Disclaimer:
Me on a date: So, what do you think of Thomas in The Maze Runner?
Date: To me he was just really annoying and I hated him. The book would've been better with someone else as the main character.
Me, shoving breadsticks into my purse: Oh would you look at the time I suddenly have to leave right now immediately
-✼-
Theo brought me terrible news that night to add to the day's chaos.
"The shucking walls didn't close."
As soon as the words left his mouth, my jaw fell slack. My hands raked through my hair, a nervous habit I'd accumulated over my time there. Now his appearance made sense— hair unkempt, dark eyes wide with terror, and voice slightly trembling.
I had been in the Homestead, cleaning things up a bit, and I hadn't even bothered to look out a window. But as I did then, I grew even more apprehensive at the screaming Gladers running around like headless chickens.
The sky had sent us into enough of a tremor. Now this?
"Thank you for finding me, Theo," I said, voice breathy as I dropped the curtain. The room was immediately cast in a musty luminescence that seemed thoroughly appropriate for the situation.
Theo, who had been peeking over my shoulder to view the world outside, straightened himself up when I turned around. His lips pulled into a thin line and he nodded somberly, eyes cast to the floor.
I put a hand on his muscular arm, causing him to look up at me. Seeing him look as troubled as he did made a weight settle into my heart. It was such a contrast to how he usually was— somewhat equivalent to sunshine and Frypan's cupcakes.
"We're gonna figure this out, just like we always do, okay?" I assured, voice gentle. Theo nodded again, though he didn't look very convinced. I patted his bicep before walking around him and starting down the hallway. "Find Chuck, all right? Bring him to Thomas and me."
With those words, I darted down the steps and out the door, eyes shifting around. I saw countless boys not caring how scared they looked as they darted around, while others were more controlled and only paced. A few were rocking back and forth on the ground. Seeing them only made me more afraid— these Gladers had been through a lot, and if that was scaring them as badly as it was, I knew I had every right to be just as unsettled as they were.
But I had to hide it. For Chuck's sake. For Thomas, who was probably klunking his pants by now. For Alby, who hadn't believed in me since the start. For Minho, since his reliance toward me was waning. Teresa had only seen my friendly side. And Newt, well, he could probably see right through me.
I couldn't find anyone. Not my brother. None of the friends I had made while in the Glade. Heck, I couldn't even find Frypan!
Maybe it was because the Glade was spinning, people blending into each other and the sky mixing into the ground until everything was a blur of color. Sounds tuned in and out, some loud and others unintelligible. I stumbled, my hands flying up to hold my head. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, blinking in confusion up at the blending sky.
It felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I knew I was breathing - I could feel the unsteady rise and fall of my chest — but the panic that had settled into my lungs tricked my brain into thinking I was suffocating. My hands went from my head to my collarbones. Weak, strangled coughs sputtered out of my lips.
A face appeared in front of me. I could barely make out blond hair and grey eyes before the spinning became too much and I closed my eyelids.
Every noise had become muffled like my head was dunked underwater. But one voice broke though, their words echoing in my head like they were being spoken through a tunnel.
"Dylan." I winced as my name reverberated from eardrum to eardrum. "Dylan." The voice suddenly cleared, sounding loud and sharp in front of my face. "Dylan, get up!"
My eyes opened, revealing the face of Garret. His eyebrows were pinched together and worry consumed the stormy grey of his eyes. Tussled blond hair was disheveled from the surrounding panic. He didn't look much better than the rest of us.
Upon noticing I was responding now, he grabbed onto my arm. "C'mon," he urged, hoisting me to my feet. "Up you go."
My feet found their way underneath me and I gripped onto Garret in order to steady myself. Among the severe distress holding all the Glade hostage, he had been the only one to notice my...whatever it had been.
"Thank you," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. He was just starting to release me when my legs started to go numb and I toppled to the side a bit. "Nope, false alarm."
