‧₊˚✧ ⁝ 𝑪20  ❪ 忘却 ❫ ‧₊˚✧

final 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 ...

     "EVERYBODY THIS WAY!" Thomas instructed the group of Gladers as they navigated their way through the complicated labyrinth. Thankfully, the sun's profound rays were captured by the thick ivy so only a thin layer of sweat clung to Ria's skin.

     They sprinted down the corridors, their heavy breaths and footsteps reverberating and bouncing off the stone walls. Ria gripped her blade tightly, the handle creating an indent in her palm. Newt was beside her, his sandy blonde hair falling recklessly over his eyes as he ran. Ria noticed his limp was more noticeable and again she questioned how he had got it.

     Ivy was strung up high, decorating the gaps between walls. The quivering, deep emerald leaves were holding hands, as if they were terrified of the events that were about to take place beneath them.

They made their way out of the ominous corridors and out into a more spacious area — though it was still surrounded by towering walls. Ria perceived numbers written on some of the faces of the walls. The number three was painted in a deep crimson as she glanced upwards. Minho was at the back of the group, his countenance dominated by concentration.

"Keep it up guys!" Thomas encouraged, turning to look behind him as he lead from the front. "We're almost there."

Relief blossomed in Ria's chest at his words and for the first time, she felt almost content. They neared an extremely unfamiliar section to Ria. It almost looked like a series of mirrors lined up, though they were metal and aged with rust. However, they did not pass through them. Thomas motioned for the Gladers to back against a wall as he peered fearfully around the corner. Ria fell against the stone, heavy pants escaping her lips as she awaited further instructions in apprehension. She gave Chuck a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder and he managed a smile back.

Thomas turned back towards the group, panic suddenly scintillating within his eyes. Ria's heart rate escalated in fear.

"Is it a griever?" Chuck asked quietly, trepidation lacing his words.

"Yeah," Thomas replied in a hushed whisper, both hands wrapped around his spear tightly.

"Shit," Chuck hissed as he exhaled.

Minho turned his attention to the boy. "You take this, Chuck. Stay behind us." The runner handed Chuck what Ria was told to be an essential part of the griever — a key. It was what would lead them to their escape. Ria mentally prepared herself to face the grievers again, trying desperately to push the fleeting sentiment of panic far away.

Newt quickly took her hand and squeezed it, a simple act that spoke a million words. He leant forwards quickly. "If anything happens Ria, I want you to know that you mean the world to me."

     To Newt's surprise, Ria pulled him into a fierce hug. "Same for you," she murmured in his ear before pulling away, her coruscating green eyes filled with endearment.

Minho nudged Ria, rolling his eyes. "Can you save all this lovey—dovey klunk for afterwards?" The girl broke into an unexpected smile, shoving the boy in response.

"It's okay, stick with me." Teresa was comforting Chuck and Ria felt a sudden warmth towards the girl. She didn't know her at all, yet she felt drawn towards her personality.

"Once we're through, it'll activate and the door will open. All right, we stay close, we stick together, we get through this." Thomas' voice was confident, stern. Ria trusted it. "We get out now, or we die trying."

     Something odd flared inside of Ria, a deep longing to escape coupled with a burning hatred for the people who had caused them their misery. She vowed that if she survived the maze, she would find them. She was going to make them pay.

     "Ready?" Thomas slammed the but of his spear against the ground. Ria raised her blade, adrenaline seething through her bloodstream. The Gladers nodded, faces grave with vengeance.

     "Alright, let's go!" Thomas suddenly roared, peeling away from the door and sprinting around the corridor. Ria followed immediately, letting out a battle cry along with the rest of the survivors, their shouts reverberating into the sky. A long stone platform loomed before them, deathly drops lay either side — Ria swallowed her perturbation.

     A griever was awaiting them, it's metallic, deadly legs raised. It was ready. But, so were the Gladers. It cried out sinisterly as it tore recklessly towards the group, however, this time Ria did not flinch. She ran at full speed, her weapon tight within her grip. The Gladers ran as a body of fury and as soon as their spears connected with the griever's repellent flesh, it screamed in agony. It thrashed it's body until it leapt free, landing thunderously on the other side of them.

This threw the Gladers at a loss as they recovered, turning towards the monster.

"Get up! Look out!"

