Chapter 17-26: Aftermath

I felt like the whole world has frozen in place. Alby's sharp cry got me thinking why I risked my life not more than five minuets ago. Minho said I am as good as dead just like him and Alby, but I told him I just could not leave him here alone to die without trying. "Break the Number One Rule, kill yourself, whatever," he yelled. After that, I ask what happened to him, and he said that the Griever was not dead at all, so it stung Alby and ran away from him. I had hope that we would survive the night, but Minho said all three of us would die. He also told me about if you do not get the Serum in time, you would die for sure, so he told me to drag Alby's body to the door so the Gladers could find it easy. I grabbed his legs and "half carried, half dragged" the body to a sitting position on the wall. I asked him if they bite him too, but he yelled at me that they do not bite, they prick you with their needles. Then we heard the noise. It sounds like "the roar of engines interspersed with rolling, cranking sounds like chains hoisting machinery in an old, grimy factory." Minho was scared out of his wits, so he said to split up, try to survive, and do not stop moving. My first thought was Alby, so I checked if he was alive, dragged him closer to the door, and tied him up with vines I checked would hold his weight. Then I pulled him up the maze wall, so my steps were "climb, wrap, push up, tie off." The work took a lot of my energy, but worst of all I could hear the Griever coming closer and closer. I stopped about thirty feet off the ground, and tried to hide. As I looked down, I saw a Griever, and it looked like an experiment gone wrong. Some characteristics were its spikes that went in and out of its moist skin, had no head of tail, looked like a slug, six feet long and 4 feet wide, had mechanical arms sticking out of its body in random places, and the menacing needles that prick you. I was hoping it would not see us, but it stopped in front of the wall and shut down mysteriously. Minutes later, it came back on and started to climb the wall. Thinking quick, I grabbed a vine and swung away to lure it away from Alby and this worked! Making my way to the ground burned my hands, made me kick a Griever leaving a gash in my back, and almost ripping my arms out. When I landed, I was trapped between three Grievers on one side, and the one that has been chasing me the whole time on the other. I ran at the one Griever because one is better than three, so I dove to the right of it and it zoomed right past me. After that, I ran down the now clear hallway and found Minho. He said what I just did gave him an idea of how to beat them. Following his lead, we found the end of the Maze, the Cliff. Just then I knew his idea. We were going to dive while the Grievers fell off the Cliff. It killed them all, so we cried until sunrise. When we walk by the entrance of the Maze, Newt was there with a search party regrouping to look for our bodies. Then he saw us and told us to get check by the Med-Jack, but when we were done we need to tell him the whole story. Chuck told me Alby was alive, so that made me super happy that I saved his life. Newt told me that we would have a Gathering about me to see what they need to do with me because I had caused a lot of commotion around here in the past weeks. During the meeting, the Keepers gave ideas of what they should do, and some of the ideas people gave me were good or bad. Frypan said we should make me part of the council to train how I did the dive, Winston, Bloodhouse Keeper, said we should throw me in the slammer for a week with only bread and water, Gally said I should lock me up in the slammer for one whole month, Minho said I should be the Keeper of the Runners, and Newt said I should be locked in the slammer for one day and for me to be a Runner. Between the recommendations, Gally left the Gathering storming, and at the end of the Gathering, Newt's idea was voted. When I went outside, Chuck ran up to me and said Alby is screaming my name.