"Shuck." Garret quickly swept his arm under my back and held my legs up with the other one, holding me in his arms just as my eyes started to roll back in my head and darkness consumed me.
-/-
My eyes snapped open and I quickly sat up, surveying my surroundings. I was in my room. It was almost pitch black except for a single candle burning on the dresser beside the bed, the flame casting dancing shadows around the room. My blankets had been tucked neatly to my chin before I messed them up.
I yanked the covers off of me and slid off the bed. As soon as I did, dark spots danced in my vision from my blood pressure dropping so suddenly. I had stood up too quickly.
My hand clasped onto the splintery corner of the dresser and instantly someone was rushing to me, saying, "Woah, woah, woah. Not so fast, Dylan."
I blinked rapidly until I could see again. Towering above me was Clint, purple bags under his eyes and stress lines apparent on his forehead.
"I'm fine," I dismissed, releasing the furniture and heading for the door. The candle didn't provide much light. It was still so dark I had to squint to see where the door was.
"You sure?" Clint asked worriedly. "Garret said you had some sort of attack. Do you have them often?"
I fumbled in the dim lighting until I found the doorknob. My hand lingered on it while I responded, "I had one when I first came here. That was it. Where are the others?"
Clint sighed, understanding that I was too antsy to talk for long. "Newt, Alby, Minho, and Thomas are all talking privately. They asked for no visitors."
"You think they'll let me in?" I questioned, turning the knob slowly.
"Doubt it," Clint replied honestly with some sort of a scoff. "They all seemed pretty agitated, especially Newt. You can try, but they have Finn acting as a bouncer. Good luck getting past him."
With a groan I swung the door open, nearly hitting myself in the face with it. I had seriously misjudged how close it was and I stumbled back to avoid getting clobbered.
Before Clint could heroically rush to my aid, I held up a finger. "I'm okay."
I left the room and entered the hallway. The single light flickered dimly, illuminating the corridor in an eerie glow. I shivered. Were the Creators purposely cutting off the electricity just to add to the suspense or something? It had never been this dark so often.
I quickly scurried down to the first floor, where it was packed with Gladers and their sleeping bags. Nobody wanted to sleep outside, even if the Builders had haphazardly set up walls. We weren't stupid - they'd get plowed through easily - but at least people had tried.
"Theo," I called quietly, not wanting to disturb the tension-filled aura. "Theo!"
"Over here!" his voice answered in a low hiss. I turned toward the sound and let out a breath of relief when I saw him with a terrified Chuck at his side. My feet immediately carried me down the rest of the flight and over the Gladers until I got to them.
"Thank God," I whispered, pulling Chuck into a tight hug. "You okay?"
"Sorta," the boy replied in a timid voice. "I mean, I nearly klunked my pants when I first found out, but I think I'm better now."
I laughed softly, pulling away from the hug and facing Theo, who had a small grin on his face. "Thank you."
"No problem, pepinillo," he replied, bringing Chuck close to him in a side-hug. He grinned down at the shorter boy. "We're mejores amigos now. I've been teaching him Spanish. Right, Chuck?"
A bright smile appeared on his pudgy face. "¡Sí!"
"Oh, no," I sighed playfully. "Not you, too."
Theo and Chuck laughed in sync, giving each other high fives. But then they both turned serious as if a switch had been flicked.
"Are you all right?" Theo asked, eyebrows creasing with concern. "I heard—"
"I'm fine," I assured, nodding my head. "Just got a little scared, that's all."
Theo pursed his lips, unconvinced again. He let it slide and changed the topic instead. "Did you hear about the girl?"
A dark feeling brewed in my chest and my face fell. "No..."
Horrible possibilities swarmed in my head. Did they Banish her while I was out? Sacrifice her to the Grievers?
"They locked her up in the Slammer," Theo informed, voice low so only Chuck and I could hear.
"What?!" I shouted, causing nearby people to turn their attention to me. Quickly, I brought my voice down and asked angrily, "Who are 'they'?"
