Shadow of the Maze | Maze Runner [1]

FIVE

Her slow pace made the journey incessantly long. She felt nauseous from the pain in her arm and simply wanted to fall to the floor and cry away the torture. But she knew she couldn't. Minho needed her. She could make it back to her Cove, treat herself, then make it back to Minho just in time before the Doors closed, if he even needed her help. She hoped he was okay, and that both of the boys had gotten away from the Griever without a scratch.

Her long journey back to her Cove was filled with the plucking of thorns from her hands. Electra frowned at all the tiny specks of blood that decorated her palm like tiny beads. Thankfully, the piercings were tiny and shallow enough that they'd be healed within a couple days but they still hurt like hell, like dozens of tiny fang bites in her skin.

The climb up to her Cove proved to be nearly impossible with only one good arm. Electra kept slipping and almost losing her grip. She found she needed to take several breaks to catch her breath, and the trek upwards to the little cave took twice as long as it usually did.

She pushed back the ivy curtains before completely collapsing on the floor. She debated sleeping right then and there, just for five minutes, before treating her wound and going to find Minho. But as a feeling of emptiness filled her core, she knew she needed to clean and treat the wound as soon as possible.

With shaky hands, she undid the t-shirt bandage on her arm, and winced as the fabric slowly peeled off of the fresh cut. Thankfully the bleeding seemed to have stopped. If it hadn't, she wouldn't have known what to do with the wound.

She went over to her boulder table and grabbed a wooden crate that sat on top. She took a water bottle, along with some soap and a clean cloth. Sitting down at the table, she opened the water bottle and gently poured some onto her arm, along with the cloth. After lathering some soap onto the cloth, she laid her arm out flat with her palm against the stone. Wincing, she carefully wiped the cloth around the wound, careful not to get soap on or inside the wound itself. The excess blood was pushed around and turned her entire bottom half of her arm pink.

After rinsing the cloth, repeating the cleaning, then rinsing and repeating again, her wound finally looked cleaner than before. Reaching back into the wooden crate she grabbed a bandage. Minho had stolen them for her, much like everything else she owned. Where would she be without him?

She applied the bandage to her arm, feeling an instant sense of relief flood her body, making her face heat up. Hopefully she would be okay.

After messily putting all the medical supplies back into the crate, Electra quickly stood up from the boulder table. Her body began to feel heavy, while conversely her head felt as if it was filled with helium. She leaned against the wall beside her as the room began turning.

What was happening to her? She'd felt completely fine mere moments ago. Was she suffering from too much blood loss? Was the stress of her terrible life finally getting to her? Her mind went completely blank in terms of viable explanations, and she wobbled on her own two feet as the cave did circles around her. The blankness in her mind frightened her, and the feeling of being frightened next to a void of nothingness scared her even more.

The shakiness in her hands intensified, and she squeezed them together to try to stop it. Her vision became staticky and blurred...

Electra woke up with a start. How did I get on the floor? she thought, using her good arm to pull herself up. She'd passed out? She didn't even remember falling to the floor but here she was.

She reached for the water bottle in her bag, and slugged down a few sips. Wiping her mouth with her un-bandaged arm, she slowly walked over to the ivy curtains and peeled them back.

Her heart dropped. The sun was setting.

The Doors were about to close.

She hastily grabbed her pack and climbed as quickly as she could down the ivy wall, still with mostly only one hand. Jumping down, she ran as fast as she could, bullets of sweat dropping into her eyes.