the maze runner
chapter seventeen

❛❛ good job... you just killed yourself ❜❜

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It was weird to see the creature this close, it was even more hideous to stand this close to it, Poe never realized that how wet this creature look, it's bulbous body glistening, it looked to be a kind of creature that could live under a sea, minus it's metallic tentacles. Poe had never seen something so ugly. He had seen gross stuff while working in Slicers but this creature could be worse.

"Is it really dead?" Minho cautiously stepped closely to the dead creature.

"Be careful, it might not be" Alby said, "let's be sure that it is before we could do anything else"

"Wanna poke at it?" Poe raised his brows as he turned to both boys, "Throw a shoe at it maybe?"

Minho and Alby didn't respond and kept staring at the the dead creature. Poe looked at it again, trying to figure out what to do with it. He felt that this could be an opportunity to examine this creature, he felt that there's something about this Griever. Something that they needed to do with it, Poe knows that there must be.

Minho threw an empty canteen at the creature, making Poe flinch and made his stomach turn. But the creature didn't make any movement. "Seems dead to me" Minho shrugged.

"Yes but what do we do with it?" Poe asked. He turned to Alby, "Alby?"

Alby took a moment to think before asking Minho, "How long do you think it'll take if we just walk back to the Glade?"

"Walking?" Minho pressed his brows together, he checked the time, "We got about couple of hours until the doors closes, chances are we might make it back... what are you thinking about?"

Alby sighed sharply, "I say we take this thing back to the Glade"

Poe scoffed, "Are you shucked in the head? You wanna drag this thing all the way back to the Glade? We're miles from there. Minho, don't you think this is crazy?"

Minho didn't respond and seemed to be thinking. Reluctant and gave a weak shrug. "Look, Poe, we've never had a dead Griever in front of us before, I say we take this chance, you and the Slicers will chop this thing apart, piece by piece and see if there's anything in this thing"

Poe still thought this was crazy. He stuttered out the sounds as he was trying to find words to refuse. "Goddamn you two" Poe muttered.

"Come on" Alby stepped forward to the creature. Poe was still hesitant to get close to the creature, he watched Alby and Minho approaching the Griever for a moment. Alby picked up one of the tentacles while Minho grabbed the other. Both showing a slight struggle as they lift up the metallic arms. They both looked up at Poe as he had his hands placed on his hips. "You gonna help us, or what?" Said Alby.

Poe let out a soft groan in response before stepping forward to the Griever.

When Poe was few feet from the Griever, the Griever rose up all of sudden. It thrashed up, shoving Minho and Alby away while Poe jumped back. The Griever roared as it continually thrashed around the spot, flailing it's arms around, one that caught Poe and sliced his leg. Minho was screaming at Alby and Poe to run but Poe was on the ground with his leg starting to bleed. There was a spike on it's tail that pointed at Poe, it swung forward at him but he dodged by ducking lower. Instead, the spike met and pricked Alby's chest.

That's when the Griever retrieved and began climbing up the wall away from the boys. Poe scrambled backwards as he watched the Griever climbing the wall. He broke his gaze when he heard Minho rushing to him. "Poe? You alright?"

Poe glanced at his bloodied leg, that's when it began to sting sharply. Like a long cut from the side of his right knee down to his ankle, Blood was trickling down into his boots, he winced out "Yeah" he remembered Alby, Poe saw the tail pricking at Alby. "Alby, Alby— he got—"

Alby was hurrying to Minho and Poe. He pressing his hand on his own chest. "You two okay?"

"Yeah, but he's hurt kinda bad" Minho gestured at Poe. "Are you?"

Alby glanced down at his chest where he got Stung, removing his hand and reveal the hole on his shirt and was slightly bleeding, "For now" he murmured.

Minho paused momentarily as he looked at Alby, expressing a concerned look before shaking his head, "Alright uhm... do we got any bandages?"

The Runners aren't usually the ones packing their gears, it's usually Frypan who packs the food before giving to Alby or Newt to give it to the Runners. Newt was the one who packed their stuff before they left to the maze. The three Gladers pulled off their packs to check.

