~|Charge|~ Thomas

Chapter 39: Griever Hole

Once Linnea had turned around, leaving the glade that she had lived in, the community she had been a part of for so long, for over three years, behind, leaving some of the gladers, her friends behind with it, she passes Thomas, who was to be used as the caboose for them, and weaved upward through the boys with feigned confidence.

Once she was at the front, leading them to the Griever hole, she turned around and ran backwards, facing the boys who put so much faith in her, and hoped that she would be able to lead them home. Their faces were worn  and their lips pressed into flat lines as the ones who had not been in the maze before examined it, carefully, looking at everything, and yet millions of thoughts still bubbled in their heads, and they had nerves prickling their skin.

Linnea thought about how Thomas now knew things. He now remembered things. He told her the name of her mother. Ava Paige. That meant her name was Linnea Paige. It just didn't seem right, but based on what Linnea remembered, the woman was never much of a mother. If she was the one to put her there, anyways, there was definitely a problem with her. If she took her away from Thomas, if she wasn't ever supposed to be there, the woman definitely deserved pain. Linnea knew that when she had the chance, she would kill her. If she could, she would kill Ava Paige. But, she's sharply, painfully aware that her and Thomas's choices were the reason why all of this happened to them. They were the reason all of this was possible, and it was their fault it happened.

As much as she wanted to think about those painful moments, Linnea had a desperate group of boys to lead. She yelled for them to follow her, and turn the way that would lead to the section, a nervous bite to her words. She was nervous, but she wasn't afraid to show it, because she knew, that each and every one of them was nervous too.

She looks behind once again, and sees the pain in their expressions, pain that she didn't want, but was almost essential right then. As Newt limped while he ran, his injury really showing off at that moment, his eyes gave her a slight look of determination, encouraging her to move on, which she did, leading up until the point where they approached the Griever hole. That was when it all went away.

They all hid against a wall as Linnea gained sight of a Griever, Thomas next to her, and Chuck next to him. Thomas's shoulders twitch as they press against the cold wall. His skin is ashen and sweat dampens the thin material of his blue shirt. Screeches filter from behind the stone slab area.

"Is there a Griever?" Chuck asks, quietly.

"Yeah," Linnea answered, keeping her head out of view of the creature.

Minho handed Chuck the device they had found in the Griever, the one that would allow them access through the hole, that they had called the key. "You take this, Chuck," he said to the small boy. "Stay behind us."

"It's okay," Teresa said, pulling her hair up behind her head. "You stay with me." That didn't comfort Linnea very much, and it seemingly didn't to Thomas either, and she wondered whether Thomas liked the girl either. But that wasn't what they needed to think about.

"Once we're through it'll activate," Thomas said, looking at the people behind them. "and the door will open. Alright, we stay close-"

"And we stick together," Linnea finished for him, receiving a nod. "We get through this, we get out, now, or we die trying." She slammed her spear on the ground. "You ready?" She received nods and signs of agreement from all of them. "Let's go!!!!" Linnea screamed and they all ran out, spears and knives ready. They're going to have to fight.

She knew they needed to make it out, though. The thought flames like fire within her chest, searing her fingertips and easing the tension in her shoulders as she pressed herself forward to the Griever.

It came at the screaming gladers and an angry determination constricts Linnea's throat. They stab it with their spears, but the Griever comes back, stabbing its stinger at them. They scream at it as they attempt to push it out of the opening down below them, on the sides of the bridge, so that it would fall into what they hoped was death. Linnea's screams made her tongue dry and her mind numb.

Fighting back, the Griever throws one of the gladers down, and they hear the screams of him getting further and further away. Next to her, Minho hisses a breath. They both knew there was little chance they would all make it out of this alive, and that just confirmed it.

The key device gets thrown out of Teresa's grasp, and Chuck chases after it. Linnea and Teresa scream for him, but he keeps going. He catches it just before it falls, but his screams start getting louder and more scared sounding. When he gets up, the entirety of Chuck's face floods a deep crimson.

Grievers now start coming up from the darkness below them, crawling up and there are now more and more of them. It is left with two or three gladers fighting off one Griever. Linnea feels a Grievers stinger start to approach her, and chilling her blood so fiercely her bloody wrists seize before her next hit, but she manages to stab her spear into the creature, and it knocks her down, but she manages to avoid being stung. Her face hits the stone and her mouth is filled with blood. For a moment, she sees stars, but it goes away when a hand picks her up and forces her to keep fighting.

Chuck and Teresa make their way over to the wall, and the doors thankfully opens. They look back, but Linnea yells, "Teresa! God damnit! Just go!" Listening, they push themselves in and enter into the Griever hole. 

The group continues to be pushed closer and closer to the hole, leaving less time before they were completely next to Teresa and Chuck, and they continue fighting, hoping that they can end them.

"Thomas," Teresa yells. "Linnea! There's a code! Eight numbers!"

"Eight sections to the maze," Linnea mutters under her breath, but somehow, at that exact moment, was the one moment she couldn't remember, but there was someone who could. "Hey, Minho! What's the sequence?"

"What?"

"The sections of the maze, what's the sequence?!"

"Seven! One! Five! Two! Six! Four!" Cutting him off, a Griever jumps on top of Minho, and Linnea screams for her best friend's life. But Minho pushes him off with his spear. All of the strength work really paid off. Jeff stabbed his spear into the creature, but it led to his own death. Minho continued the sequence. "Eight! Three!"

"That it?!" Linnea yelled.

"Keep holding!" Thomas encouraged. "Almost there!"

Then, a green light appeared and the doors opened, letting them inside the Griever hole, doors shutting down on the Grievers behind them, killing them. The gladers watched as they all were demolished with one closing on them, turning unmoving.

Then a darkness closed on them.

But then, they saw a light.

Author's Note:

I'm bad a writing battle scenes. I think that there are going to be two chapters left of this book, so plan on that. I am not very good a writing these battle scenes, but this one's okay. I'm so excited for this to end! Not that I don't like writing this, but because I  am so excited for all of the other books I have planned. Like you have no idea how many I have planned for. Absolutely no idea. I will miss Linnea Paige for a bit, though. She is really fun to write for. I am going to be writing for Linnea McCall next, and I kind of messed up in her first book, because I was more of an amateur and now I am a little more advanced than that, just based on how I write. I didn't really give her a distinct personality, so all she really was  (****SPOLIER****)is the girl that is a werewolf and has a huge crush on Stiles and is Scott McCall's sister who is really smart and really good a lacrosse. I didn't really give her a personality, so I will build up on that for The Line Cannot Be Crossed. So FREAKING excited. Also, shorter chapter.

Vote and Follow!!!

TOODLES!

Voidlinnea