Chapter 29
The runners didn't return that night.
We knew that they would be staying in the maze but everyone was worried about them. We didn't know if someone had been killed, or stung because they hadn't returned and we would have to wait until morning to find out if they had found anything new.
I didn't sleep much which meant I wasn't at my best when it came to sorting through the maps the next day and I could tell Newt was worried about me. He kept telling me over and over again to go back to the homestead to rest but I refused and told him I needed to help.
We didn't see the runners until after lunch because they had been in the homestead since early hours in the morning sleeping after running the maze all night. Thomas and Minho went straight to the weapons room where we had to take refuge as we had nowhere else to go since the maps room was in ruins.
They told us about a plan they where hoping could get us out of the Glade and away from Grievers but it was risky. Newt had a hard time coming to terms with their plan since he was the leader now after Alby broke down and decided Newt should be the leader.
We didn't know how the other Gladers would react to the plan Thomas and Minho had come up with but it didn't seem to matter much because most people were willing to do anything at a chance of leaving the hell some had started thinking of as home.
The fact that Chuck had almost been taken the night before seemed to be a good enough reason for the gladers to want to fight since everyone knew that Chucky didn't deserve anything like what he had been through. He was just a kid.
As soon as the plan had been spread across the entire Glade, we began preparing for what we knew was to be a brutal battle.
Weapons were distributed between every Glader and everyone packed small bags to carry on their backs filled with water and food. It took us the whole day to organise everything and some people seemed exhausted just by the planning but the majority were bursting with adrenaline and were ready to go, despite the fear that could be traced in every gladers eyes.
None of us wanted to be a lab rat anymore. We didn't want to be used by the creators for their sick games. We didn't want to die hiding behind pitiful walls, waiting for the grievers to take us all until there was none of us left.
We wanted to fight.
So we did.
Everyone got up earlier than usual and got something to eat, prepared the weapons and made last minute adjustments to their bags. We all gathered around the North door so we could listen to Minho make his speech before we walked into battle.
The boys who had been against running into the maze, sulked in the centre of the Glade and watched us all from afar as we stood silent and waited for Minho's speech and I couldn't tell what they thought of us from their expressionless faces but I knew they thought we were stupid to be running into the grievers den.
"Go ahead." Newt said from where he stood next to Minho who was facing the crowd. I was at the front staring at Newt who gave me a small smile before looking back at Minho.
Minho cleared his throat before he began talking, we were all ready for his inspiring pep talk that would get us all ready to defeat the grievers and the creators.
"Be careful," his voice held near to no emotion "don't die."
I sighed at his bluntness before looking to Newt almost pleading with my eyes for him to say something.
"Great. We're all bloody inspired."
And another sigh left my lips.
Instead of getting someone else to do the talking we all just got into position for attack. I was near the back with Newt and Alby while Thomas, Chuck and Minho were at the front of the group.
Before we took off running I turned to Newt at the same time he turned to me,
"Please be careful." I whispered as I stepped closer to him.
He didn't say anything at first, just looked at me for a while then crashed his lips onto mine.
It started off fast but we slowed down almost immediately and savoured the taste of each other. I wanted to memories every movement of his lips as he kissed me in case it was the last.
"You too." He whispered against my lips.
"When am I not careful?" I said as I pulled away with a faint smile on my lips
"You really don't want me to answer that." he said with a chuckle.
And then we were off.
Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as we ran through the confusing walls of the maze. I had no idea where I was going so I just followed everyone in front of me and hoped we were going the right way. After about twenty minutes of running and not seeing one griever, we all ran to a wall and most collapsed against it, tired from the little amount of exercise they had just endured.
My breathing way heavier than normal but because of how much I ran and jumped through trees, I was dealing with the constant running alright compared to the others.
"Why'd we stop?" I asked Thomas but he only held a finger to his lips in a silent 'slim it' gesture.
I did as I was told and didn't ask another question and instead, peered around the corner of the wall to see what had made all of us stop to see an entire line of the ugly beasts we called Grievers. I took in a sharp breath at the sight of the vile creatures before backing away from the corner slowly and going to stand next to Minho.
"We all knew what we signed up for. Why are we waiting?" I asked him
My question seemed to snap him back to the task at hand and he stood in front of the Gladers again,
"There's about ten grievers lined up to kill us over there. There is forty-one of us here. If we're gonna beat these things we're gonna have to have each others back through everything alright. Forty-one of us are going into this. I want forty-one of us walking out."
And that is how you deliver an inspiring speech!
"What about the sacrifice thing?" Someone asked from the group of gladers but I couldn't tell who it was.
Before an answer could be given, heavy footsteps running away from his filled the silence and I turned around in time to see Alby running straight at the Grievers.
"ALBY!" Newt screamed and tried to run after him but Winston and some other gladers had to hold him back.
I stood, frozen in shock as I watched the man who had shown me all the kindness he never let anyone else see run straight towards the monsters. A scream ripped out of my throat as I watched as the Grievers started jabbing and slicing at Alby. He used his bow and arrow to try and stop some of them but it was no use as each griever jumped on top of each other to get a slice at him and we all watched as his body fell limp.
In the moment I hated whoever had reminded us all of the idea that giving them one glader would save all of us because that person got Alby killed and we all watched.
It seemed Alby's sacrifice didn't have the desired effect though because as soon as the grievers had had their fun playing with Alby's body, they started heading towards us. They made running away impossible because another group of ten started coming at us from the other end of the corridor.
We were trapped.
