Chapter Three

Two hours later, the three Gladers finally reached the dead Griever. While the two Runners were barely winded, Alby was exhausted with his hands on his knees and his body bent over.

Atala hit him playfully on the back. "You oughta get in shape, Alby." The Leader sent her a glare, but the Runner just laughed along with Minho.

They finally focused their attention on the unmoving Griever. The silence was earsplitting until Atala broke it. "Told ya, shank." she said, looking over at Alby.

"Okay, you two win. Let's just eat and haul it back," Alby demanded. He reached to test out picking up one of the Griever's many legs, but Minho immediately pulled him back.

"Wait, what if it's pretending?" he suggested, looking at the Griever skeptically.

Alby scoffed. "It's not moving, shuck-face. Watch this." He wasted no time in grabbing the Griever's leg. The creature did nothing. It was for sure dead. He turned to face the two Runners with a pointed look on his face. "Told ya. It's dead."

Atala rolled her eyes and looked down at her watch. They had exactly six hours and thirty minutes until the doors closed. She sat down on the ground and spoke. "Let's eat before we take it back. I'm starving." She pulled off her Runner's pack and started to search for her lunch.

Minho and Alby agreed. They sat next to her and started to eat their food. As they chewed on the sandwiches Frypan packed them, Atala studied the Griever.

Its sharp contraptions at the end of each leg was frightening. It made it look like a machine, but its monstrous face made it look like a horrific animal of some sort. It had around eight legs, which reminded the Runner of a spider. She couldn't remember when she saw one or who she saw one with, but she understood what they were.

Grievers weren't something Atala was foreign with. She had killed three of them after all. Thinking of the night she spent in the Maze sent a shiver down her spine. Minho noticed her discomfort and wrapped his arm around her waist, using his other to eat his sandwich.

After the trio finished their second round of sandwiches, they let Alby catch his breath some more. He was exhausted. The Keepers suddenly felt slightly guilty for not giving him a break after running for two hours. The two were used to running for hours without a break, but Alby wasn't. He wasn't a runner.

Minho tightened his arm around her, causing her to look over at him. He was staring at the Griever. Atala nudged the boy, causing him to look down at her. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"Honestly, I'm thinking about the night you spent in the Maze and how terrified I was about losing you. About the horrors you probably went through, yet you still press on. Only person to survive a night in the Maze and kill a Griever, three Grievers at that. Any other person would've klunked their pants. You sure are something, Tala, ya know?" Minho looked down at the girl, a slight smile on his face.

Atala smiled at him. "I love you." She placed a kiss on his lips and looked down at her watch. She let out a groan. "We better haul this shuck-face back. We only got five hours and thirty minutes left till the Doors close." The female Runner got off the ground and pulled Minho with her.

The trio put their packs back on and turned to the Griever. Atala tilted her head, wondering how they were going to drag it back. Alby stepped closer to the creature, trying to find a way to pull it.

Suddenly, the Griever lashed out, piercing Alby with multiple of its sharp ends. The venom was released into Glader's body and he fell onto the ground.

Instinct kicked in as Atala broke into action. She grabbed her machete and stabbed the still seated Griever straight in the head. It stopped moving, causing Atala to breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking over on the ground at Alby, Atala almost gasped at the sight. He looked bad. Really bad. Sweat drenched his face and blood was coming out of the wound on his stomach. Minho was crouched on the ground beside him, trying to stop his bleeding.

Atala kneeled down next to Alby, looking into his barely opened eyelids. "Don't worry, you dumb slinthead. We're gonna get you back to the Glade and everything's gonna be fine." She looked over at Minho, a horrible feeling washing over her. They were both stressed and worn out. There was no way they could carry Alby back to the Glade in five hours. Minho's eyes caught hers and she gestured to Alby. "We better get him back."

Minho looked down at his watch and groaned. "Shuck. We only have four hours and forty-nine minutes." Minho got Alby off the ground and wrapped his arm around him. Atala wrapped an arm around his other side.

Together, the couple started to drag Alby back to the Glade.

.time skip.

It had been approximately four hours and forty-eight minutes since Alby had been stung. Minho and Atala were turning the corner. They had the Glade in their sight. The Door was closing.

