The sun rose over the walls of the Glade, peeping through the dark clouds to shine light on what had become of the place. Destruction, loss, and sacrifice.
Waking up beside Newt, Lela had almost forgotten about what had happened. She expected to see her beloved home, the bright, buzzing field full of laughter. Instead, she woke up to barren field of burnt houses and a murky sky.
She sighed at the sight before sitting up and taking it all in. Whilst getting up, Newt stirred in his sleep, missing the feeling of her with him.
"Sorry." She whispered softly, leaning down to his face, "I couldn't sleep."
"Ah, it's alright." He sighed, joining her, "we should probably check on Thomas. See how he's feeling."
"Oh, shit." She nodded slowly, remembering about how he injected himself with a stinger the previous night, "probably."
"Come on, get up." He said, standing up fully. He held a hand out for her, offering to help.
She groaned and practically flopped back to the ground, "I don't want to!"
"Tough shit." He chuckled, grabbing her hand and pulling her up anyway.
"I hate you." She scoffed as she dusted her clothes off from the grass she had laid in for the night.
"Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "Just like you hated me last time?"
"I would slim it if I were you, Newt."
____
Any clothes that they could've changed into had been burnt or destroyed in the attack, so they had to walk to the Pit in their dirty attire, where they found Chuck and Minho waiting for them to join.
"Hey." Lela crouched down to see Thomas and Teresa in the pit, safe and warm. "Are you okay?"
She knew it was a stupid question. Teresa looked like she hadn't slept all night and probably hadn't whilst she was watching Thomas. And he looked traumatised: he just got his memories back.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck asked him, "Stinging yourself like that?"
"Calm down, Chuck." Lela told him quietly, "I'm sure he had his reasons."
Thomas sent Lela an appreciative smile, "What happened?"
"Gally has taken control." Newt said, "He said we had a choice. Either join him or get banished at sundown with you."
This was news to Lela, "He did?" She turned her head.
"Yeah." Newt nodded, "Last night before I found you."
"So that's it?" She scoffed, "We either stay with Gally or go into the maze with Thomas?"
"And the others agreed to that?" Thomas asked.
"Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened." Teresa told him.
"Well, he's been right so far."
"What are you talking about?" Minho asked him, wondering aloud.
"This place... it's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison." He explained, "It's a test. It all started when we were kids. They would give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."
"The Box." Lela figured.
Newt had the same thought, "They were sending them up into the maze."
"Yeah, but not all of us." Thomas shook his head, "Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put you here, I worked with them. I watched you guys for years. The entire time you have been here, I was on the other side of it." He looked to Teresa, "So were you. Teresa, we did this to them."
"No." She shook her head in disbelief, "That can't be true."
"It is. I saw it."
"Why would they send you up if you were with them?" Lela asked, confused as to why they would lose smart, strong members of WCKD.
Newt spoke up, "It doesn't matter. Any of it. Because the people we were before the maze doesn't even exist anymore. These creators took care of that. But what does matter is who we are now and what we do right now."
"Thomas, he's right." Lela agreed, "You went into the maze, and you found a way out.
"Yeah, but if I hadn't, Alby would still be alive."
"Maybe." Newt nodded, remembering the death of their leader, "but I know that if he were here, he would be telling you the exact same thing. Pick your ass up and finish what you started. Because if we do nothing, then that means Alby died for nothing, and I can't have that."
"We need to show the Gladers that hope isn't gone." Lela told the group.
Everyone looked towards Thomas, hoping he would agree to the plan.
"Okay." He nodded, "Okay, but we gotta get through Gally first."
____
Minho, Lela, Newt, and Chuck went back to the Glade, blending in wherever they could and helping fix everything that was destroyed.
The time came for Thomas and Teresa to be thrown into the Maze, with nothing but their hands to defend them. All the Gladers gathered around the walls as they were pulled out of the pit.
"Gally... It doesn't feel right, man." Winston sighed, looking at the two newest Gladers. "What if Thomas is right? Maybe he can lead us home."
"We are home. Okay?" Gally told them confidently, "I don't wanna have to cross any more names off that wall."
"Me either, Gally. Nobody does." Lela spoke up, "but Thomas seems to know a possible way out."
