the end of beginning, thomas

i, who is she?

THE MAZE WAS no more.

The place that had tormented Melanie, as it had destroyed her peers, casting a dark, shivering cold cloud over them as they felt the absences amongst them. That place, that dark terrifying place; and that was before you ran out of the confines into the narrowing labyrinth. Because if you were one of the few who were stationed in there... well, you ended up like Melanie. Quiet on the surface, with a roaring temper driven by intense fear and dread.

Truly, Melanie always felt as if she was meant for more than the maze. The mental block in her mind, wiping her mind of everything up until that shaky ride in the lift; failed to cease this pull in her heart for something more.

Something familiar. Something soothing. Something that couldn't be found within the tall, seemingly endless walls and the tedious routine of running in the maze every day until her lungs gave out.

What something was, couldn't be defined. But it was something. It existed, she felt it. She knew whatever it was, it was greater than whatever this was.

But now, having escaped the maze, that something terrified her. What if this something was just a bad feeling? A warning of what's to come? Swallowing harshly, the girl diverted her eyes from the dusty desert outside to the people in the helicopter beside her. The other girls were strewn across the floor, all having similar feelings of dread. The world was very.. different, stranger than how they imagined.

A sandy landscape, stretching out for miles. A desolate space, straight out of hell. Sweat stuck to Melanie's ashy face, her hair clammy against her neck. Beside her, Sonya's hands swatted the small bugs that accumulated in the dead air.

After one hand came dangerously close to Melanie's cheek, the girl pulled a face, deaf to Harriet's snort of laughter. Sonya shrugged sheepishly, muttering a sorry to Melanie, who forced a smile and turned her head.

Harriet, Sonya and Melanie were what was left of the first girls in the maze. And while Harriet was the elected leader, with Sonya as her second-in-command; if Melanie told them to jump, they'd ask how high?

So when Melanie, panting and desperately trying to relay what she found to the group after her night in the maze, the girls followed. However, after being rescued and hauled into the helicopter with no explanation, Melanie kind of wished one of them objected to her rambles. The maze was predictable, this? This was a whole new realm of possibilities, of dangers as the helicopter neared a facility and began to lower itself toward the ground.

Screaming and spotlights are their welcome as the helicopter's doors are wretched open. Melanie shielded her eyes, as distant commands ordered them to run, and to run quick. To a  group of disoriented teenagers, everything was foreign, moving in a slow trance as the increased wind and dust muffled the words screamed at them. Knees harshly landing on the sand, Melanie felt two hands push her body toward the door. Her legs began to run, her instincts kicking in as tired legs trudged through thick sand. Yet, despite her experience as a runner, nothing could prepare her to what she caught glimpse of over her shoulder. Her feet stopped, her body turning cold, despite the humid atmosphere. What was that? 

In her eye line, she spotted people, running toward them at top speed, feet trudging through the sand. Maybe, people was too broad a term for these creatures. Dark scabs and boiling sores littered their skin, black bile emerging from their mouths as they gargled and gagged, eyes busting out of their skulls, limps hanging at their sides as if use of them was no longer required; whatever these were, they weren't human. At least not anymore...

She faltered at the horror, the unknown sight halting her haste. What were they? 

Even as hands roughly grabbed her, pulling her toward the entrance, Melanie's eyes stayed on the horror. Everything around her faded, until all she could hear was the sound of these things as they choked on their own infected spit. Swallowing the mouthful of vomit in her throat, Melanie  had never felt more out of her depth. Oh my god....