Chapter 6

The next day, we had covered both our sections and found nothing. We headed back for the Glade, when we passed the Cliff. I stopped.

"Do you think that could be a possible way out of here?" I asked. Charlie turned sharply.

"What? Down there? Are you bloody insane?" She demanded. I shrugged.

"Gabe thinks it could be a way out." I said. Charlie snorted.

"What does that bloody shank know? He's never even been out of the Glade." She shot down my suggestion.

I still ignored her and ran over to the steep drop. I looked down and only saw darkness. I turned around.

"Go ahead, I'll catch up. I've gotta do something first." I yelled over at her.

She hesitated, then nodded. I watched her as she started sprinting in the direction of the Glade.

I turned around to face the drop behind me. I bent down and searched for a rock to throw into the void. I gathered a small pile of pebbles, and started chucking them down. But the weird part was that some of them disappeared.

I figured out that there was a small section in the middle of the void that the rocks just disappeared into instead of doing something normal, like getting farther down as gravity pulled them.

I was just getting up to leave, when I noticed movement in the darkness below. I crouched to get a better look, and a knife whipped through the air, slicing a gash on my right cheek. I yelped and stumbled back. Then I got up and saw what was rising out of the abyss. A Griever.

It roared, and leaped at me. I scrambled backwards, then took off running. I could hear it screeching and the mechanics inside it whirling into action. As soon as I saw the Glade entrance, I screamed:

"EVERYBODY STAND CLEAR, THERE'S A GRIEVER!"

Several Gladers near the entrance looked up, and their eyes widened. They scrambled away from the entrance, shouting for help as they did so.

As soon as everybody was safe enough, I whirled around to face the charging mass of flesh and metal behind me. It screeched to a halt, surprised by my movement. I screamed and charged at it, hefting my spear in front of me.

The Griever shied away a little, then regained its senses and roared. It sprang at me, trying to crush me under its weight. I kneeled on the ground and pointed my weapon up. The Griever landed right on the sharp tip, which impaled it's heart. It screamed and wiggled, trying to save itself. Then it stilled and was dead.

I heaved upwards, throwing aside the Griever. I turned around and saw several Gladers standing just beyond the Maze. Will, Charlie, Gabe, Alex, Joan, and Bits were all included. I wiped the hair out of my face and smiled at them. I grabbed my spear and wrenched it out of the Griever with a sharp tug. Then I walked back to the Glade. When I stepped out of the Maze, Gabe rushed forwards to wrap me in his arms, but I held out my hand.

"No hugs until after I clean this gunk off." I said, motioning to the griever slime covering my body.

Gabe laughed. "Good idea."

I nodded, then handed him my spear and headed to the showers.

After I was clean from all the slime, I took a stroll to the Maproom. It wasn't to actually go to the Maproom, it was just to clear my head so I could relax for a couple minutes.

I was just aimlessly walking around in Bonewoods, when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, and saw Gabe casually leaning against a tree.

"So you gonna tell me I was right, or do I have to say 'told you so'?" He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, you weren't exactly right. The Cliff is just a Griever den." I pointed out.

"But if they can leave through there, maybe we could too." He suggested.

I crossed my arms. "Or it could be a dead end filled with Grievers. You don't shucking know." I turned around to keep walking. I had only walked a couple feet when Gabe came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

I yelped and gently smacked his arms.

"What're you doing?" I asked him.

He leaned forwards. "You owe me a hug, remember?" I could hear the smile in his voice.

I rolled my eyes, but turned around and hugged him back.

Then I lightly pulled away and smiled at him. And I turned around and kept walking.

I had made it all the way to where the forest met the walls and back. I felt energized, rejuvenated. I walked back to the main area with a slight spring in my step.

I nodded at a couple passing Gladers. Then I saw Gabe talking to Will, and I ran over to them.

As I got closer, I heard their conversation.

"But we don't know!" Gabe was trying to convince Will that the Griever den could be an exit.

"Exactly! We don't know what's down there!" Will looked very annoyed.

