Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Disappeared in the Maze

There was mad anger in Gary's eyes, and his clothes were shabby and dirty.He fell to his knees, stopped, his chest rose and fell, and made a heavy inhalation sound.He looked around the house like a mad dog looking for something to bite.No one spoke, and everyone seemed to share Thomas' disbelief that Gary was just a figment of their imagination. "They'll kill you!" screamed Gary, frothing. "The Griever's gonna kill everyone—one every night until they're all gone!" Thomas couldn't speak, just looked at him.Gary staggered to his feet and walked forward, dragging his limping right leg.Everyone in the room stared at him, motionless, all petrified.Even Newt stood dumbfounded.This unexpected visitor strikes Thomas as more terrifying than the Griever outside the window.

Gary stopped, standing a few feet in front of Thomas and Newt, and held out a bloody finger to Thomas. "You," he said with obvious sarcasm, no longer funny, but disturbing, "it's all your fault!" Without warning, he suddenly waved his left hand, turning into a fist in the air, Just hit Thomas in the ear.Thomas yelped and fell to the ground, more in surprise than pain.After falling to the ground, he immediately got up. Newt finally came to his senses and pushed Gary away.Gary staggered back a few steps, hitting the table by the window.The lamp fell off the table and broke into countless pieces on the floor.Thomas thought Gary was going to fight back, but he straightened up, watching everyone with wild eyes.

"There is no solution," he said, his voice becoming calm and indifferent, creepy, "the maze of horrors will kill you all...the Griever will kill you...one a day until it all comes to an end...this ...that's the best way..." His eyes dropped to the ground, "They only kill one every night...their stupid mutants..." Thomas listened timidly, trying to suppress the fear in his heart, and mentally recorded every word the crazy child said. Newt took a step forward. "Shut up, Gary, there's a Griever just outside the window. Sit down and don't talk, maybe it'll go away on its own."

Gary looked up, his eyes narrowed. "You don't understand, Newt. You're so stupid—you've always been. There's no way out of this place—we can't win! They're going to kill you, everyone—one by one!" Gary yelled the last word, lunged at the window, and began pulling at the wooden panels like a beast trying to break free from its cage.Before Thomas and the others could react, he had pulled off a board and dropped it on the ground. "No!" Newt yelled, rushing forward.Thomas quickly followed to help.He couldn't believe what was happening. Gary had ripped off the second plank before Newt arrived.He swung it back with both hands, hitting Newt squarely on the head.Newt collapsed on the bed, spattering a few drops of blood on the sheets.Thomas stopped abruptly, ready to fight him.

"Gary!" Thomas yelled, "what are you doing?" The boy spat on the ground like a panting dog. "You shut up, Thomas. You shut up! I know who you are, but I don't care anymore. I just do what's right." Thomas felt as if his feet had been nailed to the ground, and he was dumbfounded by what Gary had said.He watched as Gary reached back and pulled the last plank down.The moment the board fell to the floor of the room, the window pane exploded inward like a swarm of transparent wasps.Thomas covered his face and fell to the ground, kicking his legs to keep himself away from him.He bumped into the bed, mustered up the courage to look up, and prepared to face the doomsday.

The Griever was trembling, its thick body was already half-squeezed into the broken window, and its metal forelimbs with pincers were grabbing everywhere.Thomas was so terrified that he didn't notice that everyone in the room had fled into the hallway, except for Newt, who was lying unconscious on the bed. Thomas stared blankly at one of the Griever's long legs reaching toward its lifeless body.This jolted him awake from the terror, and he struggled to his feet, looking for a weapon on the ground.He only saw a few scattered knives, which were of no use to him at this time.Panic exploded inside him, crushing him.

At this time, Gary spoke again.The ghost fire beast withdrew its forelimbs, as if it needed to watch and listen from the sidelines.However, its body kept stirring, trying to squeeze into the room. "No one understands!" the boy screamed over the hideous voice of the monster, which burrowed deeper and deeper into the house, tearing the walls to pieces. "No one understands what I saw, what the catastrophe brought me! Don't go back to the real world, Thomas! You don't...won't...remember!" Gary stared at Thomas with bewildered eyes for a long time, eyes full of fear.Then he turned and jumped onto the squirming body of the Griever.Thomas screamed as he saw the monster's protruding legs retract immediately, pinching Gary's limbs so he couldn't escape.The boy's body sunk inches into the monster's slimy body, making a horrible creaking sound.Then, the Griever exited the shattered window frame with astonishing speed and fell back to the ground.

Thomas ran to the jagged opening and looked down just in time to see the Griever land and run across the clearing.The thing turned, and Gary's body appeared and disappeared.The monster's body glowed brightly, casting an eerie yellow light among the stones of the open West Gate.The ghost fire beast went out to the depths of the maze.Immediately afterwards, several other monsters followed their companions, swishing and clacking, as if celebrating their victory. Thomas was so sick that he nearly threw up.He was just about to back away from the window when something outside the window caught his attention.He hurriedly leaned out of the window to get a better look.A lone figure galloped across the glade courtyard, toward the exit where Gary had been taken.

Although the light was poor, Thomas knew immediately who it was.He screamed and yelled for the man to stop, but it was too late. Minho was running at full speed and disappeared into the maze.