𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 | Gally | BOOK 2

Chapter Seven

The vent system had been a maze even of itself. Aris must've spend hours mapping out the building within the short week he had been there. The tunnels at some point got so small that we'd have to crawl on our stomachs. Shouting and alarms rang through the tunnels, they were obviously panicked that I was gone. My hands and knees were growing sharp blisters the further we moved. My neck was complaining from its cranked position. It had begun to get stuffy and I had found myself catching my breath every now and then.

Aris stopped at the end of the longest vent. There was no where else to go, it was a dead end, "You gotta go up," he pointed upwards where the vent continued. It wasn't very high and curved back over to a flat ground. "This is where I have to leave you." he added, "There's a fan up there. I can get that sorted out for you. At the end there's another cover that you'll just have to get through and then you're out."

I gulped, unsure of wether this was the greatest idea, "You're not coming, are you?"

"I can't," his face fell, "I can't leave my friends behind." A piece of my heart ached. I didn't want anything to do with Minho, but I felt horrible leaving Newt, Frypan and the other gladers down there. I know they wouldn't abandon me, but there was nothing I could do. WICKED was already looking for me, and I couldn't put them in more danger than they're already in. They're smart boys, if we survived the Maze together I had no doubt they could get out of this one too.

"Thank you for everything," I sighed, "Please try and find a way out. It's not safe." He gave me a look, like he knew exactly what I meant. I didn't have time to tell him what I knew. My eyes were telling him everything instead.

His face jumped in expression quickly, like he'd just remembered something. Aris started to unzip his sweater, "Take this. I'll tell them I lost it." I took the sweater from him and thanked him.

I jumped up, clutching to the sides of the boxy space until I pulled myself up over the edge. I looked back down at him, hoping to say goodbye, but he had already vanished.

I turned back and faced the final stretch of the vent in front of me. My hair flew around my face and got into my eyes and lips. Only a few meters away, a giant fan blocked all four corners of the space. Through little blips, I could see the opening that led to the outside world, blocked by another grilled vent cover. The fan was moving too rapidly for me to squeeze past it. I would be chopped up like Frypans chicken. Oh

The fan seemed to spin faster and faster, making me dizzy. It whirred and rattled the entire space, making little ticks every now and then.

If the sharp blades of the fan weren't intimidating enough, the sound of it reminded me of events that I worked so hard to forget. The metal clinks travelled through my ear drums and tickled the memories I had forgotten about since I woke up. My demons danced around my brain, reminding me that I have no one to help me if an episode breaks out. My hands shook in synch with the already jarring metal walls. I took in a breath, allowing myself to feel the cool air pass through my lungs and come back up. No matter how hard I tried to shut the door on my anxiety, it kept pushing through. The sound of the griever's hungry growl played over and over again like a spinning disk. The way the beady eyes came back to me and glared straight into the pit of my body. The sounds of ripping flesh came back to me, followed by the agonising screams of the gladers, my family. My arms started to itch as I could feel the twigs scraping at my arms while I ran through the Deadheads.

I took in another deep breath but it didn't calm me down. The rugged goosebumps that coated my skin were only enhanced by the cool air the fan was blowing on me. My body felt as thin as paper as I weakly stumbled back. I quickly caught myself before I slipping over the edge that led to the series of vents below me.