Darkness swallowed my entire body as I jumped through the opening, my feet hitting the ground before I thought they would.

I landed to the right of Thomas, just behind Brenda as she looked to her left, flashing her light towards nothing in particular. Graffiti lined the concrete walls—something I've never seen before. There was some artwork that I would've liked to sit and admire if we weren't trying to get back to the others. But nothing overpowered the horrid smell, which immediately made me hate this place.

It smelled worse than the map room. Like someone stuck a toilet down here and emptied all of its confines over the floor. I flexed my nostrils as I pulled a disgusted face, looking over at Thomas. "This place smells like shit."

Brenda choked on a laugh as she bent down, shining her light through a dark tunnel in front of us. She sniffed once before looking back at Thomas and me—I couldn't quite read her expression. The girl started to walk forward, crouching over at the waist. Thomas looked down at me, blinking once before he bent down himself and began to follow Brenda. I rolled my eyes and leaned my head back, grabbing the red inhaler out of my back pocket and moving my backpack around my shoulders. I unzipped the front and threw the tool inside, quickly closing it up and following the other two into the unknown.

I wasn't about to lose that thing again.

My eyes darted from word to explicit word as I examined the graffiti on the sides of the tunnel, raising my eyebrows at some phrases that I had never thought of. Some made me want to chuckle to myself, some made me want to cry.

Jumping down beside my friend again, the small tunnel then turned into a long hallway...corridor even. Drawings continued to etch the walls, and the sewage smell remained. Everything was dark and gloomy, the only light that was provided came from the small flashlights in our hands. We didn't know where we were going—Thomas and I. We just hoped Brenda did. Away from our friends, we were on edge. At least I was. I didn't even want to imagine what Newt was probably like. Not to mention Minho. Even that Jorge dude who seemed like he was too protective of Brenda.

She looked to her right, then to her left again before turning her body towards the right. "I think it's this way."

Thomas froze, looking at her while his light was pointed in the opposite direction. I raised my eyebrows at her short sentence that sparked a new fear deep within me. Pursing my lips, I took a long step and followed right behind her while Thomas hesitated. "You think?"

The farther we walked, the louder the distant sound of water dripping seemed to get. There were so many things in this place that made me want to scream and cry. The fact that we were in a smaller space than the Maze, and there was a roof above us. If we got stuck, there was no way we would find our way out through the darkness. Our flashlights would certainly lose battery, and we would probably die in these smelly tunnels.

Jesus, Mae, I thought to myself as I shook my head, what a ray of sunshine you are.

We walked for a few minutes in silence, hearing nothing but the continuous flow of water, and our quiet steps that echoed off of the moldy walls. My thoughts wandered—something they hadn't done in a long time. I wondered if we were going to get out of here, I wondered how WICKED had found us, where Newt was. I wondered about my family. Were they still alive?

At the thought, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small braided bracelet that had been gifted to me less than a week ago. Scary to believe that sweet boy had been gone for only a week. It felt like a lifetime. I sighed as I tied it around my right wrist, using my teeth to pull the knot tight. Once the bracelet was securely wrapped around my hand, I sighed to myself, wishing that I could see his chubby face just one last time. Maybe if I had jumped in front of the bullet, he would still be here.

"Do people live down here?" Thomas asked, breaking me out of my depressing thoughts. I lifted my head, seeing how the two were a couple of yards in front of me. I jogged to catch up, and Thomas gave me a sideways glance before placing his hand on my lower back, pushing me along.

Brenda sighed. "The Solar Storms forced people underground." She looked back at us. "Jorge says there's settlements all over these tunnels."

I kept my mouth shut, looking around as the two spoke, and Thomas continued to ask questions like normal. At times, I wanted to grab a piece of tape and just shove it onto his mouth. But this wasn't one of those times. I would rather listen to a conversation than have us wander around in complete silence.

"So, what about Jorge? Is he your father?" Thomas asked a question I had been wondering since I saw the way the old man cared for the girl.

"Close enough." She shrugged. "Truth is, I don't know what he is. He's just always been there."

I looked at her as she continued to speak and we continued to walk. "And I've always done what he's asked me to do. No matter how stupid."

Thomas removed his hand from my back at her words. I looked between the two as he furrowed his eyebrows. "So, you don't think the Right Arm is real?" He asked.

Just as the girl was about to respond, a distant screech sounded from the distance. The three of us spun around on our heels as my heart fell to my stomach. My legs still burned from our escape earlier, and my hands were starting to blister from the rope that I flew down with no protection at all. Needless to say, I was not in the mood to run again.

"I think..." Brenda started again, walking forward with her head still turned towards the other direction as if she wasn't sure there wasn't something behind us. "Hope is a dangerous thing."

I turned my head back towards her as she spoke the truth. "Hope has killed more of my friends than the Flare and the Scorch combined. Just thought Jorge was smarter than that."

Before I had the chance to speak to her for the first time since she rescued us from the zombies, the girl stopped in her tracks, causing Thomas and me to halt as well. In front of us was another wall with two passageways instead of one. Brenda flashed her light down both but didn't move. Instead, she let out a huff before cursing at herself for not remembering which way it was.

