𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚

Too Desperate: Ch.18

It was official. Two whole months in the Glade. Two whole months of making the first memories I'd ever have. Two whole months of working to find a way out of the stupid death maze that some bastards trapped us in.

You get it, I was still pissed off about all that. Most of the others seemed to have accepted it not too long after arriving. Except for the Runners of course. Mainly Minho. That's at least one thing I can respect him for. Oh, and Newt too, although he worked more at making sure everyone in the Glade was safe and happy.

Hey, someone had to do that- and Newt was the perfect person, right?

Speaking of Newt, I really hadn't talked to him much at that point. Gave short replies when he spoke and kept quiet otherwise. I still couldn't stop thinking about him though. That was the problem. I didn't like knowing that someone could have that much power over me. Especially when they could get killed so easily. Just the other day, one of the Runners had gotten hurt pretty severely and was put on bed-rest.

Glad that he was still alive of course, but it definitely didn't give me any comfort knowing that death was lurking right outside the four walls surrounding us.

Anyways, it did frustrate me that I couldn't block that out like the others. Most Gladers seemed perfectly content with their day-to-day routines. Did some work during the day with their friends, ate meals together, then had fun at bonfires or during free-time. Wasn't the worst life ever, in theory.

It felt like my constant thinking of the Maze was built into me from the moment that I was born. Not that I would know about that, since I couldn't remember, but it was still weird. That urge to stay up all night and figure out how to escape the Maze was pumping through my veins 24/7.

As I realized that I had zoned out whilst sitting at my desk, an idea sparked.

People have tried climbing the ivy, going down the Box, any and every loophole you could think of. None of those ideas worked. It was obvious that the way to freedom was through the Maze. So what if I could remember the escape to the Maze? Or at least remember something that would help?

A couple of boys have gone through the Changing before, but clearly none provided anything useful. Although considering the one strange memory I had from when I was younger, I must have some more information than the others.

So I'd do it. I would get myself stung by a Griever if it meant we would get to be free.

Sounds a little crazy, but I was desperate.

I waited until the next day so I could sneak out into the Maze earlier than any of the Runners and not get caught.

***

It was still a little dark out, a cool breeze blowing through the early morning air.

I glanced around for people before officially stepping through the very recently opened doors of the Maze. Just taking a single step felt so good. The rush of knowing I was literally one step closer to figuring things out was amazing.

About 20 minutes into walking, and I was fascinated. These walls looked at least 300 feet tall. Strangely enough, they also looked old. Like walls from the Medieval times or something.

Then I heard the sound I had been waiting for. According to all the rumors, a Griever was a mixture of a machine and a weird animal creature. Of course no one had lived to tell about it- wait.

I'm literally in the Maze, about to face a Griever.

Well, at that point I had accepted my fate. It was a stupid idea to seek out a Griever, but I realized that too late.

It was already jumping in front of me with a loud clank, backing me into a dead end.

It managed to look even more terrifying than the one in my memory. A massive, spider-like creature, with a scorpion-like tail. Part metal, part flubber and slime. Not to mention the tons of teeth staring right into my soul, looking like they wanted nothing more than to attack me.

My body was shaking uncontrollably as I tried to think of any possible way to get out of this. But of course, before I could do that, a claw swung at me. I dodged it by ducking.

That obviously wouldn't save me though. Less than a second after I looked back up at the Griever, its tail had already pierced through my thigh.

Flashes of heat immediately pulsed through my body from the sting as my body slid down the wall, slowly numbing itself. My head had also felt like it got slammed by the way it was aching- and who knows, maybe it did get slammed.

As my vision began to blur, I could hear a voice ringing out to me.

"ALICE?! WONDERLAND, C'MON!"

Those were the last words I heard before getting consumed by darkness.