~Y/N's POV~
"Congratulations, you just killed yourself."
I looked up at Minho, ready to ask him what the hell he was talking about as I was panting heavily, feeling my sweat-soaked shirt stick to my Y/S/C skin, and only a few strands of my Y/H/C hair were in front of my face covering part of my vision from the abrupt bolt into the maze.
"Minho, may I propose that you stop talking for once." As I stood up, I remarked that I had nearly entirely composed myself and that I had checked on Thomas next to me to see if he was in a similar situation.
As Thomas walked up to Alby, his troubled expression was impossible to miss. I followed closely behind as he asked, "What happened to him?"
Of course, Minho immediately answered with his sarcastic and caustic remarks, "What does it look like? He got stung."
Alby appeared to have been hit very hard because he had some blood on his head, so I questioned, "And what happened to his head?"
Minho briefly turned his head away before saying, "I did what I had to do," with no trace of sorrow in his voice.
I couldn't really blame him; I figured he whacked Alby over the head to avoid the sting's after-effects and perhaps prevent Alby from yelling at him as Ben had yelled at Thomas.
All of a sudden, we heard the maze changing. We had to go quickly, and I really didn't want to run into a Griever anytime soon, but I also wanted to keep Alby safe, even if it meant putting my life in danger.
"We've got to go, the maze is already changing!" Minho said, obviously a little anxious and terrified because he knew nobody had ever survived outside in the maze before.
"Woah, buddy, slow down, we can't simply leave Alby here." I replied, pointing at his motionless body.
"Yeah, Y/N's right. We've gotta get him up." Thomas remarked as he moved toward one shoulder and Minho toward the other. I made the choice that I was going to lead the way and notify them whether it was safe to turn the corner or not. Due to the fact that I had never been out here before, I truly had no idea how I was going to accomplish it. However, for some strange reason, it appears to be both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. But, I was too busy trying to stay alive that night with the boys to think about anything else.
We wandered for a few hours on foot, it was now fully dark, and the only light we had was from the stars above us, which guided us. We had all experienced periods of energy loss because I wanted to assist them in carrying Alby so that we could all have the same chance to regain our strength in case we needed it. This way, we wouldn't get strained from carrying an unconscious body for so long.
"Just sit him down." Before I turned around and confirmed my thoughts, I heard a body slump down behind me. I immediately assumed it was Alby's.
After a little while, as we were gathering our thoughts and catching our breath, the Grievers' loud, ear-piercing screeches could be heard throughout the entire maze. This caused my body to stiffen up, and I could tell that Minho began to panic almost instantly.
"This isn't going to work, we've gotta go!" He made a suggestion to abandon Alby, but Thomas and I were determined to keep him hidden without even talking about it.
"Wait what are you talking about? We've gotta hide him."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Are you saying there's not a single place we could take him?"
"Listen to me shuckface, all right. Take a look around. There's nowhere to go!" Although Minho still had the tough and brave act stretched across his face, it was clear from the tone of his voice that he had abandoned hope of any survival.
I turned my head in the direction of the area I was referring to, which was a tremendously tall and long vine wall, and asked, "Who's saying there's nowhere we can hide him?"
"Nice eye, Y/N." Thomas exclaimed as he followed my line of sight. I murmured thanks as he began to walk with Alby; I immediately assisted him as we heard Minho complain behind us and hesitantly follow.
Alby's waist was secured with vines, which we had made sure they were strong enough to pull Alby up without breaking. In order to make sure he was okay, the three of us began to lift him up.
A Griever was heading our way when we heard a huge roar that was much closer to us than before; we had to run for cover quickly but not before we made sure Alby was safe, that much was certain.
"We gotta go, we gotta go now!" Minho whisper-yelled.
"No no, just a little more and then we'll tie it off!" Thomas argued.
I made an effort to remain composed, "Minho, stay with me here, please. Please don't be a wimp and leave."
Before I could figure out who had stopped pulling, I could feel the weight difference from the person pulling, and all Thomas and I could hear was, "I'm sorry, Greenie."
"What!?" I yelled.
"Minho!" Thomas tensed, holding the vine firmly in his hands so that it wouldn't escape.
After Minho stopped pulling, Alby sank a little lower, but Thomas and I were able to use practically all of our strength to pull him and tie him up so he would be secure and protected.
"Y/N, we've gotta hide."
"There!" I indicated a little opening in the vines where Thomas and I might hide and ensure that the vines sufficiently covered our faces to avoid being seen. I was honestly paralyzed in dread but didn't want to display it, so we swiftly moved below and kept quiet.
Before what I imagined to be the legs and arms of the Griever came into view, you could hear the gears moving closer and see a shadow taking shape.
