text: [Themes: fan fiction, humor]
  
  You wake up surrounded by metal. There is an elevator door to your front, but it is closed. There are no up, down, or floor buttons. You might as well be in a metal box with a door.
  
  You stand up and peek through the glass. For some reason your surroundings are moving.
  
  Oh carp...you're falling and falling fast. What do you do?
  
  [Author's Note: The Maze Runner but an AU in which the Maze is Maize. Also, you get to control the main character, Thomas. Spoilers for the 1st Maze Runner film, or book. I have only watched the film; I don't know how the book is different. But I assume they cover approximately the same events. *The pun "The Maize Runner" is in no way original. Probably over 100,000 people have thought of it before. Many people already parodied it in videos or fanfiction. This however will be the first storygame "The Maize Runner".]
  
  > scream for help!
  "HELP!" you yell loudly. You bang on the glass to make noise and get the attention of anyone who might be around. "HELP! I'M STUCK IN THE ELEVATOR!"
  
  No one seems to respond.
  
  > Well that must mean you need to scream louder!
  "AAAAAAAAAAH!" you yell as loudly as you can. "HELP! HELP ME! HELP ME!"
  
  Your throat hurts a lot but that is not your main concern right now.
  
  You look outside the window. It's not far until the gro-
  
  > CRASH!
  You hear a near-deafening crash. Your ears are ringing now.
  
  The top of the elevator opens up. You see a crowd of people looming over you and talking, but you can't make out what they're saying because of the ringing.
  
  You're not quite sure what to do.
  
  > yell-ask them what the heek is going on
  "HEY!" You yell. You can't really tell if they noticed you since they were all looking at you anyways. "What the heek is going on?!"
  
  That seems to get their attention, and they stare at you for a while. One of them, a black, bulky looking male with a buzz cut, jumps down a short distance from the ledge they're all standing on.
  
  "Hey, I'm Alby. I know you're confused, we all were. Let me explain what's going on here."
  
  You nod. He grabs the flat ground above the elevator-box and pulls himself up. You follow his example, and soon find your feet on grass.
  
  > So what's going on here?
  "So, this is the 'Glade'," says Alby. "We call it that because it's grassy."
  
  "Uh huh," you say, extremely impressed by his reasoning skills.
  
  "Everyone here has their own little roles. There are lumberjacks, metalsmiths, there are construction workers, and there are cooks, and...there are the Runners, as we like to call them." He doesn't give any more explanation than that. He looks at you, expecting you to ask him what the Runners do.
  
  "...What do the Runners do?" you ask him.
  
  "They run..." he trails off.
  
  > Wait
  "The Runners are how we get food. Over there, is the maize." He points at a field of corn crops.
  
  "Every day, the Runners run into the field and look for the ripe maize to harvest. They bring it back here for us to, you know...eat. To be a Runner, you need to be a fast runner,"—you roll your eyes—"have strong arms, and be able to quickly identify ripe maize."
  
  "And the Runners, they have to come back before sundown. Because after dark, that's when the Farmers come out. They come out to water the maize and plant more. And if they see someone with their maize, they'll kill them. Don't ask me how, no one's ever witnessed it and lived to tell the tale."
  
  "So, anyway, you look pretty scrawny to be a lumberjack or a smith or do any kind of manual labor, really. I'm going to assign you to the role of...cook's assistant. Alright?"
  
  > say "Actually, I want to be a Runner."
  Alby looks you up and down.
  
  "There's no way you can handle it. Can you even do twenty push-ups? Show me. Come on, right now."
  
  You can, in fact, do twenty push-ups, but only if you try really, really hard.
  
  "You're exerting yourself too much just for twenty push-ups. I can't let you. In fact, don't even try to, you're going to either die or slow the others down. Both of which are bad, obviously."
  
  "So you're a cook's assistant, okay?"
  
  > say "Sure..."
  The next day, you wait in the "kitchen" area, a tent with a few long tables in front of it.
  
  First thing in the morning, you visited Alby, who was lying in one of the unused medical beds, despite the fact that everyone else uses a hammock like a normal citizen. He told you that he didn't really know what typically went down in the kitchen, and to just ask the cooks what you should do.
  
  "Who knows, maybe if you show enough competency you'll even be promoted from assistance," he had said.
  
  A voice breaks you out of your thoughts. "Hi Thomas," says a black, bulky-looking male with a...a....
  
  "Mom!" you yell, even though she's right next to you.
  
  "What is it?" she asks you, kneeling down to get on eye level with you. You get distracted by her sparkly fake-gold necklace and start to play with it. She gently takes your hand away, but you're still staring at the necklace.
  
