Losing Hope

Thirty Seven

Early update because I won't be able to update tomorrow, love you all! ~Laue

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We managed to follow the others as they ran, Newt, Chuck and I trailing in the back while Thomas and Minho were leading the way. I couldn't help but look around in awe as we ran, staring at the walls of the Maze. Even if the wall looked the exact same from inside the Glade, it felt a lot different to actually be inside and run along the others. I couldn't tell if it was because of the adrenaline or because we were all together, but I had a somewhat good feeling about the whole thing. I was confident we would make it, although I was terrified at the idea of fighting Grievers again.

Thomas shushed us and motioned for us to stand back on a wall, as he looked down a corridor. Minho walked closer to me.

"Hey, Princess, you'll be okay?" he asked, and I nodded, looking at Thomas, as he turned around.

"Is it a Griever?" Chuck asked, and we could clearly hear the fear in his voice.

"Yeah," Thomas answered.

"Shit," Chuck mumbled, staring at the ground. Minho walked forward.

"You take this Chuck, and stay behind us," he said, handing him the key, which was the part of the Griever Thomas had taken back to the Glade. Chuck took and looked at it, unsure.

"It's okay. Just stick with me," Teresa offered, and Chuck nodded.

"Once we're through it will activate, and the door will open," Thomas explained, looking at each one of us. "We stay close, we stick together, we get through this. We get out now, or we die trying," Thomas' eyes fell on me, and he looked down at my thigh, then back up. I nodded, signaling him I'd be alright. As if it was what he was waiting for, Thomas hit his spear on the ground.

"Ready?" he asked, and Minho looked at me. I nodded, and he looked back at Thomas, taking another machete out of his backpack. I wondered for a second where all these weapons came from, before Thomas shouted a 'let's go', and we all ran into the corridor. Everyone let out some sort of battlecry, as we charged towards the Griever. It spun around and came running towards us.

The ones with the spears were in the front, and hit the Griever in the chest as it lunged on us. It screeched, rolling to the side, and the whole group shifted to the side. They charged the creature again, trying to push it down the sides of the corridor, which I realized were deep, bottomless pits. I gulped, turning my focus back to the Griever.

"Watch out!" I heard, and the Griever's tail was suddenly close to me, its pincer opened and reaching for one of us. I shouted and tried to move to the side but tripped, and the pincer grabbed the boy to my right, throwing him backwards into the pit behind it. I stared at him, horrified, as he tried to get ahold of the edge without success, and fell down. Somebody lifted me up and I was back on my feet, just in time to dodge one of the creatures leg digging in the ground. Teresa chopped it off, but the leg hit Chuck and the key flew out of his hands. He ran towards it.

"Chuck, watch the edge!" Teresa shouted, and I stood up, running after him as he threw himself on the key, half of his body hanging over the pit.

"Chuck!" I shouted, throwing myself next to him and grabbing his shoulder with one hand, and his backpack with the other. My thigh scrapped against the concrete and I felt my wound split open again, sending a twinge in my whole body, like an electric shock. I tried not to think about it and pull Chuck up, until someone reached down on the other side of him.

"We got you Chuck!" Teresa said, and we pulled the kid up together. We realized in horror that another Griever was crawling up, and Teresa helped me stand up, as Chuck ran back towards the group. We were quick to follow him, as another Griever reached up on the other side of the platform we stood on. Chuck shouted and got Thomas' attention, who opened wide eyes at the creatures behind us.

"We got more coming!" he shouted, and the boys ran towards us. Newt stopped me in my tracks, wrapping an arm around me as I ran past him.

"Your leg!"

"I'm fine! Just kill the shuck things!" I shouted, diving in the group of boys to attack the Griever's legs with my machete. I vaguely heard a concrete on concrete sound coming from behind us, but didn't look, focusing on cutting off the monsters' legs. I followed the group's movement as we backed up towards the doors that had just been opened by Chuck and Teresa.

Another one of the boys got thrown away, and I felt bile rising in my throat. I shook my head, trying to focus on the creatures. Thomas shoved his spear in one of the Grievers, and it screeched.

"Thomas, there's a code! Eight numbers!" Teresa shouted, and Thomas turned around. I looked up just in time to hit the pincer that was reaching for him, and he flinched staring at me for a second, before focusing back on the Grievers. Someone grabbed me and pulled me behind them and I groaned, seeing the familiar blonde hair in front of me. I pushed my way next to him but he pushed me back, shouting.

"Heads up! Back away!" he screamed, pushing me behind him once again. We all retreated as the creature fell, but Minho, who was screaming the numbers to Teresa, didn't follow quickly enough.

"Minho!" I shouted, as he fell on his back, the Griever on top of him. I stood up quickly, running towards him. I noticed Jeff by my side as he screamed, jumping and digging his spear in the Griever's body. The Griever took its attention off Minho and I reached down at him, pulling him by the shoulders as we backed up towards the group. Jeff started screaming and blood started dripping down the Griever's head, as it backed up with Jeff in its mouth. My sight blurred, and I felt dizzy, my legs suddenly weakening. A hand on my shoulders pulled me back and I hit someone's chest.

"Lily? Lily you alright?" Newt asked, and I nodded, taking deep breaths. He dragged me into the small tunnel, and my eyes fell on my thigh. My bandage was soaked in blood, and it was starting to drip down on my knee. I shook my head, looking back at the Grievers in front of us. We heard an electronic sound, and I turned to see a big, green circle behind Teresa and Chuck. I turned back towards the Grievers, and the large doors that had opened started coming down, one by one. The Griever made one last effort to get to us, one of the pincer reaching at Thomas. I screamed, pushing myself off Newt to stand in front of Thomas.

The pincers reached down and wrapped around my chest, pulling me up the ground. I heard shouts, and I fought against the metal pieces holding me up, without success. I looked at the boys as Thomas threw his spear on the Griever, and Newt lunged forward, screaming my name. The door was almost closed, though, and Newt was pulled back, before the door fully closed on my friends.

The Griever was still shaking me up, but he didn't have enough space to shift and put me down. I tried to fight against it some more, but a wave of numbness flew through me, and my eyelids felt heavy. I sloppily tried to get ahold of something, but I couldn't reach anything. The Griever suddenly stopped moving, it's pincer opening around me, and I fell. I vaguely felt myself hit the ground, before everything went black.