I had been running for what I would guess had been seven hours before I took another wrong turn. *How could this maze get any worse?* I thought quietly to myself. I turned back around and kept running, unsure where to go next. Every time I slowed down by a millisecond, I was greeted with a shock to my ankles.

*Crap, crap, crap.* My legs seemed to be gradually giving out on me and I began to slow until I couldn't even move anymore. I fell onto the cold, hard floor and was greeted with many shocks up and down my body. I heard some of the White Coats questioning each other, suggesting they turn the shock power up or just stop the maze entirely. I tried to block out their voices as four White coats ran up to me and threw me into my cage. They quickly started taking blood samples, measuring my heart rate, and poking me with more needles. They didn't even bother giving me water.

"Take it back to the room." One commanded and I was wheeled back to my room, sweet room. I sighed with relief. They shoved me into a corner and left. I could hardly breathe. Instead of comprehending what just happened, I tried to think happy thoughts. I thought of Iggy and Gazzy and their tendency to blow stuff up (which is really quite entertaining), Angel and Nudge's fun personalities and how sweet they were, Fang and Max sitting side my side, falling in love by the second, and Trinity, the one person I knew could keep me happy. But I didn't have enough energy to call on her; not today and definitely not tomorrow.
                          •••••
I was continuously tested on and it went this way for two weeks. One day, the Erasers, specifically Jax, asked for another scrimmage. Can you guess who they picked as their prey? I'll give you a hint, it was moi. I was wheeled back out into the arena and thrown onto the muddy floor. I was still recovering from my shocks and was getting better, if by getting better you mean continuously in excruciating amounts of pain and surrounded by terrible people who keep shocking you. I carefully gained my balance and, off guard, was greeted with a sharp kick to the kneecap. I dropped to the ground and was picked up by my neck and held in midair by a muscular hand, Jax. I looked into Jax's face and tried to hide all my pain, fear, and anger.

"Hello, little piggy." He grinned and tightened his grip. As I looked into the surrounding desert, I saw six bird-kid shadows. The Flock was back. As they got closer, I could see them looking at me, then to Jax, then back to me. I made a "please don't come to my rescue yet" face and Max nodded. I watched as they dove out of sight.

My hope seemed to grow and then was immediately squashed as I realized that I was kept in an extremely quarrantined area of The School, blocked with various traps and passwords. I whimpered and Jax dropped me and pressed his foot onto the side of my face. He grinned as he pushed his heel to my temple and I passed out.