Into The WICKED Maze | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

50. Courage

The tears of despair clouded my vision, but still I saw the new boy, Thomas, suddenly plunge into the maze. Newt tried to hold him, but he couldn't get a grip on him and the boy continued to tumble towards us. I thought the walls were going to crush him and was already bracing myself for the horrible sight, but somehow he made it through before they closed completely. He fell down, rolled off and then knelt down before turning to face us.
He looked at us wide-eyed as we knelt beside the unconscious Alby, dirty and completely out of breath.
"Good job," Minho gasped. "You just killed yourself."
"Why would you do that?", I asked him in a matte voice.
Thomas looked from him to me, confused. "Wait, what?"
Minho dropped on his butt and I leaned against the wall, still shocked by what had just happened.
Thomas got up and walked towards Alby, knelt down beside him and asked, "What happened to him?"
"What does it look like?" Minho sounded annoyed. "He got stung."
"What happened to his head?"
"I did what I had to do."
Thomas looked at him in horror, then over at me, and I just shrugged.
Suddenly a terrible scream rang out and I flinched.
"Shit," I cursed softly.
Minho stood up and helped me up. As I looked up at him he whispered, "If you die tonight, I'll resent you forever, you know that, right?"
I nodded and smiled weakly at this joke.
"Uh, okay, all right, help me get him up." Thomas tried to hoist Alby up, but Minho just wanted to go. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me with him, but I resisted.
"Minho, hey, we have to help him!"
"We got to go, the maze is already changing." Again he grabbed my hand, this time more firmly.
"Hey, Minho! We can't just leave him here!" Now Minho stopped and turned to Thomas.
"Come on, let's help him. It's Alby, man!" This time I was the one pulling on him.
"Come on, we have to get him up!" Thomas grabbed Alby's left arm and put it around his shoulders.
Without a word, Minho let go of me, grabbed Alby's right arm and put it around his shoulders as well. Together they lifted the unconscious boy. I lifted his legs and with the three of us it was a little easier to carry him.
Wordlessly, we made our way through the corridors, me walking ahead without really knowing where I was going. We reached a corner in the road and I couldn't remember exactly where we were. Minho seemed to feel the same way, because he was swearing softly to himself. We had just run away blindly.
"Which way now?" asked Thomas.
"Okay, just sit him down. Sit him down." Minho pointed towards the wall. We carefully set Alby down and leaned him against the wall.
Completely out of breath, we crouched in front of him when another scream rang out, this time further away, but definitely there. We all looked in horror in the direction from which the sound had come.
"This isn't gonna work. We got to go!" Minho stood up and looked around in panic, searching for an escape route.
"What?" asked Thomas in horror, looking at me questioningly.
"We got to go!" said Minho, more forcefully now. Again he tried to grab me and again I resisted, this time pulling my arm away soon enough.
"Wait, wait, what are you talking about? We got to do something. We got to hide him!" Thomas looked up at him, aghast. I closed my eyes, drummed my fingers against my temples and thought. What could we do? Where could we hide Alby so the Griever wouldn't find him?
"Where?" hissed Minho, pacing.
"I don't know, Minho! Just think! You're telling me there's not a single place we can take him?"
Now Minho lunged at Thomas and pushed him against the wall.
"Minho, stop!" I exclaimed in horror, trying to hold him back, but he pushed me aside.
"Listen to me, shuck-face, all right? Take a look around! There's nowhere to go!" He let go of him again, stood up and looked at him uncomprehendingly. "You don't get it. We're already dead." At these words he looked at me, distorted with pain.
"Don't say that," I whispered, taking a step towards him and reaching for his hand. He looked down at me sadly, as if there was no hope left.
Instead of answering Minho, Thomas stood up, looked at something in the corridor behind us and stepped past us. We also turned around and I was still holding Minho's hand when the other stopped in front of a wall that was covered with ivy all the way to the ground. He turned to us and looked at us promptly.
"All right, if we have to leave Alby here, at least it won't be like a silver platter. Help me tear off one of these vines and tie it around his belly. We'll hide him in the ivy."
Minho looked at him uncomprehendingly again, but I had understood. I immediately stepped next to Thomas and began to convert one of the vines into a rope, which we then tied around Alby's waist and began to pull him up.
By the time we started, it was almost completely dark and I felt increasingly uncomfortable. At night the maze seemed strange and threatening and I had the feeling that a Griever could come around the corner at any moment.
With combined strength, we braced ourselves in the rope and pulled Alby up bit by bit. When he was almost at the top, we heard the cry of a Griever again, this time much closer. Minho peeked around the corner, pulling the rope away and us with it.
"What are you doing? What are you doing?" asked Thomas as he and I braced ourselves.
"We have to leave," Minho said quietly.
"What are you doing?" asked Thomas again.
Now I heard it too. The clicking and clacking came closer and Minho seemed to be able to see the Griever from his position.
"We got to go! We got to go right now!"
"What? No, no, no! Just a little more and we'll tie it off!"
Again Minho peeked around the corner and this time he must have really seen the Griever because now pure panic overcame him.
"Minho, stay with us, okay? Stay with us, Minho, okay? Just a little more, we're almost there!"
But Minho's courage deserted him at the very moment he really needed it. I had always thought he was the bravest person I knew, but now I realised he wasn't.
Thomas, who had only known Alby for two days, who had run to us in the maze even though he knew it was dangerous and who was willing to risk his life for us - he was truly brave.
"I'm sorry, Grennie!" cried Minho, letting go of the rope.
"Wha-?" Thomas swallowed his question, for now the ground was pulled out from under both of us by Alby's weight.
Then everything happened very quickly. I was about to call Minho's name and tell him to stay with us when someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me away. The vine slipped out of my hands and Alby's weight now fell only on Thomas, who could hardly hold it. Horrified, he looked at me and our eyes met, but I couldn't resist Minho's grip.
"Hey, we have to help him!" I shouted, but he grabbed me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder like it was nothing. I tried to push away from him, but he was too strong and held me as if his life depended on it.
And it did. As Minho turned the next corner with me and I lost sight of Thomas, now half hanging in the ivy, I heard the Griever again and realised he could only be a few metres away. I wanted to scream and help him, even though I knew it was too late for him, but no sound came from my throat. I was far too horrified by what was happening.
Minho ran and ran, shaking me with every step, and only stopped when he had put a good distance between us and Thomas. Panting in exhaustion, he set me down and looked at me with wide eyes.
I punched him in the chest, angry that he hadn't let me do what I wanted.
"Why didn't you let me help him and run off on your own, you Slinthead?" I yelled chokingly. "It was my decision!"
"I couldn't let you die! We don't leave each other behind, remember?" he asked and I thought back to earlier when I didn't want to leave him and Alby alone.
"But we left Alby and Thomas behind!" I sobbed out now, stopped hitting him and wrapped my arms around him. He returned the hug and so we stood there, me crying into his shirt and him burying his face in my hair.
"What are we going to do?" I asked quietly when I had calmed down a little.
"I don't know. I would suggest we try not to die, what do you think?"
He gently stroked a strand of hair from my face that had slipped out of my braid and was all wet from tears.
I nodded silently and wiped my face dry with my sleeve.
So we slowly made our way through the maze. Again and again I heard walls shifting and gates opening and closing.
Suddenly I stopped as if rooted to the spot. I had heard something, I was sure of it. Something that had been human.
"What-?" began Minho, but I just put my index finger to my mouth. Now I heard it again, and he seemed to hear it too, for his eyes widened.
Screams.