The Maze In Her Heart (Newt, Minho ::The Maze Runner.) ✔

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR: Not Yet.

"We're not free yet, I'm afraid." Minho whispers. Everyone is still as the last of the Gladers jump rush from the Maze, covered in sweat and blood. Minnie, Chuck, and I are all sweaty- but the rest are covered in bits of Griever and blood from companions. 

I turn to take in the crowd as they walk around me, scratching their necks and wringing their thumbs. 

We lost a good twenty boys from the looks of it. 

I turn and walk down the hallway. The lights flicker above us. Each time, a Glader jumps in surprise or fear. Everyone grips their weapons, moving silently down the hall. The only sounds are of thudding footsteps and heavy breathing. I keep looking behind my shoulder, expecting to see a griever thundering after us. But there's nothing... We're truly free.

Everyone slowly comes to a stop as we reach the end. Instead of a door, there's a dark opening. A single light shines down to reveal a slide, and it goes down only.  A glader reaches his hand out, touches it, and then jerks back. "It's slippery in some sort of black goo.." he informs us,and some other Gladers walk forward to inspect it as well.

"The only way is down.. Bloody hell..." Newt whispers, reaching out to touch the goo. It bridges between his fingers. 

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Roxie says before walking to the slide. She pauses before easing onto it, and going down with a breathless gasp. Liam flings himself onto the slide after her, raising his arms and hands like he was on a roller coaster. 

They both go down the slide in a matter of seconds. "You heard the lady." George says in a rather surprised tone, and we all start going down the slide. When it reaches me, I push myself onto the edge, gripping the slippery edges. I look back behind me before I let go and feel my entire body yank into the slide.

It's wet and sticky, but I seem to glide down without hesitation. Wind rips at my hair and clothes, almost as if wanting to yank me back to the top. My organs felt as if they were being squished together. My entire body shook, from adrenaline, fear, and excitement. The world around me was black but I could hear everything. The grunts of other Glader's, the sound of my body flying down the slide, the thud of my heartbeat, everything. 

I land with a stumble onto solid ground, then reach out. When my hands find nothing, I crash to the ground, face first. I spit out copper blood and rubbed my temple. 

I hear a scream as somebody else falls near me. I turn to see the outline of a woman, bushy hair a mess across her unidentifiable face. "Are you okay?" I ask her, before grabbing her arm. 

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks." It was Sammantha's voice. 

"Try looking for a way out." I suggest, and there's shuffling as people wander blindly. Somebody finds a flashlight and turns it on. We're in a long corridor, much like the one we were in just moments before hand. I hear a screaming and Minnie comes down, followed by Newt and Matthew, the ecstatic dog-reminding Runner.

Dog.

Bark.

"We have to go back." I gasp, and push past my fellow Gladers, trying to climb up to slide. The goo covers every inch of my arms. I feel the prickle of tears bunch in my eyes, clinging to my eyelashes. "He's dead!" I say, devastated as I slump to my knees. I feel Newt's hands help me to my feet, but everything is a blur of color. I wipe at my eyes, feeling the dawn of a sob in my chest. 

"We just forgot him." I whisper, letting Newt guide me along. 

"I know..." He said back, his grip on my shoulder tightening. 

We just keep walking, in that same suffocating, uncomfortable silence, until we reach a large silver door. It says EXIT in large red letters above it.