Into the Maze

Chapter 14

My words were answered, as another shriek echoed, closer now. I looked to Thomas, and down, yanking his arm behind the wall with me.

I held my breath again, as it silenced, clicking down closer to us. And then, it stopped. I froze, looking to Thomas, as he slowly peeked out.

I walked out, looking around, and up at Alby, who was still hanging there. Another shriek came from the distance. It sort of felt like tricks were being played on us, over and over.

Thomas slowly backed up, starting down the hall, as I followed. We kept looking back, wondering when the next Griever would come barreling towards us.

I looked down at his feet as he stepped in something gooey, something slimy. I scrunched my nose, and looked to him. But my heart dropped as a line of the same stuff dripped down onto his shoulder.

My eyes widened as we realized, both of us looking up, The Griever was there, looking down on us, ready to pounce. It jumped down, as he fell to the ground, watching as it roared in our faces.

"Shit!" I shouted loudly, pulling him up and sprinting as fast as I could, both of us running from that thing. I got a closer look, it wasn't fully animal. Almost looked man made, but that was the least of my worries, compared to the claws on that thing.

It clamored down the hall after us, as we turned corner after corner, trying to lose it. I thought we might have, but it just took a shortcut and jumped out in front of us.

We turned again, bolting down the halls and taking many turns, grunting and panting, not daring to look back as the adrenaline I wished for earlier surged through me.

I skidded to a stop, realizing we had hit a dead end. "Oh, shit!" Thomas muttered, looking back, as I glanced to the rock, and then to the vines.

I stepped back, sprinting for it, pushing up and onto the vines. I climbed up, and looked down to Thomas, watching in horror as that thing turned the corner.

"Come on, Thomas, come on!" I shouted loudly, as he turned, his eyes wide. He stepped one step back, and then ran fast, doing what I had done and nearly dodging the Griever.

I reached down and helped pull him up, as we kept running, now on a slightly higher level. We turned, except there were less walls and more drop offs.

Thomas got a bit ahead of me, running and jumping across an open drop. I pushed down any thoughts I could be thinking, and ran after, jumping. My body leapt through the air, swiftly, before I hit the stone and rolled.

I jumped up, running after Thomas, who had jumped up onto an elevated surface. He reached out and quickly grabbed my hand, lifting me up, too.

We turned, running twenty feet, before stopping. A long drop down, no way to go, and only a wall of vines ten or so feet across from us.

I glanced to him, then to the thing, which turned, finding us. I took a deep breath, and ran, jumping to the wall.

I hit it with a thud, and slid, failing to grab a few vines. My fingers finally latched onto a patch of leaves, as Thomas followed, landing a bit higher and to my side.

The Griever jumped too, landing right over Thomas. He yelled as it evened itself with him, it's face by his, and extending his claw, which had a big needle on it. It's stinger.

Thomas yelled once more, trying to climb up, as it reared back. I reached out and yanked his leg, pulling him down. His vines broke from the stone, so he fell down to my height, as the needle slammed into the area his head had been in.

We had saved each other so many times at this point, it was becoming a habit. But not one I wanted to get used to.

The Griever tried to move down, but stumbled, bringing a whole bunch of vines falling down with it, including the ones we were one.

We slid, and then fell, hitting the floor. If I didn't have so much adrenaline, I would have noticed how many cuts and bruises I already had, from hitting the stone repeatedly.

I pushed myself out of the vines, and over, as Thomas scurried behind me. I looked back, noticing it had caught itself up in them, tangling it's legs. But it never stopped roaring and ripping.

We took that as our cue, and stumbled to get up, hurrying away. I turned the corner, slamming into Minho, who nearly scared me. I thought I got eaten.

He looked back to the Griever, then to us, his eyes wide. "You're a crazy son of a bitch." He told us, patting our shoulders. The thing began to rip free. "Come on, come on!"

I sprinted after Minho, who had managed to stay alive, too. We ran down the halls, as they started to shift around us. I noticed that I was faster than Thomas and Minho, both of them, and had been this whole night, but forgot it as another shriek echoed.

"This section's closing. Come on, we can lose it!" Minho shouted, running down the hall. I started, but turned, noticing Thomas wasn't coming. "What are you waiting for? Get out of there!"

I watched Thomas, who sat, waiting for the Griever to turn the corner. I realized what he was doing, he was trying to trap it.

"Parker, go." He waved me, as I raised an eyebrow. He second glanced me, then looked to Minho. "Go!"

"Hurry!" I shouted at him, turning and sprinting down the hall, running over to Minho. I stopped, turning and watching.

"The hell is wrong with you greenies?" Minho panted, as Thomas turned, running. The Griever skidded and slipped, slamming into the walls and running after him.

"Thomas! Come on!" The wall got thinner as he got closer, and he was cutting it close. As he got close, I reached in, yanking him out as hard as I could. The walls closed right behind him, and if I hadn't done that then he would have been squished.

Like the Griever.

We all panted, and looked down at the thing in disgust. It's guts were spilled out to the floor, a few machines in the mix.

I looked to Thomas, as he wiped his forehead, glancing to me. We did it, we killed it. And now all we had to do was get Alby, and wait.

Wait for the sun to rise.

Wait for the doors to open.

Wait for the opportunity to save Alby.

And wait to see those 'annoying' boys again.

And we did.