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𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.
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needles. i hate them fr. thomas, grievers, syringes, mentions of fire, suspected death, maybe maybe not who knows fr. teresa as well ig?
Arthur kicked at a rock as he looked toward the maze. This was the longest he hadn't gone into it and the noises he heard weren't boding the best with him. Every rumble caused him to look toward the maze once again, the urge to run into its building but leaving him unable to do anything under the careful eye on Newt who watched him from a few feet away. Then everything went quiet and Arthur started jogging to wait for the two people who were currently in the maze with the hope they would show up.
Newt obviously must have followed him closely after because soon he came to a pause beside him, his breath haggard from years of not running. "What did you hear."
"Nothing." Newt furrowed his brows.
"Nothing? What does that mean?"
Arthur glanced at the puddle in front of the maze before looking at him, taking note of the crowd that had gathered. "Exactly that. It stopped."
The sound of footsteps could be heard and Arthur fixed his gaze on the two that appeared around the corner. As soon as they grew close Newt spoke up. "Now, what the hell is going on out there?"
They walked beside them as they moved further and further away from the maze. "What the hell have you done now, Thomas?"
"We found something, a new passage. We think it could be a way out."
There was a faint tone of disbelief in Newt's tone as he fixed his eyes on Minho and Thomas. "Really?"
"It's true. We found a door, something I'd never seen before. I think it must be where the Grievers go in the day." Arthur glanced at him from his space next to Newt with furrowed brows. He didn't like the sound of leaving through a Griever den, it sounded far too dangerous.
"Wait! Whoa, whoa, whoa... Are you saying you found the Grievers' home? And you want us to go in?" Chuck's words stuck a cord in Arthur's head and he bit his cheek in thought.
Minho looked at Chuck. "Their way in could be our way out, Chuck."
Arthur took a deep breath as he heard the tell-tale sign of Gally. "Yeah, or be a dozen Grievers on the other side. The truth is, Thomas doesn't know what he has done, as usual."
"Yeah, at I did something, Gally. I mean, what have you done? Aside from hiding behind these walls all the time?" Thomas seethed and Newt and Minho were behind Thomas as if siding with him. That was something Arthur refused to do. Take sides. It didn't help in the slightest.
Gally scoffed. "Let me tell you something, Greenie. You've been here 3 days, all right? I've been here 3 years!" They were face to face and Arthur shared a gaze with Newt and pursed his lips, obviously at a loss of what to do.
"Yeah, you've been here 3 years and you're still here, Gally! What does that tell you?" AS Thomas grew closed Arthur's patience with the two snapped. He looked at Teresa who would only be here for one reason.
"It tells us." There was a heavy silence as Arthur's voice rose and spoke above them, effectively cutting the argument and he looked between them. "We need to work together instead of being at each other throats. Alright." He looked between them once more before looking toward Teresa.
She gratefully nodded his head toward him. "It's Alby! He's awake." She moved backward and Arthur moved to her side, quietly talking.
"Has he said anything?"
"No."
"Alby" Newt sat by Alby's side and looked at him, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide. "Alby, are you all right?" Arthur placed a hand on Newt's shoulder and leaned over to look toward Alby, both of the boy's eyes not wavering.
Thomas approached them and crouched down. "Hey, Alby. Alby, we have just found a way out of the maze." Alby's eyes were teared up. "Do you hear me? We could be out of here."
"We can't. We can't leave." His voice broke and shattered his friend's heart. "They won't let us."
Thomas looked to Newt, his eyes flickering to Arthur briefly before focusing on Alby again. "What are you talking about?"
"I remember."
"What do you remember?" Alby's unwavering stare on the wall broke and fixated on Thomas.
"You." Thomas could feel everybody's eyes on him, boring into him and questioning the phase. He knew this made him look even more suspicious than usual. "You were always their favourite, Thomas. Always." People began screaming outside. "Why did you do this? Why did you come here?"
Thomas ran off but Arthur stayed for a second longer, his gaze stuck on Alby. There was a silence before Alby spoke again. "You were her favourite Arthur. I'm sorry." Arthur looked at him before shaking his head and following them out, casting one last glance before jogging to catch up to Newt who glanced at him.
"Winston, what's on?" The cold air brushed against Arthur's arms, his tank doing nothing to protect him from the unsettled feeling that fell in his stomach.
Suddenly it got colder. "It's the doors. They aren't closing." They broke off toward the doors and Arthur felt a chill go down his spine as he looked around before running toward the maze, coming to a stop in front of the open door.
There was a loud rumble and as they turned, the doors to the entrance opposite opened. Slowly one by one they all opened leaving them completely vulnerable to every attack they could be surprised with. Arthur watched as people approached the opening doors and glanced toward Newt who shook his head.
"Okay, Chuck, I want you to go to the Council Hall and start barricading the doors. Winston, you go with him." Arthur watched Winston run off after Chuck toward the council hall.
Gally started taking charge as well. "Get the others. Tell them to go to the forest. Go hide, now!"
"Minho, I want you to grab every weapon you can find. I'll meet you at Hall." Arthur gripped Newt's hand and briefly kissed him before he ran off with Minho.