  "Thomas? Hello, Thomas! Earth to Thomas!" she says, shaking your shoulders. You finally look back up at her. "What's wrong?"
  
  You remember why you were calling for her, and point at a black, bulky-looking male. "What do you call that guy's hairstyle?"
  
  She looks at the guy, who looks back at the two of you. "I think that's called an afro taper fade haircut. Am I right?" she asks the guy, who shrugs.
  
  "Well, I don't know what it's called either," he says.
  
  "But what's an afro tape phade?" you ask.
  
  "Here," says your mother, giving you her phone. "Google it and you can see some pictures."
  
  "Thomas?" says the cook. "Hello, Thomas! Earth to Thomas!"
  
  > say "How do you know my name?"
  "It says 'Thomas' on your shirt," he says, pointing at the bottom hemline. You look down, and sure enough, "Thomas" is written in black marker, as if someone wanted to ensure it wouldn't get stolen or lost in a pile of other clothes.
  
  You don't remember writing that, but maybe you did. Or maybe your parents did.
  
  "By the way, my name's Frypan. People call me Fry. Nice to meet you."
  
  "Wait, your name is Frypan? And you're a cook?"
  
  "Yeah."
  
  "Huh."
  
  "So what are you here for?"
  
  You tell him what Alby told you. He looks confused.
  
  "Oh, uhh...we've never had anything like a cook's assistant. I guess you can just watch us for now, and if we need help with anything simple we'll let you know. Yeah," he says, nodding as if to reassure himself. "Just watch and learn. And just try to stay out of our way."
  
  After that, you proceeded to spend the rest of the day watching the cooks wash the maize and pick every little piece off the cob.
  
  "Why do you bother with that?" you had asked.
  
  "Because it's easier to give everyone an equal ration that way," replied a cook you didn't bother to learn the name of. "And by the way, don't talk to us while we're counting the kernels. I just lost count. I was at 40-something. Just stay out of the way."
  
  > Another day passes...
  The way they clean the maize is actually quite interesting. Since there are no bodies of water, water is very limited. It must be extracted out of the ground under the Glade grass and the maize field.
  
  Instead of washing with water, the cooks will use their own saliva to sanitize each individual maize.
  
  Everyone has their own different styles. Some of them will spit a big gob onto the maize and spread it all around, into every crack and crevice. Others will use their tongues directly and lick all over the maize. Yet others prefer going kernel by kernel, lapping the front and back of each.
  
  However, it cannot be done in a completely willy-nilly fashion. You observe that every cook exercises a high degree of restraint and control. It is certainly not a job for everyone.
  
  This is the same method with which they wash their hands before handling the food.
  
  > Another day passes...
  Oh my.
  
  A cook you don't know the name of has been caught urinating in Alby's ration bowl.
  
  You stand on the sidelines, out of the way, in the scuffle that ensues.
  
  "You idiot! You know what's going to happen now? Because of you, we're all going to be banished!" someone yells hysterically.
  
  "Calm down, Elmo! We need to hear Bernie's side of the story!" says another person, trying to calm down Elmo.
  
  "I did it because I hate him!" says Bernie, the pisser. "Alby never even does anything, all he does is tell the rest of us what to do!"
  
  "Well he's been here longer than all of us!" yells Elmo.
  
  "He was the first one," someone chimes in. "He knows best!"
  
  "He only knows how to take care of himself. That doesn't mean he's qualified to lead all of us!" Bernie shoots back.
  
  "Well why don't you go be the leader if you're so smart?!" As he speaks, Elmo tries to get right up Bernie's face, but other cooks hold him back.
  
  "Fine! Maybe I will then!" Bernie turns and runs away from the group, past the lumberjacks, into the deep forest.
  
  Everyone looks after him. Then, as if on cue, everyone looks at you.
  
  "Greenie, you go after him," someone says. There are murmurs of agreement among the other cooks...
  
  > say "What does 'Greenie' mean?"
  "It means new guy, I think," replies the person who said it. "I dunno, people called me Greenie when I got here so I think that's what it means..."
  
  > say "Why me?"
  "Well, he doesn't know you, so maybe he'll have an easier time talking to you."
  
  Everyone else nods. You're still apprehensive.
  
  Frypan walks up to you and whispers, "Listen, Thomas, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're the most expendable out of all of us here. You're not fast enough to be a Runner, not strong enough to help with construction, and you don't know how to cook or clean the maize. It's better for you to get lost and die in there than us."
  
  He steps back. "See you later, Thomas," he says, loudly, for everyone to hear.
  
  > run off into the forest.
  You run into the forest. You have absolutely no clue where Bernie went—it's too dark to see if he left any footprints.
  
  "BERNIE!" you yell in an attempt to locate him.
  
