The sound of the air whooshing is calming as the wind carries the deep purple and red leaves past me. The cool breeze, indicating the coming winter, and the smell of the surrounding forest reminds me of home. I’ve spent so many years in this maze. Then again, it’s not like I have much of a home to go back to anyways. The only home I’ve ever known is this maze. The only structure that I’ve grown familiar with was our haven – with two large steel gates, nearly the size of the maze bushes themselves, connected to steel walls that were the same size and circled our little village. I’m probably the only one who doesn’t mind living here, most people want to go back home for sure, and this maze is the only thing in their way. If only we could figure out why we are here and what the purpose of all this was, maybe some of these people could regain a sense of hope.
[BREEEERRRRR!]
[BREEEERRRRR!]
My concentration broke as soon as my mind fixated on that familiar sound. Those sirens were never good news. They always sound like the sirens from Star Wars. It usually indicated that the maze is about to gift us with some new threat. This time, it seems, the threat was the maze shifting.
[RUSTLE RUSTLE!]
The sound of the shifting bush grew louder and louder as it closes in on its target – me. I was already running back to base but now I’m booking it. Forget my asthma, I’ll need all the air I can to outrun this engulfing void of nothingness. A left, then a right, then another left. And there’s the base entrance. But the doors are already closing. It’s too early! Damn that Joe, we have rules for a reason. He’s always had it out for me since the last time I found a clue. That’s why the maze is nibbling at my ankles with the vines whipping at my legs, reaching for its prey. But no worries, I’m almost there. Just a little bit more! The bushes on either side of me are attempting to engulf me into the maze to become one with it, like my comrades before me. The sneaky vines pull my legs out from underneath me, but I get right back up and keep on running. The doors are in reaching distance but I’m not gonna make it. If I had paid attention more, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Oh well, it was bound to happen eventually. Then, as if someone gave me a nudge, I’m able to slide through the small sliver of space between the closing gates of the base, escaping the shifting maze behind me.
Out of breath, and with no strength left to stand, I lay on the lowcut grass, trying to catch my breath while looking at the domed night sky. That’s when I hear the commotion and the sounds of footsteps growing closer to me. I’m too exhausted to even get up and see who it is. That’s when I hear her, her soft and soothing voice calling out to me. The aroma of a lavender is carried by the wind, tickling my nose, bringing an instant smile to my face. No matter the situation, hearing the melody of her voice and the mixture of lavender, always calms me down. I open my eyes to see her standing above me, Chloe. She lets butterflies loose in my stomach at the sight of her. Her arms are crossed. She looks so adorable when she’s upset, she squints like a child. Her emerald eyes sparkle in her shadow with her long brown hair dangling from her head. Her breasts are barely able to stay inside the tight tanned shirt, our clothes were never the best condition but I’m not complaining in this situation. Wait, what did she say again? I’m gonna hear an earful from her now.
“Wait, what did you say? I couldn’t hear anything but my own heartbeat.”
As she rolls her eyes, she reaches out her hand to me and repeats herself,
“I saaaaidd, you better not have dropped the fourth clue Xander. Joe is already in a bad mood as it is, and I really don’t want to hear any more of his complaining today.”
I reach to grab her hand and get myself up on my feet, responding,
“You’re telling me. Us Explorers are always doing all the work while he sits back and does nothing. If only I was here before he was voted leader, we would’ve beaten this maze game already and be swimming in pools of gold.”
She chuckles, plucking the grass and leaves out my hair, and asks,
“Oh yeah? But what about the rest of us regular folk?”
“You guys can swim in the pool every Thursday and Saturday.”
We both laugh at the thought of us swimming in a pool of gold. It is funny to think about, rather than thinking about the actual reality we’re in. Reaching the middle of the maze means that we win the game, are rewarded with plenty of riches, and the leader gets any wish they’d like granted. That’s why Joe is so tyrannical about his position as leader. We’re racing against three other teams in the maze, each of us in a different corner of the maze. The teams Beta and Delta aren’t too hard to handle. They’re always behind the curve but it seems like they’ve given up, like some of the guys in our haven. There’s Alpha, who has the most clues and are the closest to finishing the maze. We are always playing catch up with them. They do have more athletic people on their team anyways, so it’s no wonder they’re able to cover more ground than us. And then there’s us – Gama. I just brought back our fourth clue while Alpha has five, probably just got their sixth today. I’m sure we could have more clues if Joe wasn’t such a prick. He’s always hogging all the supplies, closes the gates early, and is more worried about his little circle of thugs than any of us regular folks. To make matters worse, I’m the only runner out there trying to get the clues.
“Oi! Where’s the clue? Did you drop it again?”
Speak of the devil, here comes Joe. His smug face overshadows his light blue eyes and slick blonder hair. He may be quick on his feet, but I have more strength and height; Although he has more back up. Begrudgedly, I reply,
“That happened only once you blockhead, and I wouldn’t have dropped it if you had just kept the doors open like the rules say.”
