The Girl

Chapter Fifty Five

  What are the odds that there would be another exit? The person who built this damn cell obviously didn't want someone to escape.

I'm in the middle of my battling thoughts when something interrupts them.

I stiffen at the noise. It sounds like... like... static.

I frantically turn around as an excited tingle gushes through me and rush to follow the sound. It's coming from under my pile of rocks.

"Beth... Beth? Beth!" I hear, muffled. I sprint to the rocks and begin digging through them.

"I'm here! I'm still here! I'm still alive!" I scream, even though I know they can't hear me. I keep digging and digging until I finally find the walkie talkie, but the noise disappears. I push the top button down. "Minho! Minho? I'm here! I'm here!"

There's dead silence on the other line. Tears fill my eyes.

"Minho...?" I whisper, so quietly it's almost inaudible. But there's still no answer. I unleash the tears and become a sobbing mess. I scream and chuck the walkie talkie at the wall, not even reacting to the way it shatters and falls into a million pieces, just as my heart did when the little device lost its power.

"I'm never going to get out of here!" I half scream and half cry. I've been reassuring myself that I'll die down here for quite some time now.

I try to collect myself, failing miserably a few times but eventually gathering my emotions enough to pick my head up. I click on my watch. It's only five-thirty, no one should be in the maze yet.

Did the rules change when I got trapped here overnight and survived?

I sigh and stand up. I've been sobbing for almost twenty four hours straight. It won't help anything at this point.

I'm assuming my best bet is to wait until the runners come out and then scream, hoping they'll hear me.

My voice is almost gone from all my screaming and crying and fainting. My head is pounding from the day's events. I must have a concussion. My entire body has a deep ache stretching into my bones and resonating. I've never been in worse shape to survive a fatal situation.

I don't even know what to do with myself at this point. The room's not that big, and the rocks just keep falling down the hole. There's no easy escape, that's for sure. I didn't think there would be. Then again, I didn't think I'd get stuck down here anyway.

It appears that I just need to keep myself alive until I'm able to yell and communicate with the runners above.

I shouldn't have ruined my voice crying before, but I didn't think about having to call to the runners. Besides, even if they do hear me, how would they get me out? The rocks just keep falling, and I don't even know where they're from! I don't even know how isolated the hole is, the rocks could be piled up over the entire maze floor for all I know. This is quite a messy situation.

I might as well get some sleep waiting for the runners though.

I slide down the wall next to my rock pile, near the desk, and curl up in a ball on the floor. I click off the flashlight and let myself give into the tiredness pulling at my subconscious.