CHAPTER SIX: THE DEAD GRIEVER

    "Jeff," Newt's voice broke the silence of their walk as he, Minho, Layla and Thomas rounded a corner in the infirmary. Layla tried not to look at Alby, who was strapped down to a bed and heaving in rapid breaths, his eyes shut in pain.

People grimaced at the sight of the boy. He was clearly getting worse, and it was not easy to watch.

"What's going on? Come on, what's the matter with her? Why won't she wake up?"

     Jeff sighed, "hey, man. I got my job the same way you did." Was all he could say, and none of the others could blame him for not knowing the girl's condition. They were all just kids.

Hestia glared harshly at the screen. She wasn't one to get angry, but when it came to the welfare of children and their families, she got upset. She wasn't the only one, however. Many people whispered about their hatred towards the scientists who had done this, saying how inhuman it was to test on children. It was just wrong.

Those close to Layla were even more upset. Their Layla was trapped in there, with no idea who she was or who they were, and there was nothing they could do about it.

     Newt sighed, suddenly furrowing his brows as he faced Thomas. Minho stood next to him as he looked at the girl with a tilted head. "What, do you recognize her?" Newt asked the Greenie, causing him to face the blond.

     Thomas shook his head, "no."

Hermes scoffed, "that's an obvious lie."

     "Really?" Newt raised a brow, "because she seemed to recognize you."

     Thomas sighed, "What about the note?" He had changed the subject, which Layla instantly recognized. Thomas knew this girl, she was sure of it.

"Clever Layla."

     "Well, we'll worry about the note later." Newt dismissed, glancing at the girl for a moment.

     "I think you should worry about it now."

     "We've got enough to deal with at the moment." Newt brushed off the thought once more. Layla was leaning more towards Thomas' side now. The note had said she was the last one ever. That couldn't have been good, and Layla had a gut feeling that something was going to happen soon that the Gladers wouldn't be liking.

"Oh no." Damon groaned from the audience. "Well, now it's going to happen."

"Damon—"

"Shh."

     "He's right, Newt." Jeff spoke up, he glanced at Clint for a moment before looking back to Newt. "If the box isn't coming back up, how long do you think we can last?"

     Newt stammered, thinking of an answer. "No one said that." Layla only sighed at his words. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. We'll just... we'll just wait until she wakes up and see what she knows. Somebody's gotta have some answers around here."

     "Okay." Thomas sighed, his feet taking him towards the door in a rush, leaving Layla to stare with a tilted head.

     "Well, where are you going?" Newt frowned, turning to face him, like the others had.

     "Back into the Maze." Thomas responded bluntly before pushing the door open, and walking outside.

     "Of course he is." Leo nodded, turning to Piper. "That is such a Thomas thing to do."

     Piper nodded in agreement. "Yup."

     "See." Leo snapped his fingers. "Never even met the guy and I've already got him figured out."

     Layla raised her brows and glanced up at Newt and Minho. There was a small pause before she quickly followed behind Minho as he ran after Thomas. Newt held up a hand in a 'stop' motion, "Layla, where do you think you're going?"

     She turned to face Newt, raising a brow at his sudden protective-big-brother attitude, "after those idiots, of course."

    "Aw," Aphrodite smiled, falling in love with Newt and Layla's friendship. "I love them. I want to see more of them."

     Nico, despite being upset that he couldn't of been there, was glad that she had Newt—just like he was glad that she had Minho, and Thomas, and all of the other guys. It was comforting to know that she wasn't alone.

     She sighed, not even giving him a chance to stop her from going. She followed after the two boys, finding them just as Minho stopped Thomas.

     "Hey." Minho called out to the boy. "Hey, Thomas. Hey." He held an arm in front of the boy, "hey!" Layla stopped next to them, crossing her arms. "What is this with you, huh? A death wish? You just got out and now you want back in?"

     Leo whispered to Piper, "so predictable."

     Thomas sighed, "Newt said that no one had ever seen a Griever and lived to tell about it, right?" Layla frowned, about to speak but Thomas continued. "Well, Minho, now we have one. You're telling me you're not even a little bit curious?"

     Minho shook his head, "not really, no."

     A few chuckled at that.

     Thomas tried to walk away from them again, but Minho stopped him once more. "So, what's the plan?" Thomas looked up at Minho with a hopeful look on his face. "You're gonna go out there and dissect that thing all by yourself?"

     Leo and Piper nodded.

     "I will if I have to."

     Jason hummed, turning to his two friends. "Okay, I see what you mean by predictable." He said. Leo rapidly nodded his head. Of course, they had nothing against Thomas. In fact, they admired his bravery—but he was easy to figure out, that was all.

     There was a beat of silence. "Have the other Runners left yet?"

