Her || The Maze Runner

Forty

"That settles it," Minho sighed, breaking the silence between the four Gladers.

Mara stared down at the blank space, as if waiting for the Griever to reappear. There was nothing there but a faint grey tinge of light. She stretched out as far as she could over the edge but the Griever was nowhere to be seen.

"Settles what?" She asked, sighing in confusion. What was going on? So far the day had been full of surprises, and Mara knew it couldn't be over. They were in the Glade, a place where everything bad that could happen, happened.

"We've seen it three times. Something's up." Minho responded. Thomas nodded and so did Newt. "That dead Griever I found-  it ran this way, and we never saw it come back or go deeper into the Maze. Then those suckers we tricked into jumping past us." He explained, trying to piece together everything that had happened. Minho was right, the Cliff was special, and definitely had something to do with the Grievers.

"Well, somehow the Grievers can leave the Maze this way." Mara stated the obvious, staring into the abyss in deep thought. The Grievers seemed to disappear when they jumped down the Cliff, so maybe it transported them somewhere, but it wasn't worth losing Gladers to test that theory.

"Looks like magic, but so does the bloody sun disappearing." Newt shrugged.

"If they can leave this way," Thomas began in excitement, believing he was on to something that was actually very obvious. "so could we."

Minho laughed, shaking his head as Thomas finally caught on. "There's your death wish again. Wanna hang out with the Grievers, have a sandwich, maybe?"  

"Minho don't bloody tempt the guy." Newt smiled.

"Got any better ideas?" The boy replied with an accidental angry tone, taking it back after he spoke.

"One thing at a time, Greenie." Minho held up his hand. "Let's get some rocks and test this place out. There has to be some kind of hidden exit." He narrowed his brows, then leaned down and picked up a stone at his feet. Minho looked back up at Mara and the others, a smile forming on his face.

Thomas and Minho went out into the Maze in search of stones where as Newt and Mara roamed closer to the Cliff, picking up any rocks they saw around the nooks and crannies of the walls. Not long after the two boys returned with arms filled with rocks and stones, and Mara and Newt had collected a reasonably large pile too. The three boys sat with their legs dangling over the edge of the Cliff with the pile of rocks sitting to Minho's side.

Instead, with another huff Mara slid down the side of the left wall after removing her rucksack from her back, holding her head in her hands. Her head was throbbing in pain so she closed her eyes, hoping the headache would go away. She knew Minho, Thomas and Newt were still talking, but she blocked them out.

"You okay, love?" Newt's soft voice spoke against her ear in a whisper, his right arm resting over Mara's shoulders. She groaned and leaned into the boy, resting her head against his comfortable chest. He was like a big teddy bear; soft and lovable.

Her eyes opened to look at Newt's left hand, which held a piece of paper. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, taking the note off him. Nervously, she unravelled the creased paper to read the works inked across the page:

SHE'LL FLOAT IN THE MAZE TO CATCH HER BREATH. SHE'LL BLEED OUT BUT OVERCOME DEATH. SHE'S STIFF AS A BOARD AND TOUGH AS A NAIL. SHE'LL PUSH AND PUSH UNTIL SHE PREVAILS.

"Where did you get this?" Mara asked in shock, looking up to the boy. But he was gone. She looked over to Minho and Thomas, but they were gone too. "What the hell...?"

The Maze around her was gone, just like the boys. Mara stood in a room with plain white walls. She could see herself, sitting in a corner of the room, her head in her hands. The version of herself she was seeing was rocking back and forth, a black hoodie masking her face from view.

What was going on? She was hallucinating, she had to be. But why was she hallucinating? She hadn't done to cause hallucinations, had she? Maybe it was her memories coming back to her on a different level, maybe W.I.C.K.E.D. wanted her to hallucinate, but if they didn't then she was going crazy.

Mara slowly made her way towards the girl in the corner of the room, but quickly stopped. Her foot had rubbed against something. She looked down and gasped, jumping backwards and falling to the floor. 

Below her, the floor was layered with notes that all read the same as the one she still clutched in her hand, almost hiding the actual floor from sight. She looked back up. Suddenly, the same words were scribbled across the walls and ceiling, filling every gap and corner of the square room.

Her heartbeat quickened, and so did her breathing. It was a panic attack, something she hadn't had since she arrived at the Glade. Even still, she knew what it was. Confusion and fear flared inside Mara, she wanted to run, to get away, but the room kept her from escaping. This wasn't her, the girl still rocking in front of her was not her. That girl was shouting, repeating the words over and over.

"SHE'LL FLOAT IN THE MAZE TO CATCH HER BREATH. SHE'LL BLEED OUT BUT OVERCOME DEATH. SHE'S STIFF AS A BOARD AND TOUGH AS A NAIL. SHE'LL PUSH AND PUSH UNTIL SHE PREVAILS."

Mara stood and scrambled backwards, until her back crashed into the wall behind her. Everything seemed to be shrinking and spinning, as if the room around her was closing in. A strong feeling of claustrophobia hit her like a wave of water, rushing through her body as she dropped to the floor, curling up into a ball and clamping her hands to her ears and her eyes shut. She couldn't get rid of the screaming, it just replayed in her head.

"What are you doing shuckface? Are you crazy?" 

"Mara stop that! Get away from there!" 

Voices rang all around her, but she ignored them. She wanted them to go away, to leave her alone. Two hand grabbed her waist, pulling her backwards and off her feet. Mara did all she could to get them off her; kicking and struggling to get free from the hands. Her eyes ripped open, but the room was gone. In its place, she saw the grey slab of sky.

"What are you doing?" Another voice yelled in fear, one she could now name; Newt.

"Newt? Stay away from me!" She squealed. Mara shook her head, rotating it around to her left. Minho was standing beside her, holding her back. She turned her body to the right, and could see Newt, just like she thought. Her breathing was starting to calm a little, but not by much.  Was she back? Was it over? "W-what happened?"

"What happened?" Newt repeated, his breathing as rapid as Mara's. "You tried to jump off the Cliff, that's what happened!"

"I- no I didn't." Mara shook her head furiously. She could finally feel the floor beneath her feet again, regaining her balance. Mara looked up to face Newt, who was standing in front of her. He reached forward and pulled Mara towards him, but she resisted, jumping away from him. "Don't." Hurt shone across the boy's face, making Mara's stomach turn. "If I tried to kill myself... I don't want to hurt you. Any of you."

And with that, she did what she had wanted to do since she arrived in the Glade; run.