The Beginning of the End // The Maze Runner // Newt

// Chapter 3 //

The sun was rising in the distance, brightening the landscape and allowing the small group to see clearer. Athena was at the front of a large group heading right in the direction of the only building in the endless desert. She could feel everything as though it was real; the sand underneath her, the warmth beginning to flood in from the sun's presence, the weight of her heavy clothes, and she believed it was real.

She glanced back to look at the rest of the group, comprised of two other girls and three other boys. They all wore similar clothes, leather looking, apparently made of several different materials sewn together to create their outfits. There were metal spikes in some places and hard plates of metal in other, creating a sort of protective armour. Each of them had some sort of pattern smudged on their faces in a regal way, each pattern unique to each person.

They all had weapons as well. Several of them had guns and other more modern weapons, but they all had at least one knife or sword of some sort for close targets or if the mechanical weapon failed them by running out of ammo, something she knew would lead to certain death without a backup.

She sent them a curt nod and the group split, surrounding the building to find any entrances. Athena was one of the three that found one and let out a low whistle which was followed shortly after by two more distant ones informing her of the others. After she let out a quick double whistle, she entered the building, knowing that on her signal the others had done the same. She entered carefully; her sword raised defensively before her.

Though the light outside had significantly increased during their arrival, anyone inside the building could easily have mistaken it as the middle of the night. As she could no longer rely on her sight, her other senses became heightened. She could feel the humidity on her skin now more than ever and she could hear every movement around her.

She readjusted her hands on the hilt of her sword and prepared herself, hearing the shuffling from several directions around her. The shuffling was soon drowned out by inhumane, painful sounding groans and Athena prepared herself to fight, stabbing forward at the right time, impaling the monster that had hurled itself at her.

***

She ran between the large concrete walls, the familiar patterns of the unnaturally thick ivy no longer bothering her and arousing questions that she now knew would not get answered, at least not for a long time.

"You okay?" Ben asked as he ran beside her, their footsteps in sync as they wove their way through the winding labyrinth.

"Yeah." Athena said automatically, not really listening to the words coming out of the boy's mouth.

"Seriously? You've been really quiet this morning... And distant. Usually you're telling me about all the stupid stuff the others have done. Or about Newt and how nice and kind and cute he is." He teased her with a big grin on his face, trying to bring out her usual bubbly personality.

"Sorry Ben, I'm just... Tired and not in the mood." She told him and though the boy was sad his friend wasn't acting like her usual self, he let it be, knowing that everyone had their off days which to many usually came with the heavy thought that they would never escape and the repetitive days didn't help.

Truth be told, for Athena, it wasn't just an off day. The memory of the dream from the previous night continued to plague her mind even so many hours later. She never had a dream that lingered in her mind for so long – usually she would forget them quickly or they would change as she thought about them.

They continued to make their way through the Maze until they reached the crossroad half way through their planned route.

"Hey, we just need to check these corners, they're dead ends anyway so do you want to take one each so we can get back quicker?" She suggested, wanting more than ever to get back to the safety of the Glade.