Queen of The Maze

Curiosity Killed The Cat

This morning was very different to the others. Something was happening. I sat up in my bed, finding the air to be very cold. I hugged my blanket around my shoulders, stood up and walked over to where Callan's bed was situated. "Callan wake up. Something's wrong." I said quietly. He opened his eyes but covered the blanket over his head. "We'll deal with it later. Too early for problems." I decided that waking him up forcefully was my only option. I jumped on him, pushing him out of bed onto the floor. "This friendship is based on abuse, you know that right? You're toxic." He said matter-of-factly. I ignored his banter and walked to the front of the shelter, staring up at the sky. Callan joined me begrudgingly. We both looked up. Above the walls, the atmosphere was grey. Clouded and dark. "What the hell is that?" He asked me. "I think it's a storm. I don't remember learning about them but I know what it is. Little water droplets fall out of the sky and loud noises echo in the heavens and electricity touches the ground. This will be a good test of my shelter's waterproof-ness." I speculated. 

About an hour later we were sitting in the shelter, throwing knives against a tree that I had put mud on as a bullseye. The rain was pouring down, and I remembered that when there's a lot of water, to put buckets out to catch the drops. Because even though we had the stream, I still wasn't sure how long the clean water would last. Thunder rolled in the sky and in the distance there were bursts of electricity. They were fascinating to look at. I turned my attention back to the glade. If it was even possible, there was more green. The ground rich with wet grass, giving off a wonderful fresh smell. And it gave me an idea. So, I put my knives down, stood up from the chair I was lounging in, and took my clothes off. "What in god's name are you doing Nyla?" He asked in bewilderment. "Being impulsive!" I cried as I ran out of the shelter into the rain. I only had undergarments on, and no shoes. It felt amazing. I felt so bare and so free, as trapped as I was. I spun in circles, jumped in puddles, and ran till I couldn't anymore. I had a lot of mud on me from slipping a lot, but I didn't care. I closed my eyes and stood in the rain. I was set free.

"Alright, are you done now? Because we need to make sure that the garden boxes don't overflow." Callan sensibly said as I walked back under the shelter. "You should have joined!" I exclaimed, smiling ear to ear. He shook his head, laughing at my antics. I made him turn around as I got changed, putting on my gear. "You're tending to the veggies. I'm heading out into the maze." I voiced. As he protested about wanting to come with me, I picked up two of the blades off my bed and shoved them into the straps on my chest. I turned to face him and suggested something. "When I come back, we're going hand to hand. I'll draw a circle. If I remain in the circle, you stop complaining about not running the maze. But if you remain in the circle, you may come with me tomorrow. Deal?" I held my hand out. "You're going down." He smirked and shook my hand. 

I put my head down and ran out to the maze entrance. I was already dripping with water, but my adrenaline was high and I felt on top of the world. What could go wrong? I've gone into the maze before. But never when it was gloomy and wet. Today, the fifth section of the maze was in operation, and I figured out it had a pattern. The sequence of sections. I had memorised it off by heart. 71526483. And now my only obstacle was locating the exit. I started running. I didn't have chalk to mark where I ran, because the rain would wash it away so I just had to remember the turns and hope for the best. I came to the end of the maze. Out in front of me were the blades. The blades were huge revolving steel doors that I have never seen turn. But all I knew is that this is the area where the grievers originate from. So coming through here is always dangerous. Trying not to slip on the wet concrete floor, I ran as silently as I could. I headed towards the corner wall with the huge five printed on it, and instead of finding an exit of some sort, I found a griever. I had only seen the arms of a griever before, and I honestly wish it stayed that way. Because the creature that loomed up in front of me was terrifying.

It had robotic limbs, 4 on each side, like an insect. But his body was flesh. Not human, the most far thing from it. Slimy grey skin with a round head, rows and rows of teeth with saliva dripping from its jaws. The sound it made when it saw me made me want to rip my ears off. A howl and a scream louder than anything I had ever heard. I ran. Darting between the rows of blades, desperately trying to escape the beast. Diving back into the maze I kept sprinting, rain clouding my vision. I felt a sharp pain in my side. I flashed my eyes down to my thigh and saw a stick protruding from my skin. A painful as it was, I yanked the branch out of  the wound while still running. I didn't dare to look back to see if the griever was following, I just focused on getting home. What I did know for sure is that the creature couldn't follow me into the glade, because there was some kind of shield blocking the creatures from leaving. I kept my breath steady as I swerved around the turns, pulling back the memories of each path I had taken. 

I made it back safely. Callan rushed over to me when I collapsed on the grass from exhaustion and pain. It was all a blur from there. I vaguely remembered telling him what happened, him carrying me to the little medical hut we built, but never had to use before now. He distracted me while disinfecting and bandaging the wound by telling me about how well our cucumbers are growing and the little green frog he saw. I passed out after that, mainly because I was tired. A few hours later when I woke up, I was safe in my bed, my pants switched out for shorts, showing a white bandage around my left thigh. I looked over and saw Callan sitting with his back to me next to the fire. Two things I noticed were that it had stopped raining, and it was dark outside. How long was I out for? There was a pot of my leftover stew brewing. "Hey" I said smoothly as I walked over to him. "You made me panic. And I take it you'll refuse to let me fight you now since you have a bad leg." He assumed. "I could still take you on in a cast Cally boy. Don't test me." I contended. Walking back to the hut, I grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the wall. "Before I fall asleep again." I told him. 33 days. And he's a little better on his 3rd.

Nyla. 

Callan.