Solar Flares → The Maze Trials Prequel

15 → "OBSERVATION"

15 → "OBSERVATION"

August, 2148.

(Age 14)

THE FIRST GROUP of boys and girls had entered their Mazes five months ago, and were slowly getting use to their new environment. They'd yet to enter or try to enter the Maze, but they were curious, if still a little confused over the reason of why they were there. But apparently that was to be expected. Adeline had been spending her days in a repetitive routine; breakfast, two or three classes, prepping girls to go up into the Maze. Talk to Matt as they're given more challenges. After the first group of girls were sent up, they decided to keep Adeline and Victoria in the barracks instead of keeping them in separate dorms like Adeline had once stayed in six years before. Without the girls there, and with Victoria still not talking to her, the barracks just seemed empty, even if Victoria stayed in the barracks alongside her – although she had switched bunks in order to ignore Adeline further. Trying to talk to Victoria seemed to be out of the question for now, as Victoria couldn't even look her in the eye. After spending the morning helping Rachel and Aris prep another girl before they were to be sent up into the Group B Maze, Adeline headed to the observation room. Usually Adeline wouldn't be allowed in the observation room —except for the day of both groups insertion into their Mazes — but Adeline liked to go in and see how each group was doing. As Adeline opened the door to the observation room, Rachel spun around on the desk chair and met her gaze.

"What're you doing in here?" Rachel quizzed. "You're not allowed in here."

"Neither are you." Adeline pointed out. Rachel chuckled slightly, then patted the other desk chair, indicating for her to sit.

"Touché."

—

The next few hours in the observation room were spent talking with Rachel, watching the surveillance cameras inside the Mazes. There Adeline had learnt that Group B had sent the first ever group of girls inside the Maze, but other than that, nothing much was going on —except for the fact that they'd established order and had started setting up jobs to do. Adeline got a chance to know Rachel, as she'd never gotten the chance to get to know Rachel in the six years she'd been at WICKED.

"So, Aris is your brother, huh?" Rachel starts. "I mean, I see the resemblance with the hair and eyes but I wouldn't have put two and two together and guessed you were siblings."

"It's crazy." Adeline said. "We were split up when I was four, then unexpectedly were reunited when I was eight and he was almost eleven."

Before Rachel could reply, screams emitted through the speakers of the monitors, causing both girls to swivel in the chairs and turn towards the monitors. Rachel pressed a bunch of buttons, zooming in on something called a beetle blade. The beetle blade scampers towards the West Door of the Maze, where Sonya drags a girl through the doors, before dropping her on her back outside the walls of the Maze. Sonya dropped to her knees, right as Harriet and Miyoko noticed the girl, who was squirming on her back. Rachel controls the beetle blade and scampers towards the maze wall, where is climbs its way high up. Rachel commands it to zoom in, and they are able to get a good look at the girl. There were veins protruding from her skin as well as hives and her eyes were bloodshot. Harriet, Sonya and Miyoko held her body down, before their hands reached down and started carrying her towards the Keepers House, where Harriet ordered them to get her to the infirmary.

"What is going on? Who is that?" Rachel quizzed.

"It's Sabrina." Adeline realised. "But I don't know what happened to her."

Rachel commanded the beetle blade to follow them inside the Keepers House. Rachel and Adeline watched as they carried Sabrina up the staircase and down a short hallway and into a room. They got her down on a cot, where they held her down. Sabrina continued to squirm, fighting them.

"It stung me! It stung me! It stung me!" Sabrina repeated.

"What does she mean it stung her?" Harriet questioned. "What the hell was out there that stung her?"

"I don't know!" Sonya exclaimed. "She was before me the entire time, and then I heard her scream and she kept saying something stung her!"

Harriet and Miyoko looked horrified. Harriet ordered for Miyoko to find some rope to tie her arms and legs to the bed to prevent her from hurting herself or squirming off of the bed. Adeline and Rachel watched as Miyoko left the room, while Harriet and Sonya continued to hold down her arms and legs. Once Miyoko returned with four pieces of rope, they tied down both arms legs to the bottom of the cot tightly, then promised not to tell anyone about what happened, to prevent any unrest and curiousness as to what is out there. They left the infirmary, and that's where Adeline and Rachel stopped watching. Rachel turned to Adeline, horrified at what they saw on the monitor.

"What the hell is going on out in that Maze?" Adeline breathed. Rachel just shrugged.

"I have no idea, but whatever is out there is definitely not friendly."

Back on the monitor, both Groups were currently working their jobs — some worked in the gardens, the kitchen, or sliced animals for food. Some worked in the infirmary to treat the wounded, and some worked to repair things or cleaned up the bathrooms and kitchens or worked as guards. The most important job in the both Mazes was the job where they run and map the Maze – Runners in Group A and Mappers in Group B. Rachel checked the time on her watch, realising it was lunch time. Both got up from their chairs and disappeared out of the observation room and down to the cafeteria area.