Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Four

Claire and Jack met up with the others in the hallway. Thomas and Minho, however, still weren't back yet. 

"What's going on?" Winston asked. 

"Hey!" the heard a voice shout. 

They looked down and hall and saw Thomas and Minho run into view. A moment later they saw something pursing the two Runners. The figures chasing them were shaped like people, but the way they moved seemed off, and their movements defiantly weren't human. 

"Oh shit!" Newt exclaimed. He quickly threw on his backpack and everyone else followed suite, ready to make a run for it. 

"Run!" Thomas yelled. "Get out of here!" 

As Thomas and Minho caught up to them, the other teens started to flee from the creatures. Aris tossed Thomas an extra backpack. 

"Thomas, Minho, what the hell are those things?" Winston frantically asked as they ran up another broken escalator. 

"I don't know, just keep going!" Thomas shouted. 

They now had a good idea about what must have happened to the people who lived here. These must be the Cranks Janson was talking about, people who had been infected by the Flare. 

As the teens rounded the corner another Crank appeared in front of them. Aris held up his bat and started charging at the creature. 

"Aris, no!" Frypan cried. 

At the last second, Aris ducked down and hit the Crank in the knees, knocking it to the ground. It landed on the ground between the group of Gladers. Thomas and Teresa were separated from the others and forced to go up a different escalator. 

"Go round!" Thomas told the others as more Cranks appeared. 

The group ran around to the other side where there was another set of escalators, that way they could meet Thomas and Teresa at the top. Teresa threw a hammer she had picked up earlier at the Crank, then she and Thomas ran to meet their friends. 

Meanwhile, the other teens made it to the other side and started climbing up the escalator. Jack stayed standing at the bottom of it, ushering the others up. 

"Jack, come on," Claire said as she ran past him. 

Jack moved to catch up to the others, but a Crank suddenly appeared next to him. Jack screamed and pushed the Crank so that it fell over the railing and down to the next level. But another came from behind and began to drag him back away from the escalator. 

"Claire!" he screamed in terror. "Help!" 

"Jack!" she cried, turning around and running after him, Frypan right behind her. 

By now Jack and the Crank had fallen over the escalator railing and were dangerously hanging off the edge. Frypan threw a pipe at the Crank, causing it to let go of Jack and fall, but the young boy was losing his grip and started to slip. But before he could fall, Claire grabbed ahold of his hands and he was dangling mid-air. 

"I gotcha, Jack," she said, ready to pull him up to safety. 

"Look out!" Frypan shouted. 

Another Crank came down from above. It landed on Jack like a child wanting a piggyback ride. The sudden extra weight caused Jack and Claire to lose their grip on each other. With a cry of anguish, Jack and the Crank went plummeting through the air. 

"NO!" Claire cried. 

Frypan pulled Claire away from the edge. For a moment he was afraid that she would throw herself over the edge and go after them. But it was no use.