I could see Gabe shaking his head in frustration.

"But it could be an exit!"

Will rolled his eyes. "Or it could be filled with Grievers!" He exclaimed.

I sighed and walked up to them.

"I'll do it." I said. They turned and looked at me.

"What?" Gabe asked.

I shrugged. "Somebody has to go down there. Why not me?" I stared at him expectantly.

Gabe grabbed my arms. "But you could die!" He said. I rolled my eyes.

"So could whoever else you were planning on sending down there." I gestured towards the other Gladers.

"Actually, I was planning on being the one who went down." Gabe snapped.

I glared at him. "Like hell you are. At least I have a chance of surviving." I crossed my arms.

Will opened his mouth, but Gabe shushed him.

"I'll get a party together, then we'll leave for the Griever den tomorrow. We need to get out of here." He said it in a final way, like nothing could change his mind.

I smiled at him. "Fine, but I'm going with you."

Will rolled his eyes. "That's great. I'll just let two of my strongest Gladers kill themselves. Absolutely fine. No problem." He growled, then stalked off towards the kitchens.

I shrugged at Gabe. "He'll get over it eventually."

That's when a group of Runners emerged from the Maze.

They were part of the search party that was sent to find Addy. I could see several of them were injured, and one was even being supported by another.

I ran over to them.

'"What the shuck happened?" I shouted at them when I was in hearing range.

The girl supporting the limping guy looked up.

"We found Addy." She called.

I stopped in my tracks.

"So where is he?" I asked.

The girl shook her head, and gestured towards the group.

I counted them, and came up with an uneven number. Five Gladers had come out of the Maze, but there should have been six, or better yet, seven.

The girl sighed. "He attacked us. It seemed like he was fighting with the Grievers. The weird part is, they weren't attacking him, either." She looked at the boy she was supporting, and I saw a tear fall down her cheek.

"Lay him down, I'll get the Med-jacks." I called to her as I turned around and sprinted off towards Homestead.

I was intercepted by Beth, who was on her way to check out the comotion. She saw me running towards her and stopped.

"Cleo, what's going on?" She asked.

I stopped and bent over to catch my breath.

"The other Runners are back, but they need your help." I gasped.

Beth nodded, and she put her fingers to her mouth and let out a high pitched whistle. Then she hurried off in the direction of the doors.

A couple other Med-jacks ran by me, carrying their herbs and ointments.

That night, when the Grievers attacked, we were prepared. All the Gladers huddled in the Homestead buildings, clutching knives and spears.

The Grievers were rolling around outside, roaring, their mechanical organs whirring and clicking.

Some of us tried to get some sleep on some mats we had found, but most were too scared to do anything but huddle against the wall trying not to pass out from fear and lack of sleep.

I was sitting on a mat in-between a sleeping Joan and a nervous, twitching Charlie.

Every time there was even the slightest sound, she jumped.

It would have been funny, if I wasn't as scared as her.

We heard a loud crash upstairs, and a high-pitched scream. People from the floor above us came rushing down the stairs. I stood up as the new arrivals squished themselves into the already cramped room.

"What happened?" I asked one girl.

She looked up at me. "A Griever got in and grabbed Zoe." She said, her eyes full of fear and pain.

I glared at her. "There's a shucking Griever upstairs, and you don't think that's important?" I snapped.

The girl flinched. "They only take one person from each Homestead." She said quietly.

I nodded sarcastically. "Yes, but they still kill more if they can." I headed over to the stairs.

Charlie looked up. "What the bloody shuck are you doin', Cleo?" She yelled.

I glanced back at her, then started climbing the stairs.

The top floor was a wreck. There was a big gash in the wall, where a window had been. I looked around and saw a dark lump in the corner. I approached it slowly, and as I got nearer, my stomach twisted.

It was the body of Beth.

I looked away, towards the gash. I walked over and jumped onto the broken wall.

Then I slowly lowered myself onto the roof to look at the Glade in the early morning's gray light.

