CHAPTER FOUR: A NIGHT IN THE MAZE
The panic hit Layla fast—the complete and utter fear of hopelessness. They were dead. There was no way they were making it out of the Maze alive.
Layla had seen a Griever already, a memory she wanted to remove from her brain, but it stayed there, stuck. It was tattooed on her brain, impossible to get rid of. The ink bled into her mind, turning her final positive thoughts into a swirl of darkness and panic.
She felt numb, after running the entire day she just felt so numb. They hadn't stopped for a break once, because Alby was so persistent and kept pushing them to keep looking for any sign of what could've happened to Ben. Surely he knew it was a bad idea, right? But who was Layla to defy her First in Command?
Minho exhaled heavily, before sucking in another deep breath. His eyes landed on Thomas, and he looked far too exhausted to shout or scream or tell Thomas how stupid what he just did was. All he could say was, "good job... you just killed yourself."
Thomas sucked in rapid breaths, his wide eyes landing on Minho. "What?" The Greenie stuttered, a panicked look in his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he had done.
Minho didn't say another word, he just adjusted from kneeling to sitting, his lungs still heaving. Layla leaned backwards until her back hit the Maze floor, her chest rising and falling at an alarmingly fast rate, her heart going even faster than her breaths.
Thomas stumbled as he got to his feet, giving him and the Maze doors some distance as he walked closer to the trio. He crouched down next to Alby, inspecting his wounds. "What happened to him?" He asked.
Minho had a deep tone to his voice as he spoke, his lack of hope for an escape or care for the Greenie seeping through. "What does it look like?" He grumbled. "He got stung."
Thomas didn't take offence by Minho's tone, and looked up at the mark on Alby's forehead. "What happened to his head?" He frowned, glancing between Minho and Layla.
Minho sucked in a tired breath, "we did what we had to do."
Thomas could only look between the two, not quite sure what to say. Layla didn't blame him either. He had just thrown himself into the Maze without thinking it through, and now that he was there, he quickly realized he'd have to deal with an unconscious boy, two hopeless Runners, and a Griever. If Layla had the energy to speak, she would've scolded him for being so ridiculously stupid.
Before another word could be spoken, the Griever let out a menacing screech in the distance. It was that familiar metallic, monstrous sound that Layla had grown to hate. Hearing it from within the safety of the Glade was one thing, but hearing it in the Maze as the sun was going down was worse.
The booming sound of the Maze changing followed soon after, and Layla was immediately getting to her feet, pushing past the aches in her body, Minho following in suit.
"Uh," Thomas muttered, pulling Alby closer to him, "okay, help me get him up."
Minho held one of Layla's hands, attempting to pull her to her feet, but her legs wobbled dangerously. "We gotta go." Minho told Thomas. "The Maze is already changing."
Thomas wasn't having it, and quickly called out, "hey, Minho!" Minho stopped in his tracks, a sigh escaping his lips before he turned to face Thomas. "We can't just leave him here." Thomas held onto Alby's arms, refusing to move forward until the other two helped him.
Layla sighed, turning to face Minho. "We've helped him this far." She said, reminding Minho of the struggles they had gone through for half of the day. "We can't stop now."
Minho held eye contact for a long moment before nodding, dragging her over to Alby and Thomas. The two slowly lifted Alby off the ground, struggling with his weight, but thankful for Thomas who was making it easier than before with his added strength.
Layla held one of Alby's arms wrapped around her shoulder, while Minho had the other. Thomas held his feet up and took the lead, walking around the Maze and turning in whatever direction Minho said. "Come on." Minho said breathlessly, nodding his head to a wall up ahead. They paused when they made it, looking from left to right as they decided which way to go.
Minho finally gave into the exhaustion, and heaved out a heavy breath, "okay, just set him down. Set him down." He panted, leading the others towards the nearby wall. Layla immediately followed his orders, walking on wobbly legs as she inched closer to the wall.
