ACT II   SCENE XXX
EPEIUS

   "WHAT THE shuck?!" Cassandra yelled and grabbed hold of the ball, trying to pull it off but it was clamped tightly around the boy's head. "What the shucking—"

"What's wrong?" Thomas shouted beside her as she grunted, fingers slipping against the smooth surface.

Suddenly the ball fell off with a heavy thud and her hands passed through air. Cassandra collapsed backwards onto the ground in shock, her heart beating a hundred miles per second against her chest. The boy's body stilled instantly with one last thump of his heavy boots and she smelled the faint reek of iron in the air.

"Oh, my God, what the hell was that?!" Thomas yelled beside her.

"What happened?" Minho asked.

"I...I don't know," Thomas replied with a trembling voice. "Who was that? Who was down there screaming?"

"It was Frankie," Cassandra answered faintly.

"Yeah, it was definitely Frankie," Winston confirmed. "He was just next to me, making a joke, then it was like something yanked him away."

"His head..." Cassandra whispered then took a deep breath. "Something ate his head. It was round and metal, like a ball. Then it just...dropped off. I-I felt something pass by me a second before it happened."

"What the shuck?" Minho breathed in disbelief. "Are you freakin' kidding me?"

"Didn't you hear it rolling away after he stopped screaming?" Thomas asked. "I know it—"

"It's right here!" Newt shouted and there was a scrape of metal against the ground. The boy grunted with effort as he picked it up. "I heard it roll over here. And it's all wet and sticky—feels like blood..."

"Newton, what are you doing?" Cassandra asked, appalled.

"What the klunk?" Minho asked again. "How big is it?"

"I don't know," Newt answered. "Bigger than a buggin' head, that's for sure. It's perfectly round—a perfect sphere."

"We need to run," Thomas said urgently. "We need to go. Now."

"Maybe we should go back..." It sounded like Archie. "Whatever that ball is, it sliced off Frankie's head, just like the old shank warned us."

"No," Cassandra said vehemently.

"No way," Minho agreed. "Thomas is right. No more dinkin' around. Everyone spread out a couple of feet from each other, then run. Hunch down, and if something comes near your head, hit the living crap out of it."

Cassandra liked his plan. They started to reposition themselves and Minho took her hand as they returned to the front of the group. He didn't let go when he started running ahead. She held an arm above her as she ducked her head low, ready to lash out at the barest touch of cold metal.

Another boy screamed from down the line. She couldn't tell who it was this time but Minho gripped her hand tightly and continued to pull her down the tunnel. They ran, boots stirring more clouds of dust into the air and she tried not to open her mouth to inhale.

There was the clank of metal hitting the wall as the scream gurgled to an abrupt stop behind them. Minho stumbled and she toppled onto his back, crying out painfully as her knee collided against something hard. He called out for the others to stop while untangling himself from the ground. The Gladers skidded to halts behind them and the tunnel was filled with their panting breaths and the stench of their exertions.

"Why'd we stop?" Frypan asked.

"'Cause I almost broke my shin on something up here!" Minho shouted back. "I think it's a stairway."

Cassandra felt around in the pitch darkness and her hand brushed against rough metal, one metre in breadth. Then she reached up and her fingers curled around iron rails. "Yup, definitely a stairway!" she announced.

They picked themselves up and started ascending the circling steps quickly at a fast jog. The metal rung shrilly in the air under the stomps of their feet and Cassandra continued to slide her hand against the railing to keep herself steady. She continued up the spiralling stairs until she slammed her face into Minho's back again. He let out a pained cry of his own as a loud thud resounded above him.

"What did you guys hit?" Thomas called from further below.

"The shuck top, that's what," Minho responded in irritation. "We hit the roof and there's nowhere else..." She heard his hands sliding against the metal top and there was an audible click. "Hang on, I think I found—"

Cassandra's eyes ignited with hot fiery pain and she let out a strangled yelp at the sudden onslaught. Then her skin burned from the radiation of the merciless sun above as the heat wave rolled over her. There was a dull clunk as Minho dropped the top shut and she didn't think she'd ever feel that glad for slinking back into the shadows.

"Shuck me," Minho said, his voice tight. "Looks like we found a way out but I think it's on the freaking sun! Man, that was bright. And hot."

Cassandra moaned lowly, feeling faint and light headed as spots erupted in her vision. She had to crouch down to rest her head between her knees.

"Let's just open it a crack and let our eyes get used to it," Newt suggested, taking a step up to the top. "Here's a shirt—wedge it in there. Everyone shut your eyes."

Cassandra clamped her hands over her eyes as Minho lifted the top once more. She could still see the searing white light through the crack in her palms, blazing through the thin skin of her eyelids. It was excruciating and it took her a long time to gather the courage to lower her hands and squint up at the impossibly intense beam of light. Beneath her, the dull grey stairs rose up from a sea of impenetrable gloom.

"So what's up there?" someone asked from the bottom.

Minho shrugged as he peeked back out of the crack, his hand held up to shield his eyes. "Not sure. All I can see is a lot of bright light—maybe we are on the shuck sun. But I don't think there's any people out there." He paused. "Or Cranks."

"Great," Cassandra said flatly.

"Let's get out there then," Winston said. "I'd rather get a sunburn than my head attacked by some ball of steel. Let's go!"