They thrust their spears forcefully into the griever with all their effort, advancing on the creature. It roared with anguish, displaying serrated rows of teeth gnashing in an eerily threatening manner. However, the Glader's did not halt their actions. They craved the griever's death.

"Push it!" Thomas yelled over the griever's blood—curdling caterwauls. With each infliction of pain, it grew more and more infuriated. Ria's arms burned with effort but she did not give up. She wouldn't until it's body lay cold.

"Watch the tail!" Minho suddenly warned. Ria ducked down in alarm just in time as it's metal tentacle flew though the air and grasped a boy within it's vicious grip. He was flung mercilessly off the platform and he descended into haunting darkness, his screams echoing off the walls.

     The griever took the opportunity whilst the Gladers watched in shock as the boy fell to his death to slam it's metallic legs into the stone, sending rocks scattering everywhere. Both Teresa and Ria swiped at it with their blades, but the key which Chuck held was sent skittering away.

     "The key!" he cried in horror as he took off towards it. Ria watched in fear as he only just managed to catch it before it rolled off the edge.

     "Chuck! Get back!" Ria yelled in panic. Her and Teresa sprinted towards the boy who was hanging dangerously over the edge, the key tight within his palm. Ria clutched onto the boy's legs with Teresa.

     "I've got you, Chuck!" the raven haired girl reassured.

     "Pull me up, pull me up!" Chuck screeched in terror. They pulled the boy up as fast as they could and his body rolled onto the safety of the stone platform. Ria exhaled in relief, sweat glistening on her forehead.

She looked frantically behind her, the Gladers were pushing the griever with their spears as forcefully as they could towards the deleterious edge of the stone platform.

"Push!" Thomas yelled in rage as they advanced in a sea of fury towards the griever, their weapons penetrating it's oleaginous skin as it was forced backwards, it's back legs scraping horribly against the stone floor in frenzy. It let out a final blood—curdling screech as it was thrusted over the edge, it's monstrous body plummeting down towards it's death.

Ria did not have time to breathe as another griever climbed maliciously towards her from the midst of darkness where her and Teresa had just rescued Chuck. Another creature appeared in a revolting flash of metal and slime from the depths of the shadows from the other side. Panic swelled inside of Ria's chest as she grabbed Chuck.

"Come on!" Teresa screamed, turning on her heel. The grievers roared savagely, repellent spit flying from their mouths. Ria didn't look back, pulling Chuck along with her as she sprinted as fast as she could away from the behemoths.

"Thomas! Thomas!" Chuck shouted in distraught. Thomas turned, his face suddenly falling at the sight of the two grievers.

"There's more!" Ria yelled breathlessly, fear straining at her words as they escaped her lips.

"Chuck? All right? We've got more coming! Here they come!" He yelled, bracing himself. The grievers launched themselves at the Gladers, snarling and sneering in their own minacious manner. Ria sprinted with Teresa and Chuck, the key pressed tightly in the boy's hand.

     "Look out!"

     "Keep it steady guys!"

     A low, grumbling sound erupted from behind Ria and a door began to pull it's stone body upwards, groaning with effort. Ria was stunned, Teresa and Chuck watching it with the same looks of awe on their faces.

     "Teresa, Ria, go!" Thomas yelled, hysteria in his eyes as the Glader's struggled bitterly against the two grievers, their screams of effort obliterated by the monsters' roars.

"Come on!" Ria hissed to Teresa and Chuck, breaking into a run. The door was completely open, a pathway of twilight darkness loomed before them. A few paces ahead of them was a large metal hole and Ria could not perceive what was inside of it. Cries from the rest of the Gladers echoed in her ears, making her skin crawl in trepidation. She silently prayed that Newt and her friends would be okay. An iron hand of dread coiled around her throat as she thought of anything bad happening to them.

Ria felt Teresa's hand close over her arm as she pulled her into the hollow circular structure. Ria almost ran into a solid, cool wall. It's icy cold surface ignited a burning sensation against her skin. Her heart sank. There was no way out. She banged on the wall in distress, pure panic choking her. The vicious snarls and screeches of the grievers were closer now.

"There's got to be a way out! Come on!" Teresa yelled frantically. Suddenly, a screen lit up the ominously dark room, illuminating Ria's face in a red haze. It was a circular screen, displaying what looked like to be a circular structure of some kind.

     "It won't open!"

