teenage wasteland ;; the maze runner

2.15

she felt her heart in her throat, breaths overtaking every sense as she sprinted through those unfamiliar hallways. her hand gripped that flashlight like it was her lifestring, and maybe it was, because it was the only thing that led them to what they hoped was salvation.

sammy was only a few steps behind her, antony being a few steps behind him, but flo didn't dare turn around. not only can she not waste time trying to look, but she didn't want to face the cranks. there was something so tragic about them, about the people they used to be.

her stomach twisted at the thought.

the further they ran, the more florence realized they had no real idea of where they're going. the three of them had made some impressive progress on their exploration, so much so that she almost wondered if they could make it before the monsters caught up to them.

she banished such a thought about as quickly as it entered her mind.

"come on!" she yelled, voice strained. "come on, we gotta keep moving!" she didn't know what her boys looked like, but she figured at the very least sammy was tired. they'd spent the past few days running without a break, so she understood, but they could not have gone through all of that just to be killed by some cranks.

sammy made a sound of compliance, although not quite intelligent, but enough for florence to know that he was with her. antony's heavy breaths were also an indicator of his life and effort, and she took that as an accomplishment on its own.

as they ran, the cranks got louder, and florence kept fighting the urge to look over her shoulder. the beam of light shuddered as she moved, arms pumping with each step.

and then, a new sound reached her ears from her right.

florence took the first few steps into a new room, the tight hallway opening up into a large and spacious room, and it seemed another group was in a similar situation. minho and thomas broke out of an identical hallway just a few feet away, sprinting just as flo, antony, and sammy were.

they briefly made eye contact, and florence knew.

"run!" she screamed, just as thomas yelled, "go! get outta here!"

she looked up to glance at the scene awaiting them only to realize that the rest of their group was standing around, bags and weapons in hand. to their dumb luck, florence had somehow led them right to where their friends were stationed. what were the odds?

"what happened?" antony screamed from behind her.

she shook her head, throat dry, and she gasped out, "thomas, minho, running from cranks too!" her eyes flickered ahead, watching as everybody else found momentum to keep running. "get fast!"

she pumped her arms, trying to gain more speed, although that in itself felt like an impossible feat. they had to catch up with thomas and minho, or else they'd get caught in the crowd that chased them. it was a difficult situation, but dear god did florence hope the survival instincts and adrenaline would kick in.

antony understood almost instantly, not needing much else from her. he was a pretty smart guy, thank god, and he started ushering sammy to keep moving. the sounds that left his mouth were incompetent, but hopefully enough to motivate the young kid.

"come on, sammy!" florence pushed, finally letting herself glance the smallest bit behind just to look him in the eyes. unfortunately, that was a bad choice, but not because of the cranks. it was bad because sammy looked bad. he was pale, tired, skinny, and looking on the verge of collapse. her heart felt like it stopped and got faster all at the same time.