The three set Alby down, making sure that he wouldn't collapse as he sat upright. A cry from the Griever rang through the Maze, startling the three Gladers as they whipped their heads to the right.
Minho let his fear get the best of him, and quickly began shaking his head. "This isn't gonna work." He stood to his feet, ready to leave Alby behind once again as he said, "we gotta go. We gotta go!"
Thomas frowned, "what? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about? We gotta do something. We gotta hide him!" Thomas gestured to Alby.
Layla was surprised to find herself agreeing with Thomas, rather than giving into her fear. She couldn't leave Alby behind. It felt wrong.
Minho wasn't getting it like they were, though, and looked to Thomas as he nervously bounced on the balls of his feet. "Where?"
"I don't know!" Thomas exclaimed. Being a Greenie, he had never been in the Maze—most Gladers still hadn't, despite how long they'd been there. Thomas was relying on Layla and Minho for help now. "Minho, just think. You're— you're telling me that there's not a single place we could take him?"
Minho growled in anger and rushed towards the Greenie at alarming speed, despite his exhaustion. He gripped Thomas' shirt collar and pinned him up against the wall, glaring angrily. "Listen to me, shuckface. All right? Take a look around! There's nowhere to go!"
For the first time in a while, Layla spoke. "Minho!" She said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're not gonna get anywhere if we keep freaking out like this. I know it seems impossible, but calm down! We need to have each other's backs." His grip on Thomas' shirt loosened, "let's just think for a second."
Minho tried slowing his breaths as he stood back to his feet, leaving Thomas shaken as he remained on the floor. Despite what Layla had said, Minho looked Thomas in the eyes with a hopeless look in his own, "you don't get it." He said, eerily calm. "We're already dead."
Thomas seemed to be processing Minho's words for just a moment, but seconds later he was scanning something behind him. A look of realization dawned on his face, causing Layla to follow his gaze as he quickly got to his feet.
Layla caught on seconds later, glancing at Alby behind her as she questioned whether it would work or not. Her eyes met Thomas', and the two seemed to share an understanding, now set on trying out their plan.
The sun had gone down completely, and Layla, Minho and Thomas were wide awake as they hauled Alby up the Maze wall, using the ivy as a pulley system. Layla's arms burned, but she was determined not to give up. She wasn't giving up on Alby.
A part of her wondered if she was trying so hard to save him because she didn't try hard enough to save Ben. The guilt had been eating away at her all day, but through her struggles with the Griever, Alby getting stung, and being trapped in the Maze, she had pushed it from her mind. Somehow it had managed to worm its way back into her head, and she had to focus even harder on not dropping Alby as Ben plagued her mind.
Alby was nearing the halfway point of the wall now, and time was ticking. The three adjusted their grips before pulling again on the count of three, groaning at the strain put on their arms.
They went to pull again, but the sounds of the Maze changing caught them off guard, and the Griever screeching in the distance caused Minho to panic. "Minho," Thomas called out, "what are you doing?" But Minho didn't answer, he continued to look down the dark paths of the Maze in the distance, awaiting the inevitable as he prepared to run. "What are you doing?"
"We gotta go." Minho suddenly said, and Layla was confused as to his sudden burst of panic, but when her eyes caught sight of the Griever creeping closer in the distance, she understood why. "We gotta go. We gotta go."
Thomas cut through Minho's insistent protests as Layla tried not to feed into her fear. Focus on the plan. "No, no, no, no, no, no," Thomas said. "Okay? Just a little more and we'll tie it off." He promised.
Layla flinched at the sounds of the Griever getting closer, it's mechanical legs whirring and clicking and scraping into the ground. But deep down, she knew she had dealt with worse. Far worse. She could handle a Griever.
Minho jumped back in fear, but forced himself to hold onto the ivy. "Minho, stay with me." Thomas encouraged, "stay with me, Minho. Okay? Just a little more, we're almost there."
Minho sucked in rapid breaths, "I'm sorry." He said. Layla glanced back at him, confused, before watching in complete shock as he dropped the ivy and bolted away from the nearby Griever, leaving Thomas and Layla to fumble with it as they tried to keep Alby upright.
