You stuck your sword into the monster quite a few more times, but it never seemed to slow, even a little, just swung at you with the exact same intensity as the blow before it. It missed you once, very narrowly, slicing into the fabric of your shirt, but you leaped back with the skin on your stomach still intact. Still watching the monster, you couldn't help but notice the way those bulbous lights blinked on and off... almost tantalizingly.

You decided in that moment to change your attack completed, and charged forward again, raising your sword up in an arc, and bringing it down hard on top of the closest bulb on the thing's chest. It let out a wail as it shattered, stumbling back and falling to its knees for a split second, before regaining its balance and stumbling back towards you. It swung out a heavy leg, and you jumped and dodged, lashing out at another bulb and missing.

You wanted to look and see if any of the others had gotten the same idea, but you didn't get a chance as the monster slashed at you again with its arm. You ducked and slammed your sword into a light on its elbow. It shrieked and you smiled a little.

That's all it would take.

Two more slashes and all the bulbs that had littered the thing's chest were gone with a spark and another scream, that sounded almost like the Grievers back in the Maze. You slashed again, and now it had slowed down considerably. You risked a quick glance around at the rest of the Gladers who were battling their own monsters, some jabbing at the little light with the butts of their spears and daggers. A few of the creature's bodies littered the ground, and people were running to help out each other. For the most part, it seemed like everyone had figured out their weaknesses, but you knew there wasn't enough time to help out anyone who hadn't found it out yet. You just prayed that everyone was okay and charged again.

It didn't take much longer to pop almost all the rest of the creature's bulbs. It was now crouching on the ground, kicking out with its sharp legs to try and land a hit -- all of which missed by a long shot.

Slash. Pop. Slash. Pop.

The light died out of the last bulb in a brilliant display of fireworks, and you stumbled back as it fell to the ground with a thump, letting out one last feeble wail before faceplanting. You stood over it, victorious, taking in deep breaths and coughing as you sucked in sand. All around you, people were desperately battling the creatures, some just resorting to swinging blindly out in front of them. But it looked as though almost everyone had figured out how to pop the bulbs and now about half the monsters were on the ground or dying. You hurriedly glance around for someone to help, your gaze landing on a girl, not far away, who was scooting away from the creature on her butt, her knife lay a few feet away from her.

You ran over, sword raised above your head, ready to bring it down onto the closest bulb on its arm. When you did, the light died instantly in a hiss of sparks and crackling, and the thing staggered back. The girl next to you quickly leapt forward to grab her blade, and pushed herself to her feet, flashing you a grateful glance. You nodded at her, hoping she got the message, and went in, this time aiming at the center of its chest. You missed, and the girl jumped in after you, jabbing her long knife into the light. It popped and the monster fell to its knees, taking longer to recover than it had before. She smiled a little and swung her blade down onto one of the bulbs as hard as she could, and it fizzled out.

You took turns, jabbing in and out until only one feeble light remained on the back of the thing's neck. It lay face-down, so you could easily bring your foot down and crunch the life out of the final bulb. The monster shuddered and relaxed under your weight, and you stepped back to help the girl back over.

"T-thanks," she muttered, her hair almost fully covering her face as another huge gust of wind blasted past you.

"No problem."

You glanced around you, where almost every single WICKED abomination lay twitching on the ground, a Glader standing victoriously above them. Another loud crack of lightning sounded, dancing in the sky like white fire. One bolt exploded only ten feet from where you were standing, showering you with burnt dirt and the smell of singed hair. You were thrown back with a yelp onto your back, the wind knocked out of you. It was raining now, big fat drops pouring from the sky, splattering your face and soaking your hair so it clung to the sides of your neck.

Stunned, you slowly picked yourself up and staggered a few steps to the right, catching a glimpse of Thomas and Teresa running to the nearest pod. You squinted through the wind and heavy rain, frantically looking around for an open pod you could get to. Your gaze landed on one about twenty feet to your left, and it looked like Minho and Newt already halfway there.

You forced yourself forward, stifling a cry of pain as your shoulder moved, feeling as if it was on fire. You reached up to touch it as you ran, feeling the patch of raw skin rippling as it extended with the rest of your body. Still, you didn't slow down, stopping only as a large shape came into view directly in front of you.

