Sanction -Minho-

Chapter 25

Grace woke up on a Med-Jack bed with no memory of how she got there. She remembered talking to Minho but not falling asleep. It seemed that he had moved her onto the bed so that she would be more comfortable. "So," Teresa said as they sat together in the Med-Jack hut. "You've been the only girl for months?"

"Yeah." Grace had explained the history of the Glade to her. It seemed in all the chaos, nobody had done that. Teresa only knew what Thomas told her, which wasn't much. Thomas was still a Greenie himself. "You'll get used to the staring. It goes away after a while. They'll realize you're normal and not something to fear." Grace didn't dislike Teresa. Maybe at first, she was hesitant, but Teresa was nice. She didn't know anything about the note, which wasn't good. There was a note in her hand when she arrived. She's the last one ever. That's what the note said. They weren't sure what it meant. The box hadn't gone back down since.

It should scare Grace more, but she couldn't think about the box not going down when Minho and Thomas were in the Maze. It was only days ago that Ben and Alby were stung. Ben was gone, and they weren't sure what to do with Alby yet. Griever attacks were becoming more and more common. Minho had already spent the night in the Maze once. The fact he survived was a miracle. Now, he is back out there, possibly facing something worse.

Teresa messed with the bottom of her hair. "I'm not entirely sure about that. I don't think some people believe I'm here for good."

Grace chuckled. She knew who Teresa was talking about. "Gally will come around. It took him a while to get used to me too."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Grace promised her. "Actually, he-" she was cut off by something loud. It echoed through the Glade.

"What the hell was that?" Jeff and Clint stood up. They were sitting by Alby. The sound started again. It was coming from deep inside the Maze. That's where Minho and Thomas were.

"What do you think they did now?" Grace stood up, panic rushing through her. She had no idea what could be happening to the two Runners. It wasn't anything good if the Glade could hear them.

"Stay with Alby," Clint pointed at her. "Jeff and I will wait at the doors to make sure they're all right when they return."

Grace knew that wasn't why. They were curious and wanted to know what was going on. She wanted to go with them, but someone needed to stay with Alby. "Okay." Clint and Jeff were gone in a flash, leaving the two girls alone.

"So," Teresa tapped her thighs. "What usually happens when a new person arrives?" She was just trying to make conversation.

Grace stared at the door for a second. She took a deep breath, trying to push away her fears. Minho and Thomas were fine. They had to be fine. She couldn't accept it if they weren't. "Um," Grace cleared her throat. "Normally, a new Greenie would try out a few jobs. See what fits."

Teresa stood up, stuffing her hands in the front pockets of her pants. "Can I be a Med-Jack?"

Grace's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You want to be a Med-Jack?"

"Yeah." The dark-haired girl shrugged. "I'm here a lot. You're here." Grace smiled faintly. "Beside's, I don't really know where else I would go."

"I think you'd be great here." It would be nice for Grace to get to know the only other girl in the Glade. She hoped they would become good friends. "I can talk to Newt and Clint, but I think they would be fine with it." Grace noticed that Teresa wasn't looking at her anymore. She was staring at something behind her.

The blonde slowly spun around. Her eyes found Alby, who was sitting straight up. Grace approached him cautiously. She had limited experience with Griever sting victims. The only other person was Ben, who attempted to kill Thomas. Several Gladers had to pin him down while she tended to his injuries.

"Hey, Alby." Grace was cautious as she kneeled in front of him. "How are you feeling?" All he did was stare at her. His eyes were full of different emotions: fear, anger, sadness. "You okay?" There was no response. "Alby?"

Grace stood up, biting the tip of her thumb. She stood there for what felt like hours but was probably ten minutes. All she did was stare at Alby. He was distant, almost cold. His arms were crossed over his bare chest. "Alby?" Nothing.

She wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't getting violent, which was a good sign. His body wasn't shaking from the pain. It was healing. Grace could see the tears starting to form in his eyes. Running her fingers through her hair, she walked across the room. Alby wasn't speaking, and she wasn't sure why.

There was a bottle of water. She poured some of it into a cup and walked back towards him. "Here." She held out the cup. "Have some water." Nothing. It was as if he couldn't hear her. Grace waited for him to do something, anything. He never did. All he did was stare at the ground.

Setting the cup down on the table, she turned and walked away. "What's wrong with him?" Teresa asked her once she was closer.

Grace rubbed her jaw. Truthfully, she had no idea. There was no telling what they injected into his body. All they knew at the time was that Alby was dying. They wanted to save him. Grace supported the idea at the time, but something was different about Alby now. She feared they had made the wrong choice. "Teresa, listen to me. Okay?" The dark-haired girl nodded. A sign that Grace could keep going. "I need you to go get the others: Clint, Jeff, Newt, anyone. I have no idea what's wrong, but he might talk to one of them." It seemed he didn't want to talk to her. "Tell them Alby is awake."

"Got it." With that, Teresa was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~

Grace sat on the bed in front of Alby for a while. Teresa hadn't come back with anyone. During that time, she tried to get Alby to talk. He wasn't interested. She felt sorry for him. She should never have agreed to let Thomas inject him with the random serum. "Has he said anything?" The voice belongs to Minho.

At the sound of his voice, Grace stood up. They lock eyes, a gentle smile appearing on his face. Teresa is leading a group inside. Minho is one of them, along with Newt, Thomas, Frypan, and Gally. "Nothing."

"Alby?" Newt carefully sat down next to him. "Are you okay?" Grace crossed her arms, watching them carefully. His bottom lip started to quiver.

Thomas decided to try and speak to him. "Hey, Alby." He lowered himself onto the ground. "Alby, we think we may have found a way out of the Maze." That was news to Grace. She instantly looked at Minho. He was already looking at her. To confirm Thomas's words, he nodded. It was a lot of information to process at once. A way out of the Glade had always seemed like a dream. Grace never expected they would actually leave. "Do you hear me? We could get out of here."

"We can't," Alby whispered. His voice was full of pain. It was the first thing he had said. Everyone seemed to lean closer, wanting to hear what he had to say. "We can't leave. They won't let us."

Thomas glanced at Newt. "What are you talking about?"

"I remember." But he didn't look happy about it.

"Okay, what do you remember?"

Alby glanced at Thomas. "You." That shocked everyone, including Thomas. "You were their favorite, Thomas." In the distance, there was shouting. It wasn't clear who it was coming from. "Why did you do this? Why did you come here?" Thomas slowly stood up. The voices of others outside were slowly getting louder. They were shouting now. It was concerning. Grace watched as the others ran out of the Med-Jack hut. As much as she wanted to stay with Alby, she wanted to see what was going on.

She ran after the others outside. It was getting dark. The sun was nearly gone. Everyone in the Glade was running around with torches. "Winston." Thomas stopped the first person he saw. "What's happening?"

Grace stood beside Minho and Teresa. "The doors," he said. "They're not closing." Grace looked at the open doors. Winston was right. They were wide open. It was getting late. Soon, Grievers would roam the Maze. They would see the open doors and venture into the Glade. Several Gladers were running towards the doors. Thomas ran to join them. The others around her did the same thing. Grace took a deep breath before running after them.