Chole steps back as Joe’s smug face transforms to aggression. Gripping my shirt in his fist, Joe scoffs,
“Listen here Goliath, the only reason I don’t kick your ass right here and now is because you’re the only Explorer we got. Our numbers have been dwindling thanks to this stupid maze and those other incompetent teams. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the rules, I’m just trying to leave this god-forsaken place. If it was up to me, you wouldn’t even be out in the field. So, hand me that stupid clue or I’ll knock you down to size.”
I could take him easily. He’s right in striking distance. One punch and it’ll be lights out. But his goons are behind him, laughing and giving me that devious smile, while their boss over here is making empty threats. But, if I take him out, who will follow me? Everyone has either given up or are too scared to defy him. Holding my tongue, I hand him the clue – a crystal skull. Snatching it from my hands, he spits on my shoes and walks back to his gang. All my anger is being bottled up into my clenched fists. Chloe walks in front of me, putting her hands over my fists. Her calming eyes douses the flames of fury that boil inside if me. Letting out a heavy sigh, my fists relax and hold her hands.
“I know, I know. I won’t start anything.”
With a smile on her face, she takes my hand, leading me away from the gates and responds,
“Good, now let’s go eat.”
Suddenly, the sirens begin to wale. The ear-piercing nose echoes the domed labyrinth as the gates begin to open. But why, the gates are supposed to be closed from sunup to sundown. Then, an unfamiliar male voice coming from the sky, says to us,
“Participants of The Lavender Labyrinth, this is an announcement. Since no team has been able to collect all 7 clues within the allotted time, you all are now entering a special phase. There will be no more teams. It is now a battle royale – you all must race to the center of the maze. The first person, or persons, that reach the center of the maze wins and is granted all the prizes that were previously promised. You may form your own groups if you’d like, but that is not required. Now new threats are added to the maze, as well as some gifts scattered throughout it. The clues will no longer be of any use, and therefore, are no longer required. You have 2 weeks to get to the center of the maze. Anything goes. And there will not be any more support from the outside. Good luck explorers and may the best runner win.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
As the announcement was going on, a bright white beamed from the dome and onto the clues. It wasn’t just ours; it was all over the maze. Bright white lights were taking the clues away from the other havens. And while the clues were being taken from us, we were gifted the new threats that the mystery voice told us about. Monsters of various shapes and sizes fell from the heavens, randomly landing across the maze. Unfortunately, one even landed in our haven – it was a giant cyclops. Its skin tone was tanned like the rest of us with its long black hair braided down to its waist, and wearing brown pants and fur boots. The cyclops was extremely tall. Its height was probably three times the average person. Its single green eye slowly flooded deep red, as if it was charging up a blast. With the announcements concluding, a furious red laser beams from the cyclops’s eye as it destroys whatever is around it. The sky falls to night as everyone is sent into a confused frenzied. I was frozen in shock until Chloe slaps her hands onto my face, calling out to me. With the sound of her voice, bringing me back to reality, I try to assess the situation as best as possible. Looking around, I see that Joe and his gang are busy fighting the cyclops, while the others are running around scared or curled up crying. If we’re to survive this, we need a weapon. Unfortunately, the armory is on the opposite side of the haven – past the cyclops and Joe’s gang. Looks like I’ll be putting myself in some exhausting danger, once more. Putting my hands on Chloe’s shoulders, I tell her,
“Our only chance to get out of this mess, is to get some supplies and weapons to survive in the maze. Because if we stay here, either the cyclops will kill us, or Joe will. And I don’t want to wait and find out which option was better. The supplies are to the left, hopefully the explosions didn’t destroy them all, and the weapons are past the monster and Joe. I hate to say this, but we’ll have to split up to get everything we need to survive. I’ll get the weapons while you get the supplies. Be sure to grab plenty of medical supplies too, you never know what the maze will throw at us. You got it?”
With fear in her voice, Chloe asks,
“But… but what about the others? We can’t just leave them here.”
I hold her to my chest, stroking her hair, trying to calm her the best I can in a tense situation like this. But she still needs to hear the hard truth.
“There isn’t time for that. If they wanted to survive, they’d fight and stop curling up and crying. It’s just you and me now. We gotta get out of here or we’ll be sitting ducks. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Next thing you know, we’ll be swimming in a pool of gold like we talked about.”
We don’t have time to be sitting around and thinking about what I think, our top priority is survival. I give her a kiss on her head and look into her eyes, to confirm that she knows the plan. She’s still scared out of her mind; I can’t blame her. She slowly nods and turns towards the supplies. We wish each other luck as we both bolt towards our objectives, not knowing if we’ll survive this.
