The Cost of the Cure

Chapter 98

You look for something. Anything.

Nothing.

No matter how many walls you attempt to climb or how many times you push the ivy away from them to find anything new, all you find is more stone.

You kick at a pebble on the floor and it scatters away. You wince at the sound as it clatters across the stone passageway and check your watch. An hour after the Doors would have normally closed.

It's not long before Griever moans begin to haunt the air. As the sounds draw nearer and nearer, you find yourself looking around every corner you turn.

The haunting cries seem to surround you and shivers race up and down your spine as you tremble. You force yourself to continue searching. No matter what you do, there's only so much you can do to hide from them.

You're about to turn a corner when a clicking sends chills racing through your entire being. The sound of metal clacking against stone can mean only one thing: Grievers.

You sprint away from the sound. You're not about to get taken and killed. As they draw ever nearer, you duck into another corridor, one that isn't leading to the Glade.

You keep running, even then. There's no guarantee they're only going to the Glade. For all you know, they could be searching the Maze for anyone daring to be in their territory.

You run down another corridor. The sound of the Grievers become more and more distant until you can't hear a thing. You finally stop, leaning against a wall and catching your breath in heaves. Cold sweat slicks your skin. After encountering a Griever, you're more terrified of them than before. If anything, you should be braver, but you're not. Now that you know what one of them is capable of...

You shake the thought from your head. It could be that, or maybe, if you have to face one again, you'd be braver than before. Maybe you'd be braver for knowing what it could do, but fighting against it anyways. That is, if you have a reason. If not, it's just stupidity.

A small, nervous laugh escapes you at that, but you force it down. You're not about to give away your position only for a potential Griever to find you. 

Hours pass and still you find nothing. There isn't a single pebble that's out of place. You check your watch. Seven o'clock. If the sky was normal, it would be hours past dawn.

Now, all that means is one less Glader alive. You trudge back to the Glade, your body seeming to weigh a hundred pounds and your eyes stinging from lack of sleep.