  "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" you hear back. However, you don't know which direction it came from.
  
  Even if you wanted to leave him for dead, you're so deep you don't even know which direction the Glade is in. Also, you were in a rush and didn't think about leaving any sticks or stones to mark the way you came, not that there were any pebbles in the forest anyway.
  
  > walk around blindly.
  You decide to walk in a random direction and hope you find Bernie.
  
  After a few minutes of walking north (or what you think is north) the sunlight stops shining through the trees. There's no way you'll be able to find your way back now, so you decide to stop near a tree.
  
  As you sit down, you subtly exhale. It's not much, but it's enough for...
  
  "Greenie, is that you?" asks Bernie from the other side of the tree, startling you. He walks around so that you can see his figure in the dark.
  
  "Yeah. I came to find you," you reply.
  
  "Well, it's too dark to go back now, so just stay right here with me," He sits down, back against the tree, and pats the ground next to him. "We can stay here all night. There aren't any animals or anything."
  
  "How do you know that?"
  
  "Well, no one hunts. Anyway, that's not the point. I was thinking about what Elmo said. And he's right. If Alby is a crap leader then I should take over."
  
  > say "What do you mean?"
  "Don't tell me you don't know. Alby sleeps in the hospital beds! And he doesn't let anybody else sleep in them! Only he gets to!" Bernie says in a whiny tone.
  
  "Is that all?"
  
  "Not only that, his priorities are out of whack. You know, I gave a suggestion to him once. I suggested that we make a human pyramid and put the tallest guy at the top so we can see what lies beyond the fields of maize. He told me that wouldn't work, and it was a waste of time anyway. 'Just focus on your job.' That's what he said to me." Bernie exhales in disbelief.
  
  "Like, survival is great and all, but we can't stay here forever. We shouldn't stay here our whole lives. We need to be thinking about escape instead of letting day after day pass by just surviving."
  
  "Don't you agree?" He turns to you. "This isn't living. I can't remember my life before the Glade, but it must have been more than this. What about you? You have to be thinking the same thing. Come on. You get it. Tell me you get it."
  
  > say "I get it."
  Bernie nods rapidly.
  
  "Alright, so here's what we're going to do. We're just going to get a knife from the smiths. They won't question it. Even if they do, I'll just say I need to get a really tough kernel off of the cob."
  
  "I just need you to distract Alby with talking so I can sneak up behind him and get his throat. Oh, and we need to kill Newt too, now that I think about it. That's the second-in-command guy if you don't know."
  
  "Okay, so I need you to lead Alby away from the mainland. It shouldn't be too hard. Then I knife him. Then you lead Newt away from the mainland, a different place from dead Alby. Then I knife him. Then there are no more leaders. I take charge. You can be my right hand man if you want."
  
  > say "No."
  "Wha- what? Why not?" Bernie stutters. "I thought we were on the same page here."
  
  > say "..."
  Bernie looks down.
  
  "Well, fine then. Your choice. If you're not with me, I guess I'll have to do it myself. Tomorrow. I have to do it."
  
  He gets up and runs off, leaving you alone to ponder.
  
  > say "..."
  The next day, you wake up lying on the ground. You brush the dirt off yourself. The thick forest canopy is still blocking the light, so you can't tell what time it is. You wonder if Bernie has already gone through with, or tried to go through with, his plan.
  
  You don't know where to go, so you wander in different directions for a while, making holes in the dirt with a branch to mark your path.
  
  While traversing in one direction, you hear a scream coming from in front of you. Convinced that you're going the right way, you run faster forward.
  
  The trees eventually thin out. You're leaving the forest. Your legs hurt and your throat feels dry, but you keep running towards the exit.
  
  Eventually, you reach the Glade. No one is outside. You run around, going to different tents, until you find the medical tent. Alby is lying on the hospital bed for legitimate reasons.
  
  He isn't supposed to be moving, but he can talk to you. Bernie had stabbed him a few times in the shoulder and chest. He was immediately taken to the medical tent, and doesn't know where Bernie is now.
  
  A medical worker informs the both of you that it was decided that Bernie should be banished into the maize—dragged far inside by the Runners and left in a random spot among the crops with his ankles tied.
  
  Alby tells you to take over Bernie's position as cook starting tomorrow.
  
  The other cooks teach you how to handle the maize. You're not very good at cleaning it yet, but they reassure you that everyone gets used to it eventually.
  
  No one mentions Bernie, but his absence is palpable to you.
  
  Eventually, the cooks start to get friendly with you, too. You're one of them now.
  
  Every day is just maize and chatting. It's not bad, but sometimes you do yearn for more, like Bernie did.
  
  You aren't like him, though. Surviving with friends is good enough for you.