Malevolent Maze// Minho

Through the Rabbit Hole

You can't turn back now Mallory. I scolded myself as the warning sirens sounded and red lights flashed overhead. Gripping my bag tighter, I didn't falter in step as I barreled down the hallway. I'd walked down them enough times to know exactly where I was going. Using only muscle memory I threw myself around corners and through every open doorway that would lead me to the only other entrance of the Maze, the Griever Hole.

Stupid idea really. I mean a Griever might come down the very same hole I try to enter from. I have no doubt that W.I.C.K.E.D would do something like that, but then again, they don't really know my plan do they? Vaulting into the room I slam the door shut behind me and allow myself only a single deep breathe before throwing myself into action again. It'll take a minute for them to realize where I've gone, another minute to realize what I'm doing and I need to be up and out of that Griever hole before they can catch me. You see, the Griever Hole doesn't just act as an exit for the Gladers and the Grievers themselves, it's also an entrance. How else do you think the Grievers get there?

Moving swiftly I tighten the straps of my pack around my body and rub my hands together in preparation. I'm already barefoot, my shoes and socks stored in my pack. It's easier to climb the chute that way. I hurl myself into the dark, narrow shaft and begin climbing as soon as my hands touch the steel. I don't allow myself much room for error. If I slip and fall, I'll be back at the bottom of the chute and they'll kill me. I need to get within ten feet of the top of the Griever Hole, once there I will be shot forward up out of the hole and into the Maze, let's just hope I find solid ground instead of empty air.

Grinding my teeth I find myself struggling with the last twenty feet. My hands are already slick with sweat but I'm so close I can't stop now. Grunting, I hoist myself up a couple more feet and judging by the pressure building in the air around me I'm close to the breaking point, but that's when I hear the familiar clicks and whirs the Grievers make. I can't tell where it's coming from, up there or down below me. In a last ditch effort I throw myself up the next four feet. Stifling a scream I'm shot forward, up and out of the Griever Hole and I have about ten seconds to project where I'm going to land and how exactly too land.

Because I'm a lot lighter than the Grievers themselves, I'm thrown a hell of a lot farther than they usually are. Where they barely make the ledge, I'm thrown four feet past it. I manage to do a small tuck and roll but end up getting my arm slashed by a couple of jagged rocks. Wincing and letting out a couple of hissing sounds I pull my arm into my lap to get a good look at it. Time isn't on my side though and neither is W.I.C.K.E.D. Hurriedly pulling my shoes and socks out, I stuff my feet into them haphazardly, hardly caring if the heel of the sock is where it should be. I just have to get out of there, run and keep running.

Without a second glance at the Cliff I take off through the maze trying to furiously remember the pattern to match it up with today's date. As I run the maze though I realize how pointless it is. I'm not like the Runners. I haven't memorized every twist and turn and I certainly haven't been running it up and down everyday for the past two years. I know the patterns. I've just never run it. That's why I packed for a couple of days. I might end up running in circles or worse, run right past the Glade and the Runners themselves.

----

My lungs are about to give out, I don't know how long I've been running or if I've gotten far or not all I know is that if I take one more step my heart just might give out and I won't be able to warn them. Breathing deeply and chocking on the own air I breathe, I slowly lean up against a section of the wall. If I sit down too quickly everything might begin to spin and I'll pass out. Who knows who might find me. I continue to breathe in and out slowly, trying to get my heart rate down to what it should be naturally. It feels like it might just beat out of my chest at the moment.