Now we're just moving right along aren't we? Have you figured out which one Newt is yet?
Enjoy!
A loud groaning jolted me from sleep. My eyes opened to the barely present light of morning. My limb felt stiff and heavy from sleeping on the cold ground.
Around me, everyone else was shooting up from their sleep. Looking around for the noise.
I immediately searched the far wall to see if the maze had opened again, if Dreads was alright. But the wall was still shut tight.
"Look there!" People were point towards the woods. I turned, searching the trees fruitlessly, until I looked up.
Looming over the trees, the massive stone wall was opening. A second door.
I scrambled to my feet, hurrying towards it. Blondie and Floofy were already a few strides ahead of me. Blondie was aided by his longer legs, but I caught up to Floofy quickly, another perk of the size difference.
The rest of the boys followed along behind us.
Floofy and I didn't look at each other but as we fell into pace I drifted sideways, eager to be separate from him. Floofy seemed to do the same. Curly caught up and filled in the gap, suddenly making our distance look normal.
"Do you think there's an entrance on every wall then?" He asked.
There was an awkward silence until finally Floofy answered "Makes sense."
I hummed in agreement quietly. Curly looked between the two of us. "Alright what happened?"
Floofy and I looked at him in surprise. Were we really being that obvious?
"Nothing happened." Floofy lied. "I'm just sore from sleeping on cold dirt."
I snorted. Floofy glared at me.
Curly looked to me for answers. "You disagree?" Floofy seemed almost challenging.
"Yeah I'm calling your bullshit. You know exactly what you did." I tried to keep my voice quiet but I got louder, frustration winning over reason.
"What could I possibly have done? Is this still about the Longlocks thing?"
"You didn't stand up for me!" I dropped from a shout to a hiss as I realized how loud I had gotten.
Both Curly and Floofy were very on edge now.
Floofy was indignant. "I still don't know why your mad at me. No one stood up for you!"
"I'm mad at everyone shank." I let the sarcasm drip off the last word. "If you guys are going to treat me like one of those chickens, at least do me the favor of sticking me in a cage so I don't have the option of running away."
Floofy opened his mouth to say something but apparently thought better of it and shut up again, increasing his pace to catch up to Blondie.
I watched his retreating back as he stalked over to the taller boy. He was a lackey if ever I saw one. It left an unpleasant welt in my throat, seeing him follow Blondie around like that.
"Your right." I jumped as Curly spoke up from next to me. "I should have said something. What they were saying about you, it wasn't fair. I'm sorry for not standing up for you."
I looked down at the boy walking next to me, the first rays of sunlight dusting his blonde hair. "I get it." I found myself saying. "Blondie can be intimidating." I stared at the tall boy ahead of us. "But someone's got to stand up to him when he crosses the line."
"Blondie?" I looked back at Curly who had an amused half smile appearing at his face. I liked that smile.
"Well what else am I gonna call him?" Curly was still laughing quietly as we passed under the thin canopy of trees. The quiet chatter of the boys before fell silent. It was a still place under the trees, darker. In the slim light of the rising sun, people were running into things. I nearly tripped over an unseen root, but I caught myself before face planting.
Blondie and Floofy were standing by the edge of the maze when we caught up to them, the rest of the boys close on our heels.
Looking into the maze, it wasn't the exact same path. The stone cracked differently, the vines grew in different clumps, but it was the same maze. Just a different door.
"Is that the way out?" Someone asked from behind me.
"Yeah." I responded. My gut knew that it was.
"What are we waiting for then?" Eyebrows started into the maze, but Smart Guy grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"I don't think that's wise." Eyebrows looked at him in confusion.
"Scared?" Blondie smirked.
Smart Guy stared at him levelly. "I think caution might be a good idea right now. Before we all go rushing in, maybe we should see what's in there."
"Its just paths." I volunteered. "More and more of them, branching off from each other."
"We don't know how far it goes." Smart Guy pointed out. "We should at least gather supplies if nothing else, we don't know how long we'll be out there."
"I'm going in now." Blondie shot back, puffing up his chest. "If there's a chance that kid is still in there, he's probably scared. We need to find him."
"Good." Smart Guy nodded, pulling something out of a small pack he'd brought with them. It was a paper and pencil. "You can go in, draw a map, and if you find the exit we'll all be able to get out. That way you won't get lost when you try to find your way back."
Blondie eyed the paper and pencil warily. "You seem eager."
"Because we do need to get out of here." Smart Guy agreed. "But I have a feeling it won't be as easy as you think."
You could see the calculations running behind Blondie's eyes. He took the paper and pencil. "What will you be doing?"
"Finding something for these boys to eat." Smart Guy replied, already stepping back. "Finding a place to hang these hammocks to keep us off the cold ground. Maybe making a roof to keep off the morning dew."
Eyebrows looked at him incredulously. "How long are you expecting us to be in here?"
"You saw the supplies." Smart Guy shrugged. "There's more than a day's worth in there. Maybe we'll get out tomorrow, maybe the day after. But no matter, I don't want to be sleeping on cold ground again. Do you?"
No one liked the idea of that.
"Fine." Blondie snorted. "You lot go make sure you can get your beauty sleep tonight. I am gonna find a way out of this place. See you shanks later."
He turned, to start out into the maze. We stood around idly, watching him disappear into the gloom of the maze. My feet took a step forward to follow him.
"Wait up!" Next to me, Floofy took off, jogging to catch up to Blondie. I hesitated in my thoughts, trying to think through what I was doing, but my legs kept walking after them. Curly was almost immediately in step with me.
"Alright!" Behind us, Smart Guy was calling everyone to order. "Let's get something to eat!"
Thanks for reading! Please review if you have a moment, the feedback is how I get better!