James. James and one of WICKED's giant creatures charging towards each other, blades extended. You stood still for a moment, trying to take it all in.

James had only a single dagger, probably half the length of your sword. He was ducking in and out, trying desperately to get a hit on the of the bulbs, but having to leap away again when the thing swung at him.

You gripped your sword tighter and pushed forward, ignoring your flaming shoulder and not taking your eyes off of James's monster. It was swinging at him again, more viciously than before. He'd only popped two or three lights in all, and the creature was far from slowing. James on the other hand was breathing heavily, trying to put some distance between him and the monster.

All at once, James tripped forward, and the creature's outstretched arms swung right at his stomach. By the time you reached him, three long blades stuck out of the thing's stubby fingers and straight through James's chest. You were spattered with blood and could smell it in the air. His mouth gaped slightly, and his eyes were wide with terror. With careful hands, James reached up to touch the blades lightly, as if he couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Blood trickled from his mouth as the monster lifted up its arm so James hung, suspended in the air.

"James!" you screamed. "James!" He either hadn't heard you, or was too stunned to care, but when you forced your sword forward and directly into one of the bulbs and the creature stumbled back, James had slumped forward, eyes still open and arms hanging limply at his sides. You took one more look and the scene, staggered back, and threw up, heaving silently until there was nothing left in your stomach.

Sore and bleeding, you wiped your mouth on your shirt and reached for your sword again, but recoiled as a fresh bolt of lightning fell from the sky, and the smell of burnt flesh was overwhelming. You weren't thrown back again, but you blundered away a good distance as the creature and James were both shocked by the white electricity, and exploded in dust and light.

You coughed, and when the dust cleared, the only thing remaining was a burnt black mess where the lightning had hit. You choked on the acrid smell and tore your gaze away, not able to look at it another second. Tears blinding your vision, your shoulder feeling like a thousand daggers were stabbing it as you ran, you moved closer to the pod.

By now, Newt had caught sight of you and was stumbling over to help, reaching out an arm to guide you over to the lip of the coffin. Minho was already standing inside, trying to pull the lid back over and closed, squinting against the heavy rain. You grasped the edge and carefully lifted one leg over, then the other, wincing again as your shoulder rippled and a fresh wave of pain washed over you. Newt crawled in behind you, stumbling over the side of the pod and reaching up to help Minho lower the top down. You crouched into a sitting position as they brought it lower, letting it slam closed with a loud thump.

The inside had begun to fill up so you were sitting in a pool of icy water, listening to the drumming of rain and cracks of thunder outside. You were all kind of squished together, listening to each other's breathing, a tangle of arms and legs. Minho sat on one side of you and Newt on the other, and you found yourself unconsciously trying your best not to touch either one of them. You all shifted until you were leaning against the round wall of the pod, and Newt stretched out his arm so your head rested awkwardly on it. You saw him flash you an apologetic look out of the corner of your eye, but you didn't meet his gaze. It was dark, but Minho had left the tiniest crack in the ceiling, to shed just a little light so you weren't in complete blackness.

"Who was that?" Newt asked after a long time of sitting in silence. You sniffed and wiped your red eyes with the sleeve of your damp sweatshirt.

"His name was James." you said numbly. 

Newt hesitated for a moment, probably deliberating what he was supposed to say. "Seemed like an honest guy," he said finally.

"He helped us get out of the tunnels, and escape from a few Cranks." 

Newt's hand snaked around your shoulder, bringing you into a quick, reassuring hug. You suppressed another yelp as he touched your burn.

"How come I can't get in on this action?" complained Minho, and you smirked at him, grateful for his efforts of lightening the mood.

Another loud crack of thunder sounded just a little ways away from your pod, and you heard it hit something solid.

Please don't be another pod, you thought desperately.

"I think I'm gonna have to close the top all the way now," Minho announced as the rain continued to drip in. The pool was up to your stomach now, and you tried to scoot up a little as it started to soak through your shirt.

"Good bloody idea."

Together, the boys pressed their hands against the ceiling and shifted the lid until it slid completely shut, sealing you off in pitch darkness. You squeezed your eyes shut and prayed the others were alright. It was really the only thing you could do at that point.