Everyone knew that we were going to die if we didn't do anything so everyone got their weapons ready and armed immediately as the grievers started lessening the space between us. I was the first to make a move, running straight ahead at the grievers with a battle cry leaving my lips as I did so.
I didn't have to look behind me to know that the others were already following me.
"FOR ALBY!" I heard Newt yell as we neared the Grievers.
I had to dodge numerous needles and knives and sharp legs to get to the grievers but everyone knew the plan. Get Thomas, Teresa and Chuck into the grievers hole. I managed to jab a few grievers in their stomachs before I got an injury myself.
As I stabbed at another stomach and let whatever gooey substance was inside drain out, a sharp arm of a griever sliced at my side and coated my t-shirt in blood. I tried not to let the pain slow me down and kept on hitting at the grievers, occasionally getting help from other gladers when a griever got too close to getting a jab at me.
I heard someone shout that Thomas, Teresa and Chuck had made it into the Griever hole but it was then drowned out as someone next to me let out an piercing scream that then cut off almost instantly and then the sound of a body hitting the floor took its place.
I couldn't look over to see who had just been killed but I prayed it hadn't been Newt.
I dived under yet another griever and began stabbing at its underneath while someone else started hacking at its legs. As soon as I punctured the blobby stomach of the griever I had to slide out from underneath it before it collapsed on top of me.
I was almost out from under it when the whole thing crashed onto my legs and I had to stop myself from cursing as the dead weight crushed my legs and trapped me in place where I was vulnerable and an easy target. I didn't bother calling out for someone to get me, knowing that it would distract them and could get them killed so instead I tried dragging my body out but it didn't work.
I was defenceless as everyone was fighting for their lives and blood was quickly seeping out of the wound on my side but that didn't stop me from trying to save my life.
About ninety seconds later the grievers noticed my helpless state and started advancing towards me and I couldn't do a thing to stop them. I tried waving my weapon which was covered in the slime and goo of other grievers, around myself to try to fend off the oncoming creatures but it didn't work half as much as I wanted it to.
I was dead meat.
Except I wasn't. Because as the first griever tried diving its arm at my face, a spear was thrown in its path and landed in the joints of the arm, making it impossible for it to move. Not ten seconds later was I being pulled out from under the griever by two pairs of hands and then hoisted back on my feet.
I looked to see who my saviours where and saw Clint and Minho fending off the approaching grievers as best as they could and I only found it fair to start fighting again as soon as I could. I ignored the pain in my side and the rapid amount of blood loss I was receiving and fought like it was the last thing I would ever to, because potentially it could be.
"What the hell is taking them so long?" I screamed over the noise at anyone who could hear but only got a few grunts and the whirling of machinery as a reply.
Instead of wasting time talking I did the next best thing and ran to the closest vine covered wall which I then proceeded to climb up like I had done the night I had been trapped in the maze with Thomas and Alby. It didn't take me long to get over half way up the seemingly never ending walls and when I did I got a clear view of everybody who was fighting and how many grievers we ere up against.
I counted twelve bodies lying on the floor, six grievers ripped a part and motionless, twelve grievers up and running and twenty-five gladers fighting for their lives.
Although there were more of us fighting the grievers, they were bigger, stronger and smarter than us so we were almost on even ground but the unsettling part of the whole thing was that more grievers were approaching at a quick pace from other corridors, reinforcing the fallen beasts with numbers.
Because I was up the wall I was out of reach of the grievers but I didn't want to stay that way. If everyone else was fighting I would be too.
When the right moment struck I jumped into action, literally. As a griever backed up against a wall, ready to charge at a glader, I jumped off of the wall and onto its jelly like body. I didn't do what Gally had done when he had saved Newt's life though. I wasn't trying to kill myself but the shouts of the gladers around me as they called my name made me think that they thought that was exactly what I was doing.
As I landed on the body of the beast, I grabbed a knife that was attached to my hip (the one that wasn't draining me off my blood) and sliced it through the middle of the mechanical monster. A high pitched scream came from the griever as I dug the knife deeper into its skin, letting out the same gooey substance as the others and piercing my eardrums in the process.
As soon as the creature was drained it crumbled to the floor and I was able to climb off of it, only to have a pair of arms snake around my waist and drag me to the ground where I then rolled for a few seconds until I brought myself to a stop.
I looked around myself to see that where I had landed seconds ago, another griever's body had taken its place and Newt was standing only a few feet away from me looking like he had been to hell and back.
Just as I was about to run to him, every griever in the area collapsed at our feet and everyone lapsed into silence as they looked around.
I stared at the survivors around me and took a minute to realise that the people who I couldn't see would be dead.
I looked to Newt to see him staring at one of the grievers bodies before he looked up at me but he had no emotion on his face. I could understand why and I probably looked the same. He had lost his best friend during the battle, watched him die in front of him and he couldn't do anything. I felt the same, though I hadn't seen it happen, I couldn't see Jeff and I made the assumption that he had been killed.
I barely got a minute to grieve before all of us heard shouting coming from the cliff and could identify it as Thomas telling us to jump down. One by one each of us jumped down the narrow hole and followed Thomas, Teresa and Chuck as they lead us through some dimly lit corridors that began just after we crawled through a hole that was a door before Teresa and Chuck cracked the code.
After about five minutes of walking through the corridors and passing by numerous bodies wearing white coats, we all stopped in front of a large open area filled with computer screens and lights hanging to the ceiling by the thinnest of wires that looked like they would break at any moment.
I barely paid any attention to my surrounding though, I was too overwhelmed by what we had just accomplished. We had escaped the maze. We had fought off the grievers.
We were free!
Except we weren't.