Atala felt like giving up. Every muscle in her body ached and she felt like she was about to pass out from exhaustion. Practically dragging Alby through the Maze was certainly a workout.

Thomas stood in front of the Door, yelling for the three to hurry. Atala almost threw a sarcastic comment at the Greenie, but decided it wasn't the time.

Thirty seconds. They were almost there.

Atala suddenly lost her grip on Alby as she blindly tripped over a vine. Her leg scraped the floor, causing her to start bleeding immediately.

The female Runner got up as quick as she could and helped Minho try to get Alby back up, but the Leader wouldn't move. The couple started dragging Alby towards the Glade. They had fifteen seconds. Fifteen seconds until the Doors closed. Fifteen seconds until they were officially dead. Atala may have survived one night in the Maze, but she didn't have two people to protect then.

As the ten second mark hit, Atala and Minho simultaneously gave up. They both fell onto the Maze ground in a heap of hopelessness and despair.

Thomas ran into the Maze just as the Door clanked shut, trapping the four Gladers in the horrors of the Griever's playpen.

Atala closed her eyes, breathing a shaky breath. She felt like screaming in frustration. She felt like grabbing all of the Creators by the throat and murdering them one by one. As Atala opened her eyes, she noticed it was getting dark. She stood up, sucking in a breath when her scraped up leg tried to hold her weight.

Minho was already up and beside his girlfriend in an instant when he noticed her pain. He grabbed a bandage from his runner's pack and quickly wrapped her scraped leg up.

When Minho was done, Atala directed her attention to Thomas. "Greenie, if you think you're brave for comin' out here, you're a dumb slinthead."

"You're the shuckiest shuck-faced shuck there ever was," Minho commented. "You're as good as dead, just like us."

Thomas looked disappointed, causing Atala to roll her eyes. "I couldn't just sit there and leave you guys out here."

"And what good are you with us?" Minho rolled his eyes along with Atala.

"Whatever, man. Break the Number One Rule, kill yourself, whatever," Atala voiced as she rolled her eyes agin. She walked over and kneeled beside Alby, looking him over.

Thomas was angry. The two Runners weren't even the least bit thankful for his sacrifice. "You're welcome. I was just trying to help."

"Ha, what a great idea. Killing yourself," Atala sarcastically spoke. "My name is Thomas and I'm going to commit suicide." The Runner laughed like a maniac.

The Greenie looked at Alby and hopelessness took over his body. "What happened?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," Minho said plainly as he kneeled next to Atala to check Alby's vitals.

The female Runner felt like she was about to lose it. "Let's just say the Grievers can play dead very well." Her voice cracked slightly.

"So he was...bitten? Stung, whatever? Is he going through the changing?" Thomas asked curiously.

Atala rolled her eyes. "You've got a lot to learn, Greenie."

"Is he going to die?" Thomas's voice sounded empty.

Minho nodded. "Since we didn't make it back before sunset, probably. Could be dead in an hour-I don't know how long it takes if you don't get the Serum. Course, we'll be dead, too, so don't get all weepy for him. Yep, we'll all be nice and dead soon."

Atala snorted at Minho's humor as Thomas asked another question. "We're really going to die? You're telling me we have no chance?"

"None," Minho and Atala sang in sync.

"Oh, come on. There has to be something we can do. How many Grievers'll come at us?" Thomas asked, peering down the corridor of the Maze. "Besides, Atala has survived a night in the Maze."

Atala's eyes glazed over with an unrecognizable emotion. Minho glared at the Greenie in response as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist again.

"But...what about Ben? And Gally, and others who've been stung and survived?"

Atala shot up and stood in front of Thomas. Though he was an inch taller than her, the boy immediately felt smaller. "You just don't get it, slinthead. They made it back before sunset, you buggin' idiot. They got back before the Doors closed and got the Serum. All of them."

"But I thought Grievers only came out at night."

Atala wanted to throw the boy over the cliff so badly. "You're wrong, Greenie. They always come out at night. That don't mean they never show up during the day."

"But you've survived a night in the Maze," Thomas whispered.

The female Glader felt like she was going to explode. She was a volcano that could erupt at any time. "Why don't you shut your shuckin' face about things you don't understand?! Yes! I survived a night in the Maze! I was the only one that did it, yes! But I only had myself to protect, you shuck-face!"

