Rachel was gone the next morning when Piper woke up, which didn't surprise her. But what did catch her off guard was that Lillie actually talked. After trying for over a month, she finally said some words. It wasn't a lot to her response, but it was a start.

When they went to get breakfast, Piper quickly got her food and sat down beside Lillie. She looked around, making sure that they were alone. "So..."

She looked down at her food. "So..."

"You talked last night."

"Glad you noticed, Piper."

"It just...I was caught off guard, Lillie," she admitted. "I've been here for over a month and you finally said something to me. I'm happy that you trust me enough to finally engage in a conversation with me."

She looked up and gave me a small smile. "It's weird, though, finally talking after not saying anything for so long. It feels good. I'm glad that you didn't force me to talk to you in the time that we've known each other. Everyone else did and it just made me want to keep my sticking mouth shut even more."

Piper grinned, nodding her head. "Well, thank you for trusting me and also for listening to my rants. I know they were annoying."

She nodded her head. "Yeah, most of them were."

So the two chatted until breakfast was over, then they did the usual patrolling around the Glen for the rest of the morning. Then, Emily came by, needing Lillie for a favor, so their small talk was over for now. After eating lunch, then continuing her patrol all through the afternoon by herself, Piper decided to go check on Harriet. She was hoping that she was a little bit better than yesterday, but she had a feeling that she would still be stable. Sure enough, when Piper saw her upstairs, she was fast asleep. She sighed in disappointment, staring down at Harriet.

"She's been asleep all morning," someone said behind Piper, making her jump a little.

Piper turned around and saw that it was Aris. "When do you think she'll wake up?" she asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "No idea."

"Where's Gwyneth and Amelia?"

"They went to get her some more water." He paused, then spoke up again. "My name is--"

"Aris," she cut him off. "Rachel told me. I'm--"

"Piper," he finished for her. "Rachel told me." Piper let out a small grin in response. "I-I want to apologize about yesterday, about reacting the way I did when I first saw you."

"You mean, when you threw a chair at me?" she clarified.

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head nervously and awkwardly. "Yeah, that."

"Well, I forgive you," she told him. "When I first got here, I slapped Beth."

He smiled. "I bet she deserved it, with the way she treats everyone around here."

"You get used to it," she said. "Just ignore her and you'll be fine."

He nodded his head. "Thanks for the advice."

All of a sudden, the sounds of rumbling came from outside, and Piper widened my eyes. "The Maze," she whispered, turning toward Aris. "I'll see you later. Nice to properly meet you." With that, she quickly waved at him, then rushed out, practically skipping over stairs and running towards the Doors like everyone else. "What's going on?" she asked Sonya.

"I have no idea," she replied. "It's coming from inside the Maze."

"I hope Rachel and Maeve are okay," Piper stated.

They waited a few minutes, which really felt like an hour. The time was moving slowly and the two Runners were still out there. Piper didn't want them to get stuck in the Maze again. They were able to survive it once, but that didn't guarantee that they would be able to do it again.

Then, relief came over her as Rachel and Maeve came into view, jogging back in the Glen.

"What the hell was going on out there?" Sonya asked.

"What the hell have you done now, Rachel?" Beth snapped.

The two went from jogging to walking as the Glenners followed them. "We found something, a new passage," Rachel said. "We think it could be a way out."

"Really?" Esther spoke up.

Maeve nodded her head in agreement. "She's right. We opened a door, something I'd never seen before. The object we found? We think it's some sort of key to some kind of Griever Hole, where the Grievers go during the day."

"Wait, so this Griever Hole must be where they live," Piper pointed out. "So you want us to go in it?"

"Their way in could be our way out, Piper," Rachel stated.

"Yeah, or there could be a dozen Grievers on the other side!" Beth added in a harsh tone. "Of course, as usual, Rachel has no idea what she's done!"

Filled up with rage and irritation, Rachel spun around, glaring at Beth. "At least I did something, Beth. Aside from hiding in the Glen, what have you done?"

Beth stepped forward, clenching her fists. "Let me tell you something, Rachel, you've only been here for a few days. I've been here for two years."

"Yeah, and you're still here, Beth!" Rachel retorted. "So what does that tell you? Maybe you should start doing things a little differently around here!"

"Oh, so now you think you should take charge?!"

"No, I'm just saying that--"

"ENOUGH!" Sonya yelled, a yell so loud that Piper's ears began to ring. "I'm so sick of all of this arguing! Rachel and Maeve found something in the Maze, that's great. That's the closest thing to an escape we've gotten in two years." The blonde took a few seconds to calm down, then she looked at the Runners. "Let's go to the Map Room and talk more about this." She scanned her eyes to the rest of Glenners. "Everyone else, get back to work."

So they all scattered to their designated locations before Sonya released another rage on them. Piper and Lillie went to the Deadheads and mostly sat around, dragging the shovels into the dirt, since there wasn't really much to do at this point.

"That was pretty intense back there," Piper commented.

"Yeah, it was," she agreed, drawing a circle with her shovel. "I wonder if this Griever Hole really is a way out."

"Well, the only way to find out is if we go in and see for ourselves."

"And if it's not a way out?"

Piper hesitated, then gave her a reply. "At least we tried."

She bit her lip. "At least we had hope."

Piper nodded her head. "I still have hope. Everything is changing around here."

Lillie sighed. "Let's just hope it's for the better."

*******

It was almost time for dinner when Piper and Lillie went back to the Glen. The tension had vanished into thin air and like in almost every situation here, everyone went back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.

But that went away when Gwyneth barged in during dinner and announced, "Harriet's awake!"

Rachel took Piper's hand and led her upstairs, followed by Aris, Sonya, Maeve, and Esther. Gwyneth explained to them that she hadn't said anything ever since she woke up. When they got upstairs, Harriet was sitting up in her bed, her arms wrapped around her waist, tears slowly falling down her face.

Sonya carefully sat down beside her. "Harriet...Harriet, are you okay?"

When Harriet wasn't responding, Rachel walked in front of her and got down to her knees. "Harriet, we might have just found a way out of the Maze. We could be getting out of here."

With a quivering lip, Harriet briefly shook her head. "We can't leave. They won't let us."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, slightly confused.

"I remember," she replied, her voice cracking a little.

"What do you remember?" Rachel asked.

Harriet turned her head and stared down at Rachel. "You. You're one of their favorites, Rachel."

More footsteps entered the room, which made the others turn around. Beth was standing there, her mouth partly opened. "Harriet remembers her, too."

"What?" Rachel questioned.

"I went through the Changing, Rachel, and I saw you just like Harriet did. You're the reason why we're here, why we're stuck in the Glen."

Suddenly, a madness downstairs began due to the shouting and screaming that came from downstairs. Everyone ran downstairs and out of the Homebase, finding the other Glenners running toward the Doors with their torches.

"Cora, what's going on?" Sonya asked.

"It's the Doors," she replied, sounding worried. "They're not closing."

~~~~~~~

A/N: Uh-oh! More trouble is coming!

So the next chapter, if it goes the way I want it to, will be a bit shorter. But hopefully you guys will like it either way!

I'm almost done with this book? Isn't it exciting?!

Song above is This Means War by Nickelback.

Comment, vote, because the action is about to start!

-A