𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 - 𝘔𝘈𝘡𝘌 𝘙𝘜𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘙

19 ~ 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠

Lottie

A few days later, I was good as new. I was back in the Maze, determined as ever to find something helpful. I pulled out my notebook immediately, marking each turn. "Left... right... left..." I muttered under my breath, making a mark on the page with every word. I continued this routinely for hours, occasionally slashing out at the ivy with my knife to mark my way.

My lunch break was, coincidentally, in the corridor where the Cliff was. As usual, I inspected it for a few minutes, but kept my distance.

It was just the same as it was the day Minho showed it to me; an endless, cold gray void. It didn't look as dangerous as Minho had said. I inched closer, and leaned over the edge to see if I could see any sort of bottom. I couldn't. I lifted a pebble and tossed it. It fell, and fell, until it finally disappeared into the void. I threw another, this time a little farther out from the first. This one didn't fall far before it disappeared. It just winked out of existence.

I stared at the place it had disappeared, the gears in my mind turning, but could come up with no explanation. The rock had just gone.

While I was squinting at the void, it moved. The cold gray of the endless void rippled. The ripples increased until something poked out of it. It was a familiar metal arm, an arm that I'd seen twice before. My heart leapt into my throat as I scrambled back away from the Cliff.

The arm forced its way out of the void, a slug-like body following it. It flopped onto the concrete and began slowly crawling forward. It whirred and clicked as it folded in on itself and rolled forward a few yards, then unfolded and started forward again. This time, it let out a screech and increased its speed.

Without any more hesitation, I turned and sprinted as fast as I could in the other direction. The Griever sped up behind me. I could hear it clicking away, echoing off of the tall stone walls. I let out a high-pitched scream so that any nearby Runners would be warned of danger.

"Lottie?" I heard a boy's voice from somewhere else in the Maze, and I recognized it as Minho's. I screamed again, looking back. This Griever was faster than the one I'd run from the other day. It was gaining ground, and I knew that eventually it would catch up. I took my knife out of my pack, preparing to defend myself.

"Lottie!" Minho shouted again, his voice closer than it was last time. Then, at the end of the corridor, I saw him barrel around the corner and continue running towards me. He faltered when he saw the Griever hot on my heels.

"Turn around!" I yelled to him. What was he thinking? I looked around frantically, searching for something to aid me. I spotted the ivy on the walls, and wondered if I could climb it. I'd done it before, and had survived, but I instantly shot the idea down with more thought. If I fell from that height onto concrete, I would get a lot more than broken ribs. Plus, the Griever was nearly breathing down my neck, so I didn't have time to climb anyway. I had no choice but to keep running.

I reached Minho, who had frozen in place, and caught his arm, pulling him along after me. We rounded the corner, and kept going, making turn after turn.

"Doesn't this thing ever get tired?" Minho shouted.

"I guess not!" I cried, looking back. The Griever showed no sign of weariness and continued after us, its arms waving.

"This way back to the Glade," Minho pointed at a corridor.

"No!" I cried. "We can't lead this thing back to the Glade, it'll just destroy it again! We're going to have to lose it."

Minho groaned with frustration, but passed the corridor. "I think we should split up! That way whoever it follows, the other person can sneak up behind it and catch it by surprise!" he called. I agreed, and turned left at the next intersection. Minho went right. I whirled around, and saw that the Griever had chosen me to chase. I huffed, but turned around to face it, the arm holding the knife outstretched.

I saw Minho coming back towards me from the end of the corridor. He leapt at the Griever, plunging his own blade into the Griever's flesh. When it whirled around to meet him, I used the same tactic and stabbed it. It let out an outraged scream, folded in on itself again, and rolled forward. Its metal arms whizzed through the air, and Minho and I had to jump away from it to avoid getting stabbed.

The Griever unrolled itself, and turned to face me. I backed away until my back hit the stone wall, and then swore under my breath. I was trapped.

"Lottie!" Minho shouted, but I couldn't see him. The Griever had placed itself in front of me, pinning me to the wall. I could see slime dripping from its teeth as it opened its mouth, about to take a chunk out of my arm.

I sliced a gash in its face, and it backed away slightly. I took this chance to duck under the blades and spikes that pinned me to wall. Minho helped me up, and we took off down the corridor, the Griever still in hot pursuit.

There was a loud cracking sound. "The section's closing!" Minho pointed ahead, where the corridor was slowly growing smaller as the walls were being pressed together. I pushed myself faster, stumbled a bit when I felt a sharp pain in my arm, but it was gone as soon as it had come. Then the arm went numb. I ignored it, and slipped through the closing corridor after Minho, leaving the Griever behind to get crushed in the corridor.

I fell to my knees on the concrete, breathing hard. There was a ringing in my ears; Minho was speaking to me but I couldn't hear him. I looked down at my arm. The numbness had spread. There was a large welt where the Griever had Stung me. I fell to the side, my head smacking on the concrete.

I didn't realize I was writhing and flailing until I saw one of my arms nearly miss smacking Minho in the face when he tried helping me up. I could see him considering me for a second worriedly, then his fist collided with my head, and everything went dark.  

A/N

Chapter 19; an exciting one, wasn't it? Vote if you liked it (or not, that's okay too)

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