"Minho!" Both the Greenie and Layla called out, Layla's voice cracking at the thought of Minho leaving her—at the fact that he left her.
The Griever screeched in outrage when it heard nearby prey, and Layla and Thomas struggled to get back to their feet, rushing against time as the Griever neared. In a quick decision, the two flipped themselves around, backs to the wall as they hid under the ivy.
Layla felt her arms burning, but a gut feeling struck her hard, and she welcomed the darkness. She felt... better, all of the sudden. She felt stronger, and less tired.
She had always felt comfortable in the darkness, but she had never welcomed it in her time since being sent into the Glade.
As the Griever neared, she felt more confident in trusting her instincts. A fight was nearing, and she felt the familiar rush of adrenaline flood through her body.
The whirring of the strange creature was just around the corner, and Layla and Thomas remained as silent as possible.
CLANG!
The sound of a metallic leg smashing into the ground caused Thomas to jump, but Layla remained as still as possible. She watched with a calculating gaze as the Griever slipped past, each leg piercing the Maze floor with a shrill sound.
A deep rumble left the Griever's throat as it inched by, taking its time in scanning the place. It let out a booming sound, as if it had grown angry in it's lack of prey.
Thomas breathed out a sigh of relief once the Griever had gotten far enough, and Layla couldn't help but do the same. He turned to Layla, "let's tie it off now." He whispered, and she nodded in response, already thinking the same.
Thomas glanced around for a few seconds before spotting a thick piece of vine. Layla followed his gaze and gripped it tightly, shaking it to test how sturdy it was. She turned to Thomas, "this one's good."
The two carefully slipped out from under the vines, and began to tie the two vines together as best as they could. Thomas decided to take the lead, given that two people trying at once would only cause problems and take even longer.
Layla was on full alert, watching the way the Griever had went as she kept guard. Thomas tested the vine, seeing if it would hold once again, letting out small grunts that the Griever immediately heard. It let out an angered screech, and the sound of it nearing once again was heard.
Thomas threw all stealth out the window, and said, "come on." As he tightened the vines together quickly. Once he deemed it good, he grabbed Layla by the arm and yanked her around the wall, out of view from the Griever that had finally turned the corner.
It whirred and clicked, walking agonizingly slow as Thomas and Layla remained hidden. Quicker than Layla expected, however, the sounds of the Griever faded into the distance.
Thomas carefully leaned forward, peaking around the corner. He let out a slow breath upon seeing nothing up ahead. The two Gladers slowly creeped out of hiding, while Layla mentally noted how Thomas was putting more of his guard down than he should've been.
They glanced up, making sure Alby was all right, or... as 'all right' as he could've been for a guy who had been stung, knocked unconscious, and hung up on an ivy wall.
He looked all right.
Layla jumped involuntarily as the sound of the Maze changing echoed nearby. The Griever shrieked in the distance shortly after. Slowly, Layla and Thomas began to make their way down a pathway, checking over their shoulders every few seconds.
Thomas suddenly stopped, his shoe getting caught in something... slimy. He lifted his foot, attempting to shake off the strange goo. Layla stared at it with wide eyes, immediately knowing that a Griever was nearby.
"Thomas..." she whispered, looking around for any sign of the creature, but Thomas was more focused on his shoe. Suddenly he paused, listening in as the two heard a deep rumbling sound. Layla's eyes widened in realization and she snapped her head up to face what should've been the night sky, but instead, was a Griever towering over them, using its legs to push outwards on the wall, and keep it balanced overhead.
"Thomas!" She shouted, which the Griever immediately reacted to, falling to the ground with a metallic thud. Thomas screamed as he finally laid eyes on the threat, tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground.
Layla reached for her left hip on instinct, as if expecting a weapon to be there, but there was none. The only weapon she did have was a knife, which was strapped to her thigh, but that wasn't good enough. So she did the next best thing.