Holding onto Thomas' shirt for dear life out of fear that I could lose him with any sudden movement and be left on my own, I held my breath until it walked away.
Thomas began to leave the area, and I mentally kicked myself for following him because we were unsure whether the coast was even yet clear.
And this is when everything started to go terribly wrong: not only did Thomas step in some strange goo that we couldn't identify, but that same goo also landed on my Y/H/C hair and caused me to look up to the most dreadful creature I could imagine: a Griever.
"GO, THOMAS!" We were running for our lives as I yelled, letting our legs take us where we needed to go. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Thomas and I split off and went in separate directions at a corner. I was too terrified to glance back to see if the Griever was even pursuing us at that point.
But as I heard the sound of the gears turning slowly stop, I made the decision to temporarily lower my guard and slow down to collect my breath. I just wanted to return to the Glade and see Newt and Chuck, even though my mind was racing and my heart was pounding. And I was going to do it because I wasn't going to die out here without at least saying goodbye.
Since no Grievers could be heard or seen, my luck seemed to have been on my side as I ran continuously.
That is, until I saw Minho turn the corner in front of me. At that point, my first instinct was to turn around and head back the way I had come. However, I understood what had happened when I saw Minho slow down and feel a wave of relief wash over him when he spotted me.
He rushed up to me and offered me a bear hug, which I eagerly accepted. However, when we parted ways, I gave him a solid smack on the arm.
"Ow!"
"You jerk, thanks for being an ass and leaving us to die!"
"Okay, I'm sorry, I panicked, alright? He said while feeling bad. I sighed and realized I couldn't continue to be angry, but once we were at the Glade, I knew I wouldn't soon forget what had happened and take revenge.
In the hopes that Thomas would catch up to us soon, we agreed to call it even and continued running together. However, it appears that my calls were successful because we actually ran into him.
"You're a crazy son of a bitch!" Minho exclaimed.
"This section is closing, come on!" As soon as I saw the Griever coming our way, I spoke up.
"We can lose it down here!" Minho said.
When Minho and I realized Thomas was on the other side and still hadn't run through, it seemed like we had sprinted in vain for an eternity before finally making it through another closing portion in the hope that it would cut off the Griever behind us.
"What are you waiting for? Get out of there, Greenie!" Minho yelled out for Thomas.
Thomas was cutting it tight as the walls were ready to enclose both him and the Griever, and I could feel my heart sink as I saw them running. "Come on Thomas, move your ass, let's go!"
When the Griever was totally squished by the walls and fell lifeless, it shrieked only a few feet away from us.
Before Thomas made it through, he launched himself and landed on top of me. I simply held him and told him he made it, "Don't ever pull some crazy shit like that again, you could've died."
We all got to our feet, pleased that we were now safe and sound, and began walking in the direction we had come from when we left Alby's body, hoping that the doors to the Glade would open soon and we would be reunited with our friends.
Chuck was among the first people at the maze doors when they first opened, hoping to run into his friends, whom he had come to think of as family.
"I told you, Chuck. They're not coming back." As Newt spoke, it was obvious that he was disappointed but yet holding out hope that by some miracle, he would run into his friends once more, and most importantly, Y/N.
There was unexpected cheering heard as they started to turn away and return to working among the Glade.
"Let's go!"
"No way!"
"Yeah!"
We were all staggering with exhaustion as we made our way to the Glade entrance. As inquiries poured in our direction, we had already put Alby down and handed the situation over to the Med jacks.
I smiled softly and established eye contact with Newt before drifting back into the conversation with questions. Almost immediately after, he threw his arms around me and gave me an embrace that made it seem as though I might vanish once more if he let go.
"I thought you were gone." Only loud enough for me to hear, he murmured.
I grinned even wider and said, "You can't get rid of me that easily, you should know better than that." As I leaned against his shoulder, I heard him chuckle, and I laughed even harder.
"What happened out there?"
"How did you guys even make it out?"
"You saw a Griever?"
Chuck asked Thomas, and when I merely nodded, he glanced at me for confirmation. It was clear from the look in his eyes that he was happy to see that all of us were safe and unharmed.
"Yeah, I saw one." Thomas said.
"He didn't just see one." I cut in, saying. It would be better for him to say it than me, so I turned to face Minho to continue.
"He killed it." Minho finished off.
After that, conversations got more intense, and I just sighed to myself. We had been the first people to ever make it through the night in the maze, that much I was certain of.
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I still find it unbelievable that Wattpad hasn't, at least for me, been functioning properly over the previous few days. But here's another update, which I hope you all love reading as much as I did writing. In addition, how is it that in a single night we went from 80 to over 100 reads? I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it, so thank you! Until next time, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you guys think!
~D <3