Edge of Insanity

Chapter Ten

I peered around the corner of the Maze wall, holding my breath.  Thirty feet ahead of me lay my pack on the floor.  Fifty feet further down the passage way were three Grievers. 

I ducked back around the corner, clutching my knife to my chest.  They were refusing to leave Ben's body.  Why- I had no idea.   But the pack was worth it, I told myself.  It had to be.

I swallowed as my fear solidified into a knot in my stomach.  Flattening myself against the wall, I began to slowly creep around the corner and towards my pack.  I made it a few feet before I heard a sickening crunch.  I froze, breath coming in short pants. 

Silence.

I started forward again.

Crunch, crunch, crunch

I stilled and dared a glance at the Grievers.  All I could see was them moving lazily around.  More crunching sounds followed. 

Holy shucking hell.  They're eating him.

Bile rose in my throat but I clamped it down.  Tears filled my eyes involuntarily.  Ben.

I had to get that pack and get out of here.  Now.  Or else I was going to be next.  I started edging forward again, wincing at the sounds the Griever were making.  My hands were shaking as fear, cold and slimy, wormed its way into my head. 

Just get the pack.  Just get the pack.

A few more feet and I was parallel with it.  I looked at the Grievers.  They were completely absorbed in their meal.

Now

I darted forward, staying as low as possible.  My fingers curled around the strap and I threw myself against the opposite wall.  I squeezed the bag to my chest, trying to control my panting.  After a good thirty seconds.  I dared a look at the Grievers.  They were still crouched around Ben's corpse but... I peered closer.

There were only two.

Where the hell is the third one?

I turned to my left, which was the direction I'd come from and also the way out of this death trap.  

The Griever was fifteen inches from my face. 

In a split second I'd raise my knife and plunged it into the Griever's hideous face.  It let out a roar of agony and rage and I ran around it's massive body.  The Griever's tail whipped in a blur of movement and I ducked- but too late. 

It caught me in the side, throwing me against the Maze wall with sickening force.  I heard rather than felt my right ribs crack.  The pain tore up my side like fire and I let out a strangled scream. 

Run, run, run

The Griever's shrieking had alerted the other two.  They both wheeled around, spotting me and the third Griever laying immobile on the ground. 

So that's how you kill them.  Stab them in the face. Good to know.

I dragged myself to my feet as the other two charged and I sprinted with every thing I had.  Running on pure adrenaline, my feet pounded on the Maze floor.  I pressed my hand to my side.  I was wheezing, gasping for air,  when suddenly the wall to my left shifted.

The Maze was changing.

That realization cost me as the Griever closest behind me let loose a shriek.  I turned just as one of it's sharply pointed legs plunged into the flesh of my calf, pinning me to the ground.  A scream tore it's way from the back of my throat involuntarily.  The pain I felt surpassed anything I'd ever experienced before. 

I'm going to die

The Griever began to retract its leg back as if it knew it had me ensnared.  The sharp point dragged through my flesh and black pulsed at the edge of my vision.  Tears streamed down my face and I was sure any second I would pass out.  The second Griever whipped its tail around and I could do nothing but scream as it slammed into my hand, probably shattering every bone in the appendage.

I'm going to die, I thought again as fear threatened to drag me down.  I'm going to be eaten alive like Ben.

The Griever kept pulling me towards it.  It was going to sting me so I was weaker than I already was and then kill me.  My vision grew blurry.  Pain racked every square inch of my body and the only thing I could focus on then was Minho.  He would never be able to live without me.

A sob escaped my bloody lips as I wrenched my leg out of the Griever's grasp.  The skin tore and blood splattered both monsters, the walls and myself.  Half unconscious from the pain, I dragged myself to the side, praying, hoping my calculations had been right.

Please, please, please...

The Grievers let out a roar of rage. I kept pulling myself forward, forward...

The wall began to shift. 

Yes

I threw myself towards the rapidly diminishing space, crying out as my wounds scraped the ground.  But I made it to the other side.  I turned just as one of the Griever lunged at me.  

I screamed raising my arms to cover my face.  The wall slammed shut on the Griever and it's bulbous body exploded into sticky goo that coated me and the walls.  It convulsed once, twice, and then fell still.

The remaining Griever shrieked but could do nothing with the wall standing between us.  Tears streamed down my face as I collapsed onto my back and let the blackness pour in. 

I woke up a few short hours later, just soon enough to hear the roar of another Griever.  I knew I couldn't stay out in the open like this.

I made the mistake of glancing down out my leg and nausea overwhelmed me.  Half the skin of my calf was no longer attached and I could've sworn I saw my bone.  My right ribs were broken and the bones in my other hand shattered beyond use.

I was utterly screwed if another Griever came along. 

I focused on Minho's name as I gritted my teeth and dragged my broken body underneath the ivy hanging off the wall.  This would have to do for now before I moved. I tipped my head back, gasping from the pain.  I glanced at my watch in the dark.  I still had 4 hours before dawn. 

I winced as I dug in the pack for my bottle of water and poured some over my cracked lips.  I forced myself to drink most of the container before fishing out the rest of the food in the bag.  I didn;t want to eat, the pain was overwhelming and intensifying by the minute.  But I was going to make it out of this alive and I needed any strength I could get.  I forced the sandwich down my throat, trying to ignore the feeling in my stomach.  Then I dug around for another knife and set it on the ground beside me. 

After that I slowly and gingerly peeled off my shirt, panting with the effort.  I cut it into lengthy strips that I used to wrap around my leg, wincing with every movement.  Once I'd used my entire shirt and the rest of the bandages in my pack I pulled myself to my feet. 

Black flickered at the edge of my vision but I held on and started the long trek home.