Bane Academy: To Run From Fear

Chapter 15

Becca

The guilt is like some huge, leaden weight perched on my shoulders. It's big and ugly and now everyone can see it.
"Shouldn't be much longer." Shae says, voice clean-cut, puffy eyes never straying from the path. The thing on my shoulders tightens its grip. Talons push into my skin.
From a far off corridor, an inhuman shriek erupts, somewhere between a wild animal's fanatic cries and the screech of metal and chain. Fear unfurls my spine. We all stop.
"What...what was that?" Dale asks trepidatiously.
I look at Shae, forcing her eyes to mine. She reads my expression and mouths 'it couldn't be' back.
Dale notices the exchange and starts to jump about.
"I saw that! What is it? Is it coming for us??"
"Cool it." Fade slings the words over his shoulder as he continues to walk in the direction we were headed. "Let's just get outta here."
So we continue to walk. The rain had slowed to a damp drizzle and water pools in the crevices of the rocky floor. The walls tower high and oppressing, the darkness of the sky giving the place a sad, blue-grey look to it.
We turn another corner and run straight into a wall.
"What the hell...this isn't supposed to be here. It's only Thursday, right?" Shae asks.
"Yes it's Thursday." Fade replies. Hands in his pockets. Face slack.
Shae's confusion ripples.
"Wait...Thursdays run on fourth rotation, don't they?" I ask.
"That's what I was thinking. Unless we're in quadrant three." Shae adds.
"No, this is definitely quadrant two. Section four."
"Then this wall should not be here."
"How do you guys remember all that?" Dale intervenes.
Shae shrugs. "Memory is important in the maze."
"What do we do then?" I ask.
"Well," Shae starts, "something's definitely wro-"
Suddenly, the ground begins to tremble and the sound of concrete against concrete swells in the air. The walls begin to move.
"WhAT THE-"
"Run! RUN!" Shae interrupts Dale, pushing him into a sprint. I grab Fade and follow them back down the corridor as the walls slide in all different directions. They are quickly closing in on us. Adrenalin and panic fizz in my blood.
"GogoGO!!" I scream as the space left in the corridor recedes, forcing us into a single file. The end of the corridor ends in open space. I'm stuck at the back. Fizz fizz fizz.
Dale shoots out and disappears, followed by Shae. They begin to scream at us. The walls are so close now I can feel them at my shoulders. Fade cuts it through the gap. The walls press against me. In the last few seconds, I turn my body to the side and slip through. Not even a second passes before a loud 'boom' claps through the night.
In my rush, my feet had forgotten to stop and I run straight into Shae, Dale and Fade. The four of us topple over in a giant heap of limbs and torsos. Strings of laughter vibrate, but are wrought tight as the tension returns and the moment is over. We quickly get off of each other. With no eyes meeting, we head off in another, almost random direction.