Her eyes flickered open, a sudden rush of pain flowing through her body as she stared into the pitch black void of emptiness above her. She abruptly sat up and lifted her left hand to her forehead, the victim of pain, and rubbed it as the pain dimmed. Her breaths were quick and uneven as she worriedly looked around her, her line of vision falling down extended corridors with their walls made of the same materials as the one in front of her, solid stone covered in thick ivy. They reached out beyond her vision, twisting and turning into even more pathways. The air was stale and cold, death lingering all around her.

It was the same as before. Was it real? Had she been dreaming the entire time? She didn't understand what was going on. It seemed that Mara was in the same situation she had been in on her first night in the Glade. There was only one thing that would confirm her suspicions.

Mara looked up to the wall, and just as there had been before a boy was hanging in the knotted ivy, almost strangling whoever hung there. Her head was spinning. The last thing Mara could remember was Ben's Banishment and her needle prick. Had everything been a lie? How long had she been out? The sky above her indicated nighttime, just like it had the time she first woke in the Maze. But this time she knew what she was up against. She knew what lurked in the Maze during the nights. Grievers.

That was their cue, their screeches piercing through Mara's skull like knives. It was close by, maybe even around the corner from where she was. Mara had to go, she had to run and get away before it got her. She was not going to die.

She had to run like she had never ran before.

Mara scrambled to her feet, using the ivy-laced wall as her support. Her head felt unattached to her body, like it had been cut clean off and was just sitting on the top of her neck. Everything was nauseating, she felt drunk on fear.

That didn't stop her. She was on her feet, which were moving on their own, their pace quickening to speed through the Maze like lightening. Mara was sprinting as fast as she could with no intention of stopping, she wasn't even going to look behind her. If she did she would get even more fearful than she already was. Another metal squeal pierced the air, it seemed further away than before.

Mara slowed her pace as she reached a part of the Maze that split into different halls. Which way was the Glade? Even if she did survive the night, which was unlikely, she would still have to find her way back to the Glade. She stopped to catch her breath. Her hair was down, she could feel the beads of sweat running through her hairline and down her forehead.

A low rumbling sound came from the wall next to her, making Mara jump. It was moving. The Maze was changing. The wall to her left was closing in, locking her away from the rest of the Maze hallways which had disappeared. 

A few minutes the rumbling had stopped abruptly and Mara stood facing a recognisable ivy straddled wall. She turned on her feet, heading back in the direction she had came. It was her only option.

Left, right, left, left. She tried to memorise the path she took. Right, left, left, right. It felt like she really was a Runner, and it felt good. Even though Mara was so close to death, she felt free and it might sound stupid since she was going to die, but she smiled. She couldn't help it, the sense of claustrophobia she had had in the Glade was gone to be replaced with the sense of freedom.

But then she skidded to a halt. Movement. She could see movement ahead of her. The smile faded as quickly as it had arrived at the sight of her company. Suddenly she longed more than anything for the claustrophobia to be back, she wanted to be back in the Glade.

The bulbous creature was coming towards her with hast. It's spikes and metallic weapons were protruding from it's grimy body, roaring with enthusiasm. The beast was rolling across the ground with its spikes digging into the cracks, closing the gap between itself and Mara. 

She turned on her heels to run in the opposite direction, only to be greeted by a snarling Griever a few feet from her.

Mara could feel her heart picking up in speed, but her feet seemed to be glued to the floor. This is it she thought. This is the moment I die. But then something else happened. Something inside of her felt wrong. She couldn't die. It was not time for her to die. She was going to save herself, but the question she needed to answer was how she was going to do that. A smile replaced the nerves, she knew what she needed to do.

Wasting little time, Mara raced to the wall closest to her, grabbing the ivy and lifting herself off of the floor. It took all of her strength to pull herself up the walls faster than the Grievers. She was climbing in a diagonal direction, trying to overtake the Griever that was currently swatting at her from below. Ignore it. She had to pretend it wasn't there.

Her smile never faded, she needed her optimism to keep her going. She needed it to give her the strength to carry on. Then she saw something she wasn't expecting. She wasn't the only Glader in the Maze.

Two boy's were standing further down the hallway in the direction Mara was climbing, both watching Mara in awe. Why were they in the Maze? It felt selfish, but she felt happy to see them. But if no one survives a night in the Maze, then they'd die too. And that was something she didn't want to think about at all.

"Shuck it, Mara? Climb you shuckface! Climb like there are Grievers chasing you, because there are!" Minho's 'helpful' advise echoed down the hallway. Thomas turned to him and scowled at his unhelpful speech. 

"You can jump down! It's behind you!" Thomas shouted over, trying to be more useful than Minho.

She looked down, and Thomas was right. The Griver was slightly behind her, sticking its claws between the wall. The other was much further down the wall. There was enough room for her to jump, but it would be risky. If she jumped, how she landed would be the difference between life and death.

Mara slowly descended down the wall of death, growing closer and closer to her hope of survival. The floor was closer than it seemed, her feet had landed a few minutes later and she burst into a run.

Once she caught Minho and Thomas they span around and ran along side her. Minho pulled ahead to lead the way and Thomas pulled behind slightly. Mara was sandwiched in the middle.

"You know anywhere we can go?" Mara shouted ahead to Minho, who knew the Maze better than anyone else. He turned a corner and Mara followed him. Minho shouted something back, but his voice was drowned out by the droning Grievers.

After three more turnings Mara saw something out of the ordinary. There was no wall in front of her. Only a black space. It was an opening, and it seemed like an exit. Was it an exit to the Maze? It couldn't be, it if was Minho or one of the Runners would have found it years ago. It seemed too easy. Plus, Minho seemed to recognise the place before.

A few feet before the end of the corridor Minho held out his hand to stop Mara and Thomas from continuing. "Don't get excited," He said through heavy breaths.

"Where are we?" Mara asked, peering into the empty void. There was nothing there, absolutely nothing. Mara couldn't tell where the floor and the walls began, or if there was any. It seemed to fall, as if the floors just stopped. She had stepped forward just slightly, but it was enough to make Minho pull her back.

"Careful." He warned her. "You wouldn't want to be the first shank to fall off the Cliff."

So that was the Cliff. It made sense. The area dropped off, spiraling downwards, exactly the same as a cliff. 

Mara had to stop herself, the Grievers were still chasing them, they just hadn't caught up yet. How was the Cliff going to help them escape the Grievers? She turned to Minho, who was holding Thomas back from falling off the Cliff.

"These things may be vicious," Minho gestured to the Griever shrieks entering the area. "but they're dumb as dirt. Stand here, close to me, facing the gap. When they get here, we're gonna dodge them. Make sure you're quick, gotta be in sync so they fall down the Cliff."

She nodded, and Thomas seemed to know exactly what he was going to do. The three of them stood in line with their feet only inches away from the edge of the Cliff, waiting for the Grievers.

Mara had hope, she believed they could be the first to survive the Maze at night. Despite the situation they were in questions of what Mara was injected with lingered at the back of her mind. Who had stabbed her with the needle? How long had she been out of the Glade? What happened all together?

"On my mark!" Minho told them and both Thomas and Mara agreed.

Four Grievers turned the corner in single file, facing the three of them as they stood in line, mimicking Mara, Thomas and Minho. The Maze seemed just narrow enough to make their task awkward. The Grievers began to close the gap between them and the three Gladers.

"Ready," Minho steadily whispered. "Not yet... not yet..."

Mara was ready, she was ready to get back to the Glade and she was determined to beat the Grievers. Even if she got a bit injured on the way.

"Now!" Minho screamed. 

The three of them began their climax towards the Grievers without a second look back.