Into the Maze

We Say Good-Bye to a Friend (Sort of)

After Paul dropped that bombshell on Leo, he almost fell over. He had been in this retched place longer than a day? He thought that Paul had been in the Box with him. Maybe Minho checked his name. I guess he never really put any thought to it. "Leo," Paul began. "Are you okay? You were staring into space." Leo thought back to the first moment he set foot in the Glade. "I thought you were in the Box with us. Exactly how long have you been here?" Leo asked. "About a year now," he answered back. "But what about the Grievers? I thought someone said they were taking one every night until you're all gone?" Leo asked with a curious voice. "Yes, but we discovered that there is a switch you have to pull out of the inner skin to stop them. Each night, we'd do a competition. We'd break down into small groups. A different group would be voted on each night. Whoever got the most votes would be the person to sacrafice themselves. If they got the switch out in time, yay! You get to live! But if not, it's a slow, painful death for you."

"Did you ever get voted it?" Leo asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"They'd either pick the strongest, or the weakest of each bunch. I was neither. I was in the middle."

"So, you were the lucky one?" he asked Paul.

"Don't say that Leo! Over 28 people have died risking their lives for us! We've been here a whole YEAR Leo! We haven't found a way out yet! I don't think there is!" Paul yelled.

Suddenly, there was a scream from somewhere inside the Glade. It sounded like a girl. Leo crutched in that direction. Paul followed close behind him. He only stumbled a little, but didn't fall.

There was another scream, but it was cut off abruptly. Leo knew she or he was dead. They kept going anyway. When they got up to the body, Leo saw a man in his early twenties, maybe? He was standing next to the body with a bloody knife in his hand. Suddenly, he remembered everything. His parents, adventures, milestones, quests, EVERYTHING. He also remembered Camp Half-Blood, and all the campers. The body was one of the campers he recognized. It was Clarisse.