Dawn 50

Only about ten metres from us, the ground is opening up in a perfect square. A large groaning squeezes through the air, as metal rubs off metal. My hands fly up to my ears, trying to protect them from the piercing sound. The ground begins to flip over until what was on the surface is now on the bottom.

The square, which can't be more than five metres across, is now an obsidian floor. The sand that was once on it has been scattered into the air. On top of the black ground are half-a-dozen white coffins. They are too wide and too large to fit a human though.

I've seen them before. In the Griever hideout.

The same irritating screech erupts from all directions around us. Dozen of more squares are flipping over across the "Safe Haven". Each is identical to the previous; they all have the same black floors and white coffins. As I spin around, I try to count them all. There have to be at least thirty, maybe forty.

The sounds stop as the ground settles. The dark floors are being obscured by the sand, blown back over them due to the harsh wind. I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. The sky is only getting darker overhead. We are going to have a storm.

"Hey," I look over, noticing Teresa. She's with our group, trying to pull Newt, Minho, and Thomas over to her. My nails dig into the back of my hand as I scratch deep into my flesh. As soon as there is trouble, Teresa is back on her klunk again. She doesn't get to be in charge after all the klunk she's pulled.

I grab Leo's arm. The brunette has her hands tightly clamped over her ears, and her eyes shut tightly. She jerks over to me, but I've got no time to explain. Harriet catches my eye, and I gesture for her to come over.

"What are we doing?" Teresa asks, her voice low and hushed.

"You aren't doing anything," Minho cuts her off, turning back towards the rest of us. I don't know that I've ever been as happy with Minho as I am right now. "What's the plan?"

"Those things could have Grievers," Newt remarks. "We're probably supposed to get ready for a blood bath."

"You talkin' 'bout those pods?" Harriet walks into the circle. Her presence infiltrates the group, taking the attention off Teresa. With her, she has only brought Sonya. "You think they got Grievers?"

"Oh great," Minho rolls his eyes. "Group B, always behind." He emphasizes the b harshly, causing Harriet to purse her lips.

Thunder cracks out into the air. I duck on to the ground, high-pitched screams scattered around me. We lost the majority of our girls to the storm. What was it? Ten? More?

The boys aren't so smart. I grab Minho's arm, pulling him down to the ground. "Do you really want to catch on fire again?"

"I think we're either supposed to get in those crates in twenty minutes or fight the Grievers," Thomas comments.

"Thanks," Sonya rolls her eyes. "I think we've bloody noticed that, Tom."

Lighting cracks again. The pods begin to hiss. Slowly, the tops of the pods begin to split in half. I don't look. I don't really want to know what is happening in those things, or what is going to happen to me once I get near them.

"You want to get in a coffin!" I shout, turning over to stare at Thomas. He shrugs, looking back to Minho. He's lost it if he thinks we should be getting in there.

Thomas ignores me. Instead, he is looking over to Teresa. I bet she is using her weird old mind games on him. If there is anything that I've learnt about boys, it's that when they fall in love, they become slintheads. I swear, if he falls for her tricks again, I'll kill them both.

"Let's go, Thomas," Minho calls over.

I glare at him, shaking my head back and forth. He can't be serious.

There is a crack, and I gasp. I see a hand lift out of the top of the closest coffin. It is peach in colour, and fleshly like human skin, but seems to be blown up like a balloon. As if the flesh is gelatin. It's hand, with misshapen and irregular fingers, grips the coffin tightly, pulling itself out. Its leg pokes out as well, identical to the arm in texture. Across the skin are sharp blades sticking out at all sorts of odd angles. Its head is entirely lumps of bloated flesh and metal spikes. It has no features. As it stands up, it towers over us.

Once the horror of its sharpness fades, I notice the bulbs of orange light pulsing in it. It's hard to see from here, but they almost look like lightbulbs. Their glow causes the metal shards in the creature to glow.

Finally, I pull myself out of my kneeling position and stand. All around us, identical Creatures are pulling themselves out of the coffins. We're surrounded.

I search my pockets, pulling out the knife that I've kept on me. I know this weapon won't make any sort of difference on this Thing though.

"We're going to fight," I wonder if Harriet is trying to make a triumphant call to battle. In actuality, she seems like she is making a passing observation.

"Get out your weapons," Minho calls out on the ground.

The other Gladers listen to Minho and stand. He looks over to me, pulling out a knife of his own. His face falls when he notices I have nothing else. I probably share the look of nerves, at the small weapon he holds.

"Minho," Newt calls.

He snaps out of his gaze, turning back to everyone else. "Charge!"

People begin to run forward. I stay put, glancing around as people disappear around me.

Klunk, I've got to go.

I run away from this spot, towards the end with the fewest monsters. One seems to circle in on me. My heart pounds in my chest. I'm still super nauseous from two days ago, so I shouldn't be fighting. It's coming for me though, so I don't have much choice.

It reaches in and I stab its blubbery flesh. My knife slices it open but clangs against its metal innards.

Klunk, klunk, klunk.

