A/N: GALLY STANS, YOU'RE WELCOME
Grievers. The monstrous beasts that lurked in the depths of the Maze at night, the main reason you wouldn't want to be a Runner. Mae had only heard about them from Thomas's story, and they didn't seem like the type of creature you'd want to keep as a pet. However, she had never seen one, and had hoped to never have to.
But that was all going to change.
With four pairs of doors wide open, they were bound to come wreaking havoc on the Gladers at any given time. The Gladers stood in shock, unsure of what to do. For three years, they'd been living the same routine. Wake up, work, eat, sleep, throw in a new greenie and repeat. But over the course of a little over a week, everything was different.
Thomas took action with no hesitation. Mae admired his bravery and composure, even as everything they had ever known was falling apart. He touched Chuck's shoulder, addressing him with a serious tone of voice. "Chuck, I want you to go to the Council room, start barricading the doors." He looked over the crowd of people and found who he was looking for nodding his head in Chucks direction. "Winston, you go with him," He ordered.
"You got it," The slicer nodded, following after Chuck toward the Council room in the Homestead. Mae watched as they walked into the distance, and she almost followed them, but she knew that she had to put her trust in Thomas and do what he suggested to do.
"Go, tell everyone to get to the forest and take cover!" Gally told his own collection of friends.
"Minho, grab every weapon you can find. We'll meet you at the Council room," Minho nodded at Thomas's organization, clearly determined to help. "Take Newt, Fry, anyone else." The boys looked at each other with courage, before preparing to head off.
"What about Mae?" Newt asked his friend, and at the sound of her name the girl snapped out of her trance she had been in, having been staring into the Maze and listening for the sounds it emitted.
"She can come with me and Teresa. We need to get Alby," Thomas responded, and Newt reluctantly nodded, starting for Minho and the group that he had been assigned.
He took hold of Mae's arm with his right hand, and Teresa's with his left, turning toward the Med-jack hut where Alby awaited them.
"Thomas, we've gotta hurry!" Mae said quickly, noting the shrill shrieks coming from all directions.
They didn't have enough time.
A group off boys were fleeing from the left, out of the dark forest. The deep moans got louder and louder from the passage way in the Maze in front of them, clearly coming from something they all dreaded.
"Griever." Mae squeaked under her breath.
"Everyone hide!" Thomas shouted, quickly darting out of harms way from the doors, taking Teresa with him. But his hand slipped, leaving Mae standing there by herself, eyes wide and breath caught in her chest as she watched the creature emerge from the shadows.
The Griever was worse than she imagined it to be.
Something out of a nightmare, one that she would never wish upon even her greatest enemy. It appeared half devilish mechanic, half repulsive slug, with several pairs of legs that made menacing sounds as it scuttled across the mossy stone floor.
"Mae!"
Thomas and Teresa yelled at the same time, but it was no use. She wanted to move, she really did, but she felt as if her feet were glued to the ground, and she was sinking further and further into an oblivion of panic. It was getting closer and closer now-
Someone slammed into Mae with so much force that she was knocked several feet away from the Griever's path, and closer to her sister and friend.
She scrambled to her feet, finally able to move freely, and who she saw standing in front of her surprised her even more than the kind gesture they had done for her.
"Gally?" Mae studied his face. He was breathing heavily, walking toward her while rubbing his shoulder.
"You're welcome, Mae." He exclaimed with a soft smile, and before anyone had a chance to thank him, he hurried off to find his Builders.
"Mae we don't have much time, we have to go!" Teresa exclaimed, grabbing onto her and pulling her away toward the collection of small buildings after Thomas. Recovering from being star struck, Mae shook herself from her dreamy gaze and forced her legs to move, adrenaline pumping strongly through her veins.
Trying not look back as the Griever harassed and ripped apart the Glade, the trio along with some other stray Gladers darted for a field of corn, zig-zagging between the stalks with as much agility as they could conjure up.
Teresa and Mae were getting on surprisingly well, despite not having done a second of real running since they'd arrived in the Glade. Suddenly, Thomas dropped to his knees and brought a finger to his lips, gesturing for the girls to do the same.
Mae lowered herself onto the dirt, bringing one hand to her face to stifle the sounds of fear that were leaking from her mouth.
