Sometimes Our Saints Are Sinners (TVH sequel)

I began running as fast as I could, ignoring the voice calling from behind. My breaths became heavy as I ran blindly through the foliage. My arms were being slapped by sharp leaves but I ignored it as the voice behind me continually got quieter. The sun was beating down and I could feel myself beginning to sweat, but that was the last thing on my mind. All I was thinking about was getting away from the person that was out to get me. I had to hide. I ran into a fork in the field and stopped to try to pick which one to take.
“Kid!” I heard from behind me. I turned to see Matt and Zach jogging up to me. They stopped to catch their breaths and I watched them, my own breathing slowing down as I allowed more oxygen into my lungs. Matt looked up from his crouch and smiled a bit. “Damn, Kid. You run pretty fast.”
“Well we’re being hunted, so I thought it’s best to run as deep into hiding as I can so it’d be less easy to find me.” I shrugged. The two pink-faced boys stood up and looked behind them as a scream reverberated through the air.
“Speaking of that, we should go.” Zach announced. I nodded and we chose to go through the right path. We kept our pace at a fast walk and sometimes jogged for short periods of time. There was little shade and it was growing hotter as we continued through the vegetation, trying to get as far as we could from the people trying to catch us.
“So how do you know where to go?” Matt asked in a quiet tone, breaking the silence. “This is a freaking maze. If Zach and I didn’t follow you we’d probably dead.”
“I’ve been in here a few times.” I smirked. “I know my way around.”
“You know that’s kind of sad, right?” Zach giggled, putting his glistening hand over his dry mouth. I shot him a look and raised an eyebrow.
“If you want to see it like that. The way I see it is that you should be glad you’re with me. Like Matt said, you both would get caught without me.” That shut Zach up and I let out a quiet laugh. I stopped walking as a breeze went through the open air above, cooling me off slightly. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to figure out where we were.
“… What are you doing?” Matt questioned, sounding apprehensive and confused. I put my finger up to shush him as I racked my brain for the location. I heard the two whispering to each other and I let out an irritated sigh. I grunted and turned to them, forcing my eyes open.
“I’m trying to remember where we are.” I snapped, making sure my voice was quiet enough so it wouldn’t echo. Zach and Matt gave me incredulous looks and I pinched the bridge of my nose. “There are very few places that get breezes. It’s really hot in this place except for two or three locations. But since this is like a labyrinth I seemed to have lost my sense of direction.”
“So are you saying we’re lost?” Zach scoffed, his mouth dropping. My hand fell to my side and I gave him an amused look.
“You both are so adorable and unknowing.” I mused. Their eyebrows scrunched up and I grinned. “Almost everyone knows that if you get lost in a maze you kept your hand on the right wall and you’ll find the exit.”
“I don’t think any of us know that,” Matt informed me. I gave him a curious look and he coughed. “So what if the others don’t find their way out?”
“That’s why we have walkie-talkies that have trackers in them. Someone back at the base would be able to talk us back to the exit if we got lost. Now let’s go, we’ve been standing here for awhile and it’s safer to keep moving.” The two men nodded and followed me, but I could tell they were a bit scared. I kept our pace slow so I could try to listen for others, but after awhile I began to realize that since I was unable to locate us back at the breezy spot we were practically walking around blindly. But it’s not like I’d admit that.
“I wonder where the others are.” Zach spoke after about ten minutes of walking through the labyrinth with absolutely no sense of direction. I nodded and glanced back at him. Both of the men looked worn out and sweaty, which was expected when we started this journey. “Do you think someone has gotten caught by now?”
“An alarm is supposed to go off on our walkie-talkies when someone gets caught, so I doubt it.” I answered. The boys nodded and I began picking up my pace. “But maybe we should try to find the others. It’s been awhile since I’ve done this in a huge group, but I think if the whole group can get out without getting caught we get free food.”
“Free food? I’m so in.” Matt moaned as he sped up so he was right next to me. The paths were only wide enough for Matt and I to run together, but it didn’t seem like Zach minded being behind us as we began to jog.
