A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, I've been super busy. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 12
Almost another month went by relatively normally. Minho and I would spend the days running the maze trying to track Ben's movements. The other runner's had quit as soon as Ben got stung. They didn't want to risk bumping into Grievers in the day. I didn't blame them but Minho and I needed to find this Griever; so that the Glade could feel safe, or so that Ben could be avenged, I don't know.
Thomas had decided to work in the farms with Newt, although I could tell he still had his heart set on being a runner. He had really started to fit in with the group. He would joke around with Chuck and Jak and even help Gally with some of the building work. The questions never died down, but he soon accepted that we didn't have all the answers. I still hadn't had a chance to ask him about WICKED. Was he having the same dream as I was? The people with the masks. The feeling of drowning. I had to ask, and soon.
Minho and I ran back through the gap after another day of running the maze. We ran up to Alby and Newt who were waiting for us.
'Anything?' Alby asked.
I nodded. 'Yeah. We found Ben's pack.' I showed them the extra pack I was carrying. It was ripped and dirty but it was definitely his. 'He must have dropped it after he was stung. We now know roughly where it happened.'
'Tomorrow, we need you to come with us Alby,' Minho stated. 'I know I'm being optimistic, but if we find it and manage to kill it, Kira and I are not going to be able to bring it back on our own. She says they are massive.' I nod agreeing.
'They are. We're gonna need an extra pair of hands.'
'Okay,' Alby says after a minute. 'Newt you'll be in charge.'
'Time to show your stripes!' I say lightly grinning at Newt. He rolls his eyes as we all head into the homestead.
The next morning Minho, Alby, Newt and I, stand by the wall waiting for it too open.
'It's mainly building stuff going on today. There shouldn't be any bother but if there is just sort it out. You know how it works.' Alby instructs Newt. He nods in acknowledgment as the wall begins to rumble. They quickly say their goodbyes along with Minho. I step forward as Newt pulls me into a hug.
'Be careful out there.' He whispers into my ear.
'I always am,' I say with a grin.
He grabs my hands and says, 'Promise me you'll come back.'
I smile and give his hands a squeeze. 'I promise. Don't worry. We'll be fine.' After quickly kissing him on the cheek, the three of us run into the maze. Minho again is laughing to himself.
'Don't say it,' I shout back at him as we tear through the winding, paths back to where we found the bag.
Laughter is the only response I get from the pair of them.
It takes us a couple of hours to make it back to a small inverted part of the wall where we found the pack. 'Here,' I say to Alby. 'We found it here.' We get into a tight formation not wanting there to be any blind spots. We move slowly, keeping an eye out for any Grievers. My nerves are through the roof. I almost can't breathe at the idea that I'm going to see a Griever again. We reach a 3-way fork in the path – left, right and straight on.
'Which way?' Alby says to us. Minho and I look at each other, both shrugging out shoulders.
'We should split up.' Minho says. My head snaps to look at him with shock.
'What? Split up? Are you crazy? With a Griever out here?' I shake my head.
'He's right Kira.' Alby says with a sigh. 'We keep talking to each other and at any sign of a Griever, we shout.'
'It's not safe. Ben was on his own, and he got stung.'
'We don't have another option,' Minho said firmly. 'We have to check all three out.'
I sigh. I know they're right but I don't like it. 'Fine. But we keep talking.'
They both nod. 'I'll take left.' Alby says.
'I've got this one,' Minho nods towards the right.
'Guess I'm straight.' I exhale sharply.
'I should hope so.' Minho jokes. 'Newt would be severely disappointed if not.' I roll my eyes at this.
'Go!' I demand with a humourless smile. We each head down our own paths. I keep my knife braced out in front of me ready to strike if I need too.
'AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' I whip round. That came from my left.
'ALBY!'
Newt's POV
As I watched them run off into the maze, I let out a breath I'd been holding in. 'Please be careful Kira,' I whispered to myself. I knew that she was fully capable of looking after herself but I worry anyway. I can't help it. Pulling my eyes away from the maze, I turned and walked over to kitchen area, where Fry was already cooking up a storm.
'Hey man,' I said to get his attention.
'Hey Newt, you in charge today?' Frypan had obviously seen Alby and Kira Go off with Minho.
'Yeah, I am. Anything I can do to help?'