"That way out could be a trap. He works for the Creators, Lela." He reminded, "He's probably just trying to kill more of us."
"Do you really think banishing us is gonna solve anything?" Teresa shouted at him.
"No." Gally paused, "but this isn't banishing. It's an offering."
Two Gladers each tied Thomas and Teresa to a pole outside the walls, chuffing them tight so they couldn't escape.
"Do you really think I'm gonna let Thomas back into the maze after what he has done? Look around you! Look at our Glade!" Gally gestured to the burnt down place that was once home, "This is the only way."
Lela stood with Newt and could see Gallys point, but trusted that Thomas knew what he was doing.
Newt saw the tension in her body and placed his hand in hers gently. She could feel her face warming up by the second but ignored it as she continued listening.
"And when the Grievers get what they came here for, everything goes back to the way it was."
"If you stay here, the Grievers are going to come back. They're gonna come back, and they're gonna keep coming back until you're all dead!" Teresa struggled against the rope binding.
"Shut up!" Gally shouted, "Tie him up! Do you hear me? I said tie him up!"
The two chosen Gladers walked up to Thomas as he nodded at the small rebellion, and everyone jumped into action.
Thomas dodged the ropes and pushed the Gladers to their knees. Lela, Thomas, and Minho pulled out their swords and started threatening people until they stood at the doors with the others. Chuck ran across the Glade with everything they needed before joining them.
Lela's sword was at Gally's throat, just as a precaution in case he tried stopping them.
"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" He scoffed at them all.
"You don't have to come with us, but we are leaving." Lela told him.
Thomas addressed everyone else, "Anyone else who wants to come, now is your last chance."
"Don't listen to him. He's just trying to scare you." Gally shouted, lela pushed the sword closer, and watched his mouth shut instantly.
Thomas shook his head with a chuckle, "No, I'm not trying to scare you. You're already scared. I'm scared. But I'd rather risk my life out there than spending the rest of it in here."
Blank faces stared back at him as he looked to Lela for help. He knew at least some of them would hear her out; she was well liked.
She sighed, raising her voice so people could hear her, "We don't belong here. This place isn't our home. We were put here. We were trapped here. At least, out there, we have a choice. We can make it out of here, with Thomas's help."
She waited in anticipation before someone made their way forward. It was Frypan.
"The Glade just wouldn't feel the same without you." He told her as he joined them.
A few others walked towards them, including Winston, Jeff, and a few others. Lela was happy the Medjacks decided to take her side.
There were only around ten people left to stay in the Glade. But lela still felt some compassion for them, so she tried again.
"Gally, it's over." She sighed, dropping her sword and letting him speak freely. "Just come with us, please."
He paused for a second, almost as if he were debating it. Until he spoke, "Good luck against the Grievers."
_____
Everyone who decided to join them were now jogging through the Maze at a light, steady pace to where Thomas believed would be their way out. Of course, Minho kept everyone motivated on the way.
"Everybody, this way!"
"Keep it up, guys, we're almost there!"
They all reach the small path, and Thomas signalled for everyone to stay to the side whilst he looked to see what they would be up against.
Lela jumped at the sudden growling of what could only be a Griever.
"Is it a Griever?" Chuck asked.
Thomas sighed, "Yeah."
"Shit."
"Language, Chuck!" Lela reminded him.
"Sorry." He apologised before rephrasing it, "Shuck."
"That's better." She smirked, trying to lighten the mood.
Minho passed Chuck the device that would hopefully open the door, leading them to freedom.
"You take this, Chuck." He instructed, "Stay behind us."
The young boy nodded hesitantly, and everyone picked up on it.
"It's okay." Teresa assured him, "Just stick with me."
"Once we're through, it will activate, and the door will open." Thomas explained.
Lela gave her final words of encouragement, "We stay close, we stick together. We get through this.
We get out now, or we die trying."
Everyone nodded confidently, showing no sign of fear. Perfect.
"Ready?" Thomas asked, not even waiting for an answer. He could tell by the looks of everyone that they wanted to get it done, "All right. Let's go!"
And with a battle cry, they charged straight onto the path, ready to risk their life to get even one Glader out of the horrible place.