She ran.
Layla led Thomas down corridors, following her gut and and trusting her instincts as a Runners. She kept her eyes straight ahead for once, knowing her life depended on it, and called out to a frantic Thomas, "don't look back!"
Thomas made no move to reply, the only indication that he was following being his panicked shouts and quick footsteps.
The sound of the Griever was scarily close, and the two Gladers made a quick right, rushing through the Maze with a newfound adrenaline. The two made another right, but quickly stopped as the Griever had tricked them by going around in a loop, meeting them face to face.
In Thomas' panic, he rushed to the left in an attempt to avoid the Griever, leaving Layla no choice but to follow. Her eyes were wide as she screamed out, "that's a dead end!"
But it was too late by then, and the pair had no choice but to continue forwards. They took a right, then a left, before turning left once again, only to be met with the two final options. One pathway led to a tall wall of ivy, while the other led to a slightly shorter, but still tall wall, also littered with thick strands of ivy.
Thomas realized the problem, looking to the direction that the Griever would be coming from with wide eyes, "oh, shit."
Seconds later, the Griever appeared, it's claw like legs smacking into the ground with so much strength that Layla could feel the vibrations from a few feet away. Thomas took her hand, dragging her down the path as he shouted, "we have to climb!"
Layla's eyes grew impossibly wide at what he had said. She knew for a fact that she hated heights. She wasn't sure why, but something felt so wrong about being too high off the ground. She felt safe on the ground—safe in the darkness.
But she had no other choice. She and Thomas quickly took turns kicking off a large rock, and grabbing hold of the ivy ahead, before climbing as fast as they possibly could. The Griever screeched in outrage before attempting to follow, sliding on the walls as it struggled to find a ledge to grip onto.
The Griever's disadvantage helped the two Gladers get more distance, as they heaved themselves over the top of the wall and began sprinting across them aimlessly, the Griever still not too far behind.
Thomas had noticed Layla's hesitation to climb, so upon seeing a small gap between the walls, he ran at full speed while gripping her hand tightly. "Come on, Layla. Jump!" He encouraged, and due to Thomas' iron grip, she had no choice but to do so. Layla screamed as her feet left the ground momentarily, her eyes catching sight of the drop below.
The two rolled to a stop as they landed on the next wall, glancing back to look at the Griever. It was so big that it was able to reach across with ease, making it to the other wall in half a second. Layla and Thomas immediately took off once more.
They hauled themselves up a step that was waist high, before sprinting down a narrow wall, skidding to a stop as it led to a large gap between one wall and the next. Thomas and Layla tried to turn back, but stopped in their tracks when the Griever blocked the only way out. It roared menacingly, as if challenging the Gladers to step any closer.
Thomas reached out to hold Layla's wrist tightly once more. "Layla—"
She immediately shook her head, "Thomas, I can't." She said. The jump was much further than the others. She wasn't even aware of how bad her fear of heights was until that second, and her fear was overpowering any of the confidence she had felt earlier.
Thomas, annoyingly so (but thankfully), was leaving no room for arguments, as the Griever looked about ready to pounce. "Layla, now!" He called, rushing for the edge before jumping, Layla doing the same.
She had probably let out the most pathetic scream, but she didn't care. When they collided with the other ivy wall, Layla yelled out in pain at the feeling of her nails cracking when scraping on the concrete—but she had grabbed ahold of the ivy, and saved herself from falling.
The Griever let out a screech of anger before jumping without hesitation, landing directly over Thomas. Layla shouted in fear, "Thomas!"
The Griever raised it's tail, ready to sting Thomas, but by some miracle, it missed. The stinger had been implanted into the wall.
But the Griever began to rip apart the ivy with its pointed legs, and Thomas lost his grip. He collided into Layla seconds later, and the two began to fall before Layla caught onto the ivy with one hand, and held Thomas's wrist tightly in the other, holding them both up.
