|I will reach inside, just to find my heart is beating

|Song: Bleeding out, Imagine Dragons

|||

Lisa's P.O.V.

The scream of metal rubbing against metal stopped. No one spoke. The wind ripped across the land, blowing dust and dirt against the just appeared containers.
I shared a worried glare with Dawn. 'Hey!' Thomas yelled and gestured for us to move over. We did, just like Minho, Newt, Teresa, Harriet and Sonya.
'So what do we do?' Minho asked. He gave Teresa an annoyed glare as if he didn't want her to be any part of the decision making.
Newt answered. 'If those things have bloody Grievers in 'em, we best start gettin' ready to fight the shuck buggers.'
Grievers? I frowned and threw another glare at the white containers. Somewhere deep down in the back of my mind I recalled the room where Chuck died, with in the back the same white containers. Some were open and held Grievers inside them. I shivered at the memory but was pulled back to reality when above us thunder crackled and boomed. The flashes of light were growing brighter. The wind tore at everyone's clothes and hair.
'We've only got twenty-five minutes left,' Thomas said, checking his watch. 'We're either gonna be fighting Grievers or we need to get inside those big coffins at the right time. Maybe they're the-' A sharp hiss cut through his words. It came from all around us.
Everyone moved to look at the coffins. A line of dark blue light had appeared on one side of each container, then expanded as the top half of the object started to open. My heart started beating faster at the thought of what might be in there. Hoping against hope we wouldn't have to fight it. I noticed all the Gladers moving together as far away possible from the weird coffins. We formed a tight group in the middle of the circle the containers had formed. The lids continued moving until they had all swung open and dropped to the ground. I squinted to try and get a look at whatever was inside, my hand already resting on my gun.

For a minute it was completely silent.
I could only stare at the pods, feeling dread spread through me and suddenly something moved. A collective gasp went through the group. A misshapen arm hung over the edge of the pod, whatever was inside of it was trying to get out. The hand on the end of the arm had four disfigured fingers, none of them had the same length. They wiggled and grasped for something that wasn't there. They had a weird red color, like fresh clay taken out of the ground. The arm was covered with wrinkles and lumps and there was something completely strange located at where the elbow should be. I could only describe it as a lightbulb glued to his arm, glowing bright orange.
The monster continued to emerge, and by now everyone around me was reaching for their weapons. My heart was in my throat as I watched the monster rise. A leg flopped out, its foot a fleshy mess, four knobs of toes wriggling as much as its fingers. And on both his knees were two other light bulbs, seemingly growing right out of its skin.

'What's that thing?' Minho shouted over the noise of the growing storm. No one answered. Feeling completely dazed I stared at the creature. Watching in horror as the thing finally got out of the pod and stumbled to the ground. Roughly human-shaped, though at least a couple of feet taller than any of us. Most disturbing were the strange light bulbs, spread over the monster its body.
My eyes tried to discover a face, but it had none. No eyes, nose, mouth, ears or hair. I looked around me and saw that out of each pod the same monster had come. We were surrounded.
I clenched my jaw. There was, again, no other option than to fight. It was like Wicked wanted there to be as few of us left as possible. Challenge after challenge, fight after fight and I was getting sick of it. So I took a deep breath and decided to safe my anger for the fight. This time, I was going to be in control.

In an unison all the creatures raised their arms until they pointed to the sky. Then, all at once, thin blades shot out of the tips of their disfigured fingers, toes and even their shoulders. Though they had no mouth a deadly, creepy moan sounded through the air, coming from their direction. Louder than even the thunder.
Suddenly Minho turned and faced the crowd of close standing Gladers. 'There's about one for each of us! Grab whatever you got for a weapon!' Immediately I took my gun out of my belt. Next to me Dawn took two knives out of her pocket. She looked at me, fear in her eyes but she smiled anyway. Then she handed me one of her smaller knives. 'For when you run out of bullets,' she said, trying to sound calm but her voice was shaking.
I returned to smile, though I could feel how forced it was. 'Stay alive,' I replied and she gave me a curt nod, a sudden determination in her eyes.

Then, almost as if they heard our challenge, the lightbulb creatures started moving, walking forward. All at the same time like an army of machines and we all knew who controled them. The monsters grew more steady and strong with every step. Walking straight towards us.

