The Maze

The Maze [part 11]

[12]

"This is real bad people" Said Arran quietly and uneasily.

"Why? What's going to happen to us Arran?" said Naomi looking up to him from behind Rowan. Her eyes showed fear and anxiety.

"This is real bad" he repeated and before Naomi could ask his why again the bus had arrived. It was very small, tacky and it was coated in a fresh layer of mud and leaves. The doors swung open to release a beautiful smell of freshly baked bread. I stepped on the bus first and I glanced around. The seats were cleaned to perfection with a gorgeous layer of velvet sewn around them. There was a bar at the front of the bus with a man standing behind it. He wore all black and showed no expression on his face. The floor was sparkling with glitter and the ceilings were shining like mirrors. I made my way to the back and sat next to a window leaning my head against it gently. Ricky joined me.

"Nice" he said and I grunted in agreement. Kyle steadily made his way to the back and sat in the seat in front of me.

Everybody else was soon sat and chatting away but I stayed still and unsociable. The bus groaned and sped off down the maze.

"Grace" Ricky nudged me but I didn't reply "Grace, quick"

"What?"

"Look" he pointed out of the back window where most of the others were looking. I hauled myself up and gazed out at the tall hedges. There was another team there, all standing glaring at the bus. A few of them began to smile when they had noticed we were looking and waved at us. Ricky held up his middle finger at them. One of the older looking boys pointed to us and started to laugh hysterically. Soon they were out of sight and we all gradually slid back down our seats.

"What a prick" Murmured Ricky.

"Are we gonna die Ricky?" I said.

"Dunno, sure gonna be difficult this game. The Officials won't make it easy for us you know"

"Yeah I know" I lay my head against the window again and closed my eyes hoping to block out what was happening to me. I listened to the other conversations carefully.

"Last year the game was an obstacle course and which ever team got through first won" said Arran.

"What happened to the loosing team?" said Rowan. Arran looked up but didn't speak.

"Tell us" said Naomi.

"The winning team got to pick one of the other team members to ... to die"

"Oh shit, well that won't happen to us will it?" Rowan said.

"It's happened every year for the last 9 years Rowan so yeah, that's what's gonna be the punishment"

I lifted my head and starred Arran.

"You're sure?" I said and Arran looked at me and nodded his head slowly.

"Well sumin like that anyway" he said and I looked round the group; I didn't want anyone to die. We must win these games.

"Shit" I buried my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes softly. Arran let out a heavy breath and groaned.

"I don't wanna die" said Ricky very unexpectedly. I looked at him and I could see his eyes were watery.

"Neither do any of us" I whispered to him.

All conversation died down and we all sat in silence. Everyone had resigned to their thoughts before having to go out and play some frightful game the Officials had planned for us. Katie had slowly begun to cry and she wiped away her tears the minute they formed in her hollow eyes. She clapped her hands together and rested them on her lap, she then tipped her head. She started to whisper something under her breath and she closed her eyes to attempt to stop the flow of tears. Most of the group had now buried their heads in their hands. I sat against the window and once again rested my head on it. It was now very cold and I looked out of the window to see the sun had started to go down.