The Girl

Chapter Fifty Two

  "If only Minho could see this..." I mutter to myself. I prop the metal up on a wall.

It must be only two feet shorter than I am, so maybe, three feet? It's perfectly square. The front side looks completely normal, just a grey panel. The backside, on the other hand...

There's an intricate drawing of something on it. There are letters and numbers and symbols on the top of an incredibly detailed drawing of a map. I assume that the map is of the maze, but the symbols cloud the image.

"Mother..." I whisper to myself, panting heavily from that endeavor. "I have to get this back to the boys."

I can't see it all that well with only the dim stream of light from the flashlight, but it can't be accidental. I need to get the hell out of here.

"My backpack... I need to find it... it has survival supplies..." I mutter under my breath, knocking myself out of the daze and back to reality. I kick around more rocks, bending down occasionally to clear larger sections of rocks. I stop, frustrated, after an hour of searching and fall on my butt, sitting on the floor.

Whoever created this room did not want it to be easy to find a way out. I let my anger out.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" I scream to the walls, pushing myself up. "First, you send me to a freaking maze with no memories. You made me a blank slate. Then, you make me the only girl. You trapped me with an army of teenage boys! And then, even better, you make me fall in love with one of them, only to tear us apart! You're cruel! You even made me the smallest to trap me in here! You must've known! I was a mistake, wasn't I? You created this hole so I'd die and your little experiment would be back on track, didn't you? We're not hamsters! We're not pawns! We're people. YOU CAN'T JUST TREAT US LIKE VARIABLES!" I scream and my words echo off the walls. I collapse into a pile of anxious tears. "I can't see anything, I lost my survival supplies, I'm alone, I'm going to die... I'm going to die..." It's a scary realization, but it's true. Without that backpack, I'm absolutely shucked.

Once I gather my feelings enough to function, I illuminate my digital watch to check the time. I've been trapped here, both unconscious and awake, for eighteen hours. It's way past the doors closing. Doors close at seven. It's midnight.

Now that I'm aware, I do hear the occasional whirring of the grievers passing the hole. The mechanical demons don't seem to notice me. I stay quiet. If the rocks can seal me in, they must keep them out.

Well, right? Ugh, I hope so.

My mind darts back and forth between a million things when the note comes back into my memory. I quickly grab the flashlight, the dull beam of light still pouring out of it on the floor. I dig through each of my pockets before I find a small paper in my back one. I take a deep breath before ever so carefully pinching the corner and pulling it open.

I single tear sheds down my cheek as I read the words across the note. I pull the paper to my chest and recite the words over and over and over again in my head.

I know you're going, and I believe in you. Come back for me. I love you.

~Newt