Stay With Me

Bonus Chapter - Maze B

To wake up in a metal cage hurtling upwards at too many miles per hour all alone would've been too much to bear. Thankfully, Eliza wasn't alone. She was surrounded by other girls, all of them terrified. When the cage finally lurched to a halt and light poured in from above, they cried. They cried and screamed and hugged each other for hours. 

The second day was hardly easier.

The third was only less difficult.

The forty-fifth day was the worst. The was the day they decided that they were never getting out of there.

There was one girl who took charge of the group quickly. She had long blonde hair and a bright smile and a commanding voice. Her name was Sonya. 

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Eliza. That was the name you'd been given. It didn't feel right at all, but it was yours. It had to be. It was the only thing you could remember about yourself. 

Sonya was waiting for you inside the Glade when you got back. You rolled your eye as the doors crashed closed behind you just seconds after your feet hit the grass. You purposely fell over onto your back, sticking your tongue out dramatically.

"Eliza. You're late. Again."

"Can't hear you, Sonny. I'm dead."

"Lizzie, you'll actually be dead if you keep this up."

"Whatever."

"Lizzie."

"Sonny."

"You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"You're a stick, you know that?"

"Shut up," she laughed and laid down next to you, "I don't want you to die, Lizard."

"Ha," You laughed at the stupid nickname she had given you, "I'm not going to die, Sunshine. We're gonna live forever. Right here. In this gross, green, square."

"Yup."

"You and me."

"Until the end of the Maze, Lizard."

"Until the end of the Maze." If you had to spend the rest of your eternity with anyone, you figured Sonya was a damn good option. She was, of course, your best friend. 

"Be careful next time, Lizzie." 

"I will Sonny," You said, lacing your fingers between hers and sighing contentedly, "I promise." 

"Good," She replied, giving your hand a light squeeze before pulling the both of you up from the ground, "Hungry?"

"Always."

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You were careful. It had been months. Everyday you were never more than a minute behind the other runners.  You had promised to stay safe. You had promised Sonya, and you were going to keep that promise. 

You tried so hard to keep that promise. 

"Sonya!" Your voice echoed against the high stone walls as you ran around the next corner. You could see her running towards the Maze doors. You were supposed to be home half an hour before they closed. You had forty-five seconds. You were going to make it, you had to make it. The scream almost threw you off balance. The monsters had been following you for  a mile and a half. They'd crashed into walls and crawled up them, trying to catch you. You had barely avoided their attacks. 

Twenty feet away now.

Fifteen.

Ten.

Something between a groan and a scream escaped your throat as your skin was pierced by one of the monsters mechanical arms. 

"No! Lizzie!"

"Sonya!" you ran through the pain, clutching your bleeding wound, your shirt and hand already drenched in sticky red blood. Tripping over your own feet and falling forward into The Glade, Sonya caught you and dragged you away from the almost-closed doors. The monsters screamed as the concrete slammed together.

"No, no, Lizzie no..."

"Sonya... It hurts..."

"I know, I know it... It's going to be okay, Lizard."

"No... it..."

"Shut up... stop it! It's going to be okay!"

"No it's not... Sonya. It's not."

"Until the end of the Maze, remember? You and me. You have to stay!"

"I'm sorry, Sonya..." you cried, "I'm so, so, sor-"

You were buried later that day, Sonya insisted you had a special marker for your grave. It was a brand new piece of wood and it had been carved carefully to say your name:

Lizard.

Every day Sonya visited your for five minutes and told you the plans for their escape. Every day she told you how much she missed you and how much the other girls missed you too. She told you about the bonfires and the newbies and the food and everything else.

Poor Sonya, if only she had known.

She was talking to an empty grave.