Shadow of the Maze | Maze Runner [1]

TWENTY-TWO

[ ELECTRA ]

❧

Newt swung open the Homestead door, leaving Electra, Minho, and Chuck standing in the emptied hallway.

Chuck got to his feet, looking back and forth between Electra and Minho a couple of times, and nervously picking at his fingernails. "Tonight? Wow— uh... I should pack my stuff."

Electra turned to Chuck, and forced a supportive smile. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. I'll be there, so nothing's going to happen to anyone."

She could feel Minho's amused glare on her, but she ignored it and gave Chuck a small encouraging nod. The younger boy nodded back and a smile spread on his face before he awkwardly stumbled out of the Homestead. As soon as the door closed, Minho let out a loud laugh.

Electra glared up at him. "Shut up, Minho."

Minho's smile got even bigger. "What? I didn't even say anything."

"I know what you're thinking." Electra walked in the direction of the basement, and Minho opened the trapdoor for the both of them.

She squinted in the darkness as she slowly made her way downstairs. Once at the bottom, she blindly reached out for the light fixed into the ceiling. After a bit of wandering, she managed to find the cord and tugged it. The room was dimly lit by a dying lightbulb. Electra blinked a couple of times to get used to the light before making her way over to the parchment paper Maps and taking one last good look at them.

"What you said to him is a bit of wishful thinking, don't you think?" Minho moved beside her and studied the Maps as well.

"Yeah well, did you see how nervous he was? Looked like he was about to pee his pants."

Minho nodded, another smile creeping onto his face. "Right, right."

"What? What's with that smile right now?"

"Nothing. I'm just not used to you actually being nice to people." Minho joked, and Electra let out a breath while rolling her eyes.

"It's not nice, it's pity. Big difference."

Minho simply nodded, a smug look plastered on his smiling face.

Electra groaned, pushing a pile of Maps together and observing the F hidden in the drawings. "Besides, I don't even believe what I said to him. People are going to die."

She stopped herself from adding that possibly, she or Minho could die. Electra didn't feel ready enough to acknowledge the pressuring truth. They were going to leave tonight. One or both of them could die tonight.

Minho's face sobered, and for a second she regretted what she'd said that made his smile disappear. The two fell into silence while they checked over each Map sequence one more time. As expected, they found the same cryptic code words.

FLOAT. CATCH. BLEED. DEATH. STIFF. PUSH.

Minho pushed the stacks of Maps away from him. "You think more than one person will die? You don't believe Thomas' theory of the Grievers only killing one of us?"

"Seems too easy, I don't know. Why would the Grievers just give up after one kill?" Electra shrugged, before awkwardly adding. "I hope I'm wrong, though."