I didn't dare look away. I couldn't.
Everyone else was quick to divert their gaze. Shielding their eyes from the sight. Not wanting to watch someone blow their brains out.
Everyone else besides me and Newt.
I couldn't not look at it. I had to watch the person who put us in here die, even if it was not a pretty sight. I needed to know that they weren't around anymore, almost a peace of mind type of thing.
I still couldn't tear my eyes away as finally; Newt turned his gaze towards me as he watched me stare at the screen. Worry rested on his face as his eyes quickly diverted towards the moving figure. It was Thomas.
He maneuvered his way through the crowd of people, his eyes glued to something ahead of him. It took me a second but then I realised. Her body must be in here. And that is what he sees.
Slowly, he took another step forward, as my head turned in his direction, finally being able to pull my gaze away from the monitor.
And then I saw it. The white lab coat, the blonde hair. The blood.
Newt's words stopped him in his tracks. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Thomas didn't need to turn around to respond, he kept his eyes fixed on the lifeless body before him. She was laid face down, her arms and legs contorted in weird shapes.
"I don't know." He said quietly, before eventually, tearing his eyes from the corpse, and turning back to the group. "Let's get out of here."
A small smile gathered on the boy's face once more, he looked hopeful, happy we made it out. But sadly, it dissipated within seconds.
"No." A rough voice said behind us as collectively we all spun around to face the person who spoke. I didn't even need to look at him to know who it was. It made my heart immediately sink, and I'm sure it did for everyone else, too.
My eyes examined the boy, quickly noticing something was wrong. He looked ill, physically and mentally tired. One thing I didn't expect though; he was holding a gun. The exact gun I saw on the way in here. Shit move on our parts to be honest.
"Gally?" Thomas kept his voice quiet, as he cautiously took a step forward. He didn't get far before Teresa put her arm out in front to stop him. "Don't. He's been stung." She was right, he had been. Badly.
The boy was crying, tears streamed down his cheeks, but he did nothing about it. He just let them fall. Still staring at Thomas, anger filling his face.
He finally spat out some more words, hissing at Thomas in particular. "We can't leave." Although he sounded angry, he looked scared. He was shaking as he continued to not contain the tears, I'm sure, he had been holding onto for a long time.
"We did." Thomas took another step closer, really pushing the limit to how close he should be getting to someone with a gun. "Gally, we're out. We're free."
The boy scoffed in response, keeping his expressions the same, however, changing his tone of voice slightly to sound more frustrated. "Free? You think we're free out there?" Gally pointed to the large bolted doors behind us, using the hand holding the gun to show us where he meant. A few people tensed up at the action, even Chuck, as he took a minuscule step backwards, almost stepping on my foot.
"No. No, there's no escape from this place." Just as he said that, he raised the gun. My eyes widened, not really expecting him to do such a thing. I know he hated Thomas, but there's no way he'd shoot him.
Thomas raised his arms in his defense, trying to demonstrate to the boy that he wasn't going to try anything to make him shoot. "Gally, listen to me. You're not thinking straight. You're not." This time, he didn't take a step forward. It would be too risky.
"Now, we can help you. Just put the gun down." Gally shook his head, still crying all over the place. It looked as if he was fighting with himself. One side telling him to do it, and the other being the voice of reason.
"I belong to the Maze." His finger fell carefully over the trigger, resting it there cautiously.
"Just put down the gun." Thomas said again, he looked frightened, as Gally didn't look as if he was going to listen to the boy's pleas.
"We all do." And with that, he squeezed the trigger.
It was all such a blur. I stared right at the scene. Not knowing what was happening for a second. Gally had a spear in his chest. Minho had good aim.
Gally gasped for air, but to no avail, as he collapsed to the floor, releasing the gun from his hand as it delicately fell to the floor.
"Thomas..." No. No. No. Chuck.
The boy fell limply in Thomas' arms as blood started to flood through his clothes.
He never meant to hit Chuck. That bullet was meant for Thomas.
"Chuck." Thomas whimpered, helping the boy to the ground. I knelt at his side, looking longingly in the boy's eyes. This can't be happening. After everything, Chuck was the one person who deserved to get out most.
Panic started to stream into Thomas' system as he tried to conceal the wound. "Oh, shit. Shit." Tears swarmed his eyes as others began to kneel at the boy's side also.
I could feel the blonde's presence, but I couldn't look at him. I couldn't tear my eyes off Chuck.
I reached down for his hand, placing it into mine. He looked at me contently before saying something I never knew could mean so much. "Thank you."
My heartbeat picked up as I began to scramble to help Thomas. I knew what he was saying, and I refuse to accept it.