I moved in front of both of them, walking towards the passage that was the closest to the wall. I turned around, looking for any other clues as Thomas and Brenda searched as well, shining their light from hallway to hallway, looking for signs of natural light that could potentially lead to our way out.

Walking down that path, I squinted my eyes, looking ahead of me as the faintest glimmer of light showed from the end of it. My heart leaped into my throat as I took another step forward, needing to make sure that it wasn't another person or one of those settlements that Brenda had been talking about. But when the light stayed still, I smirked to myself and turned my body around.

"Hey, I think it might be this way." I murmured to the two, who were still behind me, looking for what I had found. But when I moved my head, they were nowhere in sight. I furrowed my eyebrows as my heartbeat started to pick up. "Thomas?"

Another distant screech was heard as I glanced at the corridor that lead to our freedom before moving away from it, panic starting to increase in the pit of my stomach.

"Thomas?" My voice grew louder as my eyes darted everywhere that wasn't enveloped by darkness. I could feel my breathing become heavier at the thought of losing the two people who would bring me back to the others. My friend. Someone who got us out of the Maze.

I ran a hand through my hair, tugging at the roots before I clenched my fists tighter than I ever had before. Almost immediately, I felt my skin break, and old wounds reopen. I opened my mouth to call for him again when the echo of footsteps was heard. My head shot up, and when I was met with the face of my dear friend, I let out a sigh of relief, removing my long nails from the palm of my hand and wiping at the sweat that started to form on my brow.

"You okay?" He asked me, taking in my appearance. I nodded, not wanting to tell him that I had just suffered a mild panic attack while he was gone. The boy looked at me skeptically but decided not to press further as he grabbed my elbow. "C'mere. Look at this..."

"What? What is it?" I asked as he led me over to where Brenda stood, her flashlight pointed at the concrete wall in front of her. Neither of them said a word.

Lines. Dead skin. Bacteria. Whatever it was, it was disgusting.

I don't think Brenda or Thomas knew what it was either because their faces told me that they were just as clueless as I was. Eyebrows furrowed, the two walked along the edge, shining their light on the thing that stuck to the wall. The farther the three of us walked, the more of the substance there seemed to be. I broke my gaze from the wall and looked ahead of me at the long, tenebrous hallway.

The same thing completely covered the four walls. The ceiling, the floor. Just as quickly as I had calmed down, I began to become worked up again. My breath hitched in my throat as I followed Brenda, walking in front of Thomas. I looked back at him and saw that he had complete horror in his eyes. He wanted to get out of here—but being the curious boy he was, he stayed. The three of us took another step forward before the boy spoke so suddenly that I almost jumped.

"What the hell is this?" He asked, concern and fright laced in his voice.

Brenda let out a shaky breath before glancing at me, her eyes filled with the same thing as Thomas's as she replied. "I don't know."

The girl leaned forward, her eye had caught something in the darkness of the hallway. Just as I was about to yank on her backpack to pull her away and snap both of them out of their trance, a loud screech reverberated through the small tunnel embedded into the wall right next to us. I gasped and took a step backward, feeling Thomas's chest hit my back as he pulled me away. Brenda let out a small yelp as she did the same, shining the light on the concrete.

The screeches began to become louder until they felt like they were one second away from us. I shut my eyes and turned my head away as Thomas took a step back, ready to run again. But when Brenda exhaled sharply enough for me to hear, I opened one eye, nervous for what I was about to witness.

It was a rat.

A disgusting, small rat.

I stuck my tongue out at the animal, suddenly placing it on the list of things I hated most in this world. Pigs still being the number one.

The animal screeched and fell out from the tunnel, landing on its back as it started to waddle towards us. Brenda made a disgusted noise and kicked the creature out of the way. "Ugh! Jesus..."

For some reason, instead of turning around and making our way towards the light at the end of the tunnel that I had found, we stood there. Our lights on the rat as it casually scurried down the hallway as though it didn't care about the substances that lined the wall. I sighed, shaking my head as the adrenaline started to decrease in my shaking body. Now, it was nothing more than a tingling. Something similar to the sensation that crawled over my body a few hours ago when I had been struck by lightning.

We watched as the rat made its way over to a pile of bacteria, almost like it knew where it was going. It just scurried its little gross body away from us, like it was supposed to. I heard Thomas inhale next to me, probably rolling his eyes at how stupid this circumstance was. All we wanted was to get back to our friends.

Suddenly, a skinny, pale hand jerked out and grabbed the rat.

Brenda and I yelped while Thomas took a large step back, his hand already wrapped around my bicep.

Just like that, all my hope of getting out of this place safely, without having to make a run for it was damaged. Who was I kidding anyway? Just like Brenda said: Hope was a dangerous thing.

All three of us jerked our lights toward the creature, watching as its crazed eyes opened and it tore itself out of the confines of the weird vines that led us to this place. The thing didn't even look like a human. The other monsters that we had come across still had clothes on, and they still looked like they had been a human once upon a time.

