florence grunted, forcing herself through the narrow crevice. the space was clearly meant for nothing larger than a stray animal, but she didn't have the luxury to dwell on it. her options were either to squeeze through or face the cranks clawing at their heels.
the sounds of the cranks' struggles echoed behind her, but the creatures' lack of nerve endings meant they didn't care about the stone scraping and tearing at their flesh. florence hissed as sharp rock bit into her skin, her shirt riding up to expose tender flesh to the jagged edges. blood pooled along each fresh cut, but she pushed forward. stopping wasn't an option when death was right behind.
she gritted her teeth, muttering curses under her breath. behind her, antony was uncharacteristically silent, his heavy breathing the only assurance that he was still with her. her heart surged with worry at the thought—why was he so quiet? she shoved the thought aside. survive, survive, survive. a girl who couldn't keep her focus wouldn't make it out alive, and florence knew that all too well. but tonight, survival felt like a battle against her own instincts.
at last, florence saw the end of the narrow path opening up to a wider tunnel, and she gasped in relief. "one more push!" she shouted, gripping the rough edges and pulling herself forward with every ounce of strength left.
antony's hands pressed against her shoulder and hip, helping to nudge her through. "they're catching up," he rasped, panting between words. "move!"
"trying!" she snapped, grunting as she gave one final lunge forward, pulling free with a piece of the wall breaking away with her. she tumbled out onto the ground, gasping as she fell forward into the larger space.
with the newly broken edge, antony slipped through quickly, pushing himself past the crevice before reaching her and offering a hand. florence gritted her teeth, ignoring the sting of her cuts as he hauled her to her feet. survive now, patch up later.
antony glanced back, his face tightening as he saw the cranks squeezing through, slow but relentless. "run!" he urged, barely waiting for her to steady herself before they took off again.
the tunnels became a maze of darkness and echoes as they sprinted blindly, florence's dim flashlight casting little more than vague shadows ahead of them. antony led, twisting through sharp turns and narrow bends, their speed fueled by pure adrenaline. the rapid changes of direction sent a wave of nausea and throbbing pain through her skull, but she couldn't afford to slow down. not until they finally ran headlong into a dead end.
they skidded to a halt, and for the first time since they escaped, they both turned to look back.
expecting to see cranks clawing toward them, florence was instead met with darkness—nothing but an empty, silent tunnel.
"looks like we lost them," antony said, gasping for breath.
florence shook her head. "we lost them, sure, but we've also lost our way. where the hell are we?"
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
"would it kill you to slow down? not all of us are human battering rams."
"afraid you'll get left behind?"
"no, i'm afraid you'll trip and break something, and i'll be the one stuck fixing it."
"always the pessimist."
florence was, to put it simply, exhausted beyond belief, and antony's frequent speed was not helping her situation. she couldn't tell whether it'd been minutes or hours of walking through a maze of doom. each turn looked the same, each wall just like the wall before it. as if her legs weren't hurting enough, the addition of a throbbing headache did not make matters any better.
YOU ARE READING
teenage wasteland ;; the maze runner
Action" don't cry, don't raise your eye. it's only teenage wasteland." she arrived just the same as everyone else. scared, confused, and lacking fifteen years of memories. the only difference, however, was the fact that she was a 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭. nevertheless, f...