"Teresa, you and I are going to go get Alby, all right? Come on." Thomas gripped Teresa's arms before looking back when screaming started up.
Arthur gripped Thomas's shoulder. "I'm going to go help them. Get out of sight." He then sprinted off toward the chaos leaving everybody else to scatter in the hope he could stop anybody else from getting killed. He didn't care what happened to him as long as the other got out.
"All right, hide!" Everyone moved apart from Teresa who Thomas grabbed. "Teresa! Come on! Run! Run!" The grievers scurried across the walls before landing harshly on the floor and giving chase.
They entered the crop field and ran a bit into it before Thomas yelled again. "Stay down!" There was a tense silence that was filled with the pain screams and torched cries of the gladers. A mechanical whirr came from above them but gave no time to loom before it clamped around Zart, digging into his body and drawing a yell from him.
They cried his name but to no avail, as he was picked up and thrown, his pleads fading but never fully leaving. They knew- Thomas knew, that if they stayed more people than usual would die.
"Go! Get to the village!" They ran through the crops, the feeling of the harsh stalks hitting them but not having the time to pay enough attention to do anything about it, not if they wanted to live past this night.
Fumbling toward the village left them in sight of the approaching Alby, Zart who watched them pant. "Alby!"
"What's going on?" The realisation that they didn't know what was going on hit them. The amount of people being taken, killed, and tortured by the creatures that had already claimed so many lives before this point.
"They're here." Alby stared at Thomas, noting the absences of his friends with a heavy heart.
Jeff looks in disbelief. "Grievers?"
Behind them, someone got eaten by a Griever forcing them back into the cruel reality that they had been oblivious to beforehand. They stepped backwards, terrified out of their minds. Around them, people were being dragged away. There were a few stumbling steps before they kicked into action and started running away from the mass of the Grievers that had abused where they were.
"In here!" Right when they were going to head into a build a Griever barrelled through causing splinters of wood to scatter everywhere a large mess as somebody was tackled to the ground. Teresa grabbed something from a side table and threw it at the Griever, causing it to light into flames. They stared on in disbelief before continuing their course toward somewhere that wasn't the large flaming creature.
People were picked off one by one, going down loudly and screaming. Alby's legs couldn't hold him anymore. It was a surprise he got this far. "Alby!" Jeff helped him up, nearly tilting under holding all of Alby's weight alone as they were approached by the creature. "Get behind me!" He told his torch in front of him, a layer between him and the Griever. "Come on!" It went to leap toward him before getting impaled with a spear, the squish it made lost in the loud sounds of the night. It screeched, in pain and threw its tail around.
"Over here, let's go!" Newt, Minho, Fry and one other ran toward them weapons in their hands, ready to attack another griever with them if needed. "Over here! Let's go! Come on!" They moved away from the furious injured Griever.
Chuck waved them over, a lantern in his hand and Thomas felt an overwhelming feeling of relief. He was okay. "Over here, come on!"
"Winston! Get Alby inside. Chuck, get in! Go, go, go!" He shut the door once everybody got in and turned to the middle as he approached the place where Newt stood only a few days earlier electing him a runner. "Lock down the doors!"
A thumping came from the door and they all shut up, staying silent. They could see it look underneath the walls, similar to a dog but so unlike it at the same time. It moved to the top, the loud crashing as the Council Hall struggled to uphold the weight.
"Careful." It scurried across it and they all screamed, crouching further down. They were all looking around, not prepared in the slightest for what may happen.
They all moved out of the wall of the centre. Now all of them were in the zone of the most vulnerable area.
A claw came into the centre and pulled out a pole making the entire centre collapse and the ceiling push into them causing them to yell out. Debris fell on them, trapping some under the loose wood.
"Is everyone all right?" Newt looked around, not quite paying attention to the people.
Someone called out, their body trapped next to the wall. "Help me!"
"Hey grab him!" They scrambled to grab his hand but just as they got a grip he was snatched and dragged out from under the walls.
They all scrambled into the middle, huddling together with a few people hovering on the outside. It was tense as they looked around rapidly, terrified for their lives as they were hunting, now prey to the Grievers.
It happened too quickly. The Griever arm came and reached for Chuck just as Thomas grabbed his hand, holding on tight as Chuck's body was lifted in the air. Thomas used his entire body weight to hold him, to make sure he wasn't taken. Soon everyone else joined in, multiple hands holding him.
Thomas tugged again. "Chuck, don't let go!"
"No shit!"
A whirring sound came from the claw just before Alby screamed and hit it off the claw and began bashing the metal, breaking its grip on Chuck and causing him to tumble to the floor. Alby hits it once more as it retracts, screaming at it.
"Chuck, are you okay?" Thomas looked over the young boy, cautious of any injuries he may have.
He smiled shakily. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Alby." His breathing was shaky, as he looked at Alby who smiled at the younger boy before gritting his teeth, still in pain.
"Alby! Watch out!" The claw came back and hooked onto Alby, pulling him out, only this time nobody grabbed him in time. Taking matters into his own hands he gripped the bare framing of the wood.