When we're afraid, or put under stress, we speed up. But, the quicker we get, the less accurate our senses get. We start to see things that aren't there, which only amplifies the fear. That's why some people fall apart when they're under going an adrenaline rush like Mae was- cracking apart at their weak points and spreading more terror like some brain attacking virus.
But she had to keep going. Even when she could be ripped apart at any given moment- she had to continue on. She crawled hastily forward until she was finally next to Thomas, Teresa and another boy, Jack. She saw Zart on his hands and knees a few feet behind them, desperately trying to make his way to the group.
But he wasn't fast enough. Suddenly, a petrifying robotic tentacle-like arm reached down and took firm hold of Zart, ripping him away from the others.
"Zart!"
"No!"
"Hold on!"
There was nothing anyone could do. The Griever had taken him with such force that none of them could've been able to prevent his awful fate.
Mae felt her heart break a bit, remembering how kind he had been when she had first gotten to the Glade not more than one week ago. Zart's scream echoed in her ears, and she took a trembling breath before turning her attention back to her friends.
The Griever was already searching for it's next victim, which prompted the group to stand up and make another run for it. Thomas was shouting directions for the remaining Gladers, ordering them to get to the safety of the village as fast as they possibly could.
Her eyes stinging with tears she hadn't even realized were there, she kept her head held as high as could while she ran, tracking the ground with each foot she put forward, as to avoid taking a misstep that could possibly end her life.
They finally exited the field of corn, to see Alby being supported by two Gladers, Clint and Jeff, who were hauling him toward the group. Mae felt a small burden lift off her shoulders seeing them alright.
"What's going on?" Alby asked, his chest heaving. He looked a lot better than before, and was no longer spewing out odd prophecies.
"They're here," Mae explained through staggered breaths. Jeff looked at her with wildly terrified eyes.
"The Grievers?" He asked in disbelief. Mae nodded, gesturing to her left, where the same menacing arms were grabbing Gladers left and right.
"Thomas, what do we do?" Jeff looked to the boy for support, but he himself looked lost.
"Everyone run!" Mae urged, acting on impulse shoving her sister the opposite direction of where a Griever was attacking some poor boy. And again, they were running. Feet pounding on the ground like sledgehammers, arms sky rocketing out in front of them as if it would make them go faster, they dodged each obstacle they faced, loosing a few weak links along the way.
Abruptly, a Griever shot out of no where, hissing in their faces threateningly. Everyone stood frozen for a moment, until Mae and her sister took action. After whispering for a moment about their quick thinking plan, Teresa grabbed a jar with a candle in it, and Mae snatched the torch from Thomas's hand, and they looked at each other with dignity.
"On three," Mae ordered.
"1, 2, 3!" At the same time, they launched their weapons of choice straight at the creature, watching it erupt in flames. Thomas and the others watched dumb founded, until they snapped out of their trance and continued moving for the Council room. Mae couldn't help but wonder how Newt and Minho were doing, and she silently hoped that they were ok.
The group made a break through the empty field part of the Glade, slowly loosing stamina as they ran. Unfortunately, Clint tripped along the way, causing Alby to fall straight onto the grass. Mae and Thomas backtracked to pick him up, helping Jeff and Clint rejoin the group.
And then, as if it couldn't get any worse, another Griever decided to join the party.
"Shuck." Mae said out loud.
Thomas held his arms out protectively over his friends, but in truth, he had no idea how he was going to get them out of trouble this time.
Just when they thought they were out of luck, the Griever was pelted with an attack of sharp spears from the left, causing it to shriek out in pain.
Mae's head snapped to see that their saviors were none other than Frypan, Minho, Newt and the other boys they had picked up along their way to the weapons room.
She sighed in relief, her eyes lighting up slightly at the realization that they'd survived.
"Thank god you're not Griever meat," Minho said breathlessly as they approached Thomas, Mae and Teresa.
"Well, good to see you too." Mae smirked despite the harsh circumstances.
"Over here guys!" Chuck called, waving his arm to gesture to the Council room. Thomas and Mae, still supporting Alby, were the first to saunter over to the door, finally putting their leader down for a moment to help the others in. Mae gave Newt and grateful smile as he strode into the room, and everyone prepared for the next blow.
LONGER CHAPTER BECAUSE I LOVE YOU <3 LIKE I SAID BEFORE COMMENT AND SUGGESTIONS FOR WHO I SHOULD CAST AS MAE.