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Thomas kneas too late to stop the last Griever before it exited its pod He turned to assess the situation and watched as its full body sloshed out onto the ground It was already scanning the area with a small observer socket that extended from its front; then, as he’d seen the curled up into a ball and spikes burst fro of the machines within its belly Concrete kicked up in the air, the Griever’s spikes tearing through the flooring, and Thoroup of people who’d coh several people before they even kneas happening

Tho he could use as a weapon A piece of pipe about the length of his ar--he ran to it and picked it up When he turned back toward the Griever, he saw that Minho had alreadyat it with a fierceness that was al at the others to get away The Griever spun toward him as if he’d heard the coes eed from the creature’s sides and Tho saw, the other with a nasty-looking claw, its four tips ending in blades

"Minho, just let me distract it!" he yelled "Get everyone out of here and have Brenda start leading them to the maintenance roo to crawl out of the Griever’s way Before the et a few feet from it, a rod shot out of the creature and stabbed hi blood

Tho his pipe, ready to beat his way past the appendages, find his way to the handle He’d alht, throwing her body onto the Griever It im to press her to its skin

"Teresa!" Tho up short, not sure what to do

She twisted around to look at hi, her hands disappearing in the fatty flesh So far she appeared to have escaped major injury

Tho for an opening to attack without hitting her instead

Teresa’s eyes found hiain "Get out of--"

But her words were lost The Griever had sucked her face into its blubbery skin and was pulling her farther and farther in, suffocating her

Thomas stared, frozen Tooto stand there and let her sacrifice herself to save him and the others He couldn’t let that happen

He screamed, and with all of the force he had, he ran and leaped into the air, s saard his chest and he dodged to the left, swinging the pipe around as he did It connected, hard, and the saw broke off, flew through the air Thoround and clatter across the roo the pipe into the creature’s body, just to the side of Teresa’s head He strained with all he had to pull it back out, then drove it in again, then again

An appendage with a claw clamped down on him, lifted him into the air and threw him He slammed onto the hard ceained sootten to her knees, atting at the Griever’sto its fatty flesh He used the pipe to whack at anything that caled from below and the creature lurched to the side, then spun in a circle, flinging her at least ten feet through the air before she landed

Tho away the claw as it swiped at hiainst the blubber, pushed hied his ar sliced his back, and pain ripped through his body He kept digging, searching for the handle--the deeper he went, the more the creature’s flesh felt like thick ertips brushed hard plastic and he forced his hand forward another inch, grabbed the handle, pulled with all his strength and spun his body off of the Griever He looked up to see Teresa batting back a pair of blades just inches from her face And then a sudden silence filled the room as the creature’s machine core sputtered and died It collapsed into a flat, oblong pile of fat and gears, its protruding appendages falling to the ground, lie lungfuls of air And then Teresa was by his side, helping him roll over onto his back He saw the pain on her face, the scratches, the flushed, sweaty skin But then somehow she smiled

"Thanks, Tom," she said

"You’re welcoood to be true

She helped pull hiet out of here"

Thoh the chute anyh the double doors Then he turned and faced Thomas and Teresa

He bent over, hands on knees to catch his breath "That’s all of theroan "All that made it, anyway Guess we knohy they let us in so easy--they planned to slice us to bits with shuck Grievers if we cauys need to push up to the front and help Brenda lead the way"

"She’s okay, then?" Tho

"Yeah She’s up there already"

Thomas crawled to his feet, but didn’t take two steps before he stopped again A deep rumble came from somewhere, from everywhere The room shook for a few seconds then stilled

"We better hurry," he said, and broke into a sprint, following the others

CHAPTER 71

At least two hundred people had made it out of the Maze, but for soed people in the crowded hallway, struggling to get to the front

He weaved around men, women and children until finally he spotted Brenda She pushed her way toward hi and kissed his cheek With every bit of his heart, he wished it could all be over right then--that they could be safe, not have to go any farther

"Minho o, pro everyone out was too iuys could handle the Griever I should’ve stayed I’m sorry"

"I told hi The only thing We’ll be out of here soon"

She gave him a little push "Then let’s hurry and make it happen"

"Okay" He squeezed her hand and they joined Teresa, ain

The hallas even darker than before--the lights that worked at all were dim, and flickered off and on The people they passed huddled in silence, waiting anxiously Thoive an encouraging smile, which, as usual, looked more like a sh the air and the building treh away, but Thomas kneouldn’t last

When he and Brenda reached the front of the line, they found that the group had stopped at a stairwell, unsure whether to go up or down

"We need to go up," Brenda said

Thoroup to follow and started cli, Brenda at his side