"What ya know?" Minho softly chuckled as he found a roll of bandage out of his pack meanwhile Poe and Alby found only snacks and waters in their own packs. Minho pulled his pack back on then crouched down by Poe.

"We— gotta hurry" Alby's breath was deepened like he could barely breathe. Minho was wrapping the bandage around Poe's leg.

They aren't sure how long until Alby goes mad after being Stung, they knew they aren't going to make it back in time before he goes crazy.

"Alright, that should do for now, I'm sure Jeff and Clint will able to patch you up better" Minho stood up, he reached a hand at Poe for him to grab, he grabbed it and Minho helped him get on his feet. "Think you can walk? Run?"

He felt the pressure in his leg, it's like his entire leg from his knee to his ankle was burning in pain and stung harshly. He winced out "I don't know man—" he put only little of his weight on his right leg, pressing down, only the part of his ankle was more painful that he let out a groan, "Shucking hell!"

"I'll take that as a no" Minho replied, "Come on, Alby" Minho grabbed Poe's arm and pulled it over his shoulders while Alby took the other arm. "Let's go"

They began to move back to where they came in from. They tried to move quickly as possible, Poe was avoiding the tremendous pain in his ankle, he'd have to hop forward on his one leg as Minho and Alby were half carrying him.

Not nearly halfway to the Glade, it began to rain and even Alby was beginning to stumble. The three boys lost their balance, falling to their sides as Alby dropped Poe's arm, Alby stumbled to the nearest wall to catch himself and kept his balance. Poe was on the ground while Minho leaned forward, hands on his knees to catch his breaths.

"Alby, you still hanging?" Minho breathed sharply. Poe pulled himself to the wall until his back against the vines to get away from the rain. Still the rain got him a bit. Alby wasn't responding, he was breathing heavy and harshly as he had his hands on the wall. "Alby?" Minho slowly approached the leader.

Alby wasn't responding, Minho reached for his shoulder, and when he reached it. Alby twist around and shoved Minho away as he growled. He stumbled forward, Poe never noticed how Alby had changed, dark veins already crept up over the collar of his shirt and his eyes were getting bloodshot. His raging look found Poe, "You!" He growled.

Oh dammit. Poe scrambled backwards as Alby charged at him. Alby was trying to reach for Poe's neck, but Poe had grabbed Alby's wrists and tried to wrestle him off. "Get the hell off of me!"

"Alby!" Minho grabbed the leader from behind. Minho's arms wrapped around Alby's chest and pulled him away from Poe. Alby was thrashing, trying to get Minho off and was growling like an animal. When Minho lost his grip on the leader, Alby turned on him, the leader had the Keeper pinned against the wall.

That's when Poe got up, he charged forward as he heavily limped forward and slammed himself on Alby. Poe kept his shoulder on Alby, pushing him forward away from Minho, Alby fell sideways towards the other wall and hit his head on the concrete wall. Knocking him out.

Poe was on the ground again, the pain in his ankle was almost excruciating. Blood was staining through the bandage wrapping around his leg. "Goddammit!" He uttered out in pain.

Minho was panting, "We gotta keep moving, we don't have time for a break, we gotta—" he approached an unconscious Alby. "You should go on ahead, Poe. If you go on, you're gonna make it"

Poe wrinkled his brows as he looked up at Minho, "No— no way, man. I'm not leaving you two behind" he got up and limped forward as he approached Alby. "If we both got him, then I think we have a chance we'll make it all together"

"Don't be an idiot, Poe" Minho grabbed Alby's up. "You go—"

"I said we do this together, man" Poe cut him off, he grabbed Alby's other arm, "Come on, we got no time to argue against this, let's go"

Minho sighed sharply, giving up, he and Poe pulled Alby up together. Grabbing his arms over their own shoulders. "You got him?"

"Yeah" Poe strained, fighting off the pain in his leg. He continually heavily limped forward as they proceeded to move forward.