It pauses, if only a second, before swinging at me. I roll back on to the dusty black ground, only narrowly missing its sharp arm. My knife stays stuck in its leg. It stumbles forward towards me, leaning over top of me. As it pulls closer to me, I roll to the side, letting it crash against the ground.

Slowly, the creature pulls itself up. Thankfully, its metal interior weighs it down. I'm quicker.

A light on its face has broken, as have the ones on its knees. With every step, it lags slower and slower.

Is it slow because of the damage to its lights or because I stabbed some sort of oil thing inside its legs, or because of something else entirely?

I run a few meters away, to give myself time as it moves towards me. From this distance, I give myself a pat-down. I've got nothing, so I take off my shoe. My hands tremble, but I manage to wrap one of the laces in my hand, so I can use it almost like a whip.

The Creature catches up. It swings an arm at me. I leap backwards, but it catches my jean jacket. I'm stuck.

It moves for me with the other hand. I throw the boot at its face, knocking out an orange bulb. The Creature stops moving for a second. I pull my arms out of the jacket, trying to run to the boot a few feet ahead.

I grab it off the ground, moving forward and slamming the beast in the chest to smash a bulb. The metal inside the Creature scratches against itself as the monster stops, if only briefly.

I've got to beat the bulbs off.

The monster has slowed. I limp around it, hitting the bulbs on the back of its head, and its elbows. It continues to swing at me. Every few steps, I have to move backwards as it reaches for me. I swing, it swings. I miss, it misses. It's an eternity before I hit another bulb, which pops as I smash it. Then, another year before the other. Slowly, it crumbles down to the ground.

It falls on its front. My knife is still stuck inside, so I guess this shoe isn't going to have to do.

I rip off my other boot, holding them both by the laces. Using the same technique as earlier, I wrap the laces around my hands and whip the shoes around me in circles.

I scan the crowd. It's too difficult to see any of my friends through the sand kicking up, so I push myself further towards them. Leo is fighting another creature, stabbing its bulbs with a small pair of scissors she has.

It has barely slowed. It swings at her, and she ducks.

I move to her, swinging the boots in circles. I hit it in the back of its head, knocking out two bulbs. It kicks backwards, slicing my pants open. I stumble backwards, but I can't feel the sting of a cut. My hands reach forward, grazing the little bit of blood seeping from the shallow cut. It's probably the adrenaline. Thank shuck for adrenaline. I feel like Michelle.

Leo stabs the Creature in the knee. I go for the head, swinging an arm after the other, careful of its feet. She stabs, I hit. I don't know how long I do this. My shirt is beginning to cling to my shirt with sweat.

The monster crashes to the ground. Lightning strikes, brightening the dark sky in a flash of white light. There is a split pause before the thunder where my heart stops beating.

In the flash, I can see Newt and Minho, back to back, fighting three monsters. Harriet and Sonya do the same. I spot a dead boy on the ground. Michelle is not too far off, struggling with a monster.

Then, the darkness comes with the booming thunder. All of them are gone. We've got to find shelter, and fast. The storms in the Scorch are less than pleasant.

"No knife, huh?" Leo asks.

Thunder cracks again, and more lighting. A girl screams. This time I choose not to look. I don't want to know. The sky begins to rain down from above us.

"We need to get in a coffin," I tell her. There are so few monsters around us that they've become non-threatening, but the storm still scares me.

Leo glances around, pointing to the closest one.

Lightning strikes again. Minho and Newt are tackling two monsters now, one which is falling. Sonya and Harriet are moving towards a coffin.

"The one by Michelle," Leo gestures towards the ginger, fighting in the storm.

I listen to Leo. We make our way over, our backs hunched so that one of these metallic and tall Creatures will get struck, rather than us. It's difficult to see with the sand flying in my face, but I am careful not to fall on one of the monsters roaming the ground.

Michelle is fighting two monsters at once, with Doug by her side. He holds his arm, which is bleeding, but tries to keep fighting anyway.

"Michelle," I call out, "get in."

She glances over her shoulder at me but doesn't give me the time of day. She swings her hammer at the Creature, hitting a bulb. Unlike mine, it doesn't pause. It continues after her, kicking a leg forward. She is forced to jump a few feet back.

"Michelle!" Leo shouts.

She is ignoring me. Lightning strikes once more. Leo moves backwards, grabbing the coffin. My eyes are focused on the ground, which is lit by the stormy sky.

A mass of curly brown hair lies in the sand. One strand rests on the face of the girl, caught in her mouth. Beneath the hair, her blank eyes stand forward. Her left arm is bright red and covered in welts as if it has been set on fire. Blood pools out of her stomach.

Rose. It got Rose.

Michelle isn't coming until the Things that killed Rose die.

Lightning cracks down, hitting the ground. The smell of Rose's burning flesh hits me like a tidal wave. I can't be here. So, I force myself out of this.

I run over to Leo, helping her pry open the lid. Its rubbery lining provides a good grip for my sweaty hands, even though the metal is slippery due to the rain. Quickly, Leo lies, and I follow her.

With only a glance at Michelle, I close the lid.