❝You are all still here because of an uncanny will to survive.❞
Solving the Maze was meant to be the end. No more tests. No more puzzles. They thought that by escaping the Maze that they'd been stuck in for two years, they could go back to their old...
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17 → "CRANKS"
NOBODY HAD TIME to react, but everyone knew that the woman who'd — quite literally — dropped in, was way past the Gone stage of the Flare. Adeline went to scream, but she didn't, clasping her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from doing so.
"We gotta go!" Jorge screamed. "Come on!"
Nobody had to tell anyone twice, because soon enough everyone was running for their dear lives towards the flight of stairs. Adeline instantly grasped Newt's hand and pulled him along, helping him pick up some speed to get away because of his limp. Despite the aching in her legs, she pushed through it. Up the flight of stairs she went, Newt behind her, Minho and a few other Gladers in front. Jorge was almost at the top of the staircase, screaming at them all to hurry. There were another ten steps left, and from behind Adeline heard the same cackle like cough from the bottom of the staircase.
By the time both Adeline and Newt had gotten to the top of the staircase and through the door leading back into the first floor of the building, Jorge was already poised to attack with a knife. In his left hand was a torch in which he switched on. The torch flickered on, creating a beam of light. Jorge shined the torch in different directions, searching for any signs of Cranks. Adeline's heart thumped in her chest and Adeline felt Minho slip something into her hand. Realizing it was a knife passed down from Jorge, she clutched it in her hand, afraid that if she dropped it, a Crank would attack her unexpectedly. Jorge passed Newt a knife, also, before turning to the Gladers. Jorge's Crank friends were nowhere to be found, not like Adeline really cared about them, anyway. Pressing a finger to his lips, he spun around and pointed his knife out in front of him.
"I have a feeling the woman is not alone." Jorge whispered. "They could be hidin' somewhere around here. We have to be ready just in case."
And with that, Cranks fell through holes created in the ceiling that Adeline did not notice until now. Many of them landed on their two feet. There were six more of them — 4 men and 2 women. Each looked just as gone as the other with their torn and tattered clothing. Each had a wild look in their eyes, holding blunt knives. One of them — a young woman with almost charcoal black hair — held a metal pole in her left hand. None of them were poised to attack, but the wild looks in their eyes gave away that they weren't here to make friends.
"We're Cranks!" one of them spoke — one of the men, who had almost no hair left on his head. Minho and Adeline shared a glance, unsure if the Cranks before them were planning on attacking them. Then, from behind them, came the same cackle like laugh. Adeline could sense the woman behind her, her footsteps hollow against the linen floor. Three seconds later, the woman with the chestnut brown hair was standing before them. She was obviously the leader of the other six behind her, her eyes almost glowing with lunacy.