'You get the lovely job of waking up the boys.' I sigh. Knew it. He hands me a pan and a wooden spoon.
'Here. Talking might not be enough.'
I laugh. 'Thanks.'
A couple of hours later, Zart and I are chopping up some wood for the builders. Tommy is supposed to be helping, but seems distracted by the maze as always.
'But why would Alby go into the maze? I mean, he's not a runner. Surely Minho and Kira can handle themselves.' Tommy says. I roll my eyes.
'Things are different now. Minho and Kira found Ben's pack yesterday. Alby went as an extra pair of hands if they need him. Are you gonna help?'
'So they're gonna go back to where Ben was just stung…'
'They know what they're doing... all right? Especially Kira. She knows better than any of us.'
'What does that mean?' Tommy looked really confused by that. Had she not told him?
'Well, it's like you have heard, yeah? Every month, the Box sends up a new arrival. But someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade, alone. That was Kira. I mean, it can't have been easy. But when Alby came up, with more supplies than the two of them could ever need... she saw the truth. And she learned that the most important thing... is that we all have each other. Because we're all in this together.'
I looked up at Tommy and his mouth was hanging open.
'She was here all alone?' He said quietly.
'Yeah. She started all of this. All we have is because of her.'
This seemed to click somewhere in Tommy, as he got up and knelt down by the stump we were working on. He brought up his machete and brought it down hard.
'Yeah. There you go, Greenie.' As we got back to work a huge storm rolled in above us. The rain started pouring down soaking everyone. Seeing it was not going to stop anytime soon, we ran under cover. I leaned back against one of the support poles watching the maze opening. They'll make it. They'll make it. I keep repeating this like it's a mantra.
'They should be back by now.' Tommy echo's the very thoughts I don't want to hear. 'What happens if they don't make it?'
I can't think about that. 'They're gonna make it.' Tommy's obviously not satisfied by that answer. He walks up to my side.
'What happens if they don't?'
'They're gonna make it.' I repeat nodding to myself. They have to.
Kira POV
Carrying a 6ft piece of dead weight on my own? Impossible. Carrying a 6ft piece of dead weight with Minho? Slightly more probable but still genuinely difficult. With Minho taking the bulk of the weight we moved as quickly as we could through the dark passages. As the rain stopped we started seeing signs showing we were close. We sped up as much as we could but we were reaching our limit. We couldn't carry him for much longer. My arms and legs screamed with pain as, I imagine, did Minho's. It got darker and darker and we knew that it was only a matter of time before the doors closed and we were stuck here. As we reached the final stretch to the Glade we could see the boys standing round the entrance. Minho and I heaved Alby up into a more comfortable position and pushed further. As we were moving my leg caught on a vine on the floor and we went tumbling. Minho scrabbled back up as began to hear the rumbling of the maze beginning to move.
'Go,' I said to Minho. I had already made my decision. As soon as the prospect of us not getting back in time came about, I knew what I would do.
'What!' He shouted. 'I'm not leaving you!'
'Come on. Come on.' The boys were screaming from the Glade.
'Newt needs you. I have to stay with Alby.' I say trying to make him see sense.
'Newt needs YOU!' He cries imploringly.
I stand up and push him towards the Glade. 'Go. Tell Newt I'm sorry but I'm going to keep my promise. GO!' I kneel back down to check on Alby. I hear Newt shouting my name, but I don't look up at him. I can't. Minho groans in frustration and begins running to the gap. The doors begin to close as he makes it through. I can see him talking to Newt and grabbing his shoulders.
'Come on Kira! Leave him.'
I shake my head at them and look back at Alby. The groaning rumble of the doors shutting makes my heart clench with fear but I keep my eyes locked on Alby.
'Thomas, no!' I snap my head back up and see Tommy running and pushing through the gap and it shuts. The doors shut as he rolls away from them, on our side.
I get up and run towards him and throw my arms around him. 'What did you do, you idiot!' I cry as he hold me tightly.
'I couldn't just leave you both.'
I draw back and look at him incredulously 'Yes, you could. Those are rules. You don't enter the maze!'
'Well I did so…' His eyes catch Alby behind me. 'What happened to him?'
'He got stung. We think by the Griever that stung Ben.' I kneel beside him again stroking his forehead.
'What happened to his head?'
