"What's going on?!"

"Where are the lights at?!"

"We need to get out of here!"

The screams and panic died down when the door we had trouble with before slowly opened up. We hesitated before entering the other side with caution. There, we were now in a tunnel, the lights flickering on for us to see better.

"Should we start walking or...?" Cora spoke up, looking around at everyone, waiting for an answer.

"Well, we've come this far, haven't we?" Maeve sighed. "Come on."

Maeve led the rest of us down the hall, the sound of the rumbling from the vents and the water dripping down from the ceiling. She stopped when we reached a door, a green light shining above it. Rachel slowly walked to the door, putting her hand on the handle tightly, then quickly pushing the door open. There, what we found was something we couldn't unsee. We found bodies all over the floor, blood sliding down the walls, and a small siren going off, a yellow light flashing.

"Are they dead?" I asked stupidly.

"They look pretty dead to me," Gwyneth stated.

We did our best to not look at them while walking through the hallway, but there were so many of them that it was hard to just look straight ahead.

"What happened here?" Sonya questioned.

"No idea," Rachel muttered as we entered what looked like a conference room. The chairs were spread out, glass was broken, and more bodies were on the floor. I swallowed hard, trying to compose myself as we all scattered around the room, looking at the mess.

Harriet went to a spot with a bunch of computers on the walls, examining what was on the screens. "So they were watching us," she commented. "For two years, the Creators were watching us."

"That's kind of creepy when you think about it," Maeve stated.

Rachel was looking down at some kind of board with different buttons on them. With a shaky hand, she pressed the one in the middle, causing one of the computer screens to turn on, getting everyone's attention.

"Hello," a woman with blonde hair greeted us through the screen. "My name is Dr. Ava Paige. I'm Director of Operations of the World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department. If you're watching this, then that means you have successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but circumstances seem to have prevented it. I'm sure by now, you must all be very confused, angry, and frightened. I can only assure you that everything that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason."

Maeve scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"You won't remember, but the Sun has scorched our world." Clips of the sun and fire appeared on the screen. "Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, and suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable." Images of the remains of the world came up, making me cringe at the sight of them. "What came after was worse. We called it the Flare, a deadly virus that attacks the brain." I felt nauseated when grotesque videos of the brain popped up. "The Flare is violent, unpredictable, incurable. Or so we thought." A human, or a creature it looked like, came on the screen, seizing, screaming, and coughing up blood.

"In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus," Dr. Paige continued. "Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed, inside harsh environments, where the brain activity could be studied. All in an effort to understand what makes them different, what makes you different. You may not realize it, but you're very important."

In the background, explosions and people with guns came in, shooting at everyone. "Holy klank," Gwyneth barely whispered.

"Unfortunately, your Trials have only just begun. As you will no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow and people are scared. It may be too late for us, for me, but not for you. The outside world awaits." She pulled out a gun from under her, putting it against her head. "Remember: WICKED is good." With that, Dr. Paige closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.

We all stayed quiet, our minds full of new information. She said that our Trials were just beginning. What did that even mean? Did we have to go through more tests for this cure that they were looking for? How were they even sure that we were the solution to the Flare?

All of a sudden, another set of doors slid open, revealing another hallway, which I assumed led outside of this facility. However, no one rushed to leave. We all stood there, wondering if this was a trap.

"Is it over?" I asked.

"She said that we were important," Sonya replied. "But what are we supposed to do now?"

Rachel shook her head, giving us a look of defeat. "I don't know." She looked back at the hallway and sighed. "Let's just get out of here for now."

Just as we began to walk, a voice from behind us spoke up. "No."

We turned around and were taken aback when we saw Beth standing there. "Beth?" Rachel questioned, walking towards her. "How did you--"

"Don't," Aris intervened, grabbing her arm, then pointing at Beth. "She's been stung."

Beth let the syringe drop on the floor, her lips quivering and her hands shaking. "We can't leave," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, we did. We're free," Rachel told her.

She let out a nervous laugh, tears streaming down her face. "Free? You really think we're free out there?" She tried to calm herself down, but it wasn't working. "There's no escape from this place."

Rachel held up her hands, staring at Beth. "Listen to me, Beth. You're not thinking straight. We can help you."

"No, you can't!" Beth shouted, taking out a knife and pointing it at Rachel. "You can't help me! You can't help anyone!"

"Beth, put the knife down!" Rachel yelled back.

"I belong to the Maze!" she cried out, getting ready to throw her knife. "We all do!" Before I could even blink, Beth threw her knife at Rachel.

"No!" I yelled, getting in front of her.

"Piper, get out of the way!" Rachel cried out, shoving me to the ground.

Maeve took her spear and chucked it at Beth, hitting her just above her heart. Beth gasped for air, collapsing to the ground, her eyes still open.

I panted, feeling my chest and realizing that there was no knife inside of me. I widened my eyes and looked up, seeing that like Beth wanted to happen, the knife hit Rachel. "No...Rachel!" I caught her just as she fell to the ground. I gently put her down, grabbing her hand. "Rachel, it's okay...it's going to be okay."

She groaned in pain, staring up at me in sadness. "No, it's not," she whimpered, tears streaming from her eyes.

"No, Rachel, you're going to be okay," I said, my voice cracking. "We're all going to get out of here."

"Piper, listen to me," she said in almost a whisper. "I want you to get the rest out of here."

"What? No, I'm not leaving you!" I cried out, the tears already coming down. "You're coming with us!"

"Piper!" she managed to cry out, still groaning a little. "I'm dying. I can't go on. I need all of you to go and leave me here, please."

"Rachel..." I mumbled, squeezing her hand tighter.

"Thank you for being my friend, Piper," she stated. With that, she exhaled one last time before I felt her heart stop.

I gasped, using one hand to cover my mouth. "No. No, Rachel, come back! Please, come back!" I was now sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry! You didn't deserve this!" I screamed out in anger, feeling the others grab me and pull me off of my friend. "No! No, let me go! Let me go!"

"Piper, we have to leave!" Harriet told me.

"Not without Rachel!" I sobbed. "We can't leave Rachel!"

"There's nothing we can do for her," Sonya muttered in my ear, sniffling. "She's gone, Piper."

I looked up and saw the sadness and heartbreak in everyone's faces as they fought back tears. I turned back to Rachel and continued to hang onto her, realizing that some people were shouting at us. I felt someone pull me off of Rachel, but I fought to stay by her side. Then, two more arms yanked me off of her, dragging me away. I continued to cry as I took one final glance at Rachel, my friend, before she was no longer in sight.

I was blinded by the sunlight and fell down, feeling the warm sand beneath me. I began to pant, picking myself up and running with the two men, where they eventually threw me into a helicopter with the rest of my friends. I sat up beside Lillie, looking out at the window as we took off.

What I saw below us felt like a whole new world, a world that I didn't remember at all. There were buildings everywhere, all built as tall as they could be. Then, I spotted the Glen, looking like it was completely empty.

"Don't worry, you're all safe now," one of the men assured us. "Everything is going to change."

I leaned back, closing my eyes. I let my breathing get back to normal as I drifted in and out. Finally, I let out one last sigh before falling asleep, dreaming of a world that was better than the one I was living in right now.

END OF BOOK ONE

~~~~~~~

A/N: This is the end of BOOK 1!

Who's ready for the next book? I sure am!

What do you expect to see in the next book? What do you want to see?

Song above is When the Darkness Comes, Pt. 2 by Shelby Merry.

Comment, vote, see you all in the next book!

-A