"Look at me! Look at me! Chuck, I got you buddy. Just hang on." Thomas pleaded with the boy, his eyes looking limp as his hand relaxed slightly in mine. No. I won't allow this.
I fumbled around on the floor quickly before finding a piece of clothing. I didn't care where it came from. I just needed to stop the bleeding. He breathed out slightly, seemingly letting go of a built-up breath.
"It's okay." The boy slowly reached into his pocket, revealing a small figurine. I knew what it was instantly. He had been working on that for a while. He put a lot of effort into it.
"Thomas." He held his hand out to the boy, trying to hand him the object as Thomas just shook his head. His eyes were filled with tears, even after everything, I have never seen him this distraught.
"No, Chuck. You're gonna give it to them yourself. Remember, I told you that." His eyes softened even more, searching for further life in the boy's eyes. "Take it."
Thomas stumbled over his words even more, stifling his cries as he did so. "No." He said, not angry or annoyed, just immense sadness.
"Thank you." As his head turned back towards me again, he repeated his words. "Thank you." A small smile etched on his face, before finally his eyes closed, and his body went still.
My heart fell to my feet as my breathing picked up. I fell back slightly as I watched Thomas hover over the boy. I didn't even realise it at first, but Newt had caught me as I tumbled backwards. His hands had caught me by the arms as I just sat there, staring at the boy's lifeless body.
I could hear Newt sobbing quietly behind me, as did the others, but yet somehow, I couldn't even shed a tear. Nothing came. I just felt broken.
"Hey, Chuck, come on! Wake up!" Thomas cried at the boy, shaking him violently to get up. He knew he wouldn't but yet he still tried. "We made it!" He sobbed into the boy's shoulder, resting his head in the crook of his neck as he cried.
"Thomas." Teresa spoke softly from behind; she too was stifling her cries.
He continued to cry, to mourn his friend the only way he knew how. I felt so emotional, while at the same time, have never felt so emotionless.
My shoulder's relaxed slightly as I fell further into Newt's arms. I didn't look at him, but I knew he was crying. I knew he was sad. Broken, even. He just held me there, saying nothing and not moving.
A loud noise suddenly made my head turn. It pulled me away from the cries and heart shed as I saw a bright light approaching. A door had opened, exposing a white light which barreled its way through the room.
We all looked up from watching Thomas, however, he hadn't even noticed.
Large people with guns ran in, scooping up the kids nearest the exit.
They were dressed all in black, just like in the video. Before I got another second to think, one of them pulled me off Newt and dragged me towards the door. I thrashed around in their grasp.
"We're here to help!" The soldier yelled at me, trying to calm me down. It worked, but only really because I was tired of fighting.
I looked back as I saw us all being escorted out, heading past the doors to the outside. I watched as someone tried to grab Thomas away from Chuck. He yelled and kicked in response, pushing himself back to the boy's side. Refusing to let him go.
I just put my head down, I couldn't bear to look at him anymore.
"You can't just leave him here!" Thomas screamed at one of the guards, my head flicked back quickly, but this time not to look at Chuck.
My eyes scurried to find Gally, as I watched him lay motionless on the floor. I don't know if he was dead, but I assumed he was.
They pulled us through a few meters of sand before I laid my eyes on the loud vehicle in front of me. It was a helicopter. I didn't know what to do at first, I just watched it in awe, before I was shoved onto it by another guard.
"Move! Move! Move!" One of them shouted, trying to sound louder than the engines.
Thomas was finally thrown on as someone behind him slammed the door shut, leaving us all in a confused state.
One singular person sat in there with us, as three others began to fly the helicopter away.
It took off slowly, emerging its way through the air before it was above ground.
I jumped to my knees immediately as we flew upwards, revealing the birds eye view of the Maze. It was huge. Overgrown and broken down. So strange to look at once you're out, almost unbelievable that people lived in there for so long.
Newt knelt next to me, his mouth agape as he laid his eyes on the view. I kept my gaze on him for a few seconds before turning my head back to the center of the helicopter. My eyes stared intently on the guard, still not sure why they were in here with us.
The person removed their helmet to reveal a white man with a beard. He looked...normal. I think. "You guys all right? Don't worry. You're safe now."
We all looked at each other, relief started to appear on the other's faces. Everyone besides me and Thomas. For whatever reason, I didn't believe him. I didn't feel safe.
The man picked up on that as he noticed Thomas' facial expression.
"Relax, kid. Everything is going to change."
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A/N: RIP Chuck :((( i was so sad when he died so writing this chapter was actually surprisingly upsetting. However, i put a lot of work into it to make it good so i hope you guys like it <33