Sapphire Stones

It's the final countdown!

Every part of my body screams for me to turn back: to run and hide behind a wall until the battle is over, but I run on, doing my best to ignore it. Chuck's hand tightly clutches onto mine, the other one occupied by the so-called key. He's holding it desperately, probably praying to himself that he won't let it slip out of his hand and fall off the edge of the corridor. War cries bounce off the walls and echo throughout the Maze as we all run towards the Griever, our weapons brandished out before us.

The creature lets out an ear-splitting roar, its stinger raised high above its head as it runs towards us, readying itself to kill.

We meet in the middle, a meager group of teenagers against a ginormous metal creature. Metal meets metal as kids begin stabbing at the Griever, no real strategy involved. Our random actions do however cause the Griever to slip, making it almost fall off the edge of the narrow stone corridor and into the dark abyss beneath us.

Digging its claws deep into the stone, It lets out another roar, spraying us with its saliva. The boys in front try once more to stab at it, but their attempts are useless. The Griever has itself anchored to the floor so that it can't slip again. Their spears are toothpicks and sticks compared to the giant creature in front of us.

"We've gotta go!" Chuck screams above the noise, pulling me away from the action. I follow without hesitation, letting the young boy guide me towards the door that will lead to our escape. Chuck's face is set on the prize ahead, never looking back at the battle going on behind us. He's utterly determined to make it out of this alive.

"Push it!" I can hear Thomas shout. I can hear the roars and screams of the Griever as well as those of the boys behind us, but I don't look back. For Chuck's sake.

We keep on running, but when I hear a boy's horrified scream pierce through the air, it's enough to make me turn around, ready to face whatever danger might come my way. 

I try to spot who screamed, but it's useless in the sea of boys and actions of the Griever. I watch Teresa take a massive swing with the machete at one of the Grievers legs, evidently slicing through and cutting off the limb.

"The key!" Chuck shouts. I watch it get knocked from his hand and fly across the corridor towards the edge.

"Chuck, don't!" I scream, but the young boy has already pushed through the crowd and is sprinting towards the key. I run after him, forcing my legs and arms to move faster so that I can reach Chuck. 

I watch him stumble and fall to his knees, sliding across the stone and grabbing onto the metal key as it rolls off the edge. He'd caught it, but is now teetering off the edge of the Cliff, staring into the dark abyss of nothingness beneath him.

"Pull me up! Pull me up!" He cries out. I slide to the floor and grab onto his ankles, trying to pull him up and over to safety. When that doesn't work, I quickly grab a hold of his backpack and yank him up. He stumbles backwards, but regains his balance quickly. 

We both turn around and see that the group far behind us had succeeded in pushing the Griever over the edge. Our triumph is short lived by the sound of claws sinking into stone as a new Griever crawls up the wall that Chuck was just dangling from. 

I pull him away just in time as it crawls to the top. I pull him in the other direction only to find another Griever on that side. He immediately sprints towards the rest of the group, me right at his heels.

"Thomas! Thomas!" Chuck screams, trying to get his attention. "They're coming!" 

"That's what she said!" I cry, pushing myself to run faster to keep up with Chuck. I see the fear in all of the boys eyes as we run closer to them, but they run out immediately to defend us, Minho leading the group. Chuck and I sprint right through the group, nearly face-planting into the stone wall.

With a series of beeps, the stone wall begins lifting upwards, creating a new pathway. An exit.

"Holy fucking shit!" I shout, my heart thumping with excitement and adrenaline.

"It worked!" Chuck announces, turning back to face the group.

"Teresa, go!" Thomas shouts. Without hesitation, Teresa sprints away from the group of boys fighting off the two Grievers towards us, stopping right besides Chuck.

"C'mon!" I order, leading the two into the new corridor. We sprint until we meet a dead end. There's a hollowed out hole at the end in the very center of the small hallway, creating a new dark abyss.

 Without hesitation, I lead them into the abyss and away from the screams and cries of the boys outside, only to be surrounded by more darkness. Teresa begins searching the walls, Chuck squinting to see in the darkness. 

"Shit!" I scream, kicking and pounding the walls in frustration. Suddenly, a red light illuminates the small room. a circular key-pad looking thing pops out from the wall, eight rings inside the big red circle. "Fuck! Stay here!" I shout.

I run out of the cavern, close enough to the chaos ensuing outside so that Thomas can hear me. "What's the fucking code?!" I scream. Thomas looks back at me, still jabbing at the Griever in front of him with his spear. His eyebrows are furrowed in confusion. "It's eight numbers, if that helps!"

"Hey, Minho! What's the sequence?!" Thomas cries, still trying to fend off the Griever.

"What?!" The Runner calls out, occupied by his own battle.

"The sections of the Maze! What's the sequence?!" Thomas clarifies, jabbing at the Griever now biting at him.

"Seven!" He begins shouting out the code, Teresa already punching in the numbers as he lists them off. "One! Five! Two! Six! Four!" 

He gets cut off by a Griever falling out of the literal fucking sky only to land on top of him. The Griever slobbers on him and bites at him, Minho trying his best to push it off of him and keep distance between them.

"Fuck! No!" I scream, running out onto the battlefield. I can hear people crying out for me to stop, but I'm already trying to push through the crowd to make it to Minho in time.

Just as I'm pushing through the crowd however, I watch Jeff take off towards the Griever and Minho. I'm right at his heels, but I'm not fast enough. Jeff stabs at the Griever, causing it to get startled and break it's attention from Minho. 

The Runner has just enough time to get out from beneath the Griever before it's grabbed onto Jeff and hoisted him in the air. Minho pulls me back towards the group as I watch, paralyzed in fear, as Jeff gets stabbed through the chest with a stinger.

Every voice seems a million miles away as I let Minho pull me away from danger, my eyes fixed on the floor, bloodstains the only color on the bland stone. How many people died today? Who died today? They've disappeared as if they meant nothing, their bloodstains painting the stone floor being the only evidence that they ever even existed.

Whatever happens next is a complete mystery to me. The world is blurred around me as I stare at nothing, my mind in a different world. I don't see anything. I don't hear anything. The only thing that reminds me that I'm even alive is someone grabbing my shoulder and shaking my body, bringing me back to reality. 

"Snap out of it, love." Newt's face is illuminated by a dull blue light. "We have to go."

"Jeff..." I mutter, trailing off. I look around the small group before my eyes land on Minho, Newt, Chuck, and Thomas all standing in front of me. They all look concerned.

"He's gone, V." Minho whispers, brushing my hair away from my face. He runs his thumb over my cheek, wiping away non-existent tears. My eyes search the small crowd for something I'm not even sure of. But I know it isn't there.

"C'mon, Venus." Thomas says, his voice soft and soothing. Chuck takes my hand in his and gently urges me forward. Newt takes my other hand. Thomas walks to the front of the group, leading us through a door to the source of the blue light. Minho walks behind me, running his hand through my hair occasionally.

In complete silence, I let Chuck and Newt pull me after Thomas and the rest of the boys, towards our futures.