The rain had stopped when they made it through halfway, Poe was soaking wet from the rain, there were many times where they both dropped Alby, their hands slipped through the grips. They could only take a minute of rest to catch their breaths and take a few sips of their own water. Every time Poe asked Minho how much they have left until the Doors closes. Minho's response was always the same: "We still got time". Third time Poe asked him that, that's when he didn't believe him anymore.

Poe had no idea how much time they have left, they kept going, the pain in his ankle was getting worse, the bandages around his ankle were beginning to soak through and trickled down into his boots.

"Come on, Poe! We're almost there!" Minho panted, "We're almost there! Just a few more turns"

Few more, few more, that's something Poe was so glad to hear. He felt like he's about to pass out from exhaustion and from the pain. He can't rest now, he has to keep moving, they're almost there.

Two turns later, the winds howled and there was a faint metal groaning ahead. The Doors are closing. "Come on, Poe! Hurry!" Minho urged.

It was too much, Poe felt he had used every of his energy, he couldn't move any quicker, his legs were aching, his back and arms were aching and burning. He could barely feel the pain in his leg anymore but everywhere else in his body. He was about to pass out any moment. He almost did pass out that he collapsed forward, Minho managed to keep Alby up, the Runner pulled Alby over his shoulders as he stumbled forward. "Poe, come on!" He yelled.

Poe was on his knees and hands, shaking his head, the blackness faded away and quickly got himself back up into his feet and Minho was carrying Alby ahead as he turned right. Poe limped forward to catch up. He turned right and there it was.

The Glade.

Ahead were dozens of Gladers standing by the entrance, they were all screaming and shouting at them to hurry. The gap was closing in and they were still far ahead. That was the moment Poe knew they weren't going to make it. But he kept going.

Minho dropped Alby, he just quickly grabbed one of the legs and began to drag the leader. Poe joined and they were both dragging Alby towards the Glade. The Gladers were urging them both to leave Alby but they both refused. When Poe looked ahead, the Glade seemed to be moving further and further away as he moved forward. The gap was getting smaller and smaller.

There was someone slipping through the gap, squirming through between the Doors as the gap was closing in and almost crushing the kid to death.

But the kid made it through.

And this kid is Thomas.

Both Poe and Minho were on the ground, both heavily breathing from exhaustion. Poe felt like he could barely breathe, his chest was hurting every time he was breathing. The aching got worse everywhere in his body now that he had stopped and rested. The pain in his leg was back, it was worse than ever before, pain was pulsing in his ankle sharply.

"Good job—" Minho breathed out, on his knees as he looked at Thomas, "you just killed yourself"

"What?" Thomas looked confused. Poe couldn't think at all, wondered what the hell Thomas was thinking. Poe checked his wound, a long line of red stain running from his knee to his ankle, "What happened to him?" Thomas asked as he crouched down beside an unconscious Alby.

"What do you think?" Minho answered. The Runner lowering his head, already seemingly accepting his fate. "He got stung"

"What happened to his head?"

Poe sighed, "We did what we had to do" he bite off the sleeve of his arm as hard as he could before ripping it off.

A piercing monstrous screech echoed through the corridors while the sounds of the maze changing began. The screech startled Poe. It's already starting. He knew they had no chance to survive through the night. Like what everyone says, no one survives the night in the maze. Poe quickly tied the cloth around his ankle, over the bandage where the blood was soaking through.

"Okay, okay—" Thomas began, "help me get him up"

Minho was getting up, as if not hearing what Thomas just said, "We gotta go. The maze is changing"

Poe got up, getting ready to carry Alby again, Minho was already walking away but Thomas called, "Hey, Minho!" Was Minho about to leave them behind? The Runner halted. "We can't just leave him here"

Poe looked at Minho, "He's right, man. I think we should get him somewhere, some place safe, maybe. I know it's stupid to say but if we could hide him, he'll have a good chance of survival" even though Alby got stung and he already has no chance of living.

Minho hesitated before finally giving in, "Fine. Thomas, you and I will carry Alby. And Poe, you lead us the way, alright?"

Thomas and Minho carried Alby while Poe lead the way. The sun setting and the night was growing. The sounds of the walls changing echoed through the maze in every direction. Thomas and Minho were struggling of carrying the leader, Poe would constantly stumble around and caught the walls to keep balance. Poe wasn't familiar with the maze, he'd just picked any turns randomly and trying to find a spot where they could hide Alby.