Minho and Harriet made us stand in a circle, facing outwards towards the monsters. 'Now!' Our leader yelled once the misshapen creatures were only twenty feet away. 'Charge!'
I let out a battle cry which was repeated by the other Gladers and girls, and ran forward towards my enemy. When I had halved the distance between me and Wicked its newest threat, I took a steady position, raised my gun and fired a shot right in his head or where I thought his head should be. The lightbulb-monster stumbled backwards but recovered quickly and charged forwards again. It swung its arm and I had to roll on the ground to avoid being hit. A groan escaped my lips when my leg hit a stone. Quickly I jumped up again and fired another shot in its head. Again it did nothing. Groaning in frustration I jumped away from its deadly blades, not fast enough. One left a scratch on my arm. Anger flashed through my body as I raised my gun once again but the monster was faster and hit it out of my hand. Hopeless I watched how the weapon flew through the air and landed a few feet away.
'Oh no you didn't,' I scowled and took the knife Dawn gave me.

Suddenly the monster let out a roar, though I had no idea where it came from since it had no mouth, it sounded almost exactly like the haunted moans of the Grievers.
A shiver went down my spine but I tightened the grip on my knife. I wasn't going to loose.
The monster turned to me again, but I was faster and jumped out of the way, its blades scraping along the ground. My eyes caught a quick sight of the others. Minho was jabbing and stabbing with knives in both hands, the monster actually taking steps backwards. Newt was scrambling across the ground, the creature he fought lumbering after him, obviously injured. I frowned, how did he managed to do that?

Then I saw Dawn throwing a knife, not at the monster but at the lightbulbs. It broke with a crack and sparks came out of it, and almost immediately the monster slowed down. An idea formed in my head. Maybe these shuck machines were easier to defeat than I first thought.
I was roughly taken out of my evil planning as the monster swung its arm at me and hit my elbow with one of its blades. I yelled in pain and stumbled backwards. Out of the corner of my eyes I noticed my gun. Only a few feet away. I stretched my arm, rolled to my right to avoid being impaled and took the weapon in my hand. Quickly I jumped up and fired three shots, all three bullets hitting a different bulb. The monster went down on one knee, seeming injured.
A small smirk played on my lips as I shot two more bulbs. The machine tried to swing its arm at me but missed. I tried to shoot again but was out of bullets. Annoyed I threw the gun aside and again took the knife Dawn gave me. I was about to break the last three bulbs when a flash of blinding light stroke at my right. The sound of an explosion followed. 'Thomas!' I yelled as I saw him being thrown against the ground as the thunder hit. The storm had finally broken.

The lightning exploded all around me. Screams, one was cut off abruptly, a girl. The horrible burning smell, overwhelming. The light continued to flash in the clouds and rain started to pour down. I had to defeat the monster and help the others. Determined I took the knife, jumped forward and broke one of the last bulbs. The monster slowed in its attack, its arms lifelessly next to his body. I broke another bulb. One left on his knee. The monster couldn't turn anymore. So I rolled between his legs, slammed the knife into the last bulb which exploded with little fireworks of electricity. The monster shut down, falling backwards against the ground. I jumped up, still holding on tightly to the knife. I did it, I won.

Suddenly the lightning hit again, right behind me, throwing me of my feet. I screamed as I hit the ground, my head hitting a rock. It was as if my skull was split open, giving Wicked full access to my brain. The pain hit me, worse than ever, not from falling but from Wicked trying to take control again. I rolled over the ground, both hands pressed against my head, screaming inside and out for the pain to go away. I had to keep them out, I had to stop them.
'Lisa!' Someone kneeled down next to me, took me in his arms. Minho. 'Lisa! Come on we need to hide in the pods!' I heard him, but couldn't react, my body wasn't mine anymore. 'Please come on, we're gonna get fried here. Please.'
It was the begging that did it. Never had I heard Minho beg before, his voice so full of panic and fear as right now. It startled me, so much that I snapped out of the pain, seizing control again. Panting I stopped screaming and opened my eyes. Minho's face, soaked from the rain, hung above me. He breathed out with relief. 'Come on, let's go.'
I gave him a slight smile as he helped me stand. I noticed everyone had defeated their monster and was now making their way into the pods. Lightning stroke again leaving a black hole in the ground. Minho pulled me along to the nearest pod.
Suddenly my gaze fell on the knife, lying next to the dead monster. I was unprepared for the pain to come again. But it did, so sudden, so much, I screamed and let go of Minho's hand. He turned around, shock in his eyes. His eyes...The last thing I saw before my vision turned red.