Chapter 8 Chapter 8: The Alarm Sounds

The alarm sounded for two full minutes before finally stopping.The crowd gathered in the center of the courtyard, around the steel gate.Thomas was surprised to find that he had only arrived here yesterday.was it yesterday?Was it really yesterday, he thought to himself? Someone poked him in the elbow, he turned around, and Chuck was beside him. "How's it going, rookie?" Chuck asked. "Fine," he replied, and though that was far from the truth, he pointed to the door of the teleportation box. "Why is everyone so nervous? Isn't that how everyone gets here?"

Chuck shrugged. "I don't know, I guess because there used to be a pattern. One a month, on the same day of the month. Maybe God knows whoever in charge thought you were a big mistake and sent someone to replace you." He Giggling, he put his elbow on Thomas' ribs, and the sharp laughter made Thomas feel a little more fond of him for no reason. Thomas faked a glare at his new friend. "You're annoying, really." "Yeah, but we're friends now, aren't we?" Chuck laughed this time and let out a high-pitched wheeze. "It doesn't look like you're giving me much choice." The truth is, however, that he needs a friend, and Chuck is just fine.

The boy folded his arms, looking very satisfied. "Glad it's settled, rookie, everyone needs a friend in this place." Thomas grabbed Chuck by the collar and joked with him. "Okay, friend, then call my name, Thomas, or I will throw you into that hole after the teleportation box leaves." This sentence made a thought flash in his mind, and he let go of Chuck, "Wait, have you..." "Tried it." Chuck replied before Thomas finished talking. "Try what?" "Goes down in the teleporter after it's delivered people," Chuck replied, "doesn't work, it won't go down until it's empty."

Thomas remembered Alby telling him about it. "I know, but what if..." "Tried it." Thomas had a hard time holding back—it was irritating to be in such a situation. "Man, it's so hard to communicate with you. What have you tried?" "Go down into the hole after the teleportation box is down. No. The door can be opened, but it's empty, dark, and empty. No rope, no. It won't work." how can that be possible? "you……" "I tried it too." This time Thomas finally grumbled, "Okay, what?" "We threw some things into the hole, and there was no sound of landing, and they fell for a long time."

Thomas paused before responding, but hoped he wouldn't be interrupted this time. "Who the hell are you, do you read minds or something?" He tried his best to sarcastically. "It's just smart, it's as simple as that." Chuck blinked. "Chuck, stop winking at me," Thomas said with a smile.Chuck is definitely annoying, but there are aspects of him that seem to soften the horror of things.Thomas took a deep breath and looked again at the crowd by the cave. "So, how long did it take for the delivered items to arrive here?" "Usually half an hour after the alarm goes off."

Thomas thought for a second that there must be something else they hadn't tried. "Are you sure? Have any of you..." He paused, waiting for another interruption, but this time he didn't. "Have you ever tried to make a rope yourself?" "Yes, they tried, with ivy, and made it the longest possible. Let's just say that little experiment didn't go so well." "What do you mean?" Then what?Thomas thought. "I wasn't there at the time, but I heard that the kid who volunteered to try had just gone down ten feet or so when something whizzed through the air and sliced ​​him neatly in half."

"What?" Thomas laughed. "I don't believe it." "Oh, did you, dodger? I've seen the poor boy's bones, like a piece of whipped cream with a knife cut in half. They put him in a box to remind future children of such foolishness." Thomas was waiting for Chuck to laugh, thinking it was just a joke—who ever heard of someone being cut in half?But Chuck never smiled. "Are you serious?" Chuck's eyes met his. "I'm not lying, na...uh, Thomas. Come on, let's go find out who it is. I can't believe you've only been a rookie for one day, dumbass."

As Thomas and Chuck walked, they asked a question that hadn't been asked before. "How do you know it's not supplies or something?" "If that's the case, the alarms won't stop," Chuck replied. "The supplies will arrive at the same time every week. Hey, look." Chuck stopped, pointing to a man in the crowd.It was Gary, and he was staring at the two of them. "Hell," Chuck said, "he doesn't like you much, man." "Yeah," Thomas muttered, "I knew that all along." Chuck elbowed Thomas, and the two continued toward the crowd, waiting in silence.All of Thomas's problems were left behind, and after meeting with Gary, he didn't want to say anything more.

