Marooned | Maze Runner | Minho

2. 𝒜𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽

Viya had never really thought of what would happen once she was in the maze, she had hoped that someone would come to her rescue and stop her banishment. But no one had.

She looked around the dark labyrinth, the ivy still crept up the walls like it always had, but this time felt different. The maze she had once viewed as a second home, now felt terrifying, and she had no clue how long she had until the grievers came out.

No one had ever spent a night in the maze and lived to tell the tale. And it was only till recently that someone had seen a griever and survived.

As the maze became darker, Viya wandered up the corridors of the maze. Her body begged for her to rest, but she wouldn't–no couldn't let herself, she had to at least try to survive.

The maze was getting darker by the second, and the night wouldn't only make it harder to see, it would also bring the death machines.

As Viya walked aimlessly, her breathing was becoming shallow, and she knew that she had to sit down. She slumped down on the closest wall, she didn't realize how much she ached until she had finally stopped moving. She lifted her shirt up with a groan, three bandages were pasted on her stomach, another bandage on her upper arm, and one more on her collarbone. She ripped off the gauze on one of her wounds, and she looked down at the needle hole the griever had left in her. Small dark lines trailed out of it for a couple of centimeters before her skin went back to its normal golden brown.

A sudden mechanical growl sounded out in the distance, causing Viya to jump to her feet. They were coming.

Where could she go? She couldn't outrun them all night, even if she wasn't wounded.

Viya glanced around urgently, her eyes darting from place to place. Her gaze landed on an entanglement of ivy in the corner to her right. It was thick enough that if she hid underneath it nobody would be able to tell.

Without working out all of the details, Viya dived towards the pile of ivy and quickly tucked herself under it. She was careful to make sure all of her limbs were not visible.

And then she waited.

Soon the mechanical clicking noises drew closer, and Viyas fear only heightened. She couldn't see through the mess of vines, so she could only listen intently and hope that she wouldn't be discovered.

An hour passed before Viya heard anything close to her, but the one lone griever moved past her slowly with no further problems.

It was the second one who caused trouble.

As Viya sat hunched up in a ball, a thick, wet drip of sludge hit her head. Without thinking, she looked up, and even with her obscured vision, she could see the griever. It was standing six feet above her, and it was staring at her, and if it could, it would've licked its lips.

It let out an artificial growl as it inched closer. And for a second Viya was frozen in fear.

But that didn't last long, she leapt out of her hiding spot to bolt for safety, but unfortunately for her, she had entangled herself so well in the vines that her whole left foot was stuck, trapped by the ivy.

Viya desperately yanked on her foot, trying to get it unhooked. When she realized it was stuck, she made a split second decision to slip her foot out of her shoe and run.

The sharp stones dug into her one shoeless foot, but she didn't have time to care, because the griever was hot on her heels.

She looked back as she skidded around the corner. The griever couldn't perform the tight turn, and hit the wall before it continued to charge at her. When Viya turned again, she realized the fatal mistake she had made.

When she was wandering earlier, she didn't think of which path she was taking, and unfortunately for her, the path she chose had led to a dead end.

Viya looked behind, and to her horror, the griever was right there, and it knew the maze better than her, and it knew that she had nowhere to go. Viya stared at its grotesque body as she slowly backed away. The griever almost taunted her, because instead of pouncing on her, it kept her pace and crept towards her slowly.

Soon, Viyas hand touched the cold stone behind her, and she knew this was it. She had been stupid, and that had led to her demise.

The griever continued to move closer to her, until it was only a foot away, she wasn't sure if it was possible, but it looked like it was grinning at her.

As it took a step closer, Viya pressed her back into the wall, wishing she could hide away in the ivy.

But to Viyas biggest surprise, there wasn't a full wall of stone. On her left side, she could feel a hole, and as her hands ventured towards the hole, she saw that it was a skinny doorway, just over a foot in width.

She didn't know what gap in the wall led to, but it had to be better than the griever that loomed over her, right?
Viya moved to her left before she stepped backwards into the small, dark corridor.

She moved faster as she heard the griever growl outside, and a few steps later, she was no longer squished between the walls, but was in an open space.

She couldn't see anything in the dark room, but she curiously used her hands to feel around for something, anything.

After some time, Viya came to the conclusion that she was in a small, roughly six by six feet room.

And the best part about it, is that no grievers could get in.

—----

"Yes!" Thomas cheered.

"That worked perfectly!" Teresa stated.

"Well you planned it, so why wouldn't it?"

Teresa rolled her eyes at the boy.

"How is that room even there, it's barely a dot on the map." Thomas asked.

"When they were doing construction, the plan at the time was to have multiple small rooms as hideouts, like a safe room." Teresa explained. "But as the layout revised, that idea was scrapped, and I thought all of the rooms were filled in, but the other day I realized this one wasn't." Teresa paused. "And coincidentally, it's the perfect place for A12."

"You're right about that..." Thomas muttered. "But do you think she'll actually be able to survive?"

"Only time will tell." Teresa stated. "But, she's a tough one."