"Billy and Jackson did the actual locking up part," Theo informed, then an expression appeared on his face like he was afraid he'd get punched. "They did it per Newt and Alby's orders."
Though fire rampaged through me and I felt like I had turned into a ticking time bomb, I took deep breaths to calm myself down. I didn't need to blow up and make a scene. "Why?"
Theo shrugged. "Not sure. I didn't hear the reason, but Thomas looked very unhappy about it when he went to check on you."
I let out a long breath. "What about Newt?"
"Do not even go there," Chuck advised with his eyes cast to the side. "He's been...aggressive the entire day. Always got that same look on his face like he'll skin you alive if you disturb him. We've been trying to keep our distances."
"Did he ask about me?" I was afraid to know the answer. Chuck hesitated before slowly shaking his head. I sighed. "Okay. Well, I better see if anyone's causing a raucous since the leaders are in a meeting."
I left them without another word. I trusted Theo to watch over Chuck while I tried to handle things. But one quick scan around the Homestead told me there wasn't much that could be done. Every Glader was keeping to himself like he was trying to be as small as possible in the cramped building.
I headed back upstairs to my room, which was now empty. The candle was melting into a nub by then. I blew it out before crawling into bed, my eyes focused on the darkness above me. Suffocating me.
I was alone. It hit me hard then for some reason. Solitude was rare in the Glade, and I had become so accustomed to having others around constantly that having time to myself made me feel empty. A hollow feeling drilled into me as I laid on my cot, stiff as a board. It suddenly seemed too lumpy, almost like Gally had somehow stuffed rocks in it after all. The pillow was like sandpaper and the sheets smothered me.
I threw the blankets off of me and darted across the room into Newt's empty bed, face-planting into the pillow and taking in as deep of a breath as my blocked airways would allow me. It was encased in his scent. I felt a bit safer lying there for some reason, like I was less alone than before.
I draped his blankets around me and turned on my side. It was impossible to make out anything in front of me, but I stared at what I thought was the door for what seemed like hours, waiting for Newt to walk through it.
He didn't.
Sleep came in restless fits. I turned from my side to my back about a thousand times. I guessed it was the worry that caused it. Newt still hadn't come upstairs.
I stuffed my face into his pillow and groaned loudly, followed by a, "Shut up!" from Winston. I rolled my eyes. His room was on the side with my bed, not Newt's.
I had fallen into another short period of slumber, which was soon interrupted by someone shaking me violently. My heavy eyelids opened slowly to see a face inches from mine. I was barely able to see a pair of Asian eyes staring at me. My voice was groggy and hoarse, laced with confusion. "Minho?"
"I can't believe you slept through this," he gasped, pulling me out of bed roughly. He dragged me to the door and down the hall before I could process what was going on. My brain wasn't able to comprehend all the chaos downstairs, all the boys crowded at the single, hastily boarded window.
"What's going on?" I asked tiredly, my voice hoarse from sleep- or lack of it, thereof. Minho pushed me to go faster down the stairs and I nearly tripped over my own feet. The momentum caused me to fall into the sea of boys by the window.
"Let her through, let her through," somebody ordered. All the boys parted to make somewhat of a path from me to the window. Confused, I walked forward and ended up between Thomas and Newt — so that's where he was — and stood on my toes to see through a crack in the boards.
I barely got a glimpse of the outside when the door from the hallway opened with a crash. Everyone around me jumped, having expected something from outside, not behind us. But who I saw made my heart stop in shock and my eyes to widen until they were equivalent to saucers.
Gally.
gif is dylan telling theo shes ay-okay (not really tho)
_____________
what is this???? an update?????
ok so a few things:
1. i added garret to the cast list because he's cool and is going to be mentioned a lot more now
2. ^ what do you guys think of him? do you like him or not?
3. wtf is newt's deal avoiding dylan like that bye
dedicated to boy-division because they named a reading list after dylan and that's really freaking cool!!
-kristyn