They Don't Own Me

Chapter 22

The group of six followed Minho through the Maze, Ivy and Thomas right on his heels. They had been running for several hours; Ivy was surprised that the other boys hadn't asked to take a break as they weren't used to running this much for this long. But then again, they had been going at a decent pace so they could keep up.

They were about to run down another corridor when Ivy noticed something to their right. She stopped Minho, motioning to the hall. The Runner nodded slightly as the other boys stopped and looked in the direction Ivy and Minho had started to walk toward. Slowly, the boys followed the pair.

"That's disgusting," Zart stated, holding onto the spear he had brought with him.

Sticking out between two parts of the Maze wall was the leg of a Griever. The long metal limbs stuck out into the hall while disgusting piles of slime were lying on the ground. Ivy took a deep breath, telling herself that it was dead.

"There's something in there," Thomas suddenly said.

"You mean, besides a Griever pancake?" Frypan asked.

Ivy looked through the crack in the wall, attempting to ignore the Griever's head with it's mouth open, and noticed a small blinking light. She glanced at Minho, who took a step forward, moving around the Griever's leg.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Zart questioned.

Minho looked back at them, his eyes finding Ivy's for a moment. He gave her a small nod, trying to reassure her that everything was alright. She nodded back to him but remained stiff. Minho slowly reached through the crack, turning his head so he wasn't face to face with the Griever. Suddenly, there was a small shriek and the leg moved. Ivy gave a cry of surprise and fear, helping the boys pull Minho away. She stared with wide eyes at the Griever, her heart beating faster than it already was.

"I thought you said it was dead!" Frypan exclaimed.

"Was it a reflex?" Zart wondered, looking to the Runners for answers.

"You hope," Winston said to him.

"Okay, come on," Thomas said, taking a step forward. He kneeled down toward the Griever leg. "Let's try and pull it out." The others moved to help him. Ivy's skin crawled as she touched the Griever leg but she forced herself to remain strong. She was not going to be weak. "Everyone get a hand on it. Come on. All right, ready? On three. One, two, three!"

The six teens pulled as hard as they could. For a moment, it seemed like the leg would not come free, until it suddenly gave way. The group stumbled back and Frypan, Thomas, and Winston fell over. Ivy quickly stepped away from the leg and looked to boys.

"Everyone alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," Frypan replied. Thomas quickly got to his feet and helped Frypan up. "Thanks, brother."

Minho stepped over the leg, moving to the pile of goop that had come out of the Griever when they had pulled its limb off. He reached down and grabbed hold of one of the chunks, lifting it into the air. Everyone watched him closely, waiting to see what happened as Minho handled the object carefully. The Runner glanced up, briefly making eye contact with Ivy before looking back at the object in his hand. He reached into it and pulled a silver metal tube out, dropping the slimy covering to the ground. Minho shook his hand, trying to get rid of some of the slime. Once he got most of it off, he looked back at the metal cylinder.

"What the h*ll is that?" Thomas asked.

"Ivy, come take a look," Minho said, glancing at her again.

The girl nodded and stepped toward him. He turned the metal in his hand before handing it to her. Her face wrinkled slightly due to the slime and she was glad that she had chosen to wear fingerless gloves today. She turned the machinery over in her hand, looking it over. There was a small blinking light at one end. At the other, there was a tiny screen revealing the number seven along with the word 'WCKD' written on it. She looked at it in confusion; it was the same logo she had seen on the crates that arrived with every new Greenie.