Thomas wondered about the mention of a serum, but had too many other questions to get out first. “But I thought the Grievers only came out at night.”
“Then you were wrong, shank. They always come out at night. That doesn’t mean they never show up during the day.”
Thomas wouldn’t allow himself to give in to Minho’s hopelessness-he didn’t want to give up and die just yet. “Has anyone ever been caught outside the walls at night and lived through it?”
“Never.”
Thomas scowled, wishing he could find one little spark of hope. “How many have died, then?”
Minho stared at the ground, crouched with one forearm on a knee. He was clearly exhausted, almost in a daze. “At least twelve. Haven’t you been to the graveyard?”
“Yeah.” So that’s how they died, he thought.
“Well, those are just the ones we found. There are more whose bodies never showed up.” Minho pointed absently back toward the sealed-off Glade. “That freaking graveyard’s back in the woods for a reason. Nothing kills happy time more than being reminded of your slaughtered friends every day.”
Minho stood and grabbed Alby’s arms, then nodded toward his feet. “Grab those smelly suckers. We gotta carry him over to the Door. Give ’em one body that’s easy to find in the morning.”
Thomas couldn’t believe how morbid a statement that was. “How can this be happening!” he screamed to the walls, turning in a circle. He felt close to losing it once and for all.
“Quit your crying. You should’ve followed the rules and stayed inside. Now come on, grab his legs.”
Wincing at the growing cramps in his gut, Thomas walked over and lifted Alby’s feet as he was told. They half carried, half dragged the almost-lifeless body a hundred feet or so to the vertical crack of the Door, where Minho propped Alby up against the wall in a semi-sitting position. Alby’s chest rose and fell with struggled breaths, but his skin was drenched in sweat; he looked like he wouldn’t last much longer.
“Where was he bitten?” Thomas asked. “Can you see it?”
“They don’t freaking bite you. They prick you. And no, you can’t see it. There could be dozens all over his body.” Minho folded his arms and leaned against the wall.
For some reason, Thomas thought the word prick sounded a lot worse than bite. “Prick you? What does that mean?”
“Dude, you just have to see them to know what I’m talking about.”
Thomas pointed at Minho’s arms, then his legs. “Well, why didn’t the thing prick you?”
Minho held his hands out. “Maybe it did-maybe I’ll collapse any second.”
“They…,” Thomas began, but didn’t know how to finish. He couldn’t tell if Minho had been serious.
“There was no they, just the one we thought was dead. It went nuts and stung Alby, but then ran away.” Minho looked back into the Maze, which was now almost completely dark with nighttime. “But I’m sure it and a whole bunch of them suckers’ll be here soon to finish us off with their needles.”
“Needles?” Things just kept sounding more and more disturbing to Thomas.
“Yeah, needles.” He didn’t elaborate, and his face said he didn’t plan to.
Thomas looked up at the enormous walls covered in thick vines-desperation had finally clicked him into problem-solving mode. “Can’t we climb this thing?” He looked at Minho, who didn’t say a word. “The vines -can’t we climb them?”
Minho let out a frustrated sigh. “I swear, Greenie, you must think we’re a bunch of idiots. You really think we’ve never had the ingenious thought of climbing the freaking walls?”
For the first time, Thomas felt anger creeping in to compete with his fear and panic. “I’m just trying to help, man. Why don’t you quit moping at every word I say and talk to me?”
Minho abruptly jumped at Thomas and grabbed him by the shirt. “You don’t understand, shuck-face! You don’t know anything, and you’re just making it worse by trying to have hope! We’re dead, you hear me? Dead!”
Thomas didn’t know which he felt more strongly at that moment-anger at Minho or pity for him. He was giving up too easily.
Minho looked down at his hands clasped to Thomas’s shirt and shame washed across his face. Slowly, he let go and backed away. Thomas straightened his clothes defiantly.
“Ah, man, oh man,” Minho whispered, then crumpled to the ground, burying his face in clenched fists. “I’ve never been this scared before, dude. Not like this.”
