A-Thousand-Words | The Maze Runner - Newt/Thomas

6 | Nightmare Come to Life

Panic washed over me like a giant wave as I sprinted after Thomas and the others. Screams echoed from every direction as people ran to anywhere they thought they could hide from the Grievers, but I had a sickening feeling that no matter where we went, the Grievers would eventually find us.

As we entered the single cornfield in the glade, I swept my arms out in front of me to push the large stocks out of my way. "Take cover!" someone called as an eerie screech from a Griever sent chills through my whole body.

"Stay down!" Thomas ordered as everyone dropped to their knees in the middle of the cornfield. Silence took over our small group, which made the screams from around the rest of the glade seem even louder. Every few seconds a blood-curdling cry would indicate another fallen glader.

Then, out of nowhere, a Griever claw slammed down onto some boy's back and tossed him out of the cornfield with one quick movement. "Zart!" Thomas called as the boy sailed through the night air, but in seconds he was long gone from us.

Everyone jumped back up to their feet and ran for the nearest edge of the field. The Grievers were fast behind us, but we had had just enough of a head start to stay ahead of them if we ran like we had never ran before and didn't look back. "Go! Get to the village!" Thomas shouted.

Once we made it to the village, we met up with the two med-jacks, Clint and Jeff, who were carrying Alby out of the medical hut. Everything seemed calmer for a second or two, but it wasn't long until the Grievers had caught on to the fact that everyone had decided to seek refuge in the village.

Kids yelped as they were yanked into the darkness; almost like a nightmare come to life. Flashes of light illuminated the glade as the gladers ran back and forth, torches in their hands and terror on their faces.

Just like before, I was running with a group of others that consisted of Thomas, Teresa, and some people whom I didn't know as well; but that all changed when a Griever came crashing through a hut in front of us. The whole group skidded to a halt but something inside me told me that I couldn't stop running, so I made a sharp right turn and bolted for the woods. Most of the Grievers were trolling the village for gladers now, so by logic, the woods should have been fairly empty.

I ran as fast as my little legs could take me before passing the first row of trees that made up the woods. It was darker in the trees, but it was also quieter. My pace slowed to a walk as I stepped through the trunks; fallen leaves and twigs crunching and snapping beneath my feet as I did so. My head snapped back and forth over and over again, scanning the shadows for any movement.

That's when I felt it; a single chill ran up my spine and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I stopped moving as my heart pounded against my chest, but I could still hear the faint sound of the dry ground crackling under someone or something's weight. I swallowed hard as I slowly spun around to face the direction that I had come from, but as soon as I spotted the slight metal shimmer as the Griever's leg glinted in the small beams of moonlight that shone through the treetops, I regretted everything.

"Oh shit," I muttered under my breath as I turned back around and high-tailed it out of there. The Griever gave a shriek as it chased after me and I could tell that it was hot on my heels. I tried my best to keep up my speed as I dodged through the tree trunks and avoided tripping over roots and rocks, but eventually, I took too long making a split-second decision about which way to go and I paid for it. A large metal appendage side-swiped me and I flew directly into a tree. My head slammed into the bark and my vision instantly went fuzzy.

Despite not being able to see very well for a minute or two, I still managed to pull myself back up and take off again with the Griever still stalking me. I knew I couldn't run forever, so when I spotted a large rock in the distance that was big enough to hide behind, I knew it was my only hope. Reaching down, I picked up a rather large stone and chucked it back at the Griever. I missed the first few times, but eventually, I managed to hit the target I had been aiming for; the Griever's eye.

The Griever stopped in its tracks as it lowered it's head; screaming with pain as it closed its eyes to protect them from any more possible flying objects. This was my chance. When the Griever's eyes were shut I made a break towards the large rock and dove behind it. I knew it wasn't the smartest plan, but it was all I had.

Eventually, the sound of metal hitting the dry ground commenced as the Griever continued on its way. It was moving slow now though, so it didn't know where I had gone. I pressed my back hard into the rock and held my breath, desperate to stay deadly silent for as long as possible.

As the heavy breathing of the Griever grew closer, I pushed my left cheek into the side of the rock and watched to see if the Griever would pass me, turn around, or find me and kill me. Seconds later one of the Griever's legs shot down right beside me. I threw my hand over my mouth to muffle a scream I almost let out, but by some sort of a miracle, before the Griever took one more step, it turned and took off out of the forest.

As I finally let out the air that I had been holding in my lungs, I peeked around the rock to see if the Griever was coming back. It was not.

"You okay?" a voice startled me as I jumped up from my place behind the rock. "Sorry." Newt stepped forwards out of the darkness. "I saw you make a break for the trees and wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you...okay?"

I sighed in relief as I nodded. "You could say that, yes. Nearly avoided death but I'm still here so...I'd count that as okay. Why'd all the Grievers just take off?"

Newt shrugged as he held out his hand for me. "I don't know...they took Alby and then just left."

"Oh. I'm sorry Newt...I knew you were close with him." I took his hand in mine as we started back towards the others.

"Nothing we can do about it now."