Wait…. I looked at the sky. It was just endless gray expanse. It didn't look like clouds, there was no texture. It seemed like the normally cheery and bright blue sky had been turned to stone. A noise made me look down.

A group of Grievers were carrying a writhing girl towards the door. They were following a group carrying a boy.

My insides burned with anger. I leaped off the roof and sprinted after the Grievers. I must have been earning a reputation, as the Grievers were shying away from me as I got closer.

I yelled, and jumped onto the nearest one. It screamed and buckled, trying to dislodge me. I leaped from Griever to Griever until I got to the one carrying the girl.

I grabbed her arm and tried to heave her upwards. The Griever carrying her screeched. That's when I realized it had sucked her partly into it's blubbery skin. I pulled again, and this time they both screamed.

The Griever had stabbed a claw into her side, keeping her in its skin as it carried her away. If I pulled to hard, or hard enough to get her off, the Griever would rip out her heart.

I had to jump and roll off, letting the Grievers take the girl back into the Maze.

I shouted and started to pursue them, but they were moving fast. Partway into the Maze, the kids they had abducted had stopped screaming. The Grievers moved ahead and disappeared into the Cliff.

I collapsed onto my knees, and started sobbing. After awhile, I got up and trudged back to the Glade. I was met by my friends who were relieved to see me alive. They hugged me and told me they thought I would be dead.

But I didn't hear them. Not really.

Those Gladers that had been taken, I could have saved them. At least that's what I told myself. But I felt responsible.

I was wandering around the Glade aimlessly, when I was intercepted by Charlie. She walked up to me and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me.

"What were you thinking?" She yelled at me.

I shrugged and turned away, but she turned me back to face her.

"I wake up, and they tell me one of my friends had gone after the bloody Grievers! What am I supposed to do, huh? YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" She screamed at me. I just shook my head, then looked up at her with sad eyes.

"I couldn't save them." I whispered. Charlie rolled her eyes.

"For buggin's sake, Cleo! You could have died!" She said fiercely.

I shrugged again. "But they did die." I said sadly, then I walked away from her.

We were standing at the entrance of the Maze. I turned around to look at the twelve Gladers behind me.

"Our mission is simple, people! Get to the Griever den, send Gabe down, hope he doesn't die, and find a way out!" I shouted.

The crowd cheered, and then I led the way into the Maze.

I was in the front, with Gabe behind me. Joan was in the back with a couple more Mappers to record anything we find.

We reached the Cliff by noon, later than usual because some of our group are slow and not Runners. I gestured forwards the Builders who were holding a long rope made from the ivy off the walls. The end was tied to Gabe's waist. He nodded at them, then walked over to stand on the edge.

He crouched down, and grabbed the edge of the Cliff. Then he hoisted himself down until he was just hanging from the edge. He started climbing down, holding a flashlight in one hand.

The rope was to pull him back out if a Griever appeared. He was slowly disappearing despite the light that accompanied him.

Then he completely disappeared.

My brain went into overdrive and I panicked. I kneeled down beside the edge and yelled.

"GABE! GABE WHERE DID YOU GO?" I screamed at the hole.

I saw a hand appear and he came back into view.

"Calm down, I'm still here." He said.

"What. But you disappeared." I was shocked.

He shrugged. "Maybe, but I think I found the bottom." He went back down into complete darkness.

I heard a soft thump, and the rope was tugged twice, meaning he had reached the bottom, or at least landed on something. Hopefully not a Griever.

I grabbed a light and hoisted myself over the cliff. I reached out and wrapped my hand around the rope as I slowly lowered myself into the abyss. I was only a couple feet down when I looked up and couldn't see anything above me. Something brushed my leg, and I flinched.

I looked down to see Gabe standing on a stone floor holding out his hand.

"C'mon, this way." He said, grabbing my hand and tugging me towards a door.

I leaned back towards the hole.

"It's all clear, guys! You can come down!" I yelled back up.

As the other Gladers in our expedition party came down, we opened the door, and entered a lab.