"Minho?" I call out, my voice echoing in the darkness. At first there is no reply, and I begin to panic. "Minho?! Where are you?"

"I'm here, I'm here, calm down, i'm just trying to figure out where here is." He finally replies, his voice echoing back from somewhere up ahead. I lean to the side until I come into contact with a rough stone wall, and though I can't see anything, I assume we are in some kind of tunnel. Suddenly someone comes through the flat trans, slamming into me and nearly sending me tumbling to the ground.

"Hey watch it."

"Sorry Sky." Newt snickers, grabbing my arm to gain his balance. "At least I know you're here."

"We should probably move before we get hit again." I reply, shuffling forward along the wall. The corridor is just wide enough for us to walk through single file. I hold my hands out in front of me to avoid running into anything. If I put them out to the side, Its small enough that I can touch both walls. It's so dark, I don't think I could see my hands, even if I held them directly in front of my face.

"Ya probably." Newt says, following along behind me. Suddenly someone else comes through the flat trans, and immediately I know it is Mal, her screams give her away even in the darkness.

"Where are you guys?" She asks, fumbling around behind us. I can hear her shoes squeaking against the slick floor beneath us.

"Over here Love." Newt answers, reaching back to grab her. Soon we are all edging forward in a straight line. At least the three of us are, I haven't heard from Minho and I have no clue where he's gone. I stop a few feet ahead, confident that we are far enough away to avoid anymore collisions.

Suddenly, a hand slams down on my arm. "Keep moving." Minho hisses, pulling me forward.

"Why?" I ask, startled at his sudden reappearance and threatening words.

"Can't you hear that?" He asks, sliding his hand down my arm and into mine.

"Hear what?" I ask, jogging to keep up with him as he drags me along. I tug on Newt's sleeve until he begins to follow us, bringing Mal with him.

"Just slim it and listen." He whispers back, pausing in the middle of the tunnel. I tilt my head to the side, straining to hear whatever is bothering Minho.

Turn back or die

It's so quiet I can barely make out the words, but once I've heard it twice, I'm confident I heard right. It's a warning, though a pointless one, we can't turn back now. Besides, Ratman said we would die if we stayed. Die if you stay, die if you leave, talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. "We can't go back." I whisper, shaking my head, even though I know they can't see me. "We can't."

"I know, that's why I want to get moving and get out of here." Minho sighs, squeezing my hand.

"Is everyone here?" Newt yells backwards into the tunnel entrance. "Number off!"

"One."
"Two"
"Three."
"Four" "Four."
"Hey! I'm four."
"No I'm four, your five."
"One at a time please!"
"Four." "Four."
"Ugh start over!"
"Come on guys this is bloody kindergarten stuff."

"...thirty-two." Thomas calls out, ending the head count. After about three tries, we had finally managed to get it right. Everyone is accounted for, and no one is missing. Despite the situation, I laugh at the way Newt sounds like a frazzled kindergarten teacher trying to keep track of his students.

"Um...guys?" Winston calls out, after another eerie warning from the strange voice echoes down the tunnel.

"Yes Winston, we know, but we can't turn around so get over it." I yell back, before he even finishes his question. No one else mentions it after that.
We walk in silence for a long time, mindlessly taking step after step, marching along like an terribly out-of-sync army. The only sound being the repeated thump of shoes slamming into the hard ground.

Suddenly a scream pierces the air, shattering the silence like a piece of glass. I snap my head backwards trying to locate the source of the sound. I hear more screaming and flailing, until the screams cut off in an eerie silence.

"What's going on?" Minho yells out, close enough to hurt my ears, I feel his other hand reflexively reach for me, pulling my entire body against him. Protecting me.

"It's...its.. Dave.. His heads gone." Thomas stammers from somewhere down the corridor.

"It's what?" I choke out, almost falling over in shock. I might've, if Minho didn't have a death grip on me. "Did I hear you right?"

"Ya... Ya, you did... His head is gone, it turned into a metal ball and rolled away." Thomas says absently.

"No way, no shucking way." I mutter, shaking my head once again.

"Alright keep moving." Minho yells, yanking me forwards. "We need to keep moving. "

We continue to walk on in silence,
And I'm surprised that no one asks to go back. I guess all the cowards are already gone. We walk for what feels like miles through the seemingly endless tunnels. If I didn't run my hand along the wall, I wouldn't even be sure we were moving. As a runner I'm used to relying on my eyes, and the complete darkness is disorienting and claustrophobic. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it.

"This had better not be another shuck Maze." Newt mutters from behind me. I agree, it was hard enough solving one you could see. I don't want to solve one in the dark with limited food and water. No thank you, I'm good, I've solved enough mazes.

"Shuck it." Minho says, coming quickly to a halt in front of me. "Everyone stop!"

"Why what's going on?" Thomas yells from the back of the line. From what I can tell, Minho must've run into something. I just hope it isn't a dead end.

"I slammed my shin on something." Minho answers, then pauses, "I think it's stairs."

"Well let's go." I say, more than eager to get out of this dark place.

"Slim it Skylar I'm going." He replies, beginning to walk up the stairs. He uses not my nickname, but my real name, And it makes me wonder if he's not still mad about this morning. I decide that he's probably just distracted, and let it go for the moment. I thought we were over that. Huffing in annoyance, I follow closely behind him, keeping just enough distance between us to avoid a domino effect of one of us falls. The stairs seem to stretch on almost as long as the tunnel, testing the endurance I'd built as a runner.

"How...many...stairs?" Mal gasps, out of breath after so many steps. I hear a couple of agreements, but no one asks to stop. We all want out of here.

"Ouch!" Minho shrieks, stepping backwards and almost knocking me over. "Stop again I hit my head." He calls down the stairs to the rest of the group. "It's some sort of door."

"Well Open it." Newt says, pushing past me to stand by Minho. I can hear both of them trying to open the hatch, their finger nails screeching against the metal of the door.

"Great it won't open."

"Wait I think I found a handle."

Suddenly the tunnel is light up with a glaring yellow light. After being in the dark for so long, the light burns my eyes, instantly causing dots to swirl in my vision.

"Close it!" I yell, hiding my face with my hands. "Minho! Shut the shucking door."

"Ok, ok." He answers, letting the door drop shut with a thud. "Hold on, I'll just open it a little bit to let the light in slowly."

"Everyone cover your eyes!"