Left Behind -Gally-

Chapter 33

"Are you a Med-Jack now?"

"Are you going to have an attitude with me no matter what I say?"

Gally bit the inside of his cheek, stopping the words that had nearly escaped him. It wouldn't have been nice. Emma would have certainly left him alone, which was the last thing he wanted right now. After being separated from her during the Griever attack, he realized how scared he was of losing her. It was a paralyzing feeling and not something he ever wanted to feel again. "Sorry," was his muttered response.

Emma eyed him. He was returning to the person she knew, showing his softer side—her favorite side of him. "I'm not a Med-Jack, but I'm also not an idiot. They're just scrapes, nothing bad. You'll live."

Gally smiled faintly, pulling his hand back. He clenched his fist, hissing in pain. Emma wanted to comment about how dumb of a decision that was but didn't. "You went with him."

"What?"

"You went with him."

She didn't understand what Gally was saying. "Went with who?"

"Thomas," he said. "When the Grievers attack. You went with him."

"So?" It didn't matter now. It was over. The Grievers were gone. The choice to follow Thomas hadn't killed her. In fact, she hadn't even made a choice. Her body simply moved for her. "I was just running with everyone." To her, it didn't matter.

"You helped him after he stung himself."

Emma shrugged, picking up the bowl of water and used rags. That was more obvious, at least to her it was. "Because he stung himself." He was hurt and needed help.

"You didn't take my side." That caused her to freeze. It was only for a moment, but it was enough for Gally to see. "Emma-"

Hearing the anger returning to his tone, she spoke. "I think Thomas came here for a reason." She couldn't look at him. "At that reason is to help us escape." His nostrils flared at her revelation. "You're wrong about him, Gally. He can lead us home."

"We are home."

She shook her head. "This isn't our home." They were sent here by the Creators. Their home was outside the Maze. They just had to find a way out. "Gally-"

"What?" He stood up, throwing his arms out. Emma stood up as well, not wanting to be talked down to. "You think there's something out there?" Gally was furious. Emma tried not to flinch at the volume of his voice. "You think we're free out there? There's no escaping!"

"Gally, would you listen to yourself?!" Emma had wanted to stay calm, but she couldn't. Her emotions were all over the place. "The Glade isn't our home! We aren't supposed to be here forever. The Box isn't coming back up. There's no more supplies coming. The Gardens are gone. The Kitchen is gone. We can't survive here anyway!"

"We can rebuild," he argued. "We can-"

"We can't," Emma cut him off. "We can't." They couldn't. Nervously, she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I think Thomas is right." Her voice came out in a whisper. For the first time, Gally was silent. Emma stared up at him, unsure of what he was thinking. Her eyes flickered between his. "Gally?"

"This is our home," he said, voice steady. "We're staying here." It wasn't 'I'm staying,' it was 'we're staying.' He was making a choice for both of them, but Emma had made up her mind long ago. She wasn't going to die in the Glade. She wanted to leave. She had been hopeful since the start. That hope never faded, not even now.

"Gally, please. I know you're scared-"

"Scared?" He pointed at himself. "I'm not scared. I'm Shucking terrified. Grievers destroyed our home." Over half the Gladers were gone. "But it's our home. We have to stay here. We need to rebuild."