“Are any of you guys having flashbacks of that time we went paintballing?” I questioned randomly as we continued our pace.
“You mean being on the same team?” Zach huffed, sweat dripping down his face. I cringed as I felt beads of sweat beginning to form on my face, but I ignored it and smirked.
“I mean being hunted.” The others laughed a little bit and nodded. Since we were all three on the same team, we all remembered clearly fighting against Brian and Jimmy, since Gayle and Emma weren’t here with us.
“But now all of us are on a team except one.” I chuckled as my legs began to ache.
“Yeah, and we don’t even know the strengths of the one hunting us.” Zach added. I scoffed and chewed on my lip.
“I do. Which means we need to move quick. He’s skilled in this.” With that, I ran ahead of Matt, taking the lead in the path. “Okay, as you can see there are little pods that are just resting places as well as other paths. Look in all of them to look for others. But if you see him we need to split up. If we get separated remember what I said; keep your hand on the right wall and you’ll find the way out!”
“Okay.” They answered simultaneously. Listening to my own advice I kept close to the right wall as I tried to look into all of the pods and paths we were passing. I was running too fast to really see anything, but I was a few good yards ahead of the others so if I missed someone, they were sure to catch it. It seemed like forever until I skidded to a stop when I saw a body in a pod. My lungs were burning as I peeked into the small open area. Sitting on the floor was Johnny, who looked almost mortified to be playing this game.
“You okay, dude?” I breathed, my lungs aching for air. Johnny looked up and grinned widely, pushing himself up to walk over to me. He pulled me into a hug but quickly stepped away when he realized how sweaty and out of breath I was.
“Thank God someone finally found me. I’ve just been sitting here waiting to die. I have no idea how to get through a labyrinth like this.” Johnny began, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Are you alone?”
“No, Matt and Zach are with me, they’re running up now.” I looked to my right to watch the two buff men come up, immediately setting their arms on their thighs as they struggled for air.
“You… need… to slow the fuck down.” Matt said, coughing roughly after his sentence. I smiled as I continued to pant, my own breath not caught yet.
“Sorry, I want free food.” I shrugged. Johnny’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “We get free food if all of us get out without getting caught.”
“I’m in.” Johnny addressed. I smiled and fist-bumped him. “Do you know where the other two are?”
“No idea. We’ve just been jogging—”
“Running.” Zach interrupted, his face red and blanketed with sweat. “We’ve been full out sprinting through these paths to try to find people. But we’ve probably gotten a lot of attention since running isn’t quiet.”
“I guess you’re right.” I muttered as I looked around. “We better get going.”
“Wha—can Matt and I just stay here?” Zach complained, a childish pout bleeding across his face. I shook my head stiffly and both of the keeling men groaned.
“Do you want free food or not?” I challenged. Matt and Zach gave me a look as though I had just shot their dogs but stood up and prepared to run anyway. “Since there’s four of us now, maybe we should split in groups of two. So we can cover more ground.”
“No way.” Matt refused, shaking his head roughly. I raised an eyebrow and he wiped his damp forehead with the back of his hand. “Even though you told Zach and me how to get out initially, you’re the only one who knows how to get through this. If we split up you might just end up losing two more people.”
“I see your point.” I replied before turning forward. I began on my way again, but my body could only reach a slow jog. It was a few minutes of silence between all of us, the sound of our feet hitting the ground the only noise to hear. My eyes continued scanning the pods but I didn’t have any luck finding Brian or Jimmy. That was, of course, until I ran face first into Brian, who was running the opposite direction. We collided with a loud crack and our bodies hit the earth with a low thud.
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.” Brian moaned. I was seeing triples of the people surrounding me and my head was killing me.
“I second that.” I whined, wincing at the throbbing coming from my upper body. “You’re like a fucking rock. I feel like I broke a rib.”
