Different | The Maze Runner / Newt ¹ ✓

{1.9}

Disclaimer:

I had a That's So Raven vision that in the future, I owned The Maze Runner. Then James Dashner came and killed me off.

-✼-

Thomas and I stood between the three Grievers,  gasping for breath. We glanced at each other and a silent agreement passed between us— if we were to go down, we would go down fighting.

Thomas took on the one that had chased us, leaving me to go for the other two. I didn't waste a second, running straight at them. They paused for a moment as if surprised by my bravery.

"Wait!" Thomas cried just as the Grievers started to shudder, preparing to move. I skidded to a stop and turned, seeing his Griever rolling toward him. At the last second, he stepped to the side, sending it zooming past. I followed his movements and dove to my left. Unable to stop its momentum, the hideous monster continued on its way. "C'mon!"

I scrambled clumsily to my feet, my entire right side still pulsing with pain from my previous fall. Breathing so heavily I thought my lungs would burst, I pushed myself so hard I was sure I was going beyond physical limits and fought to catch up with Thomas. He was six feet away. Four feet. Two.

The sounds of raging pursuit followed close behind as I finally caught up with him, my short legs pushing as hard as possible as I pumped my arms.

I unwillingly let out a weak, breathless squeal as we rounded the next corner and a pair of hands yanked me and Thomas into an adjoining hallway. I squinted in the dark, preparing to fight if needed, and was surprised to see Minho.

"What—" Thomas gasped, his chest heaving, his hair matted onto his forehead with sweat.

"Shut up and follow me!" Minho yelled, one hand grabbing each of us until we got our feet under ourselves.

He seemed to know exactly where he was going, never pausing to think while we took turn after turn. Although he must have been running for longer than we had, he was still moving steadily. It amazed me at how much physical strain his body could handle.

After we rounded the next corner, the Runner struggled to speak. "I just saw...the dive move you did...back there...gave me an idea...we only have to last...a little while longer..."

I trusted that the experienced Runner knew what he was doing and didn't question him, following wordlessly and lagging behind a little. My eyes squeezed shut every few seconds due to an ever-growing, painful cramp in my side. I focused on my breathing to try and stop it from hurting. But there was always something new to focus on instead, like my heart pounding so hard it ached, my legs searing with pain, and my bleeding elbows from when I had fallen off of the ivy.

We soon approached a strange wall of darkness, which seemed off to me. Very off. My eyebrows creased in confusion when I saw a light— the Maze ended.

Okay; what? How on earth...

"Don't get too excited," Minho warned, barely able to get his words out.

A few feet before the end of the corridor, Minho slowed to a stop, holding his hand out to make sure we did as well. I stood on my toes, leaning over the Runner to see.

We had definitely reached an end, but it wasn't what I had expected. All I could see from every direction was nothing but open sky and stars. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. It was as if we had discovered the end of the Earth.

Dawn was beginning to show, the sky slowly lightening up. This made it slightly easier to view the weird, sudden drop-off we had reached. Science and logic told me there was no way this was right. It was like the Maze was suspended in the air. Something was off.