     "The other Runners quit this morning." Minho informed the boy, nodding his head in the direction of the Runners. Layla turned her head in their direction to see them all relaxing in a small group, most with their arms crossed. "After Alby got stung, they're not in any hurry to get back out there. Why are you?"

     "I... I think it's time we find out what we're really up against." Thomas sighed, glancing between Minho and Layla. She couldn't say that she disagreed.

     Ares nodded in approval, his arms crossed, but he said nothing.

     "All right." Minho nodded, glancing at Layla. "But you're not going back out there alone. Meet me in the woods in half an hour."

Layla had been told to go wait with Thomas by the Map Room as Minho gathered some friends to come into the Maze with them. Layla was hesitant with the idea, telling Minho that she wasn't sure if she wanted to risk their safety, but he assured her it would be all right, and that they wouldn't be going far. She reluctantly agreed.

     "Dude," Percy turned to his his girlfriend and his friends, "she used to mom us all the time, remember?"

     Grover laughed, "yeah. She did." He had a bittersweet smile on his face. He missed Layla.

     "Remember whenever we went on a quest, she would make checklists so that we wouldn't forget anything?" Annabeth laughed.

     Percy almost bursted out laughing at the memory. "When I forgot to pack ambrosia and nectar she almost lost her mind." He managed, causing the others near him to laugh even harder.

     Nico only smiled. Will held his hand tightly, knowing how hard it was to talk about her. It had been a difficult subject for him for a long time, and he only opened up to Will about it on occasion, but Will never pushed him.

     Will had also found it hard—not like Nico, but it wasn't easy. He had known Layla before she went missing, and he remembered how much her disappearance shocked him. But he was always there for Nico, because Will lost an acquaintance, but Nico lost his sister.

     Once the others all calmed down, Apollo got back to reading. A few memories of the girl floated around his mind, who he loved to joke around with from time to time (as much as a god was allowed to). He pushed it to the back of his mind, and spoke up.

     Thomas glanced up after a few moments of silence, looking hesitant. Layla noticed immediately, like she usually did, and asked, "what is it, Greenie?"

     Thomas sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. He looked unsure, like Layla wouldn't believe him or even if she did, she would judge him. She couldn't help but feel concerned, despite barely knowing him.

     Eventually, he spoke. "I remembered something." He said, causing Layla's eyes to widen.

     This peaked everyone's interest.

     "Or at least, I think I did. It's always in dreams... and I don't understand most of it." He sighed again, "but I saw you once."

     Everyone was on the edge of their seats.

     Layla stared at him for a long moment before speaking, "me?" She asked, her brows knitting together.

     Thomas nodded. "Yeah. You were yelling at someone... I..." he frowned, "I'm not sure who. But you kept saying you needed to get back to you brother."

     Nico's stomach twisted into a knot at Thomas' words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he couldn't help but feel incredibly grateful for him telling Layla about it. About him.

     Thomas had Layla's full attention now. Brother? She had a brother? Then, Thomas spoke once more, "you said his name was Nico. I just figured you should know."

     Nico's friends sent glances his way. They couldn't believe it either. Nico barely noticed his heart pounding in his chest at what he was hearing. That meant that Layla knew what he looked like, his name, and that he was her brother. She may not have remembered it, but now she knew it—it was the best he could've asked for.

     Layla's jaw dropped. Nico. She had seen Nico—in her dream. Things were beginning to connect, so could that mean that her dream was real? Nico and Percy were both real?

     Percy and Nico continued to stare wide eyed at the screen.

     Before Layla could think on it any longer, Minho arrived, with Frypan, Winston and Zart by his side. "Will this be enough?" Minho asked, holding onto the straps of his Runners pack as he turned to face Thomas.

Thomas nodded slowly, glancing at Layla as if to see if she was taking the information about her brother well, before he said, "okay. Let's go."

Layla ran the familiar route of the Maze up front with Minho, stuck in a daze as Nico's face popped up in her brain every two seconds. She had a brother, and he was looking for her.

But after two years, he was losing hope.

     Nico frowned at the screen. He didn't want her to know that, but it was hard to keep hope after so long, with no signs of her at all.

Her heart ached—because not only was he losing hope, she still couldn't remember him. Sure, she knew his name and his face, but the memories weren't there. She was sure they were close, but she couldn't remember anything about him.

Not only that, the two didn't look very alike. Nico was quite pale while Layla's skin was much more tanned. His hair was dead straight while Layla's was curled. But Thomas said it was Nico, and despite only just meeting him, she trusted him. The boy she had seen was her Nico, and she would fight like hell to remember him.

     Nico felt a tear form in his eye, but he didn't let it drop. 'Her Nico'. Even though Layla didn't know him, she wanted to find him. Nico couldn't believe it.

