Chapter 54 Chapter Fifty-Four: Fighting Is Unavoidable

Thomas kept a constant speed and ran with the others along the stone path towards the cliff.He has slowly adapted to running in the maze, but this time it feels completely different.The ever-changing sound of footsteps echoed between the walls, and the red light of the blade beetle seemed more dangerous and evil in the ivy-the creators must be watching, listening to their every move, and the battle cannot be avoided. Are you scared?Teresa asked while running. No, I love things made of fat and steel and I can't wait to see them.He didn't feel he had a sense of humor, and wondered if he'd ever have it again.

It's funny.she replied. She was beside him, but his eyes were fixed on the front.We'll be fine, you just have to stick to me and Minho. Ah, I am the knight in shining armor.What?You think I can't protect myself? In fact, he thought the exact opposite—Teresa seemed as strong as anyone else.No, I just want to be nice to you. The procession took up the entire width of the corridor, running smoothly and quickly—Thomas wondered how long the non-walkers would last.As if in answer to his thought, Newt fell behind and patted Minho on the shoulder. "You lead the team now," Thomas heard him say.

Minho nodded and ran to the front, leading the Gladiator through every turn, each step excruciating to Thomas.All the courage he had gathered turned to fear, and he kept wondering when the monsters would come after them, when the fight would begin. The thought haunted him as they walked on.The others, who hadn't run such a long distance, were panting, but none of them stopped.They kept running without seeing any sign of the monster.As the days go by, Thomas grows a faint hope that maybe they can finish everything before they are attacked, maybe. Finally, the longest hour of Thomas' life passed, and they reached the alley that led to the last turn before the cliff—a short corridor on the right hand side, like the intersection of the letter T.

Thomas ran forward behind Minho, Teresa beside him, his heart pounding, his skin covered with sweat.Minho's footsteps slowed down around the corner, stopped, and raised his hand to signal Thomas and the others to stop too.Then he turned around with a look of horror on his face. "Did you hear that?" he asked quietly. Thomas shook his head, trying to suppress the fear in Minho's expression. Minho stepped forward quietly, carefully looking around at the sharp edge of the rock, looking towards the cliff.Thomas had seen him do this before—the last time they had tracked a monster to this place.Like last time, Minho hurried back and turned to look at him.

"Oh no," moaned the guardian, "oh no." Then Thomas heard it too.The sound of monsters, they seem to have been hiding in the dark and waiting quietly, and now they are all awake.He didn't even have to look - he knew what Minho was going to say before he told the truth. "At least a dozen monsters, maybe fifteen," he raised his hands and wiped his eyes with the heels of his palms. "They're waiting for us!" The icy chill of fear made Thomas feel worse than ever.He looked at Teresa, was about to say something, but stopped when he saw the expression on her pale face - he had never seen such obvious fear.

Newt and Alby walked over to the waiting Gladiator, joining Thomas and the others.Apparently Minho's announcement had been whispered through the ranks, because the first thing Newt said was, "Well, we know we're going to war." His quivering voice gave him away—he was just talking about himself That's all there is to say. Thomas felt the same way, and it was easy to talk about it—a fearless fight in the hope that only one of them would be taken and that they would all escape together in the end.Now the battle is coming, just around the corner.Can I survive this battle?Doubt seeped into his brain and heart.He thought about the reason why the monsters were waiting—the blade beetle must have told them that we are coming, are the creators enjoying it very much at this moment?

He has an idea. "Maybe they've taken a baby in the clearing, maybe we can just walk past them—otherwise why were they sitting—" A loud bang behind him interrupted him—he looked back to see more monsters coming toward them from the other end of the corridor, spikes gleaming and metal legs groping their way, coming from the clearing.Just as Thomas was about to speak, he heard a sound from the other side of the alley—more monsters were coming. Enemies came from all directions, firmly blocking their way. All surged in Thomas' direction, forming a tight column, forcing him to retreat to the opening where the alley meets the cliff corridor.Between the cliff and them, too, he saw a herd of monsters, their spines outstretched and their slimy skin gleaming.They wait and watch.The other two groups of monsters stopped a dozen meters away from everyone, surrounded them, and also waited and watched.

