Chapter 1 ━━ Escaping The Maze

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The icy fear and panic Vera has been experienced so often the last few days sweeps over her once again in full force. This is it. They are going.

Trying not to think about it, to just act, she grabs her backpack and heads for the West door of the Spring. She finds Aris and Rachel talking to each other near the left side of the door within the crowd. Chris is next to his twin brother, picking at the string of his bow while he stares at the ground. A quiver of arrows hanging over his shoulder.

"You sticks ready?" Vera asks when she arrives and turns to Aris. "Aris, this was all your idea, so it better work. If not, I'll kill ya before the Shades can."

"Thanks." Aris says. He looks at Rachel, who is shifting from foot to foot, wringing her hands. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She answers with a small smile, clearly not fine at all. "Just anxious to get it over with."

"Amen, sister." Chris says. He looks the calmest to her, the most confident, the least scared. Vera envies him.

When Harriet and Sonya finally have everyone gathered, Harriet calls for quiet, and Vera turns to hear what Harriet has to say. "There're eleven of us."

"That's it?" Aris asks with a raised eyebrow.

"That's it." Sonya confirms.

Aris nods and pulls the backpack he is holding onto his shoulders and hoists a thick wooden pole with barbwire wrap around its tip. The thing looks deadly.

"Make sure you've got your weapons. Other than that, isn't a whole lot to buggin' say-you've all been told the plan. We're gonna fight our way through to the Shade Hole, and then we're gonna get payback on the Creators. Simple as that." Sonya states, pulling up her blondie hair into a bun.

Vera barely hears her, seeing Beth sulking over to the side, watching them from a distance. Her gang, who decided to stay with her in the Spring, is behind her like they're guarding her.

Vera feels a rising tide of worry that somehow Beth will screw everything up.

"Shouldn't someone give a pep talk or something?" Chris asks, pulling Vera's attention away from Beth.

"Go ahead." Harriet motions her head to go for it.

Chris nods and faces the crowd. "Be careful." He says dryly. "Don't die."

Vera might laugh if she could, but she is too scared for it to come out. A soft hand squeezes into her.

"Great. That's bloody inspiring." Sonya answers, then points over her shoulder, toward the Maze. "You all know the plan. After three years of being treated like mice, tonight we're making a stand. Tonight we're taking the fight back to the Creators, no matter what we have to go through to get there. Tonight the Shades better be scared."

Someone cheers, and then someone else. Soon shouts and battle calls broke out, rising in volume, filling the air like thunder.

Vera begins to feel a trickle of courage inside her-she grasps it, clings to it, urges it to grow. Sonya is right.

Tonight, they're going to fight. Tonight, they're making their stand, once and for all.

Vera is ready. She roars with the other girls and the male twins. She knows they should probably be quiet, not bring any more attention to themselves, but she doesn't care. The game is on.

Sonya thrusts her weapon into the air and yells. "Hear that, Creators! We're coming!" And with that, she turns and stomps into the Maze.

Into the gray air that seems darker than the Spring, full of shadows and blackness. The girls around Vera, still cheering, pick up their weapons and run after her, even Harriet.

Vera follows, falling into line between Rachel and Chris, hefting a big wooden spear with a knife tied at its tip. She keeps a steady pace as she runs with the others along the stone pathways toward Shades Hole. She is used to running through every path of the maze and can remember every corner of it crystal clear as a result of being a mapper for the last three years. But this is completely different.

"Scared?" Chris asks her through the sounds of shuffling feet echoing up the walls.

"No, I love things made out of blubber and steel. Can't wait to see them." She feels no mirth or humor and wonders if there ever be a time again when she will.

"So funny." He responds. He is right next to her, but his eyes stay glued up ahead. "We'll be fine. Just stay close to me."

"Ah, my Knight in Shining Armor. What, you don't think I can fend for myself?" Vera asks.

"No, I'm just trying to be nice." He shrugs simply. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you. It's just you're above the limit of punk in my opinion."

Chris rolls his eyes at her reply. "Whatever."

Unlike Aris, Chris is more of a mischievous, optimist who sends off bad boy vibes. He's better for someone's partner in crime, rather than an angelic best friend. It makes Vera want to keep a distance from the kid even though there's a part of him that reminds her of someone to her. She's not quite sure who the person is. But it should be someone she loves out of the maze.