"How many have died?" Thomas asked so quietly, he almost thought neither of them heard.

Atala sighed and sat back down next to Minho as he looked up at Thomas. "At least twelve. Haven't you been to the graveyard?"

"Yeah."

"Well, those are just the ones we found. There are more whose bodies never showed," Atala responded quietly.

Minho pointed towards the sealed up Glade. "That freaking graveyard's back in the woods for a reason. Nothing kills happy times more than being reminded of your slaughtered friends every day." He got up, grabbed Alby's arms and nodded towards his feet. "Grab those smelly suckers. We gotta carry him over to the Door. Give 'em one body that's easy to find in the morning."

Thomas turned in a circle, screaming, "How could this be happening!"

Atala rolled her eyes and grabbed Alby's side. "Quit your crying. You shoulda followed the rules and stayed in the Glade. Now grab his legs."

The Greenie obeyed and picked up Alby's legs. Together, the trio carried Alby over to the Door and propped him in a sitting position right beside the vertical crack in the wall.

"Where was he bitten?" Thomas asked. "Can you see it?"

"They don't freaking bite you. They prick you. And no, you can't see it. There would be dozens all over his body." Minho folded his arms and leaned against the wall along with Atala.

Thomas looked completely confused. "Prick you? What does that mean?"

"Dude, ya gotta see 'em to know what we're talking about," Atala retorted.

"Well, then why didn't the thing prick you two?" Thomas asked.

Minho held his hands out. "Maybe it did. Maybe I'll collapse any second." Atala laughed slightly.

"They..." Thomas didn't know how to finish. He couldn't tell if the two Runners were serious or not.

"There was no they, just the one we thought was dead. It went nuts and stung Alby. Then, it just stopped before Atala drove her machete into its head. It didn't even try to sting us," Minho said as he gazed off into the Maze. "But I'm sure it and a whole bunch of them suckers'll be here soon to finish us off with their needles."

"Needles?" Thomas asked curiously.

Atala groaned in exasperation. "Yes, needles."

Seconds past beforeThomas looked up at the enormous vine covered walls. "Can't we climb this thing?"

When neither of the Runners answered, Thomas elaborated. "The vines, can't we climb them?"

Atala let out a frustrated sigh. "You must think we're a bunch of buggin' idiots. You really think we've never had the thought to climb the freaking walls? Seriously, man, we've been here two years. We've thought of everything."

"I'm just trying to help. Why don't you two quit moping at every word I say and talk to me?" Thomas retorted.

Minho immediately grabbed Thomas by the shirt. "You don't understand, shuck-face! You don't know anything, and you're just making it worse by trying to have hope! We're dead, you hear me? Dead!"

Looking at Thomas once more, Minho let him go shamefully and crumpled to the ground, burying his face into his fists. "Ah, man, oh man. I've never been this scared before, dude. Not like this."

Atala got up from her spot on the wall and sat next to Minho. She wrapped her arms around him. She, out of all people, understood him more than anyone ever could. They had been through horrible, unspeakable things. They would both fall apart, yet somehow they managed to put each other back together each time.

A constant whirring with a metallic ring to it sounded from deep within the Maze. Atala and Minho's heads snapped up as they tried to locate the low, haunting sound. It grew louder each millisecond and the trio knew it was coming.

Atala and Minho jumped up just as a hollow moan filled the air followed by something that sounded like a clanking of chains.

Atala turned to the other two, her face surprisingly calm. She had been through this before. She knew what to do. "We have to split up. It's our only chance. Just keep moving. Don't stop moving! You hear that whirring noise, you run in the other direction and if worse comes to worse, stab it in the head." She grabbed a knife from her pack and tossed it to Thomas. She didn't need it. She had her machete and Minho had one, too.

The female Runner wasted no time in placing a kiss on Minho's lips and then backed up to look at the two stunned boys. "Just run! Go! Get outta here! If we survive the night, just come back here. Run!"

Minho took one last longing look at her before running in the opposite direction. Atala turned to Thomas. The kid looked terrified. She gestured to the corridor of the Maze in front of him. "Run, Greenie. It's your only chance."

With that, Atala ran into the darkness of the Maze. She knew she could survive another night in the Maze. She just had to somehow help two other people survive, too.