"All right, Winston," Minho replied chidingly. "Keep your undies on, I just wanted to let our eyes adjust first." He stepped up so that he could heave his shoulders against the plate of metal. Cassandra stood up and braced herself, covering her face with her hands once more.

"One. Two. Three!"

He grunted and there was a squeal of rusty hinges as the door fell open on the outside. Cassandra felt the burn instantaneously, across her entire body so that every nerve ending was set ablaze with pricks of pain. "Aw, man," she groaned. "That shucking hurts!"

Minho and Newt shuffled down to hide behind her back. "Something's wrong, dude!" Minho cried. "It's already burning my skin!"

"He's right." Newt rubbed his face and neck. "I don't think we can go out there. We might have to wait till the sun goes down."

The Gladers moaned in complaint, then Winston started shouting, "Whoa! Hey! Watch out!"

Cassandra brought her hands down from her face and tore her eyelids open. Ignoring the ache at the back of her eyeballs, she turned around and looked in apprehension as a big glob of silvery liquid pooled on the surface of the ceiling in front of them. It formed into a silvery ball of molten metal and dropped down. She took a step back, her heel digging into the edge of the next step as the ball hovered in the air before flying in the direction of Winston's face.

It enveloped the boy's head and he screamed, falling backwards down the stairs. Everyone could only stare in horrified shock as Thomas darted after him. The liquid metal had consumed the top half of Winston's head, slowly oozing down to consume the rest of his face. His hands were desperately trying to claw it off as he kicked his legs against the wall.

"Get it off me!" he yelled, voice strangled with pain and face completely flushed. Thomas grabbed hold of the metal's top and there was a loud sucking sound as it came loose briefly before seeping back down and Winston screamed again.

Then Thomas pulled, just as Winston managed to push with his palms. The silver flew through the air as Thomas flung it over his shoulders and it solidified behind him. Cassandra saw it form into a dense sphere, stopping as if to reassess itself, before darting back down into the darkness below.

The rush of air from her lungs was a breath of relief. Winston was cradling his head as he sobbed and whimpered on the steps. His hair was gone, leaving only blistering red skin on his scalp and ears. It was terrible and she didn't want to think about how much pain he must be in.

"Are you okay?" Thomas asked and Winston merely jerked his head from side to side, trembling.

She looked at Minho and Newt as they stared mutely with eyes wide with shock. "What was that shuck thing?" Minho murmured.

"Magic goop that eats people's heads, that's what it was," Newt retorted.

"Must be some kind of new technology," Aris said suddenly, earning a few glances his way. "Well...from what I remember."

"That crap must keep gelling around your face, then eat into the flesh of your neck until it cuts clean through." Minho pointed. "Nice. Real nice."

"That thing came out of the shuck ceiling," Frypan said. "Let's get out of here. Now."

Newt nodded numbly. "Couldn't agree more."

Minho looked at Winston with a wince. "Jack, Frypan! Help Winston along. Aris, gather the klunk he dropped and have a couple of guys help you carry it. I don't care how bright or brutal the light is up there—I don't feel like having my head turn into a bowling ball today. Cassie, Newt, Thomas—the four of us are going up first."

"Let's go," Newt said without hesitation in his voice. He actually sounded eager to get out there.

"Hang on—" Cassandra started just as Minho stuck a hand out into the light.

He drew back, hissing. "That's hot. Definitely hot."

"Yeah, you think?" she exclaimed, taking his hand and wrapping her cool fingers around it. "We need to cover ourselves before heading out there."

"You're right, I don't wanna have second-degree sunburns in five minutes," he replied.

Newt suggested they empty their packs and use the sheets as cover, then they could use the other half of the sheets to carry all their supplies. Cassandra bent down to remove the things from hers as Minho simply upended his onto the floor. Gladers scrambled instinctively to stop the objects from rolling off the edge of the steps into the darkness below and she scooped an apple up as it rolled her way.

"Minho, watch it!" she chastised but he didn't seem to care.

"We'll look like ghosts," Thomas said as he already had his sheet loose from when he helped Winston. "Scare away any bad guys out there."

"Funny boy, that Thomas," Minho huffed as he untied the knots in his sheet. "Let's just hope there aren't any nice Cranks to greet us. I don't see how anyone could be hanging out in this heat though. Hopefully they'll be trees or some kinda shelter."

"Then they might be hiding, bloody waitin' to get us or somethin'," Newt remarked.

"We won't know till we investigate." Thomas whipped his sheet out and wrapped it around himself. "How do I look?"

"Like the ugliest shanky girl I've ever seen." Minho made a disgusted face at him. "You better thank the gods above you were born a dude."

"Thanks," he responded.

The three of them wrapped themselves up as he did; gripping the sheet from the inside and making a tip over their faces so they had maximum coverage. They looked ridiculous.

"You shanks ready?" Minho asked, looking at each of them in turn.

"Kind of excited actually," Newt replied.

"Me too." Thomas bounced on the balls of his feet. "Let's go."

"You guys are crazy." Cassandra moved to stand next to Minho. "You go first, honourable Leader."

He gave her a look of resignation. "You're not gonna let me live this down, are you?"

Beaming widely, she responded, "Never."

He sighed then looked up at the brilliant glare above them and made a run for it. Cassandra threw a wave over her shoulder at the others as she went after him. "See ya on the sun!"

It's 6am, I'm gonna try to sleep now. Will update when I manage to! xx