The Garden of Heathen

Race Against Time

Author's Note: I deleted the last chapter I wrote because I did not actually like it, some of you read it before I took it down so you may be confused at first. We are picking up from Gally and his gang running from the grievers, still in the maze. And.....action

Part of Gally was losing hope of ever seeing Aussie again with every second that slipped through their fingers, yet it was the hope of seeing her that kept him on his toes. It was the only reason he was pushing himself as hard as he was to run faster, to think smarter, and to get away from those grievers. The monsters were merciless and never tired of chasing them. They felt like mice being toyed with by cats, batted around, injured but not killed. It was truly exhausting but he couldn't give up.

They relied on Joan and her vast memory of the maze to keep them from being cornered in a dead end, but the creatures seemed to pick up on that and soon split the herd. Gally was a bit devastated that he was separated from Joan, but also thankful he wasn't stuck with Aris either. Rachel ran by his side, matching him stride for stride, but their speed and strength wasn't going to help them if they didn't know the way out.

"Any bright ideas?" Gally panted between breaths as they went down corridors at random in an effort to shake their pursuer.

"I'm thinking," she huffed.

Gally took a quick glance over his shoulder and saw the hideous thing clattering after them, drool swinging from it's jaws full of mechanical teeth. They were the strangest, most nightmarish things ever conceived and Gally did not want a closer view than this.

"Think faster," he told her, his legs and lungs burning.

"Right turn. Make it close," She instructed.

They came up on a corridor to their right and waited until the last second to make the turn. It was hard enough for them to sharply turn their momentum, the griever being a hundred times heavier didn't stand a chance. It had enough time to realize what they were doing and start to follow, but not enough time to avoid body slamming into the corner, buying them some more distance and more time. They ran on, turning any corner as soon as they came to it to try and get out of sight of the thing. Gally feared it might be able to track their scent somehow.

They landed in their first dead end and immediately turned on their heels to double back. They slowed to check the main corridor for the griever before they ventured out again.

"To the left?" Gally asked her, hands braced on his knees as he took the opportunity to gasp down some much needed oxygen.

"Hold on, do you see that?" She asked him, pointing across the main corridor to another just a bit to the left.

"What?" he asked, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, for a giant monster filled maze that is.

"I swear there's a-" Rachel began to explain but was cut off by a shrieking roar, the griever catching up with them. "No time to explain, just trust me, ok?"

With that she grabbed his hand and pulled him after her, crossing the griever's path as it came around the corner. It definitely saw them. Gally didn't know what Rachel had in mind, but he supposed this was better than being found in something they knew for sure was a dead end. He just prayed she knew what she was doing. His prayers seemed to go unanswered when she abruptly came to a halt, forcing him to as well.

"What are you-"

"Look!" She interrupted him as she swung her foot through the air, revealing they were on the edge of some sort of cliff.

Gally had to blink hard to try and see this correctly. It was like some kind of optical illusion that made it look like the maze kept going and was level. What a dirty trick! The approaching sound of the griever got closer. and they stood shoulder to shoulder facing it now.