Minho stood, barely visible in the dying light. "We have to split up- it's our only chance. Just keep moving. Don't stop moving!" He turned and ran, disappearing in seconds, swallowed by darkness.

"Minho!" Clara called after him, frustrated that he was leaving she and Thomas alone when they had no idea what they were doing. The noise grew louder, and a smell like burning oil struck her senses. She sped over Alby, who was by then just a mound in the shadows, and quickly checked his pulse. It was beating, not strongly, but still beating. Still alive. Thomas followed her, rocking on his heels as he thought. He walked along the wall and looked at the ivy covering the stone. Clara was still crouching on the ground, her mind mulling over ideas of how they were going to hide for the whole night.

"Clara!" Thomas whispered "I have an idea!" At that point she was ready to take any sort of idea she could get her hands on. She joined him by the wall Thomas was standing at, where he was tugging at the vines.

"I've tested some of the vines and they held. Maybe we can tie him up there?" Clara wanted to think about it further, but there wasn't enough time. A sharp crack echoed within the Maze, followed by the horrible sound of crumpling metal.

"Okay. Quickly." she said. She hauled Alby over to the wall where there was a patch of loose vines and Thomas tightly wound the ivy around Alby's legs. Clara wrapped one around his left arm. Clara held him up as Thomas climbed a few feet and wrapped one around Alby's chest.

"Try pulling him up now!" Clara whisper-shouted. Thomas nodded and took the one wrapped around Alby's left leg and pulled. Unfortunately he only got it up a few inches before letting go.

"He's too heavy!" Thomas stressed, grappling back down to the ground. Clara took a turn climbing up and pushed his leg up a couple feet, then tied a new vine around it. She did the same on the other leg and the vine held. Thomas got her idea and rejoined her in tying up Alby's arms. Clara leaned back and looked; Alby was three feet higher than a few minutes ago.

"This'll work." Clara said, grabbing a vine and wrapping it around her chest "Let's keep going."

Climb, wrap, push up, tie off. Climb, wrap, push up, tie off. They repeated the whole process over and over again. Clangs from the Maze. Whirrs, buzzes, moans. The Grievers were getting closer. At least they're moving slow, Clara thought. The effort of holding Alby up was excruciating. Clara's arms shook, her feet ached from pressing into the stone cracks. Sweat collected on the back of her neck. She looked over at Thomas, who was gritting his teeth, his hair matted to his head with sweat. They had to keep pushing. At about thirty feet in the air, both their arms gave out and they swayed on the vines wrapped around them. Clara was done.

Another mechanical squeal screeched through the Maze, close now, accompanied by the sound of revved machinery. Clara tried to imitate Alby's lifeless body in the vines, and Thomas did the same. Then what Clara feared most rounded the corner, and it wasn't dead this time.

Clara stared in horror at the monstrous thing making its way down the corridor. It's body resembled a giant slug sparsely covered in hair and glistening in slime. It pulsated as it breathed. Clara couldn't see any sort of head or tail, but it was the length of a human male. Every ten seconds, sharp spikes popped through its bulbous skin and the Griever would suddenly curl into a ball and spin forward. Then it would settle, its metal spikes retreating back into its disgusting skin with an awful noise. It repeated the process over and over, traveling a few feet at a time. Several mechanical arms protruded from the creature, like the ones Clara saw on the first Griever. Some with lights, metal, claws, knives, and needles, which Clara assumed held the poison that pricked people. The arms retracted and repositioned as the Griever rolled, making creepy clicks. Deathly moans that sounded like dying men escaped from the creature, sending chills up Clara's spine.

Don't look up, don't look up, don't look up, Clara prayed, Go the other way. It rolled again, right up to the wall. The Maze seemed brighter as the Griever's light dimly illuminated their surroundings. Then they went out.

Clara was blind. It was instantly dark and noiseless. It was like the thing turned off. No whirrs, no moans. Silence. Clara could feel her own heart beating through her chest. She was terrified. Could the Griever hear them? Smell them? Still nothing, no movement. Clara waited in anticipation, the vine that was holding her up digging into her chest. She wanted to scream at the monster to get it over with. Kill me or go back to your hiding hole, Clara thought. Then, in a sudden burst of light and sound, the Griever came back to life. And started to climb the wall.