IT STARTED WITH A MAZE - Newt x Reader (F)

- FIGHT FOR FREEDOM -

The charge into the bridge is chaos.

It's like plunging into the mouth of madness - blades clashing, feet pounding, shouts echoing through the walls. We're just kids, but in this moment, we're soldiers. The stone beneath us narrows into the strange outcrop that acts as the bridge, and ahead-

I see it.

The Griever.

It slithers on the far side, its slick, grotesque body illuminated by the dim, flickering lights of the Maze. It sees us. It feels us. Its body twitches with hunger and mechanical rage, limbs unraveling like knives.

Then we collide.

A clash of flesh and metal and wooden spears. Sparks fly. Screams rise. My blade connects with something wet and armored, and I nearly lose my grip from the vibration it sends up my arms.

"Push it off the edge!!" I scream, lungs tearing with the force of it.

The boys with spears surge forward. Thomas's voice echoes mine, backing me up with urgency. "Shove it! Push!"

We drive it backward, inch by inch - but it fights like a cornered beast.

Then I hear it.

The metallic snap of its tail - followed by a scream.

"Tim!" Winston bellows. I whip around just in time to see Time - his limbs flailing, caught in the tail's cruel grasp. He's pulled clean off the side, gone in an instant. "No!" Winston's voice cracks with grief, but we can't stop. We can't even look.

In the confusion, Chuck's voice cuts through the noise. "The key!" He yells. "I dropped the key!"

My eyes snap to him - he's scrambling toward the side, panic distorting his features. "Watch the edge!" I shout, heart leaping out of my chest. I sprint after him. Just as his foot hits the slope, I grab the back of his bag and yank with everything I've got.

He jerks backward with a startled cry, falling onto his hands, safe. I don't look back. I can't. The sound of metal claws clattering behind us is too close.

Ahead, the boys are still grappling with the creature. One stabs it through the shoulder; another is knocked down and barely rolls aside. "It's coming!" Chuck screams as he sprints past me, face pale.

Another Griever. "Grievers!" I shout. "Plural!" The sound of skittering limbs ricochets off the walls. I duck under two spears swinging just behind me - grateful the boys' aim is sharp and not at me.

"Keep it steady, guys!" Thomas yells, breathless, somewhere ahead.

"Stay together!" I hear Newt bark, his voice low and firm in the madness.

Teresa's ahead of me - stumbling slightly, still running. I catch up just enough to shove her forward. "Go!" I shout. "Stick with Chuck!"

She nods, grabs Chuck by the wrist, and they make for the end. The device in his hand starts to beep frantically. "It works!" Chuck shouts.

"Go!!" I scream again, my throat burning. The roar of my own voice drowns in the chaos behind us. Thomas yells beside me, both of us screaming like our lives depend on it - because they do.

Stone grinds on stone. The first door creaks, groans, and then begins to rise, inch by agonizing inch. They're opening - but not fast enough. Not nearly fast enough. I don't hear the scream. I feel it - Newt's hands slamming into my arm as he yanks me back. "Watch out!" he shouts.

A Griever leg - massive and mechanical. crashes down in front of me. It punches through the stone bridge like it's paper, sending dust and shards flying. My heart tries to leap out of my chest. I stumble backward, still gripping my weapon, eyes wide as the creature rears back and bellows.