Equivalent

Chapter Four

Leo POV

I collapsed, exhausted, into my hammock after a long, hard day of running. Afterward I had gone to the map room to make a map of the part of the maze I ran. There was no point though, there was already a map for the section of the maze I had run.

The snores of the gladers filled the glade with the occasional interruption of a griever's inhuman shriek. But despite the noise I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into sleep.

"Leo!" Came a feminine yell behind me I whirled around to see a girl, same age as me, running towards me.

I must be dreaming.

She had an hourglass figure with light brown hair held up in a messy bun and hazel eyes. She skidded to a halt in front of me and I could see that she matched me in height. She batted big long eyelashes before she pushed her lips to mine.

Yep. This was definitely a dream.

I wrapped my arms around the girl and pulled her closer.

There was a small cough behind me and the girl pulled her lips away from mine and stared angrily at the direction of the disruption. I whirled around to face another young girl. She was at least a year younger than me, a head shorter in height and was blushing furiously.

"Hello Madline," viciously spat the girl who had been kissing me.

The other girl, Madline, looked taken back by the older girl's tone of voice and spat back just as viciously:

"Kat."

"What are you doing here?" Kat asked spitefully.

Whoa! This girl was a shuck face.

"Leo said he was going to help me with some stuff," Madline said simply.

"Really?" Kate sneered, "Well Leo is helping me right now and as I am his girlfriend I think I'm more of a priority than you."

I looked at Madline apologetically but I wasn't going to argue with Kat.

"Fine," snapped Madline, brownish, green eyes as cold as stone before looking at me and her expression soften.

"See ya later," and with that she turned and left.

I felt heartbroken as I watched her disappear down the hall.

"Leo!" snapped Kat, and I turned facing her, realizing she had been trying to call my name a few times but I hadn't heard as I had been too busy watching Madline leave.

"You have to choose! Madline or me?!"

But before I can reply the vision shifts.

I'm six or seven, it's hard to tell because I'm covered it puffy red blisters and grotesquely sun burnt not to mention unhealthily skinny and scrawny that I'm more skeleton then human. The sun is high in the cloudless sky, like an angry, red eye looking down on earth. And the heat is unbearable like I've been put in a hot furnace. Every breath is scalds my lungs and my mouth is as dry as the Sandy, scorched, barren, wasteland surrounding me and my throat burns with thirst. Every step is agony, my legs are aching from days of walking and I find myself wondering if I must go on. Why not collapse and finally let death take me. But a small voice in the back of my head whispers:

"Keep going."

And I keep walking.

There are others with me, most are adults. I'm the youngest along with another young boy who is still older than me as he seems to be fourteen. Everyone looks just as tired and as disgustingly sunburnt as each other.

Yet we keep walking.

I don't know where I'm going. I don't think anyone knows where we are going.

One person, a man collapses, and another tries to help him get up to no avail. The man lets out a heart wrenching wordless plea and looks around for help but everyone ignores the man and his fallen friend and keep walking. Leaving them behind.

I want to help, i try to turn back but a woman places her cracked, dried out hand on my back and shoves me forward.

I keep walking.

More people collapse. A woman lets out a strange chant like babble and starts tearing at random people. Sinking her sharp nails into their skin and even biting, still chanting her crazy words. The group erupts into chaos as the woman is attacked back and dies with a blood curdling shriek as the fourteen year old boy slits her throat.

I keep walking.

Suddenly I know I just can't go on any more. I'm weak with starvation, thirst and exhaustion. With one last forced step my knees buckle and I collapse hitting the ground with a thud. I close my eyes and wait for the agony to stop.

They keep walking.

I wait for what seems like an eternity. Every part of me aches and soon my breaths are shallow and rasping. All I can hear is the howling wind as it blows sand so harshly that it hurts when it hits my skin. But there was something else as well, a low hum, growing louder with each passing second. With the last of my strength I open my eyes to see a Berg with the words WICKED imprinted on its side, flying above. I raise my hand in the hopes that it will notice me before blacking out.

"Man, wake up!"

I sit bolt upright, panting heavily, covered in a cold sweat.