ADRONITIS (II) : tmr minho

46: I could be Dead

Dawn 46

We are walking. I'm near the middle of the pack, far enough that Minho can do his job but close enough that I can keep an eye on him. I'm not putting him in danger. In my hand, someone gave me a bat. I doubt I could defend myself properly with it though. If it gets tough, I'm going to climb the Wall. I wish that I could've made it to the top. Not that we would've been able to just climb over it like I had hoped. There's no exit.

The Walls are the same as they were the first day. I ran in here too. Funny how I could've found the cliff that day. I can't believe Minho found me. I could lose him tonight too. I want to be with him again. This is the last night.

All thanks to Thomas. He is only a step ahead of me so I grab his shoulder. He snaps out of his daze, almost violently. Like he was having a conversation in his own mind. Maybe he was. Thomas mentioned that he said he's telepathic, although I didn't think it was true.

"You ready, saviour?" I ask, nudging him.

He turns red at the suggestion. "I'm not a saviour. You know I helped design the Maze, right?"

I nod. "Word gets around pretty quickly. We don't have secrets here. Not that it matters. You figured out the way out."

He seems to agree, but also seems to be drifting in and out of this conversation. We're almost there so I can't blame him.

"You've got the easy part," I reassure him. "We're the ones who are trapped out here fighting them. Not that I can't take them, but all you've gotta do is punch in a couple letters, which you are more than capable of doing."

It barely reassures Thomas. I almost give up but offer one last piece of advice. "You've already saved Minho's life, and you made it seem easy. Who's to say you don't do it again in half the time?"

"Thanks Dawn," he tries to smile, but it's faint. Thomas may have a bad reputation, but he's a decent dude. He'd rather be out here fighting alongside us than punching in a code in the den.

Teresa moves up right as I finish talking and pulls Thomas to the front of a crowd. You know, I was starting to like her before she became such a jerk. She had to say that her situation was much worse and all that klunk. She doesn't know what we've lost.

We stop, right before we round the final corner. From here I can hear the clicking. The hairs on my arm raise, and my stomach clenches.

These are the monsters that killed my friends. They can definitely kill me too if I let them. I know we don't think they are going to sting us, but that doesn't mean my body won't be filled with Griever juice at the end of this.

I try not to panic anyway. Is this what Michelle does? Turn here panic into fire? Because I can't really do that.

"How many are there?"

"Fifteen," Minho gulps out, looking back. "One five. There all in a circle too."

"I thought he said fifty," a boy seems to sigh, but the rest of us don't. Fifteen. That's two boys for everyone, which is nowhere near enough.

Newt turns around. "Well, we knew this could happen. We have to fight them." If anyone buys his confidence, they're a shucking slinthead.

A loud screech rings out, rupturing my ears. I lift my hands to my ears instinctively. Leo moves up next to me, holding in her hands a long metal blade. I can tell she has no idea how to hold it. I tap her shoulder, and her head flies round. I rip the blade from her wrists, handing her off the baseball bat as quickly as my fingers will let me. She still barely grips the baseball bat, still unsure, but I toss the knife in my hand. I've got this.