Thomas turned slowly, suppressing his fear as he accepted the fact that they were surrounded.Now they had no choice—there was no way out, and there was a sharp throbbing pain behind their eyes. The Gladiators surrounded him, huddling into a tighter line, each facing outwards, huddled together in the center of the T-junction.Thomas is squeezed between Newt and Teresa - he can feel Newt's shaking.No one spoke.The only thing to be heard was the horrible groaning and whirring of machinery from the Griever as they sat there, seemingly enjoying their little trap for humans.Accompanied by the sound of breathing with the mechanical sound of wheezing and wheezing, their disgusting bodies kept rising and falling.

what are they doingTomas yelled at Teresa, what are they waiting for? She didn't answer, which worried him, and he took her hand.People around stood silently, clutching crude weapons. Thomas looked at Newt. "Any ideas?" "No," he replied, his voice almost a faint trill, "I don't know what the hell they're waiting for." "We shouldn't be here at all," said Alby.He had been silent until now, and now he spoke suddenly, and the voice sounded very strange, and the hollow echo bounced off the high walls of the maze was even more strange.

Thomas wasn't even in the mood to complain—something had to be done. "Well, it wouldn't be any better if we stayed where we lived. I hate to say it, but it's better for one of us to die than all of us." .Seeing all these monsters approaching and hitting the vital point, a question exploded in his heart - can they really defeat all the monsters? After a long time, Alby said, "Maybe I should..." His voice trailed off, and he began to walk forward—towards the cliff—slowly, in a daze.Thomas looked at him blankly and in awe—he couldn't believe his eyes. "Alby?" Newt said. "Come back!"

Alby didn't respond, he ran - straight towards the pack of monsters between him and the cliff. "Alby!" Newt screamed. Thomas started talking too, but Alby had already run to the monsters and jumped on top of one.Newt moved away from Thomas and ran toward Alby—but all he saw was a blur of metal and skin, half a dozen monsters waking up and attacking Alby.Newt hadn't gone far when Thomas reached for his arm and pulled him back. "Let's go!" Newt yelled, trying to catch his breath evenly. "Are you crazy?" Thomas cried. "There's nothing you can do!" Two more monsters rushed out to attack Alby, pushing each other, scratching, biting and cutting the boy, showing their ferocious and cruel nature.Incredibly, Alby didn't bark.Thomas had just stopped Newt and missed Alby's figure—thanks to Newt for distracting him.Newt finally gave up, collapsed in frustration and fell backwards. Alby jumped up, Thomas thought, for the last time, fighting back the gag.Terrified of returning to the world he had seen, their leader chose self-sacrifice.He is gone, gone forever. Thomas helped Newt to his feet, and the glademan kept his eyes on the place where his partner disappeared. "I don't believe it," Newt whispered, "I don't believe he would." Thomas shook his head, unable to answer.Watching Alby get knocked out like that filled him with a pain he'd never felt before—a sickening, distracting pain that was far worse than physical pain.He didn't even know if it had anything to do with Alby - he'd never liked that guy much.It suddenly occurred to him that the scene he just saw could also happen to Chuck or Teresa... Minho approached Thomas and Newt, he pressed Newt's shoulder hard. "We can't let his sacrifice be in vain." He turned to Thomas. "If we have no other choice, we'll fight them and clear a way for you and Teresa so you can get to the cliff and go into the hole and do what you were supposed to do." Do - we'll try to keep them out of the way until you call us in." Thomas looked at the three packs of monsters—none of them were moving in the direction they were—and nodded. "I hope they can sleep for a while longer. It should only take a minute for the two of us to enter the password." "How could you guys be so heartless?" Newt murmured, the disgust in his voice surprising Thomas. "So what do you want, Newt?" Minho said, "Shouldn't we all get dressed up and have a funeral?" Newt didn't answer, still staring at the place where the monsters seemed to be eating Alby beneath them.Thomas couldn't help but take a peek—he saw a big bright red smear on one of the monsters.He felt sick to his stomach and turned away quickly. Minho went on to say, "Alby doesn't want to go back to his old life, he sacrificed himself for us - and they didn't attack again, that might work. If we waste this opportunity, we'd be really heartless. " Newt just shrugged and closed his eyes. Minho turned to face the huddled people. "Listen up! The first priority is to protect Thomas and Teresa, get them to the cliff and into the cave so—" The monsters started to move in unison, and the voice that suddenly became active interrupted him.Thomas looked up in horror, and the monsters on both sides of the team seemed to notice them again.Spikes gleamed through their oily skin, and their bodies heaved and swayed.Then the monsters moved forward in unison, slowly spreading the sharp claws at the end of their limbs, stretching out to Thomas and the other Gladers, ready to kill.The monsters tightened the traps they set like nooses, and quickly attacked people. Alby's sacrifice did not get the results they wanted.