Footsteps slowly brought Eight back to consciousness. They were soft, but belonged to a giant creature. The Nome must've heard them too, because it darted out of Eight's arms and squeezed through a small crack in the wall. As Eight realized who it must be, she stamped down the fire and followed the Nome through the crack in the wall, just as a big creature came into view.
He was giant, almost twenty-five feet high. He was blind, and wore bandages over his eyes. He also had short stubby legs, which was why he was smaller than usual for his kind, but to make up for that, he had long, extensive arms that could reach up to twice his height, plus a little more. Eight knew him as the Janitor.
She watched him lumber around the corridor, stretching his arms out in front of him for guidance and sniffing about. Although he was blind, he had an incredible sense of hearing and smell, as well as a good idea of the layout of the Maw. Plus, his arms could reach out and grab anyone, even if they were running as fast as they could. Eight had seen many children fall prey to those arms.
The Nome snuggled up next to her, and they both waited there until the Janitor was gone. Eight crawled out of the hole when she heard his footsteps fade away. The Nome followed her and looked up to her in expectation. She was glad that she had found a friend, but she wondered if it might be safer for the Nome to go off on its own. She tended to attract trouble. She walked down the corridor in the direction the Janitor came from. The Nome followed her in his cute little waddle way, and Eight's heart melted. The Nome was the cutest thing in the entire Maw, which didn't really say anything, as everything in the Maw was creepy and/or grotesque, but nonetheless. Eight tried to push the little Nome in the opposite direction, but he persisted.
Finally, Eight just decided to let him follow her. Two was better than one after all. She ran down the corridor, slow enough for the Nome to follow her but fast enough so they wouldn't be caught by any wandering giants coming their way. She saw an opened vent and helped the Nome up to it. She then climbed in herself and started to crawl down the vent, the Nome following.
Eight knew she couldn't keep calling him 'the Nome'. So she searched her mind for a name. Eight's mind landed on the name Gregory. She thought that name suited him, so she named him Gregory. Because the Maw needed a Nome to be named Gregory.
Eight and Gregory both crawled through the vent until it dropped off into a chasm that Eight couldn't see the bottom of. She took out her flashlight and shined it at the bottom, revealing a pile of shoes that would break the fall. Eight put the flashlight away, and slowly pushed herself off the edge, falling into the pile of shoes. She looked up and saw Gregory looking down at her. "It's okay. You can fall down, I'll catch you." Eight held her arms out. Gregory stayed there for a moment, until finally he pushed himself off and landed in Eight's arms. She hugged him gratefully and set him down gently on the ground.
They continued through the vent, twisting and turning throughout the Maw. Finally, the vent let off into a room with white wallpaper and small green patterns that looked like a flower blooming. It had several bookcases filled with books and trinkets. There was also a bed with straps crossing it horizontally in the corner. Hanging on the wall were shelves and a portrait of the Janitor himself. Eight shuddered as she realized this must be the Janitor's room. She crawled out the vent on a shelf and helped Gregory out as well. They both climbed down onto the floor. Eight was itching to get out of there before the Janitor came back.
She noticed a part of the wall a bit bigger than her was cut out into a door-like shape. She ran up to it and pushed on the wall, it creaking open to reveal a dark passageway, riddled with piled up boxes and cobwebs. Eight hesitantly walked through it, closing the wall-door behind them as soon as she and Gregory were inside. They were drowned in darkness as it shut, but Eight pulled out her flashlight and shined it through the passageway. They walked through it together, their footsteps echoing in the still silence.
Water dripped from the ceiling, making small puddles. Eight briefly wondered how much water the Maw takes on everyday. Splashing ahead caught Eight's attention. Footsteps other than hers and Gregory's echoed in the distance, making Eight's skin crawl. Gregory darted away into the dark, away from whatever was making that noise. Eight turned off her flashlight. Whatever was coming, it sounded like it was roughly the size of her. A glowing light emanated in the distance. A silhouette of a small child came into view. She was running towards Eight, but stopped once she saw her. She had a bright yellow raincoat with raven black bangs covering her eyes, and a lighter in her hand which was casting a warm glow around them.
They both stared at each other for a moment, until the girl ran past Eight. Eight was quiet for a moment before saying, "Wait, I'd be careful. The Janitor is over there." The girl looked back. She hesitated going further, but she looked to Eight and nodded. The girl continued to run forward and traveled through the wall-door, closing it behind her with a soft creak.
Gregory came poking his head out from behind a box. He sidled up to Eight and looked at her expectantly. "Why did you run from her? She wasn't going to hurt you." Eight said. "I guess you just run from anything that seems like a threat, huh?" Gregory tilted his head and hugged Eight's leg. "Aww…" Eight knelt down and hugged him back. They then continued throughout the dark passage.
After hours of walking and climbing through the passages, fleeing anything that seemed threatening, Eight came upon a small room. She was really tired. She had to sit down, just a small break. Eight sat down on a box to rest and Gregory jumped up to join her. Eight watched water dripping from the ceiling into a small puddle on the floor.
Eight was more tired than she thought, and she began to doze off. She laid down on the top of the box and fell asleep