'Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter Twenty Four - Griever jumping.

By the time the night rolled round once more, Riley was prepared. She knew what she wanted to do - what she had to do.

She had to get some memories back. She needed them. That was the only way to escape the maze, and she knew it. It was desperate times - now, it was all or nothing. And she was prepared to give it her all.

"You sure about this?" Thomas asked in a low voice as Alby ushered them into the homestead to play another round of hide and seek with the grievers. He looked frightened, but brave. It struck Riley how courageous he was - willing to risk his own life to get some memories back. She couldn't remember her past, but she was still certain he was the bravest idiot she'd ever known.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Riley muttered.

He nodded. "We just have to wait for an opening. A chance to get to one. But, don't let it take you away. We want to get stung, not killed."

Riley agreed sullenly, leaving Thomas' side to sit against the back wall of the homestead. Gladers were sat alone or in little huddles, some whispering among themselves, some silent. Everyone had the same thing on their mind - tonight, it could be them. Thomas sat down beside Teresa and Chuck, a few paces away from Riley.

When everyone was safely in the homestead, Newt came over to sit by her side. "Hey, Riles." He said, looking weary and tired. Riley could only try to understand how much trauma Newt was going through - trying to keep everyone together, basically stepping up as their leader, seeing as Alby had changed completely after being stung. That was something that scared Riley. Alby was so calm, so level headed - if the changing had done that to him, she was terrified to find out what it would do to her.

"Hey." She said, quietly. She could only think about one thing; what she was planning to do, she couldn't tell Newt about, or he'd stop her. It would look like she was trying to commit suicide. A hush fell upon the homestead. Riley sat motionless, hugging her knees, occasionally glancing in Thomas's direction. She needed to be ready, but now wasn't the time. She rested her head on the wall, blocking out the rest of the world as best as she could.

Then the noises began. Clicking and whirring, quiet, haunted moans from outside the homestead. Nobody moved, each praying they would make it through the night. That's all it was now. Survival of the fittest, just hoping you wouldn't be the next to go. Thomas gave her a pointed look - and then the griever came barrelling through the homestead wall.

It was chaos. Gladers screaming, shouting, rushing about like there was no tomorrow. Most had backed up against the far wall, desperately fighting for their lives. In the commotion, Riley fell down, and her vision was engulfed. "It's got him!" Came a desperate cry. The screaming stopped, and there was silence for a second, before the chaos began once more.

Thomas pulled Riley back to her feet. "Now." He hissed. The griever had scrambled back through the hole it had made. She nodded at him. Together, they pushed past the rabble and into the night.

Six or seven grievers were making their way to the West Door, one carrying the unfortunate boy. Riley ran like she had never ran before, ignoring the Glader's shocked cries behind her. To them, it would look like both Thomas and herself were on a suicide mission. Riley threw herself at the nearest griever, in all it's bulbous, disgusting glory. And, sure enough, she felt tiny pin pricks all over her body. The griever screeched and made a grab for her, it's entire body convulsing. Panic flared through Riley, and she staggered away as best she could. It was like Thomas said - they wanted to be stung, not killed. She could hear shouts and screams in the distance, but all she saw was dark. As soon as she had stumbled out of reaching range, the griever turned and fled, no longer interested in her.

The world started spinning. Flashes of colour erupted in her vision as Riley collapsed.

She vaguely heard footsteps coming towards her, people surrounding her - she could make out faces, but just barely. "Why, Riley? Why the hell would you do that, you complete and utter idiot!" Came Newt's voice. He sounded scared. Shaken. Riley shook her head, trembling all over. "Someone grab her legs!" Newt ordered. He hooked his arms under her armpits, and Riley was lifted skywards.

"No, Newt. Y-you don't understand." She whispered, as the world began to fall away. "It's okay, Newt. I did it on purpose."

And then nothing.

[a/n

Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop I actually remembered to update! Yeah, it's kinda bad, but I'm gonna post another update pretty soon, so just bare with me. If I don't get it posted by Christmas, merry Christmas to you all.

Lol I'm really happy bc my big sister came down from uni to visit and she went and brought me like five books. Which one should I read first; 'Geek Girl', 'An Abundance of Katherine's', 'It's kind of a funny story' or 'let it snow'?

Anyway ily all you shanks.

-delirious.]