❝You are all still here because of an uncanny will to survive.❞
Solving the Maze was meant to be the end. No more tests. No more puzzles. They thought that by escaping the Maze that they'd been stuck in for two years, they could go back to their old...
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30 → "LIGHTBULB CREATURES"
ALL AROUND THEM, patches of the desert ground rotated until they disappeared, each one eventually replaced with a large black square when it finally settled with a loud clank, bulbous white coffins resting on top. Adeline had her hands pressed to her ears, everyone around her doing the same. No one spoke. The only noise was the wind. The wind slapped against her skin. Everyone watched, still silent. Newt and Adeline shared a glance, then Newt glanced over at Thomas. It was still quiet.
"So what do we do?" Minho asked not a minute later. Minho gave Teresa an annoyed look.
"If those things have bloody Grievers in 'em, we best start gettin' ready to fight the shuck buggers." Newt was the one to answer Minho's question.
"What're you guys talking about?" Adeline turned towards the voice, finding Harriet and Sonya. Harriet had asked the question. Brenda stood right behind them, with Jorge by her side. Adeline suddenly remembered the night she'd overheard Brenda and Jorge conversing before falling back unconscious.
They knew about the Safe Haven. But, how?
"Oh, great." Minho muttered. "The two queens of glorious Group B."
Harriet ignored Minho. "I'm assuming you all saw those pods back in your WICKED chamber, too. They had to be where the Grievers charged up or whatever it was they did."
"Yeah." Newt said. "Gotta be that."
Suddenly, thunder boomed, flashes of light grew brighter. The wind tore at everyone's clothes and hair. Everything smelled wet but dusty.
"We've only got twenty-five minutes. We're either gonna be fighting Grievers or we need to get inside those big coffins at the right time. Maybe they're the —" Thomas said, but was cut off. A sharp hiss cut through the air from all directions. Adeline clamped her hands to her ears once more. A line of dark blue light had appeared on one side of each pod, then expanded as the top half of the object began to move upward, opening on hinges like the lid of a coffin. The Gladers and the others slowly moved closer together. Everyone was trying to get as far away from the pods as possible. Everyone was packed together, circled around the containers. The lids continued moving until they'd all swung open and dropped to the ground.
"Thomas!" Minho called. The storm was about to fully beat down on them.
"What?" Thomas yelled back.
"You, me, and Newt! Let's go check it out!" Minho called back. Thomas was just about to move when something slipped out of one of the pods. Things were moving in all the pods, things nobody could see. Whatever they were, they were definitely coming out of those pods. Then all of a sudden, a misshapen arm hung over the edge, its hand dangling a few inches above the ground. On it were four disfigured fingers, none of them the same length. The fingers twisted and grasped for something that wasn't there, like the creature inside was searching to get a grip to pull itself out. The arm was covered with wrinkles and lumps, and it looked like the thing had a lightbulb glued to its arm. The monsters continued to emerge from their pods. And then a leg came out, its foot a fleshy mass, with four toes wriggling just like its fingers.
"What is that thing?" Minho shouted over the noise of the storm. No one answered. Adeline stood there stunned as each one of these creatures emerged from their pods. Each creature lurched over the edge of the open pod and stumbled to the ground. Each were roughly human-shaped, though were a couple of feet taller than anyone. Its body was naked and thick. There were more of those bulbous lights, and maybe two dozen total, spread over the thing's body and glowing. There were several on its chest and back, and several sticking out of a big lump of what had to be it's head, though it didn't have any eyes, nose, mouth or ears or hair. The monster got to its feet, swayed a bit as it caught its balance, then turned to face the Gladers.
All of them were now standing in a circle around the Gladers and Group B. Then, in unison, the creatures raised their arms, pointing toward the sky. Then, all at once, thin blades shot out of the tips of their fingers, out of their toes and out of their shoulders. Though there was no sign of any kind of mouth, a deathly, creepy moan escaped from their bodies. It had to be loud to be heard over the thunder. Minho turned and faced the crowd surrounding Thomas.
"There's about one for each of us! Grab whatever you got for a weapon!" He called out, right as the lightbulb creatures started moving, walking forward. They were coming closer with every step. Adeline patted her hip, looking for the knife. To her far left, Matt stood, pulling out his machete.
Janson must've allowed for him to keep it.
As the creatures came closer and closer, Minho and Harriet spoke to their groups, moving them around, positioning them. Minho and Harriet had been able to get the groups to stand together in an almost perfect circle, facing outward. Adeline stood in between Newt and another Glader. WICKED's latest creatures were only thirty feet away. Adeline stared at the creature heading towards her, as if the creature had been assigned just for her.
