IT STARTED WITH A MAZE - Newt x Reader (F)

- A FATAL CHOICE -

We have a plan.

It's maybe not a smart one. Not a safe one. But it's ours. And right now, that's all that matters.

Gally thinks he won. He's pacing the Glade like a self-made tyrant, drunk on power and rage and fear disguised as leadership. He wants to banish us - me, Thomas, Teresa. Cast us into the Maze like trash, like blame he doesn't want to carry anymore.

But we're ready.

Thomas and Teresa are dragged forward by Leo and Billy, their grips firm, expressions tense. They don't say anything, but I can see it in their eyes - they're in character. Playing weak. Playing Gally's game so we can flip the board when it counts.

And me? I don't walk. I'm carried.

Wes hauls me up like I'm unconscious, like dead weight. My limbs dangle, my head lolls. I let it happen. I let my body go limp in his arms, fighting every instinct to flinch, to fight back. The bruises still burn from yesterday, the venom still sits like smoke in my blood - but I hold it down. I stay quiet. Still.

He tosses me to the dirt in front of the Maze doors, and I let out a small breath as my ribs hit the ground. I stay there. Motionless. My cheek presses to the earth, the scent of dust and ash filling my nose. The Maze looms behind me, dark and open, like a monster waiting with its mouth wide.

Newt and Chuck stand nearby. They're not tied up. Gally's mercy. Or maybe his arrogance. I can tell by the way their muscles twitch, how Chuck's fingers keep clenching at his sides - he's scared. He's desperate to do something. But he holds.

Newt... Newt is fire. Quiet, seething fire.

His eyes never leave me. I feel his gaze like heat on my form. I want to stand. To punch Gally and take us all to safety. But I can't. I keep still.

"This is such a waste," Gally says, pacing in front of us. His voice scrapes across the Glade like metal. He stops in front of Thomas, who doesn't flinch. Then his eyes slide to Newt, a grin curling at the corner of his mouth. "Got anything to say, Newt?" he asks, mocking, baiting him.

Newt doesn't answer. He doesn't even look at Gally. His eyes flicker to me again, just for a second. Then he shakes his head slowly. I breathe. Just once. Just enough to let myself believe we're still in control. Gally scoffs, the sound bitter. And then something happens we don't expect.

"Gally," Winston says, voice cutting through the silence, "it doesn't feel right, man." My eyes widen against the dirt. That wasn't part of the plan. That wasn't supposed to happen. But I want to cry, scream, thank him. I stay still.

Gally turns toward him, eyes narrowing. "Why? Because they're girls?"

"No," Winston says. Stronger now. "Because what if (Y/n) is right?" My chest tightens.

Another voice joins him. Jeff. Calm, steady Jeff, who we never thought would pick a side. "Maybe they can lead us home," he says. "Maybe they're not the curse. Maybe they're the answer."

Gally lets out a dry laugh. It sounds broken. "We are home," he says, gesturing back toward the wall of names. "And I don't want to cross any more names off that wall."

I lift my eyes just a little, enough to see that corner of the Glade in the distance. Hank. Alby. Too many from the previous days. Names that should never have been taken. "You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Thomas asks, voice hard.

Gally's gaze snaps to him, sharp like a blade. "No," he says. "Because this isn't a banishment." Something inside me jolts. My entire body flinches. Minho didn't say anything about that.