Malevolent Maze// Minho

First Impressions

"Mallory, Mallory. Listen to me." I bolted upright in my bed and found bright blue eyes staring back at me.

"Teresa." I muttered snuggling back under my blanket. "What do you want?" Teresa slept across from me here in W.I.C.K.E.D. She was important, special. I hated her for it. She was always treated way better than the rest of us.

"They're sending us in." Us? In? That could only mean one thing.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded lowly, angrily as I pushed my covers off my body.

"Thomas and I, we've completed our training we..." She never got to finish her sentence as two pristine guards dressed all in white open the door with so much force it made a dent in the wall behind it. Theresa stood up quickly, immediately.

"Take her." A smooth silky voice said. I couldn't see her but I knew who it was. Teresa grabbed hold of me and whispered a series of instructions in my ear before she was dragged off. She didn't fight, didn't struggle, didn't scream. With a flip of our Creators blonde hair the door was shut again leaving me in the dark. They never asked what Theresa had said. I guess they figured I wouldn't do anything about it. They underestimated me.

Gasping for air and reeling from a nightmare about Grievers and the Gladers I sat up swiftly in the bunk feeling like I was going to throw up or pass out again. I couldn't figure out which. I ended up dry heaving on the ground before nearly coughing out a lung. When I finally gained my bearings I sat up on the ground, my back pressed against the fame of the bed. Breathing slowly I wondered what time it was before I realized I didn't need a watch to figure it out. It would be five o'clock on the dot. The time I had been conditioned to wake up to.

After using the bathroom and gathering my supplies I took a look at the wound on my arm. The cuts were deeper than I expected but nothing I would die from. Sure it stung like hell but I wasn't going to complain about it. I knew this would be difficult when I started out, now I just had to keep going.

I had a quick breakfast and took a couple swigs of water before I began climbing the metal ladder. I tossed open the hatch with a long groan and watched the sunlight pour through. The sun was just rising, the Runners are already in the Maze and I had to get out there as well.

Climbing back down was harder than I anticipated, sure I had all the time in the world but the burning pain in my upper arms was making it difficult to concentrate on the actual climbing down part. When I was five feet from the ground I dropped the rest of the way but didn't stop there, despite the pain that shot up my legs. I had to find someone to take me out of the Maze.

I was hopping to run into Minho. If I had to run into anyone I wanted it to be Minho. Not for any reason, it was just that he was Keeper of the Runners and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. I mean, sure, I tortured him and took his memories but he always looked so peaceful asleep. They all did. Which only makes it harder remembering I helped make this Maze possible.

I was so focused on the running and on my own thoughts I almost didn't hear it, the signature clicks and whirs that a Griever was nearby. In broad daylight? Were they doing this because of me? Had I only made it worse? Rounding a corner I had to abruptly stop when I found myself back at the Cliff right back where I had started.

I wanted to scream my discontent to the heavens but I didn't have time for that. A Griever was being launched from the hole. I should have run, like any smart person would have done. Instead I made my way over to a small pile of rubble, where stones had fallen loose in the process of the shifting maze. I was angry, I needed to take it out on something.

When the Griever landed on the edge of the cliff and slowly pulled itself further onto the ground I chucked the first bowling ball sized stone. It hit its purplish middle and turned to look at me. I stared at it, holding my ground. It was only when it moved that I continued to throw rocks the size of my head at it. It didn't seem to be doing much but the point of this was to get him closer to side of the wall.