Into the Maze

Chapter 25

We ran through the maze, and I mean through the maze. Past section after section, all of us, in one group.

Thomas held the front, leading the way past a lighter colored section, as Minho and I took near the back. Newt's limp was a bit more noticeable as we ran, but it didn't stop him from keeping up, and it definitely didn't stop him from not leaving my side.

We eventually made it to the section where Thomas had been talking about. And we all huddled behind a wall. Sure enough, there was a Griever waiting for us, at the end of the narrow hall.

"Is there a Griever?" Chuck asked, as I looked down to him, chewing on my lip. Thomas looked back, and nodded.

"Yeah."

"Shit." Chuck murmured, as I watched him. I was not letting any Griever get to him, if it was the last thing I did.

"You take this, Chuck. Stay behind us." Minho reached forward, handing Chuck the machine that had came out of the first Griever.

"It's okay. Just stick with me." Teresa told him, as he nodded, watching our faces. He was our friend, and none of us were letting him get hurt.

"Once we're through, it will activate, and the door will open." Thomas explained, as we watched him. "Alright, we stay close, we stick together, we get through this. We get out now, or we die trying. Ready?"

I looked to Newt, who found my eyes. Neither of us said anything, I don't think any pattern of words would have been suitable for this situation, but somehow I knew everything he would have said anyways.

"Alright." Thomas said, as I shot Newt a last half smile, one more sad than happy. He watched my face, his eyes communicating perfectly. "Let's go!"

And with Thomas's words, we all turned, and sprinted right at that Griever. No matter how many times I see one, I never get used to it.

We all knocked our spears into it, dodging as it turned, sliding around us. A few boys were shouting, nothing in particular, as we slammed our wooden rods into it's face and body.

It roared at us; "Push it!" Thomas yelled, as we pushed it even harder, trying to knock if off one of the edges on either side of us that seemed to never end.

"Watch the tail!" Minho shouted, as we all ducked, dodging it's tail. It grabbed a random kid and threw him off the edge, as we all watched in shock.

Then, it reared back and started to slam it's claw into the ground. I reached down and grabbed Teresa, pulling her away as it slammed into the stone instead of her chest.

She slammed her machete into it's leg, as a part of it flew off, hitting Chuck's hand. The machine he had been holding went rolling, but I got a bit distracted with it's other arm, which had swung down.

Next thing I knew Teresa was running towards Chuck, who nearly slid off the edge over the machine.

"Shit!" I shouted, as another Griever climbed up out of the abyss, roaring at Chuck and Teresa, as the first Griever roared with it.

We took it's roar as an advantage and charged, pushing as hard as we could against the first Griever, until it's leg slipped and it went sliding over the edge.

I turned right as it fell and dodged boys, looking over to Teresa and Chuck. Another one had climbed up on the other side, and they were both running back to us as fast as they could.

They kept running to the door, which unlocked with the machine, like Thomas had said, as we defended them. Fighting both Grievers.

It was only working if we actually stayed together and pushed as a team. No way a single stick of wood would fight off an entire Griever, but we all might have a chance.

The Grievers caught a boy's stick, and he failed to let go, as he was yanked over the edge and down into the abyss.

"Thomas! There's a code!" Teresa shouted back, as my heart sank. I turned and slammed my spear into the Griever, knocking it in the face out of frustration. "Eight numbers!"

We continued fighting the beasts as Thomas turned, listening to Teresa. I could feel his confusion as we stabbed at the Grievers.

"Eight sections to the maze." He mumbled. "Hey, Minho! What's the sequence! The sections of the maze, what's the sequence."

The Griever spit and roared as we seemed to get closer and closer to figuring it out, the anger inside of it reaching a maximum level.

"Seven, one, five, two-" He started, as Thomas looked back to Teresa. The Griever reached it's arm forward, nearly grabbing Thomas, but I slammed my spear into it's hand.

It gripped my weapon and slid it out of my hands, but I had just successfully saved his life. He turned around at the noise, and watched as my spear went flying.

"Six, four-" And just like the awful timing that was, right after I had lost my weapon, we heard yet another screech.

"Minho!" Newt shouted, as we looked up, watching as a Griever fell down towards us. We fell back as it landed on Minho, who was holding his spear out, fighting off the demon.

I didn't have a weapon, I couldn't do anything. I looked around, finding nothing, and turned back. Before I could run at the Griever with bare hands, Jeff took off running.

We watched as he knocked the Griever back off Minho, letting him escape, but the Griever grabbed Jeff, stabbing it's hands and stingers into him mercilessly.

"Jeff!" Winston shouted, as Thomas pulled him back. The Grievers looked to us, we were cornered now.

"Minho, finish the damn sequence." I guess I cursed when I was stressed out, a bit more than I normally did, but Minho got the idea.

"Uh, six, four, eight, three. You got it?" He yelled, as the screen which had been red, holding numbers, flashed green. The Grievers were gaining on us, with mere feet separating us.

I watched as a Griever completely tore Newt's spear in half, like it was nothing, before the walls around us began to move.

The walls in front of us closed one by one on each individual Griever, one getting fairly close to making it, but Thomas threw his spear, making it stumble and get crushed in the last wall.

We stepped back into the hole that had opened up behind us, just before it closed, and was shot straight down.

It reminded me of the elevator shaft Thomas and I came up on, but I could only reflect on that for a minute, before we stopped, and a door opened.

We pushed open the door, stepping out into the hallway, the light flickering onto our faces. It was man made, it was all man made! And I mean real man made not some put together shack back in the Glade.

The hallway stretched on for what looked like miles, the pipes lining the side of the wall traveling down with it. And it was completely silent.

Above us, more lights cut on, and slowly lit up the hallway, which had been a bit spotted in light. We all watched in awe, taking in the passageway.

We turned and began walking down one way, it didn't matter, it had to lead somewhere. We walked for what felt like ten minutes, taking in the pipes and machines lining the walls.

Eventually, we made it to a door. There was a green light on beside it, and it wasn't at the end of the hall, for the hall never seemed to have an end, but it was the first door we had seen.

And above it, a sign. Which simply, and almost too ironically, read 'Exit'.

Thomas stepped forward, reaching for the handle, as I looked over. Newt had never left my side. He looked to me, his eyebrow slightly raised, as Thomas pressed down on the handle.