook his head

"That's not a bloody deal, at least, not a good one. What if, we promise to leave you alone and once a week, we give you a thing of food that will last you a week. In return, you help out with some jobs once in a while and promise to obey Ably's rules. Seems fair, right?" Newt asked. Mira shook her head and pointed to the Homestead

"Nope, Ably's rules don't line up with ours. And we don't want to work with gladers, and I'm sure they don't want to work with us. Me and Ivory will talk with Ably later," Mira said. Newt sighed and placed his hands on his hips.

"And what rules are those?" he asked, Mira, grinned

"Not much, take enough food to feed us until the next meal, only attack if needed, you're lucky we never need to. There are a few more, but those are the main ones," Mira told him. Newt looked at her in disbelief

"And who is the bloody leader outta you two?" he asked, Mira shrugged

"No one, we don't need a leader," she told him. Newt nodded and pointed to the forest

"And you lived in that forest for a month?"

"No, I said 'bout a month, we never really kept track,"

Mira turned around, spotting Ivory a few feet behind her. Mira smiled at her

"Morning Ivy," she said, Ivory smiled and looked at Newt. He, in turn, looked shocked at her sudden appearance. Guess he didn't see her till now Mira thought with a grin. She looked at Ivory and pointed to the maze

"The runners left already," she told her. Ivory nodded

"I know, I came for breakfast," Ivory said, pointing to the kitchen. Mira nodded and pointed to Newt

"He won't like it though," Mira said, smirking.

Newt nodded. "Don't steal."

Ivory cocked an eyebrow with a mischievous grin. "Watch me."

Mira snorted and nudged Ivory

"Now this will be fun," she said. "Be nice Ivy,"

Ivory nodded and started walking towards the kitchen. As she passed Newt, he tried to step in her way, but Ivory side-stepped him and darted into the kitchen with a laugh. Newt made a move to go after her, but Mira darted in front of him and pushed him back

"Nope! Sorry, Ivy's hungry and she won't let anything stop her."

Newt scowled and tried to push Mira out of the way, but he was too late because Ivory bounded out of the kitchen and skipped away, tossing an apple between her hands. Mira laughed, tousling Newt's hair again and following Ivory.

"See you later, Blondie!" she called behind her. They left Newt standing there, staring at the trees in surprise.

A few minutes later, both girls sat on the floor of their tree house. Talking and eating their apples.

"Why was he asking you all those questions?" Ivory asked, Mira shrugged and took a bite out of her apple

"Dunno, probably just wanted to know about us," Mira told her. Ivory nodded and ran a hand through her hair.

"Did he ask you anything else?" Ivory asked. Mira nodded

"Asked me to stop stealing, told him no," she said, Ivory laughed

"Yeah, I think me stealing the apple told him that," Ivory said. Mira nodded and took another bite out of her apple

"Hey Ivy, wanna go watch the gladers?" Mira asked, Ivory thought for a few seconds, then grinned.

"I have a better idea. Let's sneak into the kitchen, get all the apples we can get our hands on, and have a bit of fun."

Mira grinned

"And what type of fun do you have in mind?" she asked, Ivory grinned wider

"I'll tell you when we're ready," she said. Mira nodded

"Alright, let's go,"

Thirty minutes later, the girls were on top of the tree house the gladers had made, a pile of apples next to them. Mira turned to Ivory

"Alright, who's first?" She asked. Ivory grinned and pointed to a boy below them. Mira studied him before grinning

"Sweet! Gally! The perfect target!" Mira said. Both laughing, they grabbed one apple each, hurling them down at his head. Then they ducked back, listening to the satisfying thud! and his furious shouting.

"Who are the stupid shanks up there?! Wait, why am I even asking? You two! Get down here and stop hiding like cowards!"

Mira and Ivory burst into fits of laughter, getting two more apples. Ivory peaked over the edge. "Make us!"

Gally growled. "Alby will have to put you in the Slammer now."

Ivory leaned against the railing, grinning at Mira as she held the apple over, ready to throw it down.

"Should I? I mean, he really deserves it."

Mira gave her thumbs up and there was another thud! and a hiss from Gally. "Newt! Alby! Get your shuck behinds over here now!"

Mira and Ivory's eyes widened, twinkling with excitement. Mira watched Newt and Alby run over, followed by a few other boys including a younger boy, Thomas (the Greenie), and the cook.

"NO! What the heck are you doing?!" He shouted up at them. "Stop throwing those! Give the apples back!"

Mira grabbed two more apples. "We're helping you! Now you have to make pies!" She hurled them at the boys, hitting Newt and Alby this time.

Frypan whimpered as the apples hit their heads. "Please stop! Just give them back!"

Ivory put all the apples in a box and smirked. "Alright! Come up and get them!" She closed the box, latching it shut, then hefted it up and onto the railing. Frypan, Newt, Alby, and Gally were halfway up.

