in another life; the maze runner

☆twenty-two☆

Shooting pains traveled up and down Mae's arm, as she found herself caught under the weight of the Griever. Most of her concern was centered on Minho, who was sprawled on the floor with Griever on top of him, as he tried his best to dodge it's repeated attacks on his face. It's spider like mechanic arms slamming onto the ground and flailing about as it screeched with menace.

The only thing stopping the creature from ripping him to shreds was the spear that he held firmly over his face, right between it's jaws. Mae used her other hand, the one that had the knife in it, and swung it over to stab it right in it's hideous face.

The Griever screamed out in pain, sticky green liquid seeping from the place where the girl had punctured it. It wasn't enough to get it to back off though, and the two were still stuck, vulnerable to the attack.

All the boys behind them were trying to figure out how to help, but had no idea how to go about executing a plan.

Suddenly, with no announcement to the rest of the Gladers, Jeff launched himself forward, clutching his spear tightly. He let out a loud battle cry as he used as much force as he had to impale the top part of the Griever, distracting it enough for Minho to scoot out from under it and for Mae to pull her arm out of harms way. Even though she was free now, her arm convulsed with pain, and it was slightly bent in a way it shouldn't be. Newt reached forward, but jerked his hand backward when he saw her abnormal arm.

"It's all shucked up," She muttered under her breath. She hadn't even noticed it, but she'd spent enough time with them to pick a few of the odd words that the Gladers had created.

Unfortunately, Jeff's act of bravery didn't end so well for the boy himself. After he had fought the Griever off of Minho, he became frozen in place, not knowing what to do next. Mae wasn't able to pull him back with her due to her injured arm, and the monster growled with malice. It opened it's mouth, and in a flash, attacked Jeff's legs, carrying him off as it scrambled backward away from the Gladers.

His screams rung in Mae's ears as her eyes widened with shock and heartbreak.

"JEFF!" Winston cried after his friend, and he tried to move forward to him, but Frypan grabbed a hold of him, forcing him to move backwards where the remaining kids were gathered near the pod-like door.

More Grievers had begun to line up in front of them, trapping them in between the door and the group of creatures. The boys held out their spears in defense again, and Thomas pushed Mae behind them toward Chuck and Teresa due to her condition. She let her damaged arm hang limply at her side, trying to ignore the excruciating agony that came along with her injury. She was still slightly trembling from the sight of her old Med-jack mentor being carried off to his doom, but she brushed off both her physical and mental anguish and moved in closer to her sister.

"Mae, did you hear the sequence that Minho was saying before..." She glanced down at the girls ravaged arm. "You know?"

"Um, yeah." Mae answered, searching her memory for a few a minutes before when Minho had been shouting the order of the sections of the Maze. "The last two were eight..." She paused, squeezing her eyes shut as she dove further in thought. Funny how just two weeks ago, she couldn't remember her life, and now she was trying to remember what her friend had said a few seconds ago.

"Mae, hurry!" Teresa urged, glancing back at the Grievers who the boys were still holding up.

"Three! It was three," The girl said suddenly, the number popping up in the back of her head. Teresa nodded and typed in the last number in the pad, the pixels on the screen suddenly lighting up in green with the words 'complete' popping up in front of them.