The blaring alarms were deafening, making that loud ear splitting shriek that was warning everyone that someone had broken out. Shouts could barely be heard over the noise, commanding voices giving orders to 'find the girl and shoot on sight.' The red flashes from the alarm traveled over the figures and made the soldiers look menacing and inhuman. Their heavy footsteps vibrating through the building as they attempted to find the escaped girl. They passed by a room where a few individuals in lab coats looked over the mess of an operating room. Two men who seemed to be dressed up in scrubs laid on the ground unconscious.
"How did she even break the restraints, she was heavily sedated." One of the lab coats asked out loud.
"Perhaps we underestimated what the Outsider was capable of."
"Doesn't matter either way because she won't be happy to hear that she got out."
"You're quite right, I am not happy." The new voice made the others jump as they turned around to see Ava Paige had entered the room, she looked around at the flipped over operating table and unmoving doctors. Her sharp eyes landed on the WICKED employees who flinched back at her unwavering stare.
"Did they finish the surgery before the…attack?" she inquired. They nodded.
"They we're able to do the Swipe and she may have lost lots of blood so the odds of finding her are satisfactory." One of them assured her.
"Also the sedatives should be slowing her down as well, killing her should be quick and easy."
"No," the Chancellor said making the scientist look at her with confusing, "the girl is not to die."
"But ma-" But they were cut off by a sudden shout from the hallway as another one of them in a lab coat came rushing into the room, the look of fear in his eyes. He bent over trying to catch his breath.
"Madam sh…she got into….she got into the Maze." Murmurs of distress sounded from the others as Chancellor Paige stayed quiet, milling the news over in her head.
"Which group?" She asked.
"…Group A." Silence followed afterwards making the others in the room squirm. Ava took one more look around the room then turned around and walked out. The others followed her, awaiting to hear what their leader had to say about the issue at hand.
"Seems as though we'll have to recalculate our earlier plans, I want her brains activity monitored." They continued to stride through the hallways. Dodging the guards who we're still stalking through the halls. They turned the corner entering a room that contained many others tapping away at bright screens and looking over things. Ava Paige set foot into her office while the others went back to their desks but the one who brought her the bad news stayed behind.
"Ma'am there's still something I need to tell you," he hesitated as she sat down in her chair giving him a nod to continue. "She didn't get into the Maze alone, she had help."
"Oh?" Just then a certain dark haired boy walked past her office looking a bit nervous and disheveled. The Chancellor watched as he sat down in his chair attempting to act as though everything was normal.
"Well she is still immune and will be tested." she informed her stare still on the boy before moving her gaze to the man. "She'll be the variable."
On first look it would probably look like she was dead, honestly she might as well be. Crimson seeped out of her head as she laid crumpled making her chestnut hair look almost black. A long white gown covered her frame while her bare feet were all cut up by glass. It barely looked as though she was breathing. Then like something had shocked her, she jolted up taking a large gasp of air. Sea green eyes frantically fluttered around the unfamiliar place. In front of her was a large circular hole, the darkness too thick to see if there was an escape on the other side. As if knowing she was thinking of going through it the hole closed, a metal wall trapping her.
Wrong. The first coherent thought that she strung together. The word vibrated through her head and she felt it with her whole being, it was wrong. Being here, wherever it was, was wrong. But as quick as the thought entered her mind it was gone and replaced with something else, fear. Deep haunting fear that she practically choked on. She shouldn't be here, this place was bad.
She got to her feet too quickly causing black to invade her vision as she stumbled feeling very close to vomiting. She looked around her noticing an archway at the end of the long walk way that was flooded with light. She took a step forward but pain engulfed the right side of her head and she brought her hand to it hoping for it to stop but her palm was welcomed with warm liquid. When she took her hand away the deep red reflected off of it, her face contorted in disgust. Before she could wipe her dirty hand onto her gown she heard something. It was faint and distinct, a sort of clicking noise that was followed by a whirling. Then a noise that made every bone in her body rattle with fright. A screech that sounded so unnatural and mechanical that it was unsettling.
Her body moved before she even knew it was, like it was a reflex. The girl walked quickly down the narrow walk way ignoring the pain, she peaked over the edge slightly seeing nothing but a black abyss making her quicken her pace. She arrived at the exit and using the wall for support she peered out the left checking if the coast was clear but her eyes widen with what she saw. Gigantic rusty metal blades that stood like guards, she inched back half expecting the things to start spinning if they saw her but they did nothing. Standing perfectly still as if they haven't moved in centuries. So she jogged through the menacing place wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.
The terrifying sound reached her ears again, this time louder and closer. She was sprinting at this point making her vision blurry and black spots begin to appear. Her breathing was ragged and sounded painful as she finally exited the metal hell. She slowed her paste then stopped taking in her new surroundings. Cement walls that looked like it was losing a battle with some ivy that was overtaking it. The walls surrounded her making the fear worse as if confirming something.
Maze. The word sounded off in her head clear as a bell, it was a maze. She was trapped in a maze. Her breathing now had gone to hyperventilating as the panic consumed her. Everything else fell away as she fell to her knees.
Wrong. It's wrong. You shouldn't be here. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The words pounded in her skull making the pain even worse. She wanted to cry not because of the pain but because of strong terror that she felt. The terror of this terrible place, the terror of her inability to remember things. Specific memories continued to escape her. She couldn't even remember her own name or how she got here. But more importantly why she was here.
She smelled it before she heard it, the smell of burning oil and charred flesh. It was the unholy sound that shocked her out of her panic attack. The closeness of it made her stand up but before she could even begin to move away something barreled into the wall she had just been kneeling by. She dove to the side to avoid the unknown intruder. The dust from the debris made a cloud and she coughed when it entered her lungs.
