𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 | Gally | BOOK 2

Chapter Six

"What?" I whisper-shouted in response. A pointless method of whispering I think.

"Come up here." I couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl.

I stood there confused, checking every now and then for people coming down the hall, "Why should I trust you?" It seemed like you couldn't believe anyone anymore. If WICKED made us believe we escaped and made the whole Glade a prop, who says this kid wasn't a set up either.

The kid sighed, it echoed through the vent, "It's either me or those doctors. Who knows what they're gonna do to you.

I already had an idea of what was going to happen. The thought of going back to sleep in there became less and less appealing, besides there was zero guarantee I'd wake up again. I groaned, "Well how am I supposed to even get up there genius?"

"Look behind you, there's an empty hospital bed you can climb up on," I followed the kid's instructions. Quickly, I checked the halls for any more doctors, then rolled the plastic coffin right underneath the vent. It wobbled underneath me while I tried to launch myself on top.

I heard a snicker come from above as I clung onto the top, one leg over the edge. I felt like a toddler mounting a horse, "Shut up," I coughed from my uncomfortable position. After a moment of struggling I was able to balance myself on top. The vent cover swung down letting out a loud croak and almost knocking me off makeshift platform, "Hey!" I yelled

"Shh," They hushed. I rolled my eyes. I reached my hands up and they grabbed onto one of them, my other hand clutched the edge of the vent they were sitting on. With hesitation, I jumped off the bed and kicked it back towards the wall. With the kid's help, I pulled myself over the sharp edge and sat in the vent with them, looking down to the floor below us. I reached for the side of the vent cover and pulled it back up, making a loud clank when it shut.

It was still dark but I was close enough to realize he was a young boy, maybe a year or so younger than me, "Come on, we should get further away from the vent or they might hear us."

I followed this new boy through the series of metal vents, every now and then I'd overhear a conversation from below through the openings. We kept crawling a little further until he lead me to a spot that was a bit wider with no openings to the rooms below us nearby.

I stopped to catch my breath then shyly interrogated me with questions, "Who are you? Why were you in that room?"

I shot him a confused look, "I'm Marty. I have no idea how I got there. I just...woke up? In one of those weird hospital beds. Wait a minute who are you?"

The boy looked down at his shoes, lost in thought, "I'm Aris," he mumbled, "I was in group B. Which group are you from?"

I gave him a look of even more confusion, "Group what? I don't know what you're talking about!"

Aris looked at me like I was from another planet, "Well you escaped didn't you? Your maze? Didn't you see the video? It explained everything."

What the hell was this kid talking about, "Look, I don't know what video you're talking about. I guess I escaped but I don't remember anything after..."

Aris waited for me to finish my sentence, which I wasn't going to. Gally. I couldn't remember anything after I was forced to let go of Gally. For a split second I wondered if he still laid there, nothing but Chuck's cold body across from his, but I quickly snapped myself out of that place.

"Can you just explain where we are? All I know is that I woke up from one of those coffins about ten minutes ago and now I'm sitting in a vent with you," I snapped.
The boy looked startled. I never meant to freak him out.

"Okay, we're in some facility run by a bunch of doctors. I have no idea where in the world we are, just that they keep bringing in the surviving kids from every maze. Every day, like clockwork, they're taken into that room that you just came out of. Except no ones ever come out of there before."

My head started to throb with the abundance of information. I felt like I was listening to him speak another language. I still didn't understand much, but my head hurt too much to ask more.

"Where are these other kids? The 'survivors'." I asked rubbing my temple. He didn't say anything and just waved his hand for me to follow suit. We crawled through more vents and turned more corners. Any sense of direction was completely gone, "How long have you...all of us, been here?" My voice travelled through the tubes.

He took a second to respond, "I've been here the longest, about a week. Some of the other kids just came in yesterday." Not even a week. It hadn't even been a week since Gally died along with the other Gladers; Alby, Clint, Jeff, Chuck. I wanted to ask if he knew Thomas, but he didn't seem like the kind of kid that talked much. We moved a little further, dropping in on conversation here and there. He stopped in front of anther opening that looked down into a room. There was a whole jumble of voices, "Recognize anyone?" 

He made some room for me and I squeezed in beside him. Down below me was a cafeteria filled with rowdy kids. Some were eating and laughing while others were sitting quietly hunched over, afraid of what's to come next. Most of my view was restricted to what was right below me, but a familiar voice came from further away. It was calling out a name, Thomas. I could hear that voice from a mile away and know exactly who's it was. I'd grown up with that voice for the past three years, it was the voice of Gally's murderer. A fire-seed of anger planted itself in my throat. I was ready to unleash an inferno without any thought of concequence on Minho who sat cheery and lively right below me.

I swallowed the burning pit, "No. I don't see anyone." I huffed. Another figure passed right under us walking briskfully. It was the same doctor from earlier, the one who dropped her badge. She carried a sense of anxiety with her that floated across the room. She scurried past the children and stopped in front of a tall man that loomed over everyone. His grey hair spiked up and his facial features where all squished in the centre of his face. The woman stood in front of the rat-faced man and moved her hands around in worry. She couldn't even finish her sentence before his face scrunched up and he turned away, marching off in a hurry.

Before I could process the scene, Aris spoke up, "You need to get out of here." It was a statement rather than a suggestion. There was nowhere for me to go. I couldn't go back to that bed, they must've realized I was missing. I had no idea where in the world I was. Outside of this facility could be an ocean or wasteland, another planet for all I knew. "Come on, the vent system leads to outside." Aris said before squirming back around.

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WOWWWZZAAAA LONG TIME NO SEE,

I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I'm going to try to get back into writing a bit more. But there's no guarantees for how fast I can publish chapters unfortunately.

Thank you for all the support this book and Dominion has gotten, I really do appreciate it.