Thomas wanted to say something, tell him to grow up, tell him to think, tell him to explain everything he knew. Something!
He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it quickly when he heard the noise. Minho’s head popped up; he looked down one of the darkened stone corridors. Thomas felt his own breath quicken.
It came from deep within the Maze, a low, haunting sound. A constant whirring that had a metallic ring every few seconds, like sharp knives rubbing against each other. It grew louder by the second, and then a series of eerie clicks joined in. Thomas thought of long fingernails tapping against glass. A hollow moan filled the air, and then something that sounded like the clanking of chains.
All of it, together, was horrifying, and the small amount of courage Thomas had gathered began to slip away.
Minho stood, his face barely visible in the dying light. But when he spoke, Thomas imagined his eyes wide with terror. “We have to split up-it’s our only chance. Just keep moving. Don’t stop moving!”
And then he turned and ran, disappearing in seconds, swallowed by the Maze and darkness.
CHAPTER 18
Thomas stared at the spot where Minho had vanished.
A sudden dislike for the guy swelled up inside him. Minho was a veteran in this place, a Runner. Thomas was a Newbie, just a few days in the Glade, a few minutes in the Maze. Yet of the two of them, Minho had broken down and panicked, only to run off at the first sign of trouble. How could he leave me here? Thomas thought. How could he do that!
The noises grew louder. The roar of engines interspersed with rolling, cranking sounds like chains hoisting machinery in an old, grimy factory. And then came the smell-something burning, oily. Thomas couldn’t begin to guess what was in store for him; he’d seen a Griever, but only a glimpse, and through a dirty window. What would they do to him? How long would he last?
Stop, he told himself. He had to quit wasting time waiting for them to come and end his life.
He turned and faced Alby, still propped against the stone wall, now only a mound of shadow in the darkness. Kneeling on the ground, Thomas found Alby’s neck, then searched for a pulse. Something there. He listened at his chest like Minho had done. buh-bump, buh-bump, buh-bump
Still alive.
Thomas rocked back on his heels, then ran his arm across his forehead, wiping away the sweat. And at that moment, in the space of only a few seconds, he learned a lot about himself. About the Thomas that was before.
He couldn’t leave a friend to die. Even someone as cranky as Alby.
He reached down and grabbed both of Alby’s arms, then squatted into a sitting position and wrapped the arms around his neck from behind. He pulled the lifeless body onto his back and pushed with his legs, grunting with the effort.
But it was too much. Thomas collapsed forward onto his face; Alby sprawled to the side with a loud flump.
The frightening sounds of the Grievers grew closer by the second, echoing off the stone walls of the Maze. Thomas thought he could see bright flashes of light far away, bouncing off the night sky. He didn’t want to meet the source of those lights, those sounds.
Trying a new approach, he grabbed Alby’s arms again and started dragging him along the ground. He couldn’t believe how heavy the boy was, and it took only ten feet or so for Thomas to realize that it just wasn’t going to work. Where would he take him, anyway?
He pushed and pulled Alby back over to the crack that marked the entrance to the Glade, and propped him once more into a sitting position, leaning against
the stone wall.
Thomas sat back against it himself, panting from exertion, thinking. As he looked into the dark recesses of the Maze, he searched his mind for a solution. He could hardly see anything, and he knew, despite what Minho had said, that it’d be stupid to run even if he could carry Alby. Not only was there the chance of getting lost, he could actually find himself running toward the Grievers instead of away from them.
He thought of the wall, the ivy. Minho hadn’t explained, but he had made it sound as if climbing the walls was impossible. Still…
A plan formed in his mind. It all depended on the unknown abilities of the Grievers, but it was the best thing he could come up with.
Thomas walked a few feet along the wall until he found a thick growth of ivy covering most of the stone. He reached down and grabbed one of the vines that went all the way to the ground and wrapped his hand around it. It felt thicker and more solid than he would’ve imagined, maybe a half-inch in diameter. He pulled on it, and with the sound of thick paper ripping apart, the vine came unattached from the wall-more and more as Thomas stepped away from it. When he’d moved back ten feet, he could no longer see the end of the vine way above; it disappeared in the darkness. But the trailing plant had yet to fall free, so Thomas knew it was still attached up there somewhere.