The computer screen trilled as it flared to life in brilliant colour. A countdown of numbers began in ghastly white font. Ria watched in anxiety. Three . . . two . . . one. It metamorphosed into a red digital image of the circular maze, the number of each section written on different parts of the electronic image. They needed to enter a code.

"Teresa! What's the code?" Ria yelled, eyes fixated on the luminous screen. Teresa turned hurriedly.

"Thomas!" she shouted to the boy, her high voice clear above the shrieks of the grievers. "There's a code, eight numbers!"

     Thomas' attention snapped back to the griever as he gritted his teeth in anguish, plunging his spear into the griever and inflicting serious pain. The monster groaned in agony. He muttered something to Minho, his mind working furiously to figure out the answer.

"Hey, Minho!" he suddenly bellowed in realisation. "What's the sequence?"

"What?" Minho called back, tan skin drenched in beads of sweat. Dirt streaked across his forehead and his dark eyes scintillated with bewilderment.

"The sections of the maze, what's the sequence?" Thomas replied quickly. Ria watched in apprehension, her heart pounding at an impossible speed.

Come on, Minho.

The nearest griever to him lashed out in a frenzy of rage, teeth gnashing and metal glittering with a lethal sheen. Minho yelled the numbers, his words desperate as they escaped his throat. "Seven, one . . ." Ria turned back to the screen and tapped in the numbers with shaking hands, the salty taste of sweat mixed with the metallic flavour of blood on her tongue. "Five, two, six, four—"

Then, Ria heard the distressed cry of Newt and she froze in trepidation. "Woah, heads up! Look out Minho!" The girl witnessed with disquiet as a griever descended from above the Gladers. Minho was forced to the ground harshly as it came crashing down onto the stone, a thunderous echo bounced balefully off the walls.

"Minho!" Ria screamed in terror as the boy struggled underneath the vast, powerful body of the monster. Just as it lowered it's vicious head towards Minho, revolting teeth glistening in a menacing manner, Jeff let out a cry as he tore towards the creature, spear raised in wild fury. He forced his weapon into the griever and Minho crawled away rapidly, heavy pants of perturbation crawling from his cracked lips. Jeff let out a blood—curdling scream as the griever closed it's mouth savagely around the boy's stomach, the horrifying sound of the crunching of bones and tearing flesh reverberating in Ria's head. She felt herself retch, her throat burning with acidic substances. She could not even muster the energy to scream as she watched him disappear into the sea of the grievers' mucilaginous bodies.

The Gladers were shouting with horror and panic as the rest of the grievers advanced, programmed to kill. Ria turned back to the code, the sentiment of alarm setting her blood running cold.

"Minho, what's the sequence?" Chuck called hurriedly, evidently scared. "Come on!" The last surviving Gladers began to retreat towards the hole with the code within it. Their weapons were pointed at the grievers as they snarled nastily, crawling towards them. The sound of metal scratching against stone resounded atrociously. Ria waited frantically for the rest of the code, shuddering as each second dragged by.

     "Minho! Now!" She yelled.

     "Uh, six, four, eight, three! You got it?" he shouted above the griever's macabre noises. Ria punched in the numbers, willing her fingers to move faster but they trembled with fear and agitation. Shouts of foreboding leapt from boy to boy as Ria pressed the final number. Three, written in brilliant white, flashed onto the electrical screen and she exhaled sharply.

Suddenly, after Ria punched in the last part of the code, the screen transfigured into a vibrant hue of green. One word flashed onto the screen: COMPLETE. Ria manoeuvred her trembling frame from the wall, a million thoughts crashing wildly inside her head like a vicious and stormy sea.

"The door opened!" Minho yelled. They were plunged into crepuscular darkness and the sound of pillars crashing downwards echoed and shook the ground. They were crushing the grievers brutally, and before the last one could haul it's body into the hole, an inordinate stone wall collided with it. Revolting slime spilled out in a putrid fashion underneath the rock face as it destroyed the monster in vanquishment. Ria watched, a stunned stupor wrapped itself around her skeleton. She could hardly breathe.

Before the surviving Gladers could register their success, the door to the escape hole slammed shut. Complete darkness fell over their trembling bodies as they waited in anticipation for what was coming next.

‧₊˚✧ ⁝ 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒂'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆  ❪ 忘却 ❫

          oo. gather your tissues for the next chapter guys🤧 that's all.