in another life; the maze runner

☆twenty☆

Mae's face was stone cold, her eyes narrowed in on Gally as he stood by the name wall, etching scratches through the fallen Gladers names. A boy by the name of Daniel gripped her wrists tightly behind her back, forcing her to walk forward. Thomas and Teresa were beside her, both being escorted by two other boys who were following along with Gally's direction.

Thomas was leaning against his guard, trying to appear sickly and tired, whereas Teresa stood tall, just like her sister. The two had a similar strut, but their appearances were still different. The way Mae composed herself was more confident, when Teresa looked more uncertain, almost as if she was expecting their plan to fail.

She must be a pretty good actress, Mae thought to herself as she glanced at her expression.

The rest of the remaining Gladers had gathered around three large poles, Minho, Newt, Chuck, Frypan and Winston among them. Daniel pulled Mae to a stop, and she didn't protest, even when the boys holding Thomas up shoved him into the dirt.

Gally stood over him, and Mae could tell that even when he was trying to appear assertive, he was conflicted with wondering if he had made the right decision.

"Such a waste," He muttered, standing over Thomas who looked up at him with resentment.

Mae shared a look with Minho from a few feet away, then looked back at Thomas. She pushed her inner emotions away and fixed herself to appear nervous.

It wasn't all an act of course, she was terrified for what was going to happen if they didn't succeed, not to mention if their plan worked. She had never been in the Maze, and she was beyond anxious to finally step foot into it.

"Gally, this doesn't feel right, man." Winston said, his gaze lowered to Thomas who was still on the ground.

"What if Thomas is right? Maybe he can lead us home," Jeff joined in.

"We are home. Ok?" Gally said firmly, taking a few steps forward to the crowd of Gladers.

"I don't want to have to cross any more names off that wall." He gestured behind him to the wall where he had been making adjustments previously.

"You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Teresa piped up, and Gally turned to her with raised eyebrows.

"No." He responded plainly. Mae stared at him, puzzled. They hadn't anticipated this at all.

"This isn't a banishing, it's an offering."

"What?" Mae asked. She yelped as Daniel pushed her forcefully onto the wooden pole, the other boy doing the same to Teresa.

"Hey!" She snapped, while he lifted her hands above her head and tied them to the top of the standard.

"Gally, you can't be serious!" Her sister shouted from beside her.

Gally turned to the duo, fuming.

"You think I'm just going to let Thomas into the Maze after what he's done?" He yelled angrily. "Look around you, look at our Glade." He persuaded, gesturing to their ravaged home with his hands outstretched.

"This is the only way. I'm sorry,

He said that not to Thomas or Teresa, but to Mae. She wondered what gears were spinning in his mind. She caught Newt and Minho sharing a subtle nod, and her nerves relaxed just a bit. She knew they wouldn't let them down.

"When the Grievers get what they came here for, everything will go back to normal," Gally said. He was trying to prove his case to the others, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.