Hesitant to try, Thomas steeled himself and pulled on the vine of ivy with all his strength.
It held.
He yanked on it again. Then again, pulling and relaxing with both hands over and over. Then he lifted his feet and hung onto the vine; his body swung forward.
The vine held.
Quickly, Thomas grabbed other vines, ripping them away from the wall, creating a series of climbing ropes. He tested each one, and they all proved to be as strong as the first. Encouraged, he went back to Alby and dragged him over to the vines.
A sharp crack echoed from within the Maze, followed by the horrible sound of crumpling metal. Thomas, startled, swung around to look, his mind so concentrated on the vines that he’d momentarily shut out the Grievers; he searched all three directions of the Maze. He couldn’t see anything coming, but the sounds were louder-the whirring, the groaning, the clanging. And the air had brightened ever so slightly; he could make out more of the details of the Maze than he’d been able to just minutes before.
He remembered the odd lights he’d observed through the Glade window with Newt. The Grievers were close. They had to be.
Thomas pushed aside the swelling panic and set himself to work.
He grabbed one of the vines and wrapped it around Alby’s right arm. The plant would only reach so far, so he had to prop Alby up as much as he could to make it work. After several wraps, he tied the vine off. Then he took another vine and put it around Alby’s left arm, then both of his legs, tying each one tightly. He worried about the Glader’s circulation getting cut off, but decided it was worth the risk.
Trying to ignore the doubt that was seeping into his mind about the plan, Thomas continued on. Now it was his turn.
He snatched a vine with both hands and started to climb, directly over the spot where he’d just tied up Alby. The thick leaves of the ivy served well as handholds, and Thomas was elated to find that the many cracks in the stone wall were perfect supports for his feet as he climbed. He began to think how easy it would be without…
He refused to finish the thought. He couldn’t leave Alby behind.
Once he reached a point a couple of feet above his friend, Thomas wrapped one of the vines around his own chest, around and around several times, snug against his armpits for support. Slowly, he let himself sag, letting go with his hands but keeping his feet planted firmly in a large crack. Relief filled him when the vine held.
Now came the really hard part.
The four vines tied to Alby below hung tautly around him. Thomas took hold of the one attached to Alby’s left leg, and pulled. He was only able to get it up a few inches before letting go-the weight was too much. He couldn’t do it.
He climbed back down to the Maze floor, decided to try pushing from below instead of pulling from above. To test it, he tried raising Alby only a couple of feet, limb by limb. First, he pushed the left leg up, then tied a new vine around it. Then the right leg. When both were secure, Thomas did the same to Alby’s arms-right, then left.
He stepped back, panting, to take a look.
Alby hung there, seemingly lifeless, now three feet higher than he’d been five minutes earlier.
Clangs from the Maze. Whirrs. Buzzes. Moans. Thomas thought he saw a couple of red flashes to his left. The Grievers were getting closer, and it was now obvious that there were more than one.
He got back to work.
Using the same method of pushing each of Alby’s arms and legs up two or three feet at a time, Thomas slowly made his way up the stone wall. He climbed until he was right below the body, wrapped a vine around his own chest for support, then pushed Alby up as far as he could, limb by limb, and tied them off with ivy. Then he repeated the whole process.
Climb, wrap, push up, tie off.
Climb, wrap, push up, tie off. The Grievers at least seemed to be moving slowly through the Maze, giving him time.
Over and over, little by little, up they went. The effort was exhausting; Thomas heaved in every breath, felt sweat cover every inch of his skin. His hands began to slip and slide on the vines. His feet ached from pressing into the stone cracks. The sounds grew louder-the awful, awful sounds. Still Thomas worked.
