Страница 72 из 77
He glanced behind him at Chuck, standing there with eyes wide.
"You killed it," the boy said. He laughed, as if that one act had solved all their problems.
"Wasn't so hard," Thomas muttered, then turned to see Teresa frantically typing away at the keyboard. He knew immediately that something was wrong.
"What's the problem?" he asked, almost shouting. He ran up to look over her shoulder and saw that she kept typing the word PUSH over and over, but nothing appeared on the screen.
She pointed at the dirty square of glass, empty but for its greenish glow of life. "I put in all the words and one by one they appeared on the screen; then something beeped and they'd disappear. But it won't let me type in the last word. Nothing's happening!"
Cold filled Thomas's veins as Teresa's words sank in. "Well . . . why?"
"I don't know!" She tried again, then again. Nothing appeared.
"Thomas!" Chuck screamed from behind them. Thomas turned to see him pointing at the Griever Hole—another creature was making its way through. As he watched, it plopped down on top of its dead brother and another Griever started entering the Hole.
"What's taking so long!" Chuck cried frantically. "You said they'd turn off when you punched in the code!"
Both Grievers had righted themselves and extended their spikes, had started moving toward them.
"It won't let us enter the word PUSH," Thomas said absently, not really speaking to Chuck but trying to think of a solution . . .
I don't get it, Teresa said.
The Grievers were coming, only a few feet away. Feeling his will fade into blackness, Thomas braced his feet and held up his fists halfheartedly. It was supposed to work. The code was supposed to—
"Maybe you should just push that button," Chuck said.
Thomas was so surprised by the random statement that he turned away from the Grievers, looked at the boy. Chuck was pointing at a spot near the floor, right underneath the screen and keyboard.
Before he could move, Teresa was already down there, crouching on her knees. And consumed by curiosity, by a fleeting hope, Thomas joined her, collapsing to the ground to get a better look. He heard the Griever moan and roar behind him, felt a sharp claw grab his shirt, felt a prick of pain. But he could only stare.
A small red button was set into the wall only a few inches above the floor. Three black words were printed there, so obvious he couldn't believe he'd missed it earlier.
Kill the Maze
More pain snapped Thomas out of his stupor. The Griever had grabbed him with two instruments, had started dragging him backward. The other one had gone after Chuck and was just about to swipe at the kid with a long blade.
A button.
"Push!" Thomas screamed, louder than he'd thought possible for a human being to scream. And Teresa did.
She pushed the button and everything went perfectly silent. Then, from somewhere down the dark tu
CHAPTER 58
Almost at once the Grievers had shut down completely, their instruments sucked back through their blubbery skin, their lights turned off, their inside machines dead quiet. And that door . . .
Thomas fell to the floor after being released by his captor's claws, and despite the pain of several lacerations across his back and shoulders, elation surged through him so strongly he didn't know how to react. He gasped, then laughed, then choked on a sob before laughing again.
Chuck had scooted away from the Grievers, bumping into Teresa—she held him tightly, squeezing him in a fierce hug.
"You did it, Chuck," Teresa said. "We were so worried about the stupid code words, we didn't think to look around for something to push—the last word, the last piece of the puzzle."
Thomas laughed again, in disbelief that such a thing could be possible so soon after what they'd gone through. "She's right, Chuck—you saved us, man! I told you we needed you!" Thomas scrambled to his feet and joined the other two in a group hug, almost delirious. "Chuck's a shucking hero!"
"What about the others?" Teresa said with a nod toward the Griever Hole. Thomas felt his elation wither, and he stepped back and turned toward the Hole.
As if in answer to her question, someone fell through the black square—it was Minho, looking as if he'd been scratched or stabbed on ninety percent of his body.
"Minho!" Thomas shouted, filled with relief. "Are you okay? What about everybody else?"
Minho stumbled toward the curved wall of the tu
Newt came through then, followed by Frypan. Then Winston and others. Before long eighteen boys had joined Thomas and his friends in the tu
"The rest?" Thomas asked, terrified of the answer.
"Half of us," Newt said, his voice weak. "Dead."
No one said a word then. No one said a word for a very long time.
"You know what?" Minho said, standing up a little taller. "Half might've died, but half of us shucking lived. And nobody got stung— just like Thomas thought. We've gotta get out of here."
Too many, Thomas thought. Too many by far. His joy dribbled away, turned into a deep mourning for the twenty people who'd lost their lives. Despite the alternative, despite knowing that if they hadn't tried to escape, all of them might've died, it still hurt, even though he hadn't known them very well. Such a display of death—how could it be considered a victory?
"Let's get out of here," Newt said. "Right now."
"Where do we go?" Minho asked.
Thomas pointed down the long tu
"Well—let's go," Minho answered. And the older boy turned and started walking up the tu
Newt nodded, ushering the other Gladers past him to follow. One by one they went until only he remained with Thomas and Teresa.
"I'll go last," Thomas said.
No one argued. Newt went, then Chuck, then Teresa, into the black tu
After a minute or so of walking, he heard a shriek from ahead, followed by another, then another. Their cries faded, as if they were falling. . . .
Murmurs made their way down the line, and finally Teresa turned to Thomas. "Looks like it ends in a slide up there, shooting downward."
Thomas's stomach turned at the thought. It seemed like it was a game—for whoever had built the place, at least.
One by one he heard the Gladers' dwindling shouts and hoots up ahead. Then it was Newt's turn, then Chuck's. Teresa shone her light down on a steeply descending, slick black chute of metal.
Guess we have no choice, she said to his mind.