in another life; the maze runner

☆twenty-one☆

The courageous Gladers ran for what felt like eternity, the majority of the time passed by words of encouragement and mostly strong silence. Mae was nervous, terrified even, but she didn't let herself dwell on that fact. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach at the thought of a life outside of the Glade, but even more so at the worry of sacrifices they would have to make to get there.

They ran and ran, gradually changing speeds as they went. It was hard to stay at a steady pace when there could be a man-eating Griever around every corner.

They passed different sections of the Maze, and Mae finally understood what Minho was talking about when he would go on about the differences between them. Some parts of the ground seemed crumbled, and out of place, which she figured must have been the cause of all the strange sounds emitted from the Maze the previous day.

Finally, Thomas slowed to a halt in front of one of the corners. He glanced back and forth warily, holding his spear with a certain purpose that could only come from a boy so determined and driven as himself. Mae found herself standing next to Teresa, Newt, Minho and Jeff, with Thomas standing before them to address the group. He took another look down the corridor, and whipped his head back to his friends instantly with a shaky breath.

"Is there a Griever?" Chuck asked. Mae already knew the answer, listening carefully to the deep growls and mechanical clanking that sounded not too far off.

"Yep," There were a few groans and gasps, but most of the Gladers kept a brave face.

"Shit," Chuck muttered. Newt sent him a disapproving look, but didn't say anything, seeing as it was clearly not the time to be scolding him about language use. Mae sucked in a breath and glanced at her sister, who had begun pulling her hair up with a rubber band.

"Where did you find that?" She asked enviously. Teresa shrugged and swept her now-contained hair behind her shoulder.

"Chuck, you hold onto that. Stay behind us," Minho said, handing the young boy the device they had pulled from the Griever and ignoring Mae's off topic remarks about the state of her hair.

"It's ok. Just stick with me," Teresa assured while Chuck examined the piece of machinery that Minho had trusted him with. Mae felt her self subconsciously gripping her huge blade tighter, slightly anxious that she didn't have a spear. It seemed to prove more useful on Grievers than a puny knife. Nevertheless, she didn't say anything about it and instead looked to Thomas to see what he had to say.

"Once we're through, it'll activate, and the door will open. We stay close, we stick together and we get through this, we get out now, or we die trying." He said, emphasis on every important word. He was a natural leader, someone Mae found herself looking up to often. He never showed it, but she knew he was also frightened himself, but being the boy he was, he turned his fear into determination, fuel to escape.

Everyone, including Mae, nodded at Thomas's inspiring words. It was like someone had lit a fire under them, motivating them do any and everything they could to leave the place they had been confined in forever. The boy at the front of the herd took his spear and sent the bottom of it into the concrete floor, as if to start a battle call, and a chorus of different sounds erupted as everyone whipped out their weapons.

"Alright." He looked over the group once again, wanting to make sure everyone was accounted for.

"LET'S GO!"

All the Gladers spilled out from the corner of the Maze into the corridor where the Griever had been waiting for them, yelling all sorts of words to conjure up the bravery they needed. this particular part of the Maze was different, on either sides of the ground of the passage way, there was a deep drop to black nothingness. It made it harder for the herd to navigate their way without falling off the edge. To Mae, it felt as if someone was watching them on a television, and had picked up the remote to fast forward through this party of the movie. Everything moved so fast as they ran full speed for the monstrous beast. Mae was at the middle of the group, behind the front line of boys who had begun stabbing the Griever mercilessly with their various weapons.