The group is spread out across the full width of the corridor, running at a steady but quick pace-Vera wonders how long the non-mappers will hold up.

As if in response to the thought, Sonya falls back, finally tapping her on the shoulder. "You lead the way now."

Vera nods and runs to the front, guiding the girls and the twins through all the turns necessary. Every step is agonizing for her. What courage she gathered is turned to dread, and she wonders when the Shades will finally give chase. Wonders when the fight will begin.

And so it goes for her as they keep moving, those girls not used to running such distances gasping in huge gulps of air. But no one quit. On and on they run, with no signs of Shades. And as the time passes, Vera lets the slightest trickle of hope enter her system-maybe they'll make it before getting attacked. Maybe.

Finally, after the longest hour of Vera's life, they reach the long tunnel that led to the last turn before the short corridor to the right that branched off like the stem of the letter T. They reach section 5.

Vera, her heart thumping, sweat slicking her skin, notices that Aris has moved up right next to him with Rachel at his side.

Aris slows at the corner, then stops, holding up a hand to tell Vera and the others to do the same. Then he turns a look of horror on his face.

"Do you hear that?" He whispers.

Vera shakes her head, trying to squash the terror Aris's expression he's giving her.

Aris creeps ahead and peeks around the sharp edge of the stone, looking toward the alley.

Vera has noticed him do that before, when they arrive at this very spot, right after the day he killed a Shade. Just like that time, Aris jerks back and turns to face her.

"Oh, no." The boy says through a moan. "Oh, no."

Then Vera hears it. Shades sound. It is as if they have been hiding, waiting, and now are coming to life. She doesn't even have to look-she knows what Aris is going to say before he says it.

"There's one." He reaches up and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. "It's just waiting for us."

Sonya and Harriet move up the line of waiting girls to join Vera and the others.

Apparently, Aris's pronunciation is already whispering through the ranks, because the first thing Sonya says is. "Well, we knew we'd have to fight."

But the tremor in her voice gives her away-she is just trying to say the right thing.

Vera feels it herself. It's easy to talk about-the nothing-to-lose fight, the hope that just one of them would be taken, the chance to finally escape. But now it is here, literally around the corner. Doubts that she can go through with it seeps into her mind and heart. Are the Creators enjoying this?

Rachel on the other hand is horrified the most. Her face is pale.

Vera reaches out to her bag, pulls out the key she found inside the Shade Aris killed a day ago and hands the metal cylindrical device to the timid girl. "You take this, Rachel."

"Stay behind us." She adds, giving a reassuring smile.

Rachel nods, tightening her grip on the device.

Aris gathers the courage he needs with a large breath and turns to the group. "We came this far. It's a matter of time we fight the Shades and go through. The key will activate the door to our freedom. We get out of this maze or die trying. Who's with me?"

The girls' roar, clutching their meager weapons and raising them up, preparing themselves for the action.

"Nice speech, bro." Chris remarks, cracking his neck to the sides. "Let's do this."

"Always stay close and stick together." Aris advises. "Let's go!"

Letting out a battle cry, the group charges into the tunnel where the Shade is blocking their way.

The Shade at the end of the tunnel notices the group and screeches. Spikes are popping in and out of blubbery skin, its body shudders and pulses. Then, the monster moves forward, slowly, instrument-tipped appendages unfolding, pointing at the Springers, ready to kill.

With the lead of Aris, the weapons of the group steadily make contact with the ugly creature, throwing it backwards.

The Shades's tail swings back and forth as the group duck to survive.

"Watch out!" Aris screams, but it's too late. One girl from the group ends up tossing out of the edge and falls off.

In the immediate aftermath, spears and knives cock for battle and the Springers push the Shade towards the edge.

"The key! Chris, guard Rachel and open the door!" Vera yells over the eerie moans and whirrs of machinery coming from the Shade.

Chris does as he's told, not saying a word, perhaps for the first time in his life.

With a lot of effort, the Springers somehow manage to throw the Shade off the edge. That's when they note more incoming Shades.

"There's more coming!" Harriet shouts, pointing at the Shades approaching them.

"Keep it steady! We got this guy!" Aris encourages the group, getting ready with his weapon.

