Shadow of the Maze | Maze Runner [1]

ELEVEN

Teresa didn't look how Electra had pictured her. It was hard to see the girl from such a tall and far angle, but Electra could tell that Teresa was very pretty. Perhaps it was her confidence that made her so appealing. Teresa didn't hesitate when she reached the thick trees and stepped forward into them. She was following Thomas?

Something was off about Thomas and Teresa talking alone in the forest. Electra remembered her suspicions about the two being involved with the Creators. Thomas always refused any possibility of knowing anything, but what about the girl? Could she know something? Was she following Thomas into the dense trees to tell him the truth about everything?

Electra was pulled out of her thoughts when two more boys entered the forest. She couldn't quite recognize them from her vantage point but she knew for sure that one of them had to be Alby. She'd just saved the boy's life a couple days ago and now it looked like the boy was back on his feet again, as normal as ever. Electra wondered what the Changing had done to him and what he remembered.

When the rustling of the trees calmed down, and the boys in the Glade ceased from scurrying around, an uncomfortable silence rested upon Electra. She scrunched her eyebrows, looking down at the Glade and how gloomy and empty it seemed.

Something was off. At first, Electra chalked up the feeling to the sky itself ceasing to work.

As soon as she came to the conclusion, the Glade roared back to life. This time, the boys moved with a worried attitude, similar to that of Thomas when he ran into the forest moments ago. The Gladers' talking got louder right as the fires from the lanterns seemed to burn even brighter in the perpetual greyness.

Electra tilted her head at the boys, scanning the landscape for any sign of trouble. When she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary she slowly shook her head.

The Gladers slowly began to huddle in front of the Doors, curiously peering into the darkened hallway. At first, nothing clicked in her mind. Why would the Gladers be so concerned about the Maze? Was a Runner running late?

Then, when the realization hit her so did an intense feelings of nausea.

What time was it? Electra didn't have a watch like the Runners did, as she relied on the sun to tell her the approximate time. Now that the sun was gone, there was no way for her to tell. But it all seemed so obvious, considering how much time had passed since she'd said goodbye to Thomas and Minho.

The Doors hadn't closed.

None of them did. They should've closed a while ago, but all four Doors were wide open as if they'd never been able to close in the first place.

Then she heard gears turning behind her and Electra felt like a mouse caught in a trap.

Crawling out of her bed, Electra looked over the opposing edge of the wall facing away from the Glade. A Griever was slowly making its way up the wall, screeching when it finally saw her peeking over the edge.

Electra swiftly grabbed her pack that rested on the floor before racing along the top of the wall. She knew the Griever would follow her and sure enough within seconds she heard its metallic legs stabbing into the stone surface as it ran after her.

She knew she wouldn't be able to outrun the monster so as she turned the corner she dropped into a slide and fell off the edge of the wall. Reaching out she grabbed a cluster of ivy, her body swaying to the side and hitting the wall to her right.