Shadow of the Maze | Maze Runner [1]

TEN

[ ELECTRA ]

❧

The next morning Electra sat on top of the walls, her legs dangling over the edge as she peered upwards, unable to take her eyes off the sky. What the hell?

The sky wasn't a sky, but a ceiling. The sun, which should be barely peeking over the edges of the walls at this hour, was missing. Everything had been replaced by a dull grey tint, plunging the entire Maze into an unrelenting shade.

Electra dropped her head and looked to the left, then to the right. The Maze still looked impossibly endless from her position on top of the walls. She knew the technology used to make the Maze look endless was simply an illusion and nothing more, but she never would've guessed that the sky itself could've been another illusion.

In hindsight, it should've been obvious. The weather never varied, even the slightest. It was always the same temperature, same cloud patterns, and no rain or snow, for three years. She didn't know much about the outside world, but she was sure that the weather must've varied at least a little bit.

Now the sky illusion was gone, and Electra sat under the drab grey ceiling with thoughts spinning in her head. Maybe the sky was a glitch and the Creators were actively working to fix it.

Her breath caught in her throat. Maybe something had happened outside of the Maze, and the Creators were in trouble. While she knew she despised the Creators and what they'd put her through, what would happen to her and Minho if something happened to them? She quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. There's no use worrying about something that might not even be real.

Like always, she began thinking of Minho. Her best friend would be waking up soon. What would he think of the sky not working? Would the Greenie's training continue like normal, regardless of the stark change? Electra dreaded having to see Thomas after their argument and subsequent awkward apology the day before. She did wonder if he or the girl Teresa had anything to do with the sky changes. If she did see Thomas today she'd definitely question him about it.

Before heading towards where Minho and Thomas would be running for the day, if they even chose to run, Electra decided to head back to her Cove to restock her pack for the day ahead.

She jogged at a brisk pace, her surroundings looking odd considering the sun should've been warmly shining on the stone at this point. Instead, everything looked exactly the same, but duller. As if the Maze couldn't be any more depressing, Electra thought, looking down at the stones she ran on and noting how everything was less saturated than before.

She reached her Cove and swiftly pulled back the vines. With the grey dullness outside, her Cove was even darker than usual. Electra squinted to get used to the darkness. Flinging her pack onto the stone boulder, she emptied its contents and arranged all her items neatly in front of her. Electra's hand hovered over her items, quickly contemplating what she wanted to bring with her. She restuffed her pack with some food, random small cloths, a water bottle, a flashlight, and a couple of spare knives. She liked a very light pack. Minho admittedly always carried more than she did but she found that she didn't really need a lot of things to get her through her day. A couple snacks to nibble on, a water bottle, and her favourite knife that she kept in her sheath was all she usually really needed.

Electra noticed her medical crate to her left and dove her hands inside to grab some equipment. This time if something happened while out there, she wouldn't need to helplessly crawl all the way back to the Cove. She silently chastised herself for not carrying medical equipment with her in the first place; she'd gotten too cocky of her capabilities.