'You saw Ben when he as stung. We couldn't control him. Minho knocked him out so we could carry him.' I sigh. 'Come on. We can't stay here. We have to get him up.'
Thomas and I grabbed an arm and a leg each and carried him down a path off the stretch. After a while of trying to find somewhere to hide I say, 'Sit him down,' as we lean him against the wall.
I look at Tommy. 'Were not going to last if we can't move full speed. We're gonna have to stash him somewhere.'
'You know of anywhere?' He asks trying to get his breath back.
I start to shake my head when a wall of vines catches my attention. Walking up to it I pull on one of them. It's looped round from the top. I turn to Tommy, and pull the vine again with enthusiasm.
'Like a pulley,' I exclaim.
Maintaining eye contact he says, 'That could work.' We smile and begin to pull up Alby when a loud clanking, clicking sound roots us to the ground.
'Griever!' He whispers.
I nod. 'We need to do this quickly.' Tying the vines round Alby's chest and under his arms, we grab the other end of the vine and pull him up.
'2, 3, Pull.' We pull heaving him up higher.
'2, 3, Pull.' And again, pulling Alby up into the cover of the vines.
'A little more and we'll tie him off.' Thomas says. We pull again and again, whilst the clicking is getting closer and closer and louder and louder.
'Tommy, we have to go!' I urge feeling the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up. I look round the corner and see a Griever at the end of the path. 'Tommy!'
'One more!' We pull again and Alby is high enough that he can't been seen easily from the ground. We quickly tie it off to stop him from falling.
Noticing the vines overhanging the wall I push Tommy underneath it saying, 'There ain't room for us both!' I run in the opposite direction hoping to lead the Griever away from Alby and Thomas.
I run as fast as I can with the Griever on my tail. My blood pounds in my ears and my heart hammers against my ribcage. Move, Kira, Move. You said you'd keep your promise. MOVE! Left, Right, Left, Right. Winding through unfamiliar paths trying to lose it. The clanging behind me suddenly disappears. I stop and turn around to see the Griever is gone. I stop still as I listen for it. But there is nothing at all. It's like even the leaves have stopped blowing. Everything is still, like it's waiting for something to happen. Deathly silence. My eyes flick around searching for something, anything.
What's that? I can hear hammering footsteps. But I can't work out where they are coming from. They almost sound like they are above me. I look up just in time to see Thomas jumping off the top of one other walls and grabbing on to the vines on the other side. I almost shout his name until I hear the clanging and see a Griever jump off after him. Stumbling back I keep my eyes on the Griever scrabbling above Thomas on the vines. For a second I can't see him, but I do see the Griever pull back it's stingers to strike. I have to do something.
'HEY!' I shout, grabbing the Grievers attentions. Having seen me, it goes to jump down but gets caught in the vines bringing itself and Thomas down with it. I run forward seeing Thomas stuck in vines and quickly untangle him whilst the Griever pulls at its own vines. Getting him free I pull him up and we begin to run; the Griever following closely behind.
'You're a crazy son of a bitch.' I scream at him as we run. 'Follow me.' The clunking of the maze changing forms a plan in my head. We need a Griever, and I know how to get one. We pull up on a path that it about to change. 'Run down there!' I shout. 'I'll be right behind you.' He immediately begins to run. As the walls start to close off the Griever comes round the corner. 'Come on!'
'Kira, come on!' Thomas shouts. 'It's seen you. You can go!' He caught on quickly.
'Come on!' I scream. As it starts toward me, I dart down the path. Urghhh. Why did I decide to do this? The walls come in tighter and tighter. I can feel the Griever on my tail but I don't look back.
'Come on, Kira! Run! Don't look back! Move it! Go on!' Thomas' face is filled with sure panic. As I push out of the end and roll onto the floor a deafening crash from behind me fills the maze. I lay on the floor getting my breath back as Thomas just stares at the wall.
'You did it.' He says quietly. 'You fucking did it!' He grabs my arms, pulls me up and into a hug. Over his shoulder I see the crushed remains of a Griever.
Holy Fuck.
Yay! So, as usual any reviews are appreciated. Just want to say a quick thank you to the people that responded to the last chapter.
KizzyKales, hannah and LuvinYouWasRed, thank you so much. I love getting reviews and it really inspires me to write. So cheers!
I will try to update soon!
Have a great week!
Zoe xx