"Look out below!" Ivory hollered, dropping the box. It landed with a huge crack! and all the apples came spilling out of it. Frypan almost literally shrieked and darted back down to retrieve his precious food. Ivory and Mira laughed so hard they could barely high-five each other, then darted past the boys and were on the ground again, her and Mira taking off into the forest.

(Switchs to Ivory's POV)

Ivory was now wandering around the Glade, watching them work. She put her hands on her hips and strayed into the barn, where she found a boy with sun-tanned skin and black hair, similar to her own. He didn't seem to be startled at her presence and instead turned to her, leaning on a cow stall.

"Did you need something?"

Ivory shrugged. "I'm bored. Figured you'd might like some help?"

"If that help doesn't involve apples to the head, then yeah." He grinned, showing her he was playing around.

Ivory smirked, returning the peaceful gesture. "As long as you don't throw me in the Slammer."

He waved his hand. "Pft! That thing wouldn't keep you in."

"Certainly not," Ivory responded. They laughed and he held out a hand. "I'm Winston, by the way."

"Ivory," She shook his firm hand and they set to work.

They'd been working for a while and were almost done mucking stalls when they heard someone yelling. Ivory was first to react and released her shovel, darting out of the barn and running over to see Thomas on the ground with a bigger boy (a runner by the looks of it) grappling at his legs. The runner looked up in time to see Newt whack him in the face with the end of a rake. He fell backwards, releasing Thomas. Ivory ran up to them and helped Thomas to his feet.

"What happened?" Chuck asked, putting a hand on Thomas's shoulder.

"I don't know, he just attacked me," Thomas said, still panting.

Ivory exchanged a look with Winston, who was right beside her. Ben calmed down, but still stared at Thomas with raging eyes.

"Lift his shirt," said Alby, motioning to Gally and Newt, two of the three holding Ben down. Ivory almost lurched back when she saw his pale skin and pale purple veins flowing from a spot on his ribs.

"He's been stung," Gally said, looking at first Newt, then Alby.

"Take him to the pit."

Ivory leaned over to Winston and whispered in his ear. "Pit?"

"Another word for the Slammer."

Ivory nodded and scanned the faces around her. She spotted Minho, who was staring at her and Winston with hard eyes. She shrugged and put an arm around Winston's shoulder. "Let's get back to work."

Winston raised an eyebrow. "You better. You owe me after stealing all the animals."

Ivory laughed, lightly punching his shoulder. "Alright alright. But that wasn't all me, let's remember."

(Switchs to Minho's POV)

Minho watched Ivory laugh with Winston and felt something strange. He wanted her to talk to him. It was weird, and he tried to forget it. It wasn't until he thought of Ben that he was able to forget about Ivory.

The rest of the day and most of the next seemed to go by quickly, and soon he was leading Ben to one of the four entrances to the Maze. Ivory was standing off to the side, probably having shown up with Winston. He sent her a glance but then returned to his task.

"Please, Minho, listen to me," Ben snarled, gurgling with the saliva in his throat. Minho brought him to the center of the semi-circle and cut his bonds, then pushed through to the outside of the ring. There was a low moan and wind swept through the Maze and hit them, signaling the doors were about to close. Minho glanced over his shoulder at Ivory, who was watching with balled fists and furrowed eyebrows.

One of the few times she takes things seriously.

Another thing he liked about her. She knew when to be goofy and when to be sober.

Stop worrying about her and focus on Ben.

Minho looked away and thought he saw Ivory turning her eyes toward him, but he could have imagined it.

"No, please no," Ben pleaded, his voice shaking.

"Push!" Alby shouted, and the keepers lowered their rods. Ben shoved them helplessly, whimpering and whining as the doors grew closer and closer together as he was pushed into the Maze. Then the doors shut, leaving them in silence.

Minho stood where he was for a long time, and sighed, his fists clenched.

"Do you think Ben will survive?"

He turned, a little startled, to Ivory. She'd moved to stand beside him and was staring at the ground. Her hands weren't fisted anymore and hung loosely at her sides.

Minho shook his head. "From the start, Ben had been afraid of the Maze. In his state, he won't last a few hours."

He sighed again and met Ivory's eyes. She blinked and furrowed her eyebrows. "I never thought I'd start caring for you guys. Sure, I don't want human beings dying. Especially not with all this going on. But... For some reason, I feel like you Gladers mean more to me than just acquaintances."

Minho blinked. "Like, friends?"

She shrugged. "Some of you. Like Winston and Newt." She smiled. "And you if you're up for the challenge. Ask Mira, I'm not easy to be friends with. Expect the unexpected."

Minho smirked. "I bet it wouldn't be a problem."

Ivory mocked a salute. "Whatever you say, Your Majesty." Then she darted off, laughing. Minho ran after her. "What?"

"Nothing!" She laughed again and disappeared into the forest. Minho stopped chasing her and smiled to himself.

Finally, we're getting somewhere.