Chuck was obviously different from him. "Why don't you confront him directly and ask what's wrong with him?" He tried to sound tough. Thomas wished he had enough courage, but right now it sounded like the worst idea ever. "Well, for example, he has many more companions than I do, and it would not be wise to start a fight with him." "Yes, but you're smarter than him, and I bet you're faster. You can take him, and his friends." A boy standing in front of them looked back, sullen. Must be Gary's friend.Thomas thought. "Can't you shut up?" He hissed Chuck.

A door closed behind them, and Thomas turned to find Alby and Newt coming from the big house, both looking tired. Thomas had seen them bring Ben back to his senses—the horrible image of Ben writhing on the bed before him. "Chuck, man, you've got to tell me what the heck the hell is going on, what did they do there with poor Ben?" Chuck shrugged. "I don't know the details. The Griever will play tricks on people and make you suffer. When it's over, you'll be...different." Thomas felt he had finally had a chance to get a positive answer. "Different? What does that mean? What does this have to do with Griever? Is this what Gary meant by being 'stung'?"

"Shh." Chuck put a finger to his mouth. Thomas was on the verge of screaming in despair, but he didn't.He was determined to let Chuck tell him the truth later, whether Chuck wanted to or not. Alby and Newt came over, pushed the crowd aside, and stood by the door of the teleportation box.Everyone fell silent, and Thomas noticed for the first time the friction and clack of the elevator going up, reminding him of his nightmarish ride the day before.Sadness came over him, as if he were reliving those terrible minutes of waking up in the dark after losing his memory.Whoever the new kid was, Thomas felt sorry for him because he was going through the same thing. A dull rumbling announces the arrival of the eerie elevator. Thomas watched expectantly as Newt and Alby stood on either side of the door. A crack split the metal square in half from the center.Each side has a simple hooked doorknob, and in unison they pull the door open with force.With the sound of metal scraping, the door opened, and a puff of smoke rose from the surrounding stones. There was a deathly silence in the glade as Newt bent down to peer into the teleportation box as the faint bleating of a goat in the distance echoed in the courtyard.Thomas leaned forward as far as he could, hoping to catch a glimpse of the newcomer. Newt jerked upwards, returning to an upright position, his face contorted in confusion. "My God..." He panted, looking around blankly. At this time, Alby also saw clearly, with the same reaction. "Impossible." He murmured, looking a little dazed. Countless questions rang out at the same time, and everyone began to squeeze forward, looking into the small opening.What exactly did they see inside?Thomas thought, what did they see?He felt an inexplicable fear, almost the same as when he saw the ghost and fire beast when he lay in front of the window in the morning. "Wait a moment!" Alby yelled loudly, and everyone fell silent, "Wait a moment first!" "Okay, what's the matter?" someone yelled from behind. Alby stood up. "Two rookies appeared in two days," his voice seemed to be whispering, "It's been two years, and it has never changed, but now it is like this." Then, without knowing why, he suddenly looked directly at Thomas, "This What's going on, rookie?" Thomas stared back at him blankly, his face flushed and his stomach constricting. "how could I know?" "Why don't you just tell us what's down here, Alby?" cried Gary.There was another whisper in the crowd, and another crowd came up. "Shut up you flashers!" Alby yelled. "Tell them, Newt." Newt took one more look into the teleportation box, then faced the crowd gravely. "It's a girl," he said. Everyone was talking at the same time, and Thomas could only catch a few words. "A girl?" "she is mine!" "What does she look like?" "how old is she?" Thomas was engulfed in chaos.a girl?It never occurred to him why there were only boys in the glade and no girls.In fact, he hadn't even had time to notice it yet.Who is she?he does not know.why…… Newt tells everyone to be quiet again. "That's not the problem," he said, pointing into the teleportation box. "I think she's dead." The two boys brought some ivy ropes, put Alby and Newt into the transfer box, and they were responsible for bringing the girl's body up.A speechless shock spread among most people in the glade. They paced up and down solemnly, kicking up stones on the ground without saying a word.No one dared to admit that they couldn't wait to see the girl, but Thomas felt that they were as curious as he was. Gary was one of the men on the ground holding the rope, ready to pull the girl, Alby, and Newt up.Thomas studied Gary carefully.His