Never Stop Running

Chapter 10

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. We're trapped. In the maze. At night. Newt still has his arms wrapped around me and I feel surprisingly safe. I look up and make eye contact, my lips brush against his.
"Why Newt? Why did you do it?" I whisper, holding him tight.
"Because I love you Bri, and if I die, I want to die with you." He cringes as he says it and I giggle slightly.
"Who says we're gunna die?" I reply. Newt frowns.
"You don't understand Bri. No one has ever survived a night in the maze. We're basically dead already." His adorable brown eyes spill over with tears.
"Hey, at least we're together Newt." Before I know it I'm crying too, tears streaming down my cheeks.
Newt brushes them away gently, tracing my jaw line with his fingers. I wrap my arms around his neck and go on my tip toes to kiss him. He pulls me closer and we stay that way for a while. Just as I'm thinking I don't want this to end a loud shriek rings through the maze. Greivers.

Newt let's go of me and looks around, trying to find out where it came from. Another shriek pieces the silence and I grab Newts hand. He turns to look me in the eyes and I see fear.
"What we're gunna do is run evasive manoeuvres. Something every runner gets taught sooner rather then later." There it is again. Another hint that Newt wasn't always who he is now. Still holding my hand he pulls me forward til I'm running beside him at a light jog, we have to let go though, to prevent tripping.

I'm not sure how long we run but it feels like ages. Twisting and turning, listening for greivers, jumping fallen ivy. Soon I begin to notice a kind of pattern, I turn before Newt and he follows slightly behind me. After an hour or two of continuous running we stop. Newt leans against a wall, trying to catch his breath. I pull what's left of the water from my pack out and offer it to him. He drinks it thankfully but still leaves some for me. I have my share and Newt puts the bottle back in my pack. We run again. More twisting and turning. More leaping vines, more listening for greivers. All around us the maze changes too. I can hear it. Stone grinding on stone.

After another hour of running we round a corner and sit on the cool stone ground. I pass Newt the rest of the water and lean back. My back squelching as I lean on the wall. Startled I sit forward. Slime, I covers the wall. I stand up and notice that it covers the ground in small patches too. Newt stand with me, chin on my shoulder, as I try to work out what it might be. The back of my neck slowly gets colder, and I reach up to find slime dripping on it. I don't have to look. I know what the slime is.
"Hey Newt, don't look but there's a bloody greiver above us." Newt straightens up, slowly.
"So what are we gunna do?"
"We walk, to the end of the passage, then run after we're out of sight. If it starts chasing us run for your bloody life."

Newt walks behind me, hand steady in my back. I can hear metallic clicks from behind us but I don't look. We're nearly round the corner when the very loud sound of a greiver falling off a wall stops us. I turn and see it. The ugly shank is on its feet now. If you could call them feet. It watches us and we stay deadly still. Just when I think it's going to walk away, it charges.

I run. So does Newt. We run like our lives depend on it. Which they do actually. We come up to a T-intersection. I decide to turn right, back towards the doors. Newt goes left. I turn and nearly run back to him but now the greiver is between us. It's stopped though. Trying to choose who to chase.

"Oi! Ya ugly shank! This way!" Bloody Newt. If the greiver doesn't kill him I will. The greiver takes off towards Newt at an alarming speed. Newt can't out run it. I know that and so does he. He wants me to run, back to the doors, and get outta the maze safely. Not a chance. I take off after the greiver. We run for five minutes, taking tight corners and stumbling into walls. Then I see it up ahead. A knife, glinting silver in the early early morning light. I don't hesitate. I know Newt can't keep this speed up. I grab the knife as we run past. Then I sprint so I'm only a metre behind the greiver.

I leap at it, knife outstretched. I land on its back, my added weight making it stumble. Before one of its many mechanical arms has a chance to react I thrust the knife deep into its ugly head. The same spot where I got the last one. The whole beast shudders, then collapses. I climb off, bringing the knife with me. In front of me Newt is lying on the ground, holding his leg. Shit. If I hadn't got the greiver then the greiver woulda got Newt. He looks up at me, tears running races down his cheeks, pain streaking through his eyes. I fling myself down at him, careful  of his leg, and wrap my arms around him, holding him tight. As if my body alone could protect him from a greiver.

After ten minutes or so Newt stands, leaning heavily on me.
"Are you sure your ok?" I ask.
"For the fifth time Bri, I'm fine! I just twisted the ankle on my bad leg ok?" We stumble together through the maze, the knife still clutched in my right hand. The morning sun is beginning to appear over the walls when we're only a few turns away. If I were religious I might pray thanks. Maybe I am religious. I'm not sure. Just as we round the last corner, the one that leads to where I killed the first greiver, I see it. Another ugly shank, standing over the body of his friend. If greivers have friends.

"Shit." Newt says what I'm thinking. He can't run. I can't leave him. And I'm not sure I can kill another bloody greiver. It turns to face us, letting out a horrendous shriek in the process. Shit is right. Another noise tears through the maze. The doors. The bloody doors are open. But the gladers won't know we're here. They probably think we're dead. Not for long though.

I scream. Loud and long. I don't know if worked because the greiver blocks my view, but I hope it did. I really, really hope. Newt looks at me, tears spilling down his face. We might die. It finally clicks. I falll to my knees, sobbing my heart out and not caring that I'm an ugly crier. Newt wraps him self around me, nearly all parts of him touching me. We hold each other tight. Tighter than tight. And the greiver starts towards us. Slowly at first, then fast. Too fast.

I hold Newt tighter than I thought possible. Closer than I thought possible. I love him so bloody much. And I'm going to die in his arms. I swear I can smell the greivers breath as it draws closer. Too close. I hold Newt even tighter than before. Just when I think we're dead for sure the greiver stops, slamming into the ground, only one metre away. I look up, above the greiver.

"Shit Minho!"