But this one. It looked like it was born a monster. Its skin was almost turned inside out, and its cheeks were hollow. Almost as if the thing didn't even have them. The bones poked out of its body, as dirt and grime covered every inch of its skin. But the eyes were what freaked me out. Its eyes were clouded over with insanity, almost looking grey. It wasn't human, but it wasn't even paying attention to us.

The creature squeezed onto the squealing rat's torso, smiling as though it had just won a prize. Before the three of us could start to run, the monster lurched its head forward, encasing the rat's head in its mouth.

I felt Thomas' grip around my arm tighten, and I took a step back into him. I wanted to look away. But I couldn't. The sight was demented, crazy, disgusting. But my eyes were glued to the beast like they would never be separated. I watched as it wiggled its head from side to side, jerking its arm away as it bit the head off of the poor rat.

And just like that, the squealing stopped, and the rat's body fell limp in the monster's hand.

Another scream broke my gaze from the one against the wall to another monstrosity that began jerking its body around. Almost like it was waking up from a deep sleep at the sound of food being so close. Or...what they called food.

My hand flew up to my mouth as I tried to contain a scream. I took another step back, my heart now feeling like it would explode at any moment. And not in a good way.

Before we could start running, more creatures started to file out of the different corners they had been hiding in, all toppling over each other like they had no control over their body. They were shoving one another over, trying to get to the food that the first one had bit the head off of. They were acting like monsters simply because they were, and each one of them looked worse than the one before.

The squealing of the monsters fighting each other was enough for the three of us to realize that we had to get the hell out of here.

Thomas yanked on my bicep as he began to move backward. I grabbed Brenda by her jacket and turned her around, only to be met with another creature, heading straight towards us. I gasped as the thing reached out an arm, moving in unsteady bursts, almost like it was drunk with insanity. The green flannel that used to be a shirt was ripped everywhere, doing absolutely nothing for the creature. It let out a choppy growl as the black began to ooze out of its mouth.

In a burst of adrenaline and desperation, I reached across to Brenda's backpack and pulled out a pipe that she had stashed in there before we left the warehouse. I moved in front of Thomas and her, swinging the makeshift weapon high above my head and hitting the monster right across the cheekbone.

The thing yelped in surprise and moved to the side, giving the three of us just enough room to scurry out of the way. Making sure that the thing wouldn't come after us, Thomas and Brenda shined their light on it while shuffling backward. The creature let out a grunt, catching the attention of the ones who were still fighting over the small rat.

I exhaled sharply. "Whoops."

Brenda held onto me as Thomas stood in front of both of us. "What is it?"

Before I could tell her that her guess was as good as mine, the monster in front of us let out an earth-shattering scream. My hands flew up to my ears and I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard Brenda scream as well, almost as if she were challenging it—even though I knew that was the last thing she would ever do. Thomas swiveled around and started pushing on our backs immediately.

"Go, go go!" He yelled at us as we began running once again. I led the way, letting my legs move on autopilot as I turned my head back to see if the two were following me. Thomas was running backward as he flashed his light on the creatures that were now tumbling over each other, but not to get to the rat. To get to us.

"Oh my god!" Brenda shouted as she watched the scene as well. I grunted, grabbing onto her arm to push her along.

"Come on!" I shouted at the two as I led them down the path I had previously been looking at.

The three of us were a mess of heavy breaths and frightened screams as we ran with all of our might through the tunnel, getting closer to the light every second. I don't know why—but at this moment, I thought of Newt. How worried he would be when I told him what happened to us back here. He would beat himself up for not taking better care of me.

But I didn't need to be taken care of.

Granted, I appreciated him more than anything in the world, but I needed to show him that I wasn't a fragile piece of china anymore. I needed to show everyone. Yes, I had been tortured. Yes, I had watched many of my friends die in front of me... Yes, I had asthma. But I also survived. I became a runner, and I survived a night in the Maze. I survived having a needle shoved into my neck for hours and hours straight. I survived every single one of my asthma attacks. I survived being in a Glade full of guys alone for a month. I survived being chased by WICKED.

I was a survivor. Am, a survivor.

So I pushed my legs to go farther. Faster. Listening to Thomas's words of encouragement as Brenda and he looked over their shoulder. I was leading them to our potential freedom. Maybe these things couldn't last in the sun. Maybe there was a way for us to get to the ground and fight them off easier. If I was going to do that, I needed to be somewhere where we weren't surrounded by complete darkness.

"Oh, shit!" Thomas screamed as he looked over his shoulder again. I could hear the cries of the monsters from behind us grow louder, and I grunted as I pushed myself to go farther, only focused on the light at the end of the tunnel.

"We're almost there!" I shouted back to them, acting on impulse from what I've heard from Thomas. Every time he seemed to shout something at the rest of the Gladers while we were running, it made our hope grow. Maybe that was bad for the situation we were in, but it was the truth. We almost were there.

I had to fight to keep my eyes open as I immersed myself out of the darkness of the tunnel and into the afternoon light outside. My feet skidded to a stop as I looked down at another drop ahead of us.