Elodie paced around the table while her mind searched for possible solutions to their dire problem.
"Any minute now, the weepers will start to come through the opening and kill everyone in the clear!" Luke pounded his fists on the wooden surface. Elodie would've been startled by her brother if it weren't for the stress numbing her body.
"It's been hours since the walls were meant to close and nothing has happened yet, maybe it's just the creators' mistake." Alex had her arms crossed and looked at the map intently, looking for ideas as to why this would happen.
For three years, Luke and Elodie knew the daily schedule of the walls; they would open early in the morning, open for six to seven hours then close. It had been ten full hours since the ivy-covered doors opened and they hadn't moved a millimetre.
"Everyone is out there waiting to see what will happen, they won't sleep until an explanation is given." Alex continued, causing them to look out the only window in the meeting room to the small groups of boys and girls formed across the clear, looking nervously back at the building they were in and the giant walls that were separated by a huge gap.
"We don't have one!" Elodie shouted, both pairs of eyes darting to the blonde because of her sudden outburst. "Sorry, I'm just under a hell of a lot of pressure here."
"Not trying to add to that pressure, but they're all standing out there and if something does happen-"
A thunderous boom cut Luke off clean as sparks were seen flying from near the hammocks and rumbled the ground, Elodie was sure it was an earthquake.The three stumbled and rushed to the window again.
It's funny how quickly a scene can change.
Chaos had wrecked, people dressed in black had scattered across the usually peaceful green courtyard. The frightening sounds of shots and blood-boiling screams would haunt the trio for the rest of their lives.
A dark head of hair whipped past the other two quickly and started to push a wooden cabinet in front of the door.
"What are you doing Alex?!" Elodie shouted at the girl, who didn't take her eyes off the task.
"I'm barricading the door!" She answered loudly, grunting as she pushed.
"Why would you? There's still people in the courtyard!" Elodie frantically shouted back.
"It's too late Els, we can only save ourselves!" Luke got up to help Alex push the heavy drawer.
Elodie sighed and looked out the window again. This time, lifeless bodies scattered across the clear. She teared up a bit and started to push the broom closet next to her to the door.
"The lights!" The only boy notified, Alex closed them quickly and the three hid behind the furniture blocking the door.
Then silence ensued, the catastrophe outside becoming quiet. The only sound audible were the breaths of the siblings and Alex.
"It's too quiet."
Alex got up quietly and tiptoed to the window to see the source of this sudden stillness, her face described the scene.
"Weepers."
The one word made Elodie's spine shiver and her blood go cold. As a second-in-command, she had never seen one of the wretched creatures before. But as keeper of the runners, Alex knew what they looked like almost inside-out.
"They took out the guards." Luke observed, he had joined Ally at the window. "There's so many of them."
Alex looked at Elodie with fear tainting her eyes. Elodie felt the same way, except she hid her emotions with several layers of calm.
"The top floor, we can go through the trees and to the ship which is right next to the motor thing, which we can use to get out of this hell hole." Luke quickly formulated a plan. His sister knew it was faulty and could go wrong in a hundred different ways but it was the best they had.
****
Taking some salvaged supplies from the various storage rooms around the main house, the three met at the top floor and went to the balcony that was covered by a thick forest of bounded trees.
Elodie went first, the lightest girl climbed into the first tree. She knew what she was doing as she often went into the trees to think. Her foot work was perfect as usual, she was thought to be a dancer before her memory was taken and she was thrown into a maze by whoever WCKED was.
Alex followed, then Luke. They on the other hand, weren't the most graceful of people. They kept slipping on the rough branches. Which resulted in some cursing and scratches.
"Everyone's dead." Alex stopped and looked out over the clear solemnly. Tears stung Elodie's eyes and threatened to fall.
"I failed them." Luke muttered from behind her, shaking his head, wearing an emotionless and cold expression.
As they creeped on, Elodie saw each and every body; Jane, Sid, Billy, Graham, Liza, Elle and countless other faces that she recognised from daily life, the fact that she watched them all die and didn't do anything made her sick.
Then she saw Link's body on the ground, not moving.
****
At first, she was lonely in the clear; her best friend was off leading the runners in the maze and her brother was often busy attending to the main problems that arose, while Elodie did make herself useful doing an abundance of various jobs, she still had a lot of spare time. Then Link came up in the box, he was fearless from the start. He also broke the walls around the quiet girl who ironically was second-in-command.
"I love you Elly." His gentle voice cooed through the cool evening air, the only sound was the distant chatter of the people at the main house and the buzz of insects.
"I love you too Links" Elodie gave him a small smile. Because of his tall height, he bent down slightly to kiss her on the nose.
"I always will, ok?" He pulled her into a hug and she wrapped her small arm around his shoulders. She nodded and snuggled her head under his neck.
****
Elodie cried silently, so that the others wouldn't hear. It had been less than 48 hours since he confessed his love for the blonde and now their blooming relationship wilted away, forever unfinished.
As she stepped from branch to branch, the trees stood still as the trees were stuck to the ground by the steel roots tangled in the soil, it was one of the weirder things the creators had done.
After a couple of splinters and even more scratches, they were finally spying down on the berg, ready to go in. Luke signalled at his sister to go down, his face etched with worry.
Elodie used her strong upper body strength to hang off the branch quickly and with grace, she then easily let go of the sharp and bumpy stick and fell on to the metal berg, she landed on her feet perfectly and without sound. She motioned for the other two to follow.
Sliding quietly off the aircraft, she snuck around the side and peeked her head out the slightest bit to the courtyard to inspect what the hell was going on. Fourteen or fifteen grievers were stippled across the clear, a couple still finishing off the unlucky kids left, others were prowling around looking for hidden treats.
When the other two appeared by her side, Elodie motioned for Luke to make their diversion. He pulled the top of a small grey canister and tossed it to where the grievers closest stood. When the grenade landed, the grievers observed the item before blue smoke erupted and engulfed the grievers.
Luke ran first to the motor, he quickly started it up and when he heard the rumble, he didn't know how, but he knew it was ready.
"Come on!" He shouted at them, Alex and Elodie ran their fastest to the black vehicle, Elodie hopped in first behind her big brother and Alex sat right behind. As soon as they were both on, Luke put his foot down on the pedal and steered them towards the opening of the maze.
Once the smoke cleared, the grieves quickly caught on to what was happening and trailed quickly behind the motor.
As they entered unwelcoming walls of the maze, Elodie prayed that there was an actual way out of the damned labyrinth.
****
Ahh! It's finally out, I've spent like a week perfecting this chapter and the overall storyline lol
So I'll try to upload a chapter or two a week, so stay tuned.
Make sure to vote, comment and chuck me a follow to show that you liked (or hated) the story so far, also constructive criticism is always appreciated!