“It’s good to see you guys too.” Jimmy laughed as he crouched next to me to pick me up. I swatted at him but he merely chuckled as his slender arms slid under my body and pulled me to my feet. My whole upper body was aching from lack of oxygen and the hit to my sternum, but I forced myself to stand straight. Jimmy moved to help Brian and with a hard pull and a loud groan Brian was back on his feet.
“Well it’s good that we found you.” Matt announced. Brian and Jimmy stared over at him and he grinned. “We can all get food now.”
“That is, if we can get out.” Johnny added. I snorted and flicked my eyebrows.
“Leave that to me.” I informed them. Brian smirked and rolled his eyes.
“What are you, a maze expert?” I glanced over at Matt and Zach, who were both smiling widely.
“Well actually—”
“Shut up.” I interrupted, my ears perking up as I sensed unnatural movement. It fell silent and I heard leaves rustling. I looked over in the direction of the noise, my body tensing at that fact.
“What is it?” Brian whispered. My heart sped up and I took a small step back towards the pathway perpendicular to where I was originally running.
“The leaves moved.” I breathed, biting my lip repeatedly. Brian rolled his eyes and gave me a look of disbelief.
“We’re outside. They always move.”
“You don’t understand.” I gulped, continuing to back myself up into the pathway. “There’s no wind here.”
“What do you—”
“There’s only three areas in this whole place where the wind reaches us and we are not in one of those places.” With that, I immediately turned around and began sprinting in the opposite direction. I brought my hand out and touched it to the right wall, ignoring the cuts I was getting from the sharp leaves. I could hear footsteps behind me but that wasn’t what I cared about; I wanted to get out alive. As I ran I felt a cool breeze run over me and I knew exactly where I was. I looked back at the men following me. “I know where to get out. Stay close behind me.”
“For someone so lazy you sure run fast.” Johnny heaved from far behind. I simply laughed and sped up. Victory was at my fingertips.
It took a little while longer before I could physically not run anymore. I slowed down to a walk but kept a fast pace as I tried to catch my breath. I could hear the others coughing up their lungs behind me but I continued to ignore them. I took a right and another quick left before I saw it. The exit. I raised my fist in the air and let out a near-silent scream of happiness. Everyone else did the same and we began walking towards the exit when it happened. He had found us.
“Shit!” I screamed, quickly taking the first turn I could. I knew that I had to run because he wouldn’t chase anyone else. I knew he’d go strictly for me. “Samuel Jonah Peterson get the fuck away from me!”
“That’s not part of the game, Kitty-cat.” He laughed back. I let out a frustrated yelp and continued to try to get him off my heels. I ran in a square until I realized my only chance was to make it across the finish line. I sucked in a deep breath and pushed myself to run as fast as I could towards the exit. I couldn’t hear the footsteps behind me but I knew it was probably because my heart was beating loudly in my ears. I was so close to the exit I could almost taste it. I actually did taste it. With one swift and unexpected woosh I was momentarily airborne before I crashed into the ground on the other side of the finish line. Someone tackled me onto the other side, though.
“What is… with… me getting tackled?” I cried, my upper body hurting worse than ever. I looked over at my attacker, who was laughing from his spot on the ground. “I would… kill you… if I had enough… energy.”
“I would say you could get your energy from your free food but you lost.” Sam giggled. I gave him an incredulous look.
“Holy crap that was amazing!” Zach screamed as he and the others walked towards me. I completely disregarded their existence and sat up, my attention stuck on Sam.
“Excuse me?” I scoffed. “I got past the finish line before you even touched me.”
“That’s a lie.” Sam yelled back.
“To hell it is!”
“I grabbed you right before you hit the line!”
“No way in Hell did you—”
“Hey!” Matt yelled loudly, grabbing the attention of me and Sam. All the guys were grinning with entertainment, their faces tinted pink from being out in the sun. “We just went and bought food. You guys want some?”
“… We should go to the corn maze more often.” I stated. Everyone chuckled and helped Sam and I up before we all went to the food court.

Notes

It's almost midnight on a school night and I've had two coffees from work and I was determined to get this chapter up. Now I need to finish my WOYAAS chapter. Enjoy!