The crowd whacks at Shade instruments with their makeshift weapons, jumping on them, attacking. The sounds echoing off the walls are a cacophony of terror-human screams, metal clashing against metal, motors roaring, the haunting shrieks of the Shades, saws spinning, claws clasping, girls yelling for help.

A loud bang from above and behind Vera makes her jump. She spins around to see a Shade plop into the tunnel. The thing retracts its spikes and arms to enter-when it lands with a squishy thump, a dozen sharp and nasty objects popping back out, looking deadlier than ever.

Vera faces the creature, holding out her spear as if that will ward it off.

A skinny metallic rod bursts out of the Shade's moist skin, unfolding into a long appendage with three spinning blades, which moves directly toward Vera's face.

She grips the end of her spear with both hands, squeezing tightly as she lowers the knife-laced point to the ground in front of her. The bladed arm moves within two feet, ready to slice her skin to bits. When it was just a foot away, Vera tenses her muscles and swings the spear up, around, and toward the ceiling as hard as she can.

It smacks the metal arm and pivots the thing skyward, revolving in an arc until it slams back into the body of the Shade. The monster lets out an angry shriek and pulls back several feet, its spikes retracting into its body.

Vera heaves breaths in and out. Maybe she can hold it off.

The Shade's spikes appear again, it surges ahead and another arm pops out of its skin and shoots forward, this one with huge claws, snapping to grab the spear.

Vera swings, this time from above her head, throwing every bit of strength into the attack.

The spear crashes into the base of the claws.

With a loud clunk, and then a squishing sound, the entire arm ripped free of its socket, falling to the floor. Then, from some kind of mouth that Vera cannot see, the Shade lets out a long, piercing shriek and pulls back again, the spikes disappear.

"These things are beatable!" Vera yells out a roar and charges ahead to take advantage of the Shade's moment of weakness. Swinging her spear wildly, he jumps on top of the creature's bulbous body, whacking two metal arms away from her with a loud crack. She lifts the spear above her head, braces her feet-feeling them sink into the disgusting blubber-then thrusts the spear down and into the monster. A slimy yellow goo explodes from the flesh, splashing over Vera's legs as she drives the spear as far as it can sink into the thing's body. Then she releases the hilt of the weapon and jumps away.

"It won't open! Aris! There's a code with eight numbers!" Rachel yells on the other side.

"Eight sections of the maze." Aris realizes and turns to the former keeper of mappers. "Hey, Vera! What's the sequence?"

"What?" Barely hearing him, not quite understanding, Vera watches in sick fascination as the Shade twitches uncontrollably, spewing the yellow oil in every direction. Spikes pop in and out of the skin, its remaining arms swinging around in mass confusion, at times impaling its own body. Soon it begins to slow, losing energy with every ounce of blood-or fuel-it loses.

"The sections of the maze, what's the sequence?!" Chris exclaims.

"Five! Three! Seven! One! Six!" Vera yells back, her eyes still on the Shade. Within this time, it stops moving altogether. Vera cannot believe it. She absolutely cannot believe it. She just defeated a Shade, one of the monsters that terrorize the Springers for more than three years which only Aris managed to kill before and it wasn't this way either.

"Yes! Yes! I killed the finching Shade!" Vera laughs in victory as if that one act has solved all their problems.

"Watch out!" Aris screams as another Shade slides down the wall above them and lands on top of Vera.

"Vera!"

Vera screams in horror as she tries to pry it off her, struggling to keep its blades away from her face. "No! Get off of me! Help!"

In the same moment, Chris grabs a handful of arrows from his quiver, loading and shooting on the Shade's flesh one after the other, until and after the Shade loses its hold on the girl.

Vera falls to the floor after being released by her captor's claws and crawls back to the group, her eyes on the Shade. Despite the pain of several lacerations across her back and shoulders, elation surges through her so strongly she doesn't even know how to react. She gasps, then laughs, then choking on a sob before laughing again.

"What's the sequence? Come on!" Rachel screams at Vera, who is still shocked.

Vera comes back to her senses and yells the numbers one by one. "One! Six! Eight! Two! Four! Is it done?"

"Keep holding!" Aris yells when the green light blares throughout the tunnel and the concrete doors shut, crushing and smashing the Shades.

Then the door shuts, leaving them nothing but pitch darkness.