The Garden of Heathen

Pyrrhic Victory

They were plunged into darkness, the light even dimmer than in the entryway to the rabbit hole, and their eyes had to adjust yet again. They didn't hear anything but their own ragged breaths as they huddled close together. Gertie came and threw her arms around Gally and Aussie, getting sucked into their embrace as well.
Relief was not the right word for how they felt. In fact, the whole ordeal had led to a mass existential crisis. How had they done that? Who in their right mind would put them through that? Who would make those things- this whole place? And then it seemed to roll over them all at once. Who had they lost?

"Let's-" Joan tried to say but found herself with a lump in her throat. "Let's do a head count."

Aussie held Gally a little tighter to gather strength before facing the girls, to see who would never know a life outside the maze. The girl on the counsel who Gally had joked about being a bridge troll didn't sound off. Rani had died protecting Rosa after she was injured, and Serena was gone. It was only three but even that felt like too many. Joan and Aussie and Rachel took a moment to scratch the three girl's names on the door. It felt wrong not to have some kind of memorial for them even though no one might ever see it or know of them. The Gardeners still paid their respects.

The other side of the rabbit hole was not what Aussie had expected in the slightest. It felt like being at an amusement park and accidentally walking into a maintenance area. It was a plain, industrial like hallway with flickering fluorescent lights and pipes running along the wall.
It confused Aussie greatly, like they were in the wrong place. She didn't know if she had expected to step out into a new world, or if she had expected the Makers to be waiting for them, but she definitely wasn't expecting this in her wildest dreams.

"Which way?" Gertie asked, looking both ways down the hall as she huddled close to Aussie and Gally, still clutching Moo's leash.

"Anybody got a coin to flip?" Aussie's joke fell as flat as she expected it to. Then she muttered more to herself, "Shucking idiot Makers, what the hell is this?"

"Well, you're facing that way so let's just go that way," Rachel shrugged. "Your guess is as good as anyone's at this point."

Aussie looked up at Gally. "Any gut feelings?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "We were already moving in this direction. It's a fifty-fifty shot."

With a vague vote of 'yeah, whatever', they started shuffling down the hall behind Aussie and Gally. They didn't think a Griever could fit in here but that didn't mean much, there could be something else, so they moved cautiously and watched their tails. Aussie held tightly to Gally's hand and he returned it, both of them just dizzy with gratitude that the other was alive. Aussie's other hand holding onto Gertie who they were both glad to see unharmed.

After a few turns in the same monotonous hallways there was a faint glow up ahead. A small, plain, green exit sign hung from the ceiling by an equally simple door.

"Are you kidding me?" Aussie scoffed, her brows furrowed in rage.
She would have given her girls a parade for braving the maze and battling the Grievers without complaint, they were heroes and they shouldn't be stuck coming in the back door. She didn't care that they'd been sent food and water and medicine, she was convinced now more than ever that the Makers didn't care about them. They weren't going to be received with the praise or amazement they deserved, but she vowed the Makers would get exactly what they deserved.

Gally took a deep breath and reached for the handle, almost surprised it was unlocked. He swung it open slowly, carefully and Aussie felt him let go of her hand so he could push her behind him.

"Joan," he beckoned quietly.

She pushed past a few girls to take a look at whatever he was seeing. Aussie tried to poke her head around to see for herself but Gally was doing his best to shield her. She got worried when Joan quietly called for the guards to gather any remaining arrows and come forward.