●| DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MAZE RUNNER AND/OR PERCY JACKSON |●
●| ANNABETH #9 |●
•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•
After being surrounded so long by colour leached walls, the scene assaulted my eyes like a rainbow coloured dragon spitting a volley of jelly beans at me. The colours were just too much.
I instinctively shut my eyes, a green afterglow lurking at the edges of my vision.
Still blinking, I slowly got accustomed with the explosion of colours.
And I realised that the place wasn't an Iris-bombed unicorn land, but the absence of colour that I had lived with in the maze just amplified my senses.
Before me stood a giant, ragged tear in the wall. Beyond the concrete, the maze floor gave way to rich soil and emerald grass patched with grass deadened by trampling feet. Although it was still enclosed with the maddeningly colourless walls, it looked like a farm, with a clump of pine trees in the corner, a few cows grazing lazily at browning grass and boys crouched over rows of crops.
It actually reminded me a bit of Camp, what with the rows of crops, the fresh air and mysterious woods. But that was just about it. The atmosphere here was more serious, filled with orders rather than laughter.
"Come, we need to get Percy to the Med-Jacks before he's too far gone and before people reacting to you. That's going to delay the process. People here ain't used to seeing girls like you. Actually, they aren't used to seeing girls at all," Thomas said, nudging me quickly behind a rock. "We should skitter around the edge. Nobody likes inspecting the walls, reminds them how much they're trapped in this klunking place," he muttered under his breath.
I tried to process the information he just told him. Was this a group of mortals who were banished into the maze and ended up building some kind of civilised community? Why would they put mortals in here? Maybe, just maybe, were they ghosts? Celestial bronze doesn't wound ghosts, so that could be the reason the knife didn't hurt him. That was a theory, but I touched him, so that would throw that idea out (but there were always exceptions).
I turned my head to glance at Thomas. His hands were gripping the wall and the barricade of rocks we hid behind. His hazel eyes stared at her expectantly.
I shifted Percy's body so his nose poked my neck.
I peeked over his bulk as I placed my feet carefully, trying not to fall over and make a noise.
•|•|•|•|•
The trek was surprisingly short.
We reached the pine forest by the time the sun at reached its peak. I wondered if Apollo was cruising in his flaming ice cream truck. I doubted it. The Labyrinth was underground, so this was just a ploy to give you a fake sense of freedom. Oh, the Labyrinth and its gifts! So friendly!
The pine forest surrounded a shabby graveyard. Stone slabs were stabbed into the ground, names scratched out with pocketknife, along with the deceased's last words of their last breath. I noticed how none of the of the tombstones had a date of birth. It occurred to me that the boys didn't know when they were born. Thomas did mention that it was weird that someone who had memories was allowed into the Maze.
I hurriedly followed Thomas, giving the graves a wide berth. We walked through the large gap in the picket fence and into the forest.
Ten metres away, I saw mottled light of the pseudo sun dapple through the thick trees. We trudged further until we freed ourselves of the rotting smell of dead leaves.
We headed to an ugly block of cement that only idiots would call a building. Weeds grew around it, its grass dying from flattening feet.
"This is the hospital," Thomas announced as he strode forward, and halted to give her a pointed look. "Stay outside so I can talk to the Clint; warn him before you make his eyes bulge out of his head. But his eyes won't bulge because you're going to strangle him, right?" he said the last line uneasily.
"Okay. So, no strangling. Got it," I confirmed.
He nodded, and swung open the door. The smell of disinfectant and plastic drifted out, the all too familiar smell stinging my nostrils.
He took a step inside and disappeared, the door swaying in the impossible breeze.
•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•
•|Because this is also short (Sorry, once again) so I'm going to, once again, double update. |•
•|Follow, Favourite and Review|•
•| Jamie Edge |•