eyes were dark circled—almost sickly, and for a moment Thomas felt more afraid of him than before. Alby yelled from the depths of the elevator shaft that they were ready, and Gary and two others began to pull on the rope.After a few slogans, the girl's lifeless body was pulled up, over the door, and placed on a stone slab in the forest glade.Immediately they rushed forward and huddled around her, with a palpable excitement in the air.But Thomas stayed where he was, frightened by the eerie silence, as if they had just opened a newly buried crypt. Although full of curiosity in his heart, Thomas was unwilling to squeeze forward to see what happened-everyone was tightly packed together.Before his view was blocked, though, he caught a glimpse of her.She is slender, but not short.She was, by his estimation, nearly five and a half feet tall.From the outside, she was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with black hair.But it was her skin that really caught the eye: pale, pearly. Newt and Alby climbed out of the teleporter and squeezed in front of the girl's lifeless body.The crowd huddled together again, blocking Thomas' view.After a few seconds, the crowd parted, and Newt pointed at Thomas. "Rookie, come here." His tone of voice no longer cared about any politeness. Thomas' heart was beating almost to his throat, and his hands were slightly sweating.What do they want him to see?Things are getting worse little by little.He forced himself to step forward, trying to look innocent, not someone who knew he was guilty but pretended to be innocent.Oh, calm down, he told himself, you've done nothing wrong.Yet he had a strange feeling that perhaps he had done something wrong without realizing it. The boys flashed a way, and they all stared at him as they went, as if the maze and the glade and the Griever were all his fault.Thomas didn't want to meet anyone's eyes for fear of looking guilty. He walked over to Newt and Alby, who knelt beside the girl.Thomas didn't want to look them in the face, but just looked at the girl intently.Although pale, she was very beautiful, and not only beautiful, but beautiful.Silky hair, flawless skin, perfect lips, long legs.It made him uncomfortable to look at a dead girl like that, but he couldn't bring himself not to look at her.It won't be long, he thought with a nausea, and soon she will start to rot.Such a morbid idea was even beyond his own expectations. "Do you know this girl, Shank?" Alby asked, sounding annoyed. The question startled Thomas. "Know her? Of course I don't. I don't know anyone but you." "That's not..." Alby started, but closed his mouth again, and replaced it with a frustrated sigh, "I mean, does she look familiar? Does it feel like you've seen her before?" "No, nothing." Thomas looked at his feet, then at the girl. Alby frowned. "Are you sure?" He didn't seem to believe a word Thomas said, almost scowling. Why does he think I have anything to do with this?Thomas thought.He met Alby's eyes calmly, and responded with the only answer he knew: "Yes, what's wrong?" "Forget it," Alby murmured, looking down at the girl. "It can't be just a coincidence. For two consecutive days, two rookies appeared, one alive and one dead." Alby's words seemed to make some sense, and panic flashed in Thomas's heart. "You don't think I..." He couldn't even speak. "Come on, rookie," Newt said, "we didn't say you killed the girl." Thomas's mind was spinning rapidly.He was sure he had never seen her—and yet at that moment a small doubt crept into his mind. "I swear I haven't seen her." Still, he said, he'd had enough of the accusations. "you……" Before Newt could finish speaking, the girl suddenly stood up and sat up.She took a big breath, opened her eyes suddenly, blinked a few times, and looked around at the crowd.Alby yelped in terror and fell to the ground.Newt took a sharp breath, jumped to his feet, and retreated awkwardly from her.Thomas didn't move. He stared at the girl, petrified. The fiery blue eyes flickered back and forth, she took a few deep breaths, her pink lips were trembling, and she kept muttering something incomprehensible.Then she said a word—in a voice that was hollow and confused, but strangely clear. "Everything will change." Thomas stared at her in horror, and she rolled her eyes up and fell to the ground on her back.As she fell to the ground, her right fist thrust into the air.Her body did not move, but her fist remained rigid, pointing to the sky.What she held in her hand was a crumpled piece of paper. Thomas tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry.Newt ran up, opened her fingers, and grabbed the note.He unfolded the note with trembling hands, fell to his knees, and spread it out on the ground.Thomas moved behind him and looked at the note. A few words were scrawled in bold black letters on the paper: She is the last. Certainly.