"Sit him down, sit him down" Minho was straining. They stopped and they put Alby down on the ground.

Another piercing scream was heard through the maze. The sound had made Poe's heart begin to race.

"This isn't going to work, we gotta go" Minho began to panic, "We gotta go!"

Poe was standing back against the wall to catch his breaths. "Wait—" Thomas said, "What are you talking about? We gotta hide him"

Poe was glancing up the walls and began to notice how many vines and ivies these walls have. It took him back at the time where he attempted to climb the wall few months ago, how these vines can hold on together. He was ignoring Thomas's suggestions while Minho was beginning to panic.

Minho grabbed Thomas in anger, grabbed the collar of the Greenie's shirt and had him pinned against the wall, "Listen to me, shuck-face, alright? Take a look around. There's nowhere to go!"

While Poe had an idea on what to do with Alby, "Hey guys?"

"What?!" Minho exclaimed as he twist around at Poe.

"I have an idea" Poe told them.

The idea was to have Alby up on the walls, have the ivies tied around the guy then lift him up. Up high as they can where the Grievers won't see him. Hopefully.

Poe, Minho and Thomas already had Alby up high on the wall, they continually pulled the ivy that was pulling Alby up. It was already dark and night had been completed. The sounds of Griever continually screamed through the maze and the maze still changed.

"A little more higher" said Thomas. "One, two, three!" The three boys pulled Alby more higher again and again.

There was rumbling close by, it was just at the other side of the wall that Alby was on, down the corridor and Minho couldn't help himself but to move to the side to see. "Minho" Poe was straining as he kept his grip on the ivy while Minho was between the two. He and Minho saw the corridor changing, the wall ahead had moved and disappeared into the floor. Something was moving there. Something was moving.

It took a moment for Poe to realize its a Griever. "Oh shit" Poe uttered. He and Minho moved back behind the wall again.

"Guys, come on, just a little bit more" said Thomas.

The Griever is just near them, and it's coming their way. Minho was the first to panic, "Sorry, guys—" with that, Minho sprang away from the Griever, leaving Thomas and Poe to Alby.

Both Thomas and Poe almost lost their grip on the ivy as they both slipped towards the wall. "Minho!" Poe called and kept his voice in a hush but the Runner was already gone. "It's coming. The Griever" the creature roaring was loud, clear and very close.

Thomas then had an idea. He was pressing his foot through the vines at the bottom. "You got him?"

Poe was confused but kept his grip on the vine and held Alby all by himself. "Yeah?"

The Griever was getting close.

"Go down there" Thomas whispered as he gestured the bottom, "go, go, hurry" Poe did as he was told, there was a slight space under the vines within the wall, he laid on his back and squirmed through the vines and Thomas quickly had the ivies covered Poe. "Stay in there—" but he was cut off as the Griever growling from the corner, the Greenie quickly got up then left. He had left Poe there without saying anything else.

It was just Poe, he kept his grip on the vine that was holding Alby.

The ground trembled by the Griever's steps, it was just right in the corner where Poe was, Griever's metallic arm stomped just few feet from Poe making him fidget. It's heavy footsteps went forward, making the ground tremble, the way it sound how it was clicking like a monster sent chills down to his spine. He never realize how tightly he hung onto the ivy in such fear and he never realize how frozen he was in fear that his arms were shaking.

Then the creature dashed away where Thomas had went. Poe never realize that he had held his breath the whole time while the Griever was right in front him until he exhaled sharply in relief. He took few more deep breaths to calm.

He didn't want to move, he didn't want to leave the spot where he was. If he does, the Griever would catch him, he wouldn't able to outrun the creature because of his leg. Who knows how quick these things are. He and Alby have a slight chance of surviving the night, even though Alby is already gone, now that he got stung.

Poe decided to wait where he was. Wait for Thomas and Minho to come and get them. If the Griever don't catch Thomas and Minho. Or wait for the Griever to find Poe and Alby instead.

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