Runners' Romance (A SkyBop Maze Runner fanfic)

Chapter 23: Say It!

(Jun. 18 2016)

Hey, sorry for the long absence, again, but.... *mini drumroll* I'm officially a high school graduate now! :D

...many tears were shed lol.

Anyway, yeah, I kinda got struck by that whole mentality you get right after summer starts where you're all like, "Imma do absolutely nothing productive at all!" So writing was difficult.

Buuuuut, then I woke up to THIRTY THREE EMAILS saying there was a new comment on this story (you know who you are), followed by more people reading my story and commenting on nearly every chapter once, twice, sometimes even three times, and it really motivated and inspired me to resume writing the story!

Comments never fail to make my day, and I always read every single one of them, so thank you so much!

Chapter 23: Say It!

Sky's POV:

When Barney returns, the anger that had been in his eyes is gone, replaced by concern and curiosity as he steps back into the room, "Okay... How could... What happened out there? No one's ever gone through the night in the Maze like that and come back."

"You're not going to believe this: we saw a Griever, Barney," Jin replies.

Barney's eye widens, and he leans forward a little, "You saw a Griever?" He asks in a hushed voice, "And you escaped it?"

"I killed it."

Barney turns to me when I speak up, that familiar scowl returning to his face, "Alright, if you're just going to make something up so I don't get angry with you—"

"No no, Barney, it's true!" Jin interrupts, "I know you're not happy with him right now, but no one's ever gotten this close to finding something out! Look, he doesn't always play by the rules, but we're making a lot of progress that we never would have achieved without him. No one has ever, ever killed a Griever before, and now we have!"

"You're telling me that..." Barney says after a pause, voice dripping with disbelief, "you're killed a Griever."

"Yeah, it's still in the Maze if you don't believe me!"

"It's still fairly early and the Griever's not to far away; we could probably go see it," I add.

Barney lets out a long breath as he sinks back down into his chair, bringing a hand to his face, "Gosh... What happened, guys? Wha.. How? I've been here so long, and no one's ever had come back."

"That's why we should maybe think about doing things differently, Barney. If we keep living the same way we always have, we're never going to get anywhere."

"Especially if the elevator isn't going down," I add. "Without any more supplies, we're running out of time. Where are supplies going to come from now?"

"Guys, I..." Barney sighs, "I don't know. I don't know! I don't know what we can doing if the elevator doesn't go down."

"How about we show you the Griever?" Jin suggests, "Maybe it'll change your mind and we can go from there."