Mechanical whirling sounded from somewhere in the cloud. She could barely see through it but then a black mass began to take form and rubble started to move. It released an awful noise as the dust began to clear. Then she finally saw it.
For a second she thought it was a spider, a large spider. But then she noticed the glinting metal, long sharp spikes sprouted from its being and served as its legs. A tail slithered on the ground just waiting for use. The things body was oddly curved and a sickly green that had what looked like slim sliding off its face. Which was hard to say because it had no distinct facial features. But then it opened its mouth revealing dozens of sharp and rotting teeth that looked ready to sink into her flesh. A vicious roar erupted from it making her skitter to her feet and run. She ran to the right barely avoiding its tail that took a chunk out of the wall just where her head had been. This thing was trying to kill her.
Adrenaline kicked in making any pain she felt nonexistent as she attempted to put as much distance between her and that thing. Its angry growls and whirls weren't that far behind her as she took a sharp left. She had no idea where she was going and that became even more apparent when she came to a dead end. Her eyes searched for an exit but there was none but then she noticed the ivy. She started to climb without a second thought, the thing finally caught up with her when she was halfway to the top. Something in her hoped she would get a lucky break but no, it began to climb too making its way to her quickly. Its tail tried to stab her again but she moved out of the way before it could.
But the sudden movement made her lose her footing, she slipped down the vines cutting her hands. She grimaced at the stinging in her hands as she gripped the ivy tighter. The creature was nearing her. She knew if she jumped from this far up that she would break her legs and that she wouldn't even make it to the top before it reached her. Then the tail attempted once more to get at her but she dodged it. So it moved back to where it was this time she watched it and saw how close to the ground the end of it reached. Only a few feet. The idea that formed in her mind was crazy, she knew it but it was her only option.
She readied herself as she heard the gears wind up as it brought its tail down once more. She waited for the last possible second to move. Its tail impaled the wall and before it could remove it she wrapped her hands around the base avoiding the syringe at the end. The monster doesn't move its tail right away, purely out of shock as to what she has done. But then it thrashes its tail like it's on fire. Her body collides with one of the walls, the air being knocked out of her lungs. Then another wall and she hears the sickening crack sound from her torso and lets out a cry from her broken ribs. But she keeps her grip. Finally the end gets close enough to the ground and she lets go falling ungracefully onto the floor. She only takes a few seconds to get her breath back and shake off her blacking vision before she's back on her feet running.
Looking back over her shoulder she sees the thing jumping down from the ivy but it gets it's long talons tangled and falls down to the ground with a loud thunk. She rounds a corner and takes a left then a right and another right. She stops and presses her back against one of the cool walls listening. The beast let out a wail as its clicking sounded, attempting to find her. Something that she was being to realize was it wouldn't stop until she was dead.
But it seemed that all her hope for luck had finally paid off, the loud rumble made her think that another one must had found her but she then realized that it was coming from the wall to her right. The wall was split down the middle horizontally and as the rumbling continued the wall began to open. She stared at it completely shocked not believing that the wall could actually move. But she didn't have that long to figure out the strange moving walls when the screech sounded from behind her. It found her.
She ran to the abnormal cement and jumped up having to crouch and crawl on her knees because it had only opened enough for her to barely squeeze through. Her ribs burned in protest from being scraped against the ground but she ignored it, her sole focus being on getting away from this thing. The scream that came from the creature made her wince because of how angry it sounded. She could hear its metal claws hitting the cement trying to reach her but the gap was too small. The rumbling started up again making her move faster in fear of getting crushed. Finally reaching the end she threw her body to the ground just in time. But not before the creature released one more disturbing sound, the boom of the walls closing silencing it.
The girl laid on the ground panting and wheezing relief washing over her from escaping the beast. But as her adrenaline began to disappear she could finally feel all of her wounds. Her hands were bloody and dirty, she lifted up her gown to see the bruises on her abdomen already beginning to form. Getting back to her feet was more difficult than ever but when she was sure that she wasn't going to topple over from either, the pain or her unfocused and darkening vision, she began to walk.
After an hour of turn and after turn she was positive that she was just going in circles. She let out a frustrated sigh as she was welcomed with another dead end. The sun was moving across the horizon showing that there was only a couple hours of sunlight left. Something about that made her scared, she felt like she was running out of time. Not to mention the blood lost from everything was starting to catch up to her. The fatigue and dizziness was causing her to pause and lean against the wall till she could move again. At this rate she was never going to get out of here before she died. Whether it was by the injuries or by the thing that was still stalking around searching for her.
Another right turn and she moved her feet forcing her body to keep going even though everything in her being was begging her to just stop and rest. A few minutes passed before the girl heard a shuffling sound and she halted immediately. Straining her ears for any hint of a mechanical whirling but what followed shocked her even more. Voices. Slowly she followed them, trying to hear what they were saying.
"-ven't heard another Griever in a while, you think it's safe Minho?"
"Probably but you shanks stick close, alright?" There was a chorus of agreement as the girl peaked over the side of the wall to see a huddle of about 3 boys squatting while another one stood. The one standing had black hair that was styled in an odd way and a hard face which must have made him the one in charge.
Are they trying to find a way out of here too? She wondered to herself, trying to decide if she should let her presence be known or not. But it seemed that the decision would be made for her because the pain in her head suddenly became unbearable. Whatever strength she'd had to continue through the maze was gone. Her vision became blurry and the black spots became worse. She didn't know she was falling to the ground until her body collided with it. The darkness consuming her.
"It's gonna get dark soon so we sho-"The boy's words halted when he turned around in time to see a body crash to the ground with a loud thud. The other's turned as well, all standing up in surprise to what they were seeing. The one who was closer to her inched slowly towards the body, he kneeled down in front of her. He confirmed what they were all thinking.
"It's a girl."