𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍 | Gally | ✓

Chapter Sixteen

I was sure the crunching of my feet on the leaves and twigs would give away my location. I heard a few more voices trail behind me, more boys were coming to hide in the woods. My feet couldn't stop. I brushed past the trunks of a few trees, leaving scrapes on my arms.

A clicking came from behind me, then a shrill scream from one of then boys. It was the exact same ticking I'd heard that day in the maze. And now, I was there again. Light from torches flicker through the trees, but are soon put out one by one as a new Glader got picked off.

My mind was a scattered mess. Gally's instructions along with millions of other intruding thoughts swarmed my head. This wasn't a nightmare. I wouldn't be woken up. I had to survive. I'd escaped once, I couldn't let them have me again.

When I'd reached my destination, I burst through the door of the Map room. No one else was hiding in here, the walls would snap under the griever's strength anyway. I picked up the bow and fumbled with the arrows I grabbed. I threw the pouch over my shoulder and trembled with an arrow as I tried to secure it into the bow before leaving the building. Adrenaline coursed through my veins while I tried to catch my breath. Just in front of me, one of the boys was racing towards my direction.

He frantically waved his arms in the air, "Help!!!" he cried. I stood there, watching as he came closer. The sound of a griever's legs striking the ground along with it's agonising cries became more eminent. The hideous creature came closer to the boy. He wasn't going to make it. I turned tail and ran in the other direction when I heard the sound of the monster's claws tearing into his flesh. The boy's ear-splitting shouts were silent by a final snap. Chills ran up my spine. No where was safe. A harmony of shouts came from somewhere in the woods. A rattle of gears and joints surrounded me.

Suddenly, I was back in the maze. It was dark, and the curtain of ivy covered my hiding spot under the wall. My leg ached again, as the strong scent of iron blood filled my nose to the back of my throat. My vision pulsed, deciding whether it wanted to show me the maze or my reality in the woods. The ground seemed to spin around me. I needed to keep moving, but I couldn't tell if I was actually in motion or I was just experiencing the memory of running past the walls.

Once again, I was back in the pitch Black Forest. I smelled the faint scent of smoke come from somewhere, but I could see no source of a flame. A whirr came from behind me and I immediately released the unstable arrow in my bow. The arrow flew into the darkness and didn't meet any surface. I grew dizzy again when a bright light shone from above me. Daylight blinded my eyes while the walls rushed past me. I was sprinting again, but I couldn't be. This wasn't happening. I can't be back in the maze. I looked back and set of grievers tumbled down the aisle, hissing and waving their claw-like tails at me. One of them screamed and the whole image faded away.

I blinked a few times, wiping away the rest of that false reality. My name is Marty. I'm in the Deadheads. And I'm going to survive. Nothing was behind me, only a memory...only a memory. I reached back for another bow but the ground from under me gave out. I could barely see anything, but my foot hadn't met the ground. At once, I knew exactly where I was. My body summersaulted and rolled down the hill. I was where I found Ben and Thomas, just at the top of the burrow. My legs seemed to fly in different directions than my arms. My back struck a root and probably a rock too. I lost the bow from my grasp as it slid down with me. When I'd reached the bottom of the hill I stood up abruptly, fumbling here and there for balance. My hands frantically felt around the dirt and leaves for my bow when I'd found it. Surprisingly it hadn't snapped in half during impact.

My hands shook uncontrollably with the curves of the wood in it. I took in a few deep breaths but it seemed to do nothing.

Click