Sapphire Stones

Venus = girlboss (I strive to be like her some day)

The rain has slowed by now to a soft tip, tap, tip tap. The clouds have begun to clear up. The air is thick with perspiration and the smell of wet grass. There are about ten more minutes before the doors close and Alby and Minho are stuck in the Maze for the night. 

I'm the first one to start running towards the doors, followed by the rest of the Gladers. Newt and Logan stand on either side of me, Logan gripping onto my hand tightly. 

We all stand in silence, anxiously waiting to see any sign of our two friends.

"Minho's been late before." Jeff says from behind me. 

"Never like this." I mutter. More silence. None of us want to be the one to say what I know we're all thinking.

"I'm scared, Venus." I hear a small voice say beside me. I squeeze Logan's hand, trying to reassure him of something I can't even believe myself.

"It'll be alright, kid. It'll all be okay." I offer him a smile, but it's halfhearted. I know it doesn't reach my eyes.

"C'mon, guys. Can't we send someone after them?" Thomas asks, shifting from side to side beside Newt. Newt doesn't respond, running a hand over his mouth anxiously.

"That's against the rules." Gally says in a monotone voice.

"Fuck the rules." I snap. I feel everyone's eyes on me. I look around at the Gladers, Logan's and Chuck's eyes wide. Gally's eyes are blazing with fury. "What? It's not like you guys haven't heard me say fuck before."

I look around, all of their eyes still wide and on me. I roll my eyes, running my free hand through my hair.

"If you guys would just forget about the rules for ten fucking minutes without having a fucking aneurysm," I cut myself off, turning to look at only Chuck and Logan. "Excuse the language, please." I say before turning my attention back on everyone. "As I was saying, if you guys would just forget the rules without getting all worked up about it, I could always go in there and find-"

"No." Gally snaps, cutting me off. I turn my attention solely on him, cocking an eyebrow. "You're not going into the damn Maze, alright? Drop it."

"But what if they're-"

"No." He repeats, more firmly this time. "It would be a violation of the rules."

"Didn't you just hear me say to fuck the rules?" I snap. "If Minho and Alby get stuck out there, there'll be no more rules."

"You're not going out there." He says through gritted teeth. "I forbid it."

"You forbid it?" I ask in shock, raising both of my eyebrows. Gally nods once, his face set in stone. "Say that again. I dare you." I snap, my voice dangerously low.

"I mean it, Venus. I'm not letting you go out there." He replies shortly, his eyebrows raised ever so slightly.

"You don't have any right to tell me what I can and can't do, much less forbid me from doing something."

"Calm down, guys." Frypan says, putting out his arms to act as a barrier between me and Gally. 

"Don't tell me to calm down." I snap.

"Don't talk to him that way." Gally says sharply.

"Don't-"

"You're not going into the bloody Maze, Venus, alright? End of story. We can't risk losing anyone else." Newt says with a loud sigh.

A low groan echoes through the Maze, followed by a strong gust of wind, carrying dust and leaves in search of a new home in our direction.

A familiar mechanical sound fills the Glade, causing shivers to run down my spine. Logan squeezes my hand tighter, his little body quivering in fear.

The walls begin to inch towards each other.

"Oh no..." Chuck mutters, looking over at me. I look back at him, not even bothering to mask my fear. The Gladers all around me start mumbling, sharing knowing glances.

"Please, Newt." I beg, looking over at him. "Just let me go-"

"There!" Thomas shouts, pointing at something far off in the distance. I look towards where he's pointing, on high alert to spot anything that might move; any sign of life.

 I hear him before I can see him. Minho's strangled cries echo and bounce off the walls, carried all the way over to us. 

All the Gladers are tuned in and on alert, trying to see Minho. 

"Wait, no, something's wrong." Newt states, squinting his eyes to see better. I do the same. As Minho rounds the corner, it becomes clear to me why he cried out like that.

Minho is stumbling around the Maze with a limp figure slung over his shoulders. He's trying to run, but can't with the weight of Alby on his shoulders. The doors are getting closer and closer by the second.

The weight of this realization hits me like a boulder, making me feel nauseous. Minho won't make it back like that. He can't. In order to make it back in time, he'd have to leave Alby, and there's no telling whether or not he'd even be able to make it in enough time.

"C'mon, Minho! You can do it!" Chuck shouts, being the one to start the chain of encouraging words that follows. They're all trying to motivate Minho, but I know that it's useless. They all know that too. They're just shouting out empty encouragement.

The ringing in my ears drowns out most of the noise around me. The walls are inching closer and closer and Minho's hardly made any progress. There's no more time. I know what needs to be done.

"C'mon! You can make it!" Logan and Chuck shout. Minho tries desperately to adjust Alby, trying this time to drag our Leader across the stone floor. A sinking feeling settles in the pit of my stomach as I watch the train wreck going down.

"Minho, you've gotta leave him!" Gally calls out. 

"They're not gonna make it." Newt says, his voice barely audible above the shouting around me. Thomas and I seem to be the only ones who hear, both glancing at Newt and then sharing a knowing look.

The doors seem to have picked up their pace, racing towards each other at record speed. Minho tries to force himself to run faster, but I think he knows that he won't make it in time. An agonizing, hopeless cry escapes his lips as he drags Alby behind him. 

The world seems to be moving in slow motion around me. I look around, my heart pounding in my chest like a drum.

I can't lose three friends in two days. I just can't.

Just before I can make a move towards the doors, I see Thomas tear through the crowd of Gladers, heading at a full sprint towards the doors.

"Thomas!" Logan shouts, running after him. I can hear Chuck cry out beside me.

"Logan, no!" I screech, chasing after him. My arm is outstretched. I can almost grab onto the back of his shirt. If I just reach a little further...

I'm ripped away from the doors, someone wrapping their arms around my waist. I watch in horror as one of the Gladers makes it past the walls, but just barely.

The other one is a different story. The doors were too close together. He might have been small, but no one could fit through a space that small. 

I hear his heart-wrenching, throat-ripping, guttural scream as the Maze doors crush his small body between them. My mouth is open in horror, but no sound comes out. I just stare at the doors in shock.

It all happened too fast. I didn't even have time to understand what was happening when it happened. If I had been quicker, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe Thomas wouldn't have run into the Maze.

Maybe Logan wouldn't have been crushed between the doors.