in another life; the maze runner

☆twenty-one☆

Although it didn't seem to have much of an impact, they were still making progress, the creature shrieking out in pain with every precise hit. Thomas and Minho had taken the lead, like always, not even flinching as the Griever roared in their faces. Instead, they kept thrusting their spears at its face, a strategy that had been proving the most useful in the past. Mae tried to be as much help as she could, making sure Teresa and Chuck were far behind her and safe from the current action, since they would be essential to opening the door to get out of this hell hole.

The Griever was angered now, tossing it's head and flailing it's mechanical arms around, until it's claws latched onto a random boy who had been trying to fend it off. To everyone's dismay, the robotic arm sent the boy flying off the edge of the concrete floor, his screams fading as he disappeared into vacancy. The Gladers had no time to dwell on the loss of one of their own, since the Griever had launched into another attack.

Many of it's mechanical limbs were slamming down onto the ground, trying to catch as many boys as it could, while they all stood trying to fight back. One of them landed in front of Mae, and she scowled in anger, thinking about everyone the creatures had taken from them. She swung her knife at the middle of it's leg forcefully, the scraping of metal on metal hard to hear over all the chaos. She glanced up quickly once the Griever's leg retreated to see Teresa attempting to do the same, but she missed, and unintentionally sent the device that was supposed to guide them to freedom into the air. It landed several feet away from the Gladers and Griever, and Chuck yelled in shock, hurling himself toward it.

The device rolled closer and closer to the edge of the cliff, Chuck now crawling on his hands and knees toward it.

"Chuck! Be careful!" Mae called, bracing herself for the worse as the boy leaned over the side of the drop.

She waited for a second, expecting him to fall over, but instead she saw Teresa latch onto his backpack and hoist him back to his feet. Relief flooded her system, and she turned back away from the duo and to the Griever that she had been trying to weaken.

The team of Gladers had begun gradually pushing the creature close to the edge, forcing him closer and closer using the effort of all their strength. Finally, due to every single boy (and one girl), the Griever fell to it's doom off the side of the deep pit. Mae glanced at Newt, Thomas and Minho, her features lighting up with a momentary burst of joy.

However, just when they had begun to celebrate their small victory, more menacing spider like creatures had started to crawl up from the area where the other Griever had previously vanished to. Mae swore under her breath, raising her knife to fight yet again. She reached out with one hand to summon Teresa and Chuck closer, seeing as the group had made a bit of progress on crossing over to the door.

"You guys go, try to open the door! I'll stay with the boys and give you some time," The girl said breathlessly to the small boy and her sister, ushering them farther away from the Griever battle. Teresa nodded, placing her hand on Chuck's back as the ran toward the so called 'door' that the device was supposed to open. Mae turned back to the rest of her friends, her face stretching into a natural frown as she used all her muscle to swing her knife at one of the Griever's legs.

Thomas glanced at Teresa and Chuck in a flash, relieved to see that the previously closed off section of the walls had begun lifting to reveal a small pod-like door at the further end.

"Teresa, go!"

He called, before turning back to face the monsters in front of him.

Working as a team, although loosing a few valued members along the way, the Gladers fought with dignity. Stabbing at the fleshy parts of the monsters, colliding their weapons with their legs to unsteady them and even forcing them farther away from their only chance of escape, they ultimately made a lot more progress than what was expected. Mae had hardly realized how much closer they had gotten to Teresa and Chuck, who were trying desperately to figure out how to open the door that supposedly held the escape they so desperately wanted.

It was getting harder, though. Each time they got rid of one Griever, it seemed like another one would scuttle over to replace it. Boys were gaining more and more bravery, separating themselves from the group to make a necessary sacrifice, so that more could advance to freedom.

Deafening screams sounded each time a Glader was snatched up in the monsters clutches, whether it was being ripped apart from their nasty teeth, or being thrown off the side of the cliff, once you were in the Griever's grip, you were most likely doomed.

"Thomas, there's a code!" Teresa's voice drifted over, causing the leading boy who was standing next to Mae to be distracted from his work of stabbing a Griever in it's ugly eyes. The girl beside him took up his work so he could think, leaning forward and slashing the creature in the face with her trusted blade. "Eight numbers,"

"Eight sections in the Maze..." He muttered under his breath, poking at the monster as he spoke.

"Hey Minho! What's the sequence?" He called, loud enough so that the Keeper of the Runners could hear over all the commotion.

"What?" Minho responded, thrusting his spear forward into a mechanical leg.

"The sections in the Maze, what's the sequence?" Minho finally got the memo, and searched his mind for a quick second before announcing the sequence so that Teresa could type it in.

"Seven, one, five, two, six, four, eight, three!" He shouted in between his movements. Newt and Mae shared a look in worry, terrified that they wouldn't make it in time before they became Griever meat.

Mae heard an odd sound coming from above her, and she quickly stepped backward, reaching out to grasp Minho by his arm as she did so. But unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to pull him completely out of harms way.

A Griever came crashing down from God knows where, right on top of Minho and Mae's arm. The girl yelped in pain and in concern for her friend, trying to yank her arm out from under the Griever's weight.

Hey guys, sorry for late update. LMK IF THERES ANY SPELLING ERRORS, ITS REALLY LATE AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE EDITING THIS. I kind of hate this chapter with a passion, and I got severe writing block during this process. Almost at the end of this first movie, that's insane. Thank you again for reading! How are you guys?