The terrified screams of people, explosions, and the roars of various monsters fill the labyrinth. Chloe rushes towards the supplies, bagging everything she can into the nearby backpacks. But I can’t worry about her right now. To avoid the fight between Joe, his gang, and the cyclops, I went the long way – around the left side through the crater the monster left when it landed. I don’t have much time until my lungs give out so I must be quick about this. As I reach the crater, the cyclops jumps in the air. This isn’t good, it’s going for a ground slam. Hurtling through the crater, I try my best to get out of the crater and as far away from the impact as possible. But I was a little too late. As I climb out of the crater, the cyclops slams into the ground with a tremendous force. The impact of the colossal monster resonates across the ground, breaking it apart like an earthquake. The sheer force of the impact throws me across the battlefield. Dust and debris fill the air as I slam into some unknown objects. As the dust settles, the previous crater has grown dramatically. The number of Joes gang was cut by three fourths of its previous size as they lay on the ground, recovering from explosion. Incidentally, I land right next to the weapons cache. How convenient. But my left arm is broken. How inconvenient. But, I don’t have time to think of the pain or how this is so not what I need right now. I shuffle around the ground for a bag or something to carry the weapons around. All I could find was a torn blanket, but it’ll have to do. I put various weapons inside the torn blanket and wrap it up tight, so it won’t fall. It’s hard trying to tie a knot one handed but I was able to do it, with the help of my teeth. Grabbing the makeshift bag of weapons, I try to figure out a way to reconvene with Chloe. That’s when I see the cyclops closing in on Joe and his gang. They won’t last much longer. I’ll at least give him a fighting chance, so I grab a spear from the weapons cache and throw it at Joe’s feet. He was very surprised to see the spear coming from me as he picks it up off the ground. Whatever happens next is out of my hands. However, the clanking of the spear landing in front of Joe got the attention of the cyclops as it turns towards me with its eye glowing red. It’s about to blast me with some of that red laser from earlier – not good. It pumps its chest out, reeling his arms back, preparing himself for the blast as I run as fast as I can away from him. And right as the cyclopes opens its eye to blast me, a spear is jammed right into the eye. The cyclops screams in pain as his glowing red eye blasts the ground with the spear in its eye. Holding its hands over its eye, the laser becomes contained in its hands as it the blast recoils and blows its head off. This made everyone stop and stare. The cheers of people around me grew as we all walked towards the monster to see its remains. That’s when the haven grew silent. Upon closer inspection, it turns out that the cyclops wasn’t a monster. It was actually a robot, disguised as a monster. Joe stands over the defeated machine in triumph, declaring how awesome he is and that we all are now his servants. On the outskirts of the crowd, Chloe walks up behind me with two bags of supplies and asks,
“What happened to your arm? Are you okay?”
“It hurts like hell. The monster – or rather that machine – did it when it slammed onto the ground a bit ago. You got the supplies? Cause this place is about to get worse.”
Grabbing some medical supplies from the bag, Chloe tends to my arm. She always was the best medic in the haven.
“You need to be more careful Xander. The upcoming journey is going to be dangerous, like you said. We’ll need all the strength we have if we’re going to survive.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, I reply to Chloe,
“Yeah, yeah. That’s why I have you hear to patch me up!”
“Oh, that’s all I’m here for?”
“Well, that and other things…”
“I’m sure I can think of what you mean…”
We both exchange some seductive smiles, but they were quickly whipped off our faces when Joe approaches us.
“Hey.”
“Uhhh…hey.”
“With all this crap going on, I don’t have time to deal with internal drama. We’re going to beat this maze. If you’re not with us, then you’re against us. But I think I know your answer.”
“Look man if you want to fight- “
“– I’m not here to fight, not now anyways. If you want to leave then go. We won’t stop you. I owe you after all.”
I was surprised, and a little confused. With Chloe finished patching me up, I reply to him,
“Well, this is new. I never knew you had a soft side.”
“I don’t! I just don’t like to be in anyone’s debt. Once you’re gone, we’ll be even, and anything goes out there.”
“Fine, whatever you say man.”
I can never get a read on this guy. I can’t tell if he’s just a dick or has his own way of expressing his feelings or what. But it’s not like we have time to think about any of that. As if we aren’t allowed to catch our breath, a giant spider is seen climbing over the walls and entering the haven. Even more reason to not stay here anymore. Joe commands the rest of the people in the haven,
“Everyone! Get to safety. Those who can fight, you’re with me! Xander, get the hell outta here. Next time we see each other, it’ll be when I beat this maze.”
Chloe and I put our bags on and turn to leave as Joe charges into battle. I doubt they’ll survive, but who’s to say we will? We could hear the screams of death, terror, and battle fade behind us as we exit the haven through the newly opened gates. I don’t know what this maze will throw at us, and I honestly don’t care. I have Chloe here with me, and even though this place is absolute hell, it’s home to me. I’m going to beat this maze if it’s the last thing I do. Who knows? Maybe I’ll actually get to swim in a pool of gold. Man, I didn’t know Chloe’s lavender scent was so strong out here. I turn to see Chloe collapsed onto the floor. The lavender smell is so strong. I go to ask if she’s okay, but everything’s getting hazy, and I feel really drowsy. Walking is becoming very difficult, as I try to check on Chloe.
[RUSTLE RUSTLE!]
Oh great, the maze is starting to shift. This isn’t the best of timing. I don’t know why I can barely stay awake, but I… need to get… Chloe out of here before… the… maze… gets her. I need….to…
[KERTHONK!]