Into The WICKED Maze | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

4. Hunted

Suddenly I heard a rustling in the nearby forest and looked up. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then the rustling became louder and louder and Minho looked in that direction, too. We exchanged glances and ran towards the sound to see what it was.
But then suddenly a terrible scream came from the forest and we stopped as if rooted to the ground. What could it be?
The rustling quickly became louder and a few seconds later a boy fell from the bushes. He was panting heavily, his eyes were glassy and his veins appeared strangely. The sight of him made me feel disgusted and I reached for Minho's arm.
Just as I was about to say something, he screamed terribly loud once more and jumped towards us.
"Run!" Minho shouted and I didn't need to be told twice. I turned on my heel and sprinted off as fast as I could, Minho right beside me.
We were running incredibly fast and I was afraid I might step into a hole in the ground and fall. Screaming for help we ran towards the other gladers, all of which were still working.
Only Newt seemed to be taking a break, because he was going from the gardens towards the big hut that Alby had introduced to us as a meeting place. When he heard our screams he turned around and looked at us perplexed. Other boys had also heard us and stopped working to see what was going on.
Not knowing where to run to, I simply beamed at Newt, hoping that he would know what to do. But that didn't seem to be the case, because he was still standing there staring at us like he was rooted to the spot.
I decided to run past him and hope that he could stop or calm the boy behind us. When I was almost at his height, the other one grabbed me and tried to pull me to the ground. I tried to pull myself away from him, but stumbled and flew lengthwise, crashing completely uncontrollably right into Newt.
We rolled over twice and I remained buried under him, gasping for breath in horror. He propped himself on his elbow in complete confusion and looked at me with big eyes. I was about to apologise when another scream sounded and the boy who had been chasing us dragged Newt off me. He pushed him aside and then tried to come at me again, but Minho rammed him and both of them went down. Newt now tried to help Minho, but the boy was so full of adrenaline that he pushed them off and jumped back at me just as I was sitting up.
Then I heard someone behind me shouting, "Stan, slim it, stop!" and the boy above me, who had begun to choke me, paused briefly.
After a few seconds, however, he tried to bite me and I could only push him away from me with my last ounce of strength, but I couldn't get up against him.
Suddenly he was pulled off me and Gally pounced on him and hit him.
"Leave her alone, you slinthead!" he shouted and at the same moment he received a blow from Stan himself that hit him in the eye. The other took advantage of the short second in which he paused and tried to bite him as well.
I saw Nick reaching out with a stick and hitting Stan at the head, so that he tipped unconscious to the side. Immediately Gally and Minho were with me and helped me up, while the first one kept asking me questions about how I was doing.
"It's okay, I'm alright. I'm fine."
My ribs hurt, but he hadn't done anything else to me.
"How dare this slinthead come after you?!" Gally was completely beside himself and didn't seem to notice that his eye was already black.
"He was stung."
Suddenly everyone was silent. Nick stood there completely motionless, the staff still in his hand, staring down at Stan.
"And that again in broad daylight." Newt was just tapping the dirt off his clothes and looking at Stan as well.
I knew what they meant. Stan had been stung by a Griever. That meant he must have been in the maze.
"We just can't send anybody else in there. It's too dangerous." Nick turned his eyes away and looked towards the gate.
"That's not entirely true. We just can't send anyone else in there who isn't fast enough. Stan was not a fast runner, that was just adrenaline. We have to send someone in there who can run really fast," Alby said.
With these words he looked at Minho and me.
"You were damn fast just now. Maybe we should consider making you runners."
"Are you crazy? You can't send them in there, it's much too dangerous!" I had expected Gally to object if I was to be sent to these critters, but when I looked up to see who had spoken, my heart leapt.
Newt.
"They just arrived today. And Anna was just attacked by one of us. You're not really gonna send them in there?"
But Alby seemed serious.
"Alby, you know what the maze does to you." At those words, he looked down at his leg and only now did I notice he had a bandage on his lower leg.
"All right, we'll take a vote. Tonight before the feast, all the keepers will meet in the assembly room. And you two are coming too." Nick nodded in our direction.
That apparently ended the discussion, as the gladers scattered again and Newt and Clint carried Stan towards the sanctuary.
I sat down and let my eyes wander over the glade. Minho dropped down next to me and we just sat exactly where we were for a while.