Eventually, the small group rounded a corner, finding the familiar large mechanical legs sticking out of the Maze walls. Layla couldn't help but think it looked more disgusting in the light, and was regretting her choices of seeking the creature out.

     Many gagged and groaned at the sight, and Apollo made a wise choice to avoid looking at the screen as he kept his gaze on the book.

Layla nearly gagged as they got closer. What looked to be organs, were in a large pile of fluids and mush. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, sighed as she regained her composure.

     Percy put his head in his hands, "that's so gross." He muttered. "I feel sick to my stomach."

     Annabeth slowly rubbed circles on his back whilst trying not to feel sick herself.

Zart held a large tool close to his chest, seeming to be on the same page as Layla as he said, "that's disgusting."

     Layla scrunched up her face, "I think I'm gonna vomit."

     "Hey," Thomas leaned forward, ignoring the two as he tilted his head. "There's something in there."

Frypan raised a brow, "you mean, besides a Griever pancake?"

     A few managed to laugh at his comment.

     Suddenly Layla's ears picked up on a nearly silent sound, and she held up her hand to silence him, listening with squinted eyes. There was a buzzing sound coming from the Griever.

     "That's... weird." Travis muttered.

     "No shit." Conner rolled his eyes, amused.

Minho walked over without hesitation, causing Zart's eyes to widen in confusion, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what— what are you doing?" Although, Minho didn't answer.

Layla's jaw slowly dropped as she watched Minho stick his hand into the mess of the squished Griever between the stone walls.

     "That's gross!" Drew gagged, earning nods of agreement.

    She let out a loud and pathetic scream as one of the Griever's legs moved, and Minho jumped back as well, accidentally bumping into her.

     A few jumped as well.

"I thought you said it was dead." Frypan scolded as he sucked in heavy breaths.

Zart frowned, "was it a reflex?"

Winston pursed his lips, "you hope."

     The children of Hermes and Mercury snickered to themselves at the short interaction.

There were a few seconds of silence as they caught their breaths from the scare, and Thomas was the first to speak up. "Okay, come on. Let's try and pull it out. Everyone get a hand on it. Come on."

     Layla stood back for a moment, eyeing the creature before them. Minho turned to her, "come on, Layla. It'll be fine."

Layla sighed, "I honestly hate you." She grumbled, leaning down to help the boys as Minho smirked and rolled his eyes.

     The audience laughed at her annoyance. Her and Minho were definitely their favourite duo so far.

"All right, ready?" Thomas mumbled. "On three. One, two, three!"

     Layla grunted as she yanked on the leg, pulling with as much strength as she could muster. Eventually, the boys and her managed to yank the leg out of the wall, causing them to trip and fall from the sudden force.

     "Are you okay, Fry?"

     "Yeah. Thanks, brother."

     Layla nearly threw up at the sight of Minho picking up one of the mushy pieces of the Griever.

    "Oh, my gods. Make it stop."

     Then, she tilted her head as he ripped a metal device out of it, dropping the squishy thing to the ground.

     "Oh, that's actually interesting."

     Minho shook his hands, attempting to get some of the goo off, but it ended up being useless. "What the hell is that?" Thomas asked, tilting his head at the device in Minho's hands. Minho frowned, twisting it around as he tried to figure it out himself.

     "Interesting." He muttered softly, eyeing something on the device as Layla took a hesitant step towards him, leaning next to him and frowning at what she saw. The letters W.C.K.D. were printed on them, and a glowing red number seven was seen on a small screen. Layla and Minho immediately started making connections.

     Everyone in the audience glared at the sighed of the scientists' logo. They had already gathered that they were the creators of the Grievers, but this was even more confirmation of that. A certain god of the dead was already planning out their deaths.

     "Okay, whatever it is..." Frypan interrupted, "can we take this up back at the Glade? Because, I don't wanna meet this guy's friends."

     "He's right." Minho nodded, "It's getting late. Come on." They immediately began to make their way through the Maze, going back the way they came.

     Hermes raised a hand, "hey."

     Apollo glanced up, raising a brow, "hm?"

     "Can I read next?"

     Apollo nodded, "sure." He folded the corner of the page, closed the book, and set it on the table before making his way over to his seat next to Artemis.

     Hermes then got up and walked to the front of the room. "All right." He opened to book, and began to read.

—————
lizzie speaks...

this is me apologizing for always having super long notes at the bottom of my chapters & sorry the update took so long, i just didn't feel like writing... but i did anyway

also i keep bringing this random guy, damon, back. no clue who he is, but i love him. headcanons for damon that i could add? (he won't be a major character dw. he's just some guy that pops up every now and again lol)

Minho: Come on, Layla. It'll be fine.

Layla: