Subject of the Flame | Maze Runner [2]

SIXTEEN

[ ELECTRA ]

❧

Electra climbed the stairs as if she was ascending to heaven. She hoped whatever was at the top could ameliorate their current situation. Two boys had just died, and nobody could have predicted which ones had been the unlucky ones. Somehow, even though the odds seemed impossibly slim, they'd ended up in her favour. Electra was glad the metal hadn't claimed her or Minho.

Electra promptly ran into Minho as he yelled out, "Ow!"

"You okay?" Newt asked.

"What did you hit?" Thomas added.

"The shuck top, that's what. We hit the roof and there's nowhere else..." Minho trailed off. "Wait! I think I found–"

Minho must've found a latch to a door, as he pushed on the roof and it opened to blinding light. Electra hadn't been prepared for the intensity and her eyes immediately burned. The coolness of the hallway evaporated into heat, and Electra felt as if she'd been thrown into an oven. She hissed, covering her eyes with her arm before Minho slammed the door shut.

"Shuck me. Looks like we found a way out, but I think it's on the freaking sun! Man, that was bright. And hot."

"Let's just open it a crack and get used to it," Newt said and she heard him approach them at the top of the staircase. "Here's a shirt. Wedge it in there. Everybody shut your eyes!"

Electra complied. Even with her eyes closed and her hands in front of her eyes, the light seeped through and tried to blind her. The heat wafted through the tiny crack, enveloping her in a coat of feverish warmth. The Gladers waited for a few minutes, allowing everyone to get used to the sudden heat and light. Electra's eyes felt like they'd been properly seared, but after a few minutes she could open them, although tears began to stain her cheeks.

Electra looked down and saw the Gladers sitting on the steps below her. The walls surrounding them were metal, and their drab grayness reminded her of the ceiling from the Maze. Past the Gladers, all she could see were endless steps. With the impossibly tall staircase and blinding whiteness outside, Electra wouldn't have been surprised if they actually had climbed to heaven.

"Anybody blind now?" Minho asked, and his voice rang in Electra's ears. "I feel like my eyeballs are roasted marshmallows."

"So what's out there?" one of the Gladers called out.

Electra tried to peek past Minho, but all she saw was blinding light. Minho also tried to look but the frown on his face told her he couldn't see anything either.

"Can't really tell. All I can see is a lot of bright light. Maybe we are on the shuck sun. But I don't think there are any people out there." Minho paused, trying to see if he could see better while squinting. "Or Cranks."

"Let's get out of here, then," Winston said from further down. "I'd rather get a sunburn than get my head attacked by some ball of steel. Let's go!"

"All right, Winston," Minho replied. "Keep your undies on – I just wanted to let our eyes adjust first. I'll throw the door all the way open to make sure we're okay. Get ready." Electra watched him cautiously creep up to the top step and peer one last time through the small crack. He pushed his right shoulder against the slab of metal. "One. Two. Three!"

Straightening his legs with a grunt, he heaved upwards and the staircase was drowned in light. The door let out an earsplitting squeal as it flung open, and Electra covered her eyes with her arm as she was enveloped in heat. She couldn't understand how something could be so bright the same way she couldn't understand how the hallway they'd just been in had been somehow worse than perfect darkness.