When they’d reached a spot about thirty feet off the ground, Thomas stopped, swaying on the vine he’d tied around his chest. Using his drained, rubbery arms, he turned himself around to face the Maze. An exhaustion he’d not known possible filled every tiny particle of his body. He ached with weariness; his muscles screamed. He couldn’t push Alby up another inch. He was done.
This was where they’d hide. Or make their stand.
He’d known they couldn’t reach the top-he only hoped the Grievers couldn’t or wouldn’t look above them. Or, at the very least, Thomas hoped he could fight them off from high up, one by one, instead of being overwhelmed on the ground.
He had no idea what to expect; he didn’t know if he’d see tomorrow. But here, hanging in the ivy, Thomas and Alby would meet their fate.
A few minutes passed before Thomas saw the first glimmer of light shine off the Maze walls up ahead. The terrible sounds he’d heard escalate for the last hour took on a high-pitched, mechanical squeal, like a robotic death yell.
A red light to his left, on the wall, caught his attention. He turned and almost screamed out loud-a beetle blade was only a few inches from him, its spindly legs poking through the ivy and somehow sticking to the stone. The red light of its eye was like a little sun, too bright to look at directly. Thomas squinted and tried to focus on the beetle’s body.
The torso was a silver cylinder, maybe three inches in diameter and ten inches long. Twelve jointed legs ran along the length of its bottom, spread out, making the thing look like a sleeping lizard. The head was impossible to see because of the red beam of light shining right at him, though it seemed small, vision its only purpose, perhaps.
But then Thomas saw the most chilling part. He thought he’d seen it before, back in the Glade when the beetle blade had scooted past him and into the woods. Now it was confirmed: the red light from its eye cast a creepy glow on six capital letters smeared across the torso, as if they had been written with blood: WICKED
Thomas couldn’t imagine why that one word would be stamped on the beetle blade, unless for the purpose of announcing to the Gladers that it was evil. Wicked.
He knew it had to be a spy for whoever had sent them here-Alby had told him as much, saying the beetles were how the Creators watched them. Thomas stilled himself, held his breath, hoping that maybe the beetle only detected movement. Long seconds passed, his lungs screaming for air.
With a click and then a clack, the beetle turned and scuttled off, disappearing into the ivy. Tho
mas sucked in a huge gulp of air, then another, feeling the pinch of the vines tied around his chest.
Another mechanical squeal screeched through the Maze, close now, followed by the surge of revved machinery. Thomas tried to imitate Alby’s lifeless body, hanging limp in the vines.
And then something rounded the corner up ahead, and came toward them.
Something he’d seen before, but through the safety of thick glass.
Something unspeakable.
A Griever.
CHAPTER 19
Thomas stared in horror at the monstrous thing making its way down the long corridor of the Maze.
It looked like an experiment gone terribly wrong-something from a nightmare. Part animal, part machine, the Griever rolled and clicked along the stone pathway. Its body resembled a gigantic slug, sparsely covered in hair and glistening with slime, grotesquely pulsating in and out as it breathed. It had no distinguishable head or tail, but front to end it was at least six feet long, four feet thick.
Every ten to fifteen seconds, sharp metal spikes popped through its bulbous flesh and the whole creature abruptly curled into a ball and spun forward. Then it would settle, seeming to gather its bearings, the spikes receding back through the moist skin with a sick slurping sound. It did this over and over, traveling just a few feet at a time.
But hair and spikes were not the only things protruding from the Griever’s body. Several randomly placed mechanical arms stuck out here and there, each one with a different purpose. A few had bright lights attached to them. Others had long, menacing needles. One had a three-fingered claw that clasped and unclasped for no apparent reason. When the creature rolled, these arms folded and maneuvered to avoid being crushed. Thomas wondered what-or who-could create such frightening, disgusting creatures.
The source of the sounds he’d been hearing made sense now. When the Griever rolled, it made the metallic whirring sound, like the spinning blade of a saw. The spikes and the arms explained the creepy clicking sounds, metal against stone. But nothing sent chills up and down Thomas’s spine like the haunted, deathly moans that somehow escaped the creature when it sat still, like the sound of dying men on a battlefield.
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