Newt looked at his friend, his eyes wide. "Grab him!" Hurrying Thomas scrambled onto the wood and grabbed onto Alby.
"Thomas, get them out and find Arthur." They made eye contact and Alby was pleading with him silently. Begging him to find his best friend. Begging him to get everyone out alive. He was then ripped from Thomas's weak grasp and thrown out of sight, leaving him to the Grievers.
People shouted and screamed for their friend but Thomas started up, running out of the building.
"Thomas- Thomas! Don't go out there!"
"No, Thomas, wait! Thomas, wait!"
They all emerged from the Hall to see a burned-down, fogged-up Glade. A mere shell of the place it used to be. now dissolved into a flaming mess. Newt looked around, taking in everybody who was there and who wasn't.
"Where is everybody? Who's that over there?" Teresa looked pointedly at the person approaching in the distance but Thomas focused on what Newt was saying.
Newt scanned the crowd again hoping he was just missing him. "Better yet, where's Arthur?" Thomas glanced at him.
"He ran off, I thought he went with you." He focused on the figure approaching again.
Newt shook his head, his eyes never leaving the figure either. "I thought he was with you, where the bloody hell is he."
As Gally approached the conversation fell quiet. "Gally-" Immediately a pain burst in his cheek, forcing him to the ground in a scrawled mess. People pulled him away from the boy on the floor but he fumed and raged.
"This is all you, Thomas! Look around!" He waved his hand around manically but no one looked around, all too aware of what their previously green expanse looked like.
Minho started yelling. "Back off, Gally! It's not Thomas' fault!"
Thomas slowly came to a stand, his face screwed up as he stared at Gally.
"You heard what Alby said! He's one of them!" He pointed an accusing finger at Thomas, his hand shaking from all the anger he felt rushing through him. All of his friends, his family were dead because of Thomas messing about where he shouldn't have been.
"One of who?" Thomas was so confused about what Gally was saying. He spoke as if he knew what Alby was on about.
Gally jumped pointing at him again, sweat beading at his forehead, his eyebrows arching and his face flushed red. "He's one of them, and they sent him here to destroy everything, and now he has!" He pushed away Fry's hand continuously. "Look around, Thomas! Look around! This is your fault!"
"Hey, back off, Gally!" Minho tightened his grip. Now he held him back as tight as he could, trying to keep him under control. "This is not Thomas' fault!"
Newt placed a hand on Gally's arm, pushing him back. "Calm down. What are you talking about?"
"They sent him here, and now he's destroyed everything that we've built!" He sounded further away Thomas noted as his eyes settled onto the syringe that lay in Chuck's grasp.
Newt spoke again, this time his voice more forceful. "What are you talking about?" He grabbed onto Gally his time, not even glancing back at Thomas now just curious to know what he meant. He needed to know.
"Maybe he's right." He looked down at the syringe before thinking back to Alby. If Alby remembered he should too right?
Teresa was hesitant. "Thomas?"
"I need to remember, Teresa." He looked at the scrambling Gally, now determined to know why he was acting this way. What could he have done that was so bad it caused both Alby and Gally to freak out and become so infuriated at him not to mention Ben?
Teresa looked on unable to move from where she was standing. This couldn't be happening. "Thomas?" She watched as he plunged the syringe into himself and started groaning in pain. Pain she couldn't fix right away. She didn't know why that hurt her so much. "Thomas! No, don't!" She lunged forward, placing a gentle hand on his leg and shaking it.
"Chuck, get the other syringe!" Teresa looked at Chuck and he nodded and ran off to get it leaving her with Thomas's convulsing body that didn't stop moving.
Newt shook his shoulder and looked at his eyes. "Thomas." He looked toward Minho who grabbed the syringe off of Chuck who passed it off with no problem, his eyes stuck on the body who had just nearly signed himself off to death.
Piecing Thomas's skin with the plunger and watching as he stopped convulsing caused them all to let out a sigh of relief. Gally however did not give them even a chance to breathe before pointing at Thomas.
"Get him into the pit." When no one moved he looked at the two men behind him. "Now!" They scurried to pick him up.
Minho stood up and shook his head, his face firm. "Woah, He is not going into that pit just because you don't like him okay? We have bigger matters to worry about alright?" Gally scowled at him and Minho noted that he wasn't reasonable.
"He is the reason that Arthur is dead alright." There was a silence before Minho shook his head.
Newt looked at Gally. "He is not dead. Why would you even say that." Minho stood straight but came nowhere close to Gally's towering frame.
"Where is here? Everyone that isn't here is dead. Slaughtered. Gone. He always had his suspicions and now look at him. Dead because of this dumb slinthead. Tell me. Do you feel supportive of him now?" Newt looked him in the eyes before standing up straight, his face cold as he didn't break eye contact.
When no one answered the boys carried Thomas to the pit, Teresa following in tow, her eyes never leaving him but still taking in what Gally had said.
"Thomas turned you against him Newt. Made you to fight and for what? So he could do what he pleases. Not any more. This ends today and there is nothing you can do to stop it."