Trapped ➝ The Maze Runner ✓

Running

Running
(Minho's P.O.V)
~~~

Running. That's what we were doing. Thomas and I. Running through The Maze. Running like our life depended on it; probably because it did.

We're going die eventually. One day. When we're still stuck here, looking for a way out; one day, those walls separating the Glade and the Maze aren't going to shut, and they'll get us.

The grievers.

With their whirring and humming and clicking and clanking as they roll through the maze, seeking out something to kill, something to destroy with their wicked pincers and jagged blades. They'd get us. And there'd be nobody left.

But for now, we were just running. Trying to find a way out of this hell-hole. Trying to find a way back to our old lives, our normal lives. If we had any. Perhaps the real world was just as crazy as this one; perhaps things have changed. Things constantly change; one day, everything could be fine, normal, average, then the next everything's different, changed, alien. It's transformed into something new, something dangerous, something strange and irrational, and you don't know it anymore.

But how could we know? This is the only life we remember; there's a world out there somewhere. Somewhere we belong. Somewhere we're needed and wanted. Somewhere safe, where we won't have to fight for our lives everyday.

That's what I hoped, anyway.

"You okay?" Thomas inquired, peering at me expectantly.

"Yeah, shank. Why?" I frowned and glared at him.

He paused and eventually rose his shoulders in a shrug. "I dunno. You just seem... distracted."

"It's called thinking, shuck-face," I growled, rolling my eyes.

Thomas grinned, despite being insulted, and suddenly quickened his pace. "Come on, Minho, I'm shucking starvin'!"

My stomach gurgled in agreement and I drove my legs forward, concentrating on the sharp twists and turns we had to endure in order to reach the gates. Walls obscured by long entrails of green ivy emerged out of the ground, the thick, withered leaves merging and clasping and unfurling jerkily as turbulent winds raked through the labyrinth from nowhere. Clouds of dust and rubble swirled savagely under our feet, thumping out a heavy rhythm as they slapped against the concrete.

I darted nimbly away from yet another barrier, my head set spinning precariously. I was beginning to feel dizzy; a feeling that I seldom felt whilst I was running.

Probably because I'm hungry.

But even as I tried to push away the nauseating feeling, my vision became fuzzy, obscured by feeble flashes of light. My pace was beginning to slacken; Thomas raced on ahead of me, heedless of my condition. More and more colossal walls materialized before me and I jolted precariously away from them, my movements growing sluggish.

What was wrong with me?! I could hear the walls starting to close in the distance; a thundering rumble cutting through the air, the walls groaning in protest as they began to shift and slide, and I attempted to snap out of my daze, to no avail.

Thomas had gone; he'd disappeared behind one of the walls, unaware of my delay. He was probably already out, waiting for me.

I wasn't going to make it.

My head was pounding, a dull ache spreading through my temples. Over the rumbling, I heard a shout; the voice imbued with panic.

"Minho!" The yell was muffled, but I was still able to catch the words. My name.

"Thomas, I'm... I'm here..." I spluttered, my cracked voice trailed into silence; it was too much effort to speak. Everything felt heavy, like a great weight pressing on my shoulders, my legs like lead as I struggled to keep myself going. I was almost there... I could see Thomas' slim figure through the haze that obscured my vision, and the familiar scene of the Glade behind him.

I was almost there.

Until I jerked unsteadily into a wall of the maze, my foot catching on a protruding vine. The ivy coiled around my leg like a snake, entrapping me in an iron grip. I tumbled to the ground with an irrational shriek, outstretching my arms to halt my descent, but to no avail. My body collided with the ground, pain lacing along my arms and through my legs and my head slammed into the wall.

The world rapidly faded from view and I was plunged into a world of darkness.