The Griever began to climb down the ivy, letting out low growling noises as it inched closer. It ripped the ivy out of the wall completely, and the two Gladers began to fall with the Griever as they lost the last thing holding them up.
They were surprisingly lucky that they had fallen from a shorter height, but the impact still hurt. Layla landed on her back, feeling the breath get knocked out of her lungs as she struggled to breath. Her whole body ached, as Thomas helped her to her feet upon seeing her struggle.
The two bolted away as the Griever struggled to get free, tangled up in all the ivy. They stopped at the end of the pathway for a moment to see what they had done, and Layla was shocked to see how much the Griever was struggling.
Suddenly, a hand was on her shoulder and both Layla and Thomas let out yelps at the sudden contact, fearing the worst. Layla let out a breath of relief, seeing Minho standing there. Despite how angry she was with him for leaving, she was glad to see him.
"You crazy sons of bitches." He exclaimed, looking between the two with wide eyes. Then, he looked to the Griever and began pulling the two down a clear path. "Come on! Follow me! Come on!"
Layla didn't hesitate to follow Minho through the Maze, as he made lefts and rights with ease. Minho flinched as the Maze began to change nearby, slowing to a stop before saying, "okay, it's changing. It's changing! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!"
He led them to along path, which groaned and blew wind as the entire wall began to push inward. "This section's closing. Come on. We can lose it down here!"
Layla and Minho quickly began to rush down the path, unaware that Thomas had hesitated before stopping completely. When the two had made it to the other end, Minho quickly realized that Thomas was still on the far side of the path. "Thomas!" He called out, gaining Layla's attention, who looked to Thomas with wide eyes. "What are you waiting for? Get outta there!"
The screech from the Griever was heard less than a second after, and Thomas whipped his head to the direction of it, faltering only slightly. He watched it with narrowed eyes, his fists clenching in anger. A menacing roar was heard, but for the first time all night, Thomas didn't flinch.
He glared at the beast, his jaw set, and yelled, "come on!" The sound of its metal legs clanging against the ground could be heard only a second after. Thomas watched with careful eyes, waiting for the perfect moment.
Layla watched in awe as his actions reminded her of herself. She was so sure that she had tricked a beast in a similar way before, but she hadn't done it alone. And as Thomas ran, he began to remind her of a friend she had forgotten for too long.
"Come on, Thomas! Don't look back! Run!"
The Griever was gaining on him, and Minho continued to shout words of encouragement. Layla had full faith in the boy, watching as he ran at full speed while the Griever began to slow, being far too big for the tiny gap that was left.
"Come on, Greenie! Let's go! Thomas!"
The Maze walls slammed shut, and Thomas collided into both Layla and Minho, leaving the Griever to be flattened between the ivy walls. Layla shook herself out of her thoughts, staring in complete shock.
"Thomas..." she mumbled under her breath, in complete awe. "You killed it."
Thomas seemed unable to speak, his eyes trailing over the gross sight of the squashed Griever. Minho seemed just as shocked, and the three stared for a long moment before making the decision to take it up back at the Glade, because Alby was the first priority.
But as Layla followed the boys down the pathways, her mind kept trailing back to one name, and she couldn't figure out why—because who the fuck was Percy Jackson?
—————
lizzie speaks...
okay... let me start off by saying ik ur all probably upset i didn't show many demigod things here. first, she didn't have a weapon. second, she doesn't know she has powers, and for a reason that y'all don't know yet, she's unable to use them.
i settled with saying that the darkness made her feel stronger, like how water does that for percy. also, i'm not a fan of when oc's steal a characters moment that's already canon, so i found a way to make thomas doing cool stuff while it still being relevant to layla.
thomas is for sure going to be a huge factor in layla remembering percy. i think the two are really alike in terms of loyalty and heroics. and while i do think thomas and jason are closer personality wise (idk if y'all agree, but i think so), layla has yet to meet jason, soooo... percy it is.
okay bye <3
"In Thomas' panic, he rushed to the left in an attempt to avoid the Griever, leaving Layla no choice but to follow."
Layla: