Marooned | Maze Runner | Minho

72. 𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝑒 𝒞𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈.

Viya had begun to forget what light looked like. They had been stuck in the tunnels hopelessly wandering for hours and there was no light at the end of the tunnel. They hadn't encountered the cranks again, a part of Viya wondered where they could've gone.

She never imagined the tunnels could be so big, yet every turn they took only led to more and more brick corridors.

They had no way of marking which ways they have been already, they could've easily been going in circles for the past two hours and would have no idea.

The flashlight was beginning to flicker, a warning sign of its imminent death.

The pair hadn't talked in ages, Viya had eventually calmed down but her mind was in far away places, her main goal being to find an escape. The guilt was still eating her alive, but she wouldn't let Minho know that.

The flashlight flickered again, but this time its rays hit something Viya hadn't noticed before. Without thinking she ran ahead, her fingers touching the cold rusted metal of a ladder.

Minho soon appeared behind her, a smile dawning on his face.

"I'll go up first, see if it's safe." Viya said. She knew this wasn't the entrance to the base, there were no signs of life that there definitely should've been. But she'd do anything to get out of this dreadful tunnel.

"Alright." Minho said impatiently.

Viya grunted as she opened the metal hatch, light streamed in, she involuntarily squinted her eyes. She climbed out of the tunnel, she was in the middle of a street, most of the buildings were intact but there were no signs of life. The sun was rising in the east, creating a soft glow around the buildings. They had been in the tunnels for over twelve hours. Strange enough it didn't feel that long.

"All clear." She half-yelled down to Minho.

It wasn't long before the boy emerged from the darkness and stood next to Viya.

"So where's this base you were talking about?" He asked.

"I have no idea." Viya admitted.

"What do you mean you have no idea?" Minho questioned.

"This isn't the right ladder, the one that we should've gone to would've put us right in the center of the base." Viya explained.

"So what are we going to do then?"
"Well we could go back down or–"
"No way." Minho interrupted.

"Or we could travel on the surface."
"Surface. One hundred percent."

"Alright then." Viya said, "Let's try and scavenge first, we need food and supplies."
"Oh yes please." Minho said.

—-

The pair exited the convenience store with full pockets. Viya had expected to not find much, but instead they found heaps of supplies. Minho munched happily on a granola bar he had found, Viya said she would eat later. Viya's backpack was the only thing that had to store things in. Their next goal was to find clothes, Minho was still walking around in his WCKD issued clothes and he stuck out like a sore thumb.

"So do you recognize this area at all?" Minho asked.

"I don't think so." Viya said, 'But most areas look the same around here anyways, especially after the bombings."

"Bombings?" Minho asked.

"Whenever the crowds get too rowdy or WCKD thinks the rats are too happy they drop bombs on our settlements and towns." Viya explained, "I think they like knowing how much they can make us suffer, they enjoy destroying our work and homes."