GALLY HAD COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER.

Instead of putting Thomas in the Med-jack Hut like they usually did when someone got Stung, or, in this case, Stung themselves, the Keeper of the Builders threw him and Teresa into the Pit and sentenced them to Banishing in two days. No one had argued with him for two reasons — as far as they knew, Thomas could be some spy that was sent to get them all killed.

The second reason was that no one wanted to joinThomas and Teresa in their punishment. Banishing meant that you were left to fend for yourself with the Grievers, but after the previous night, they were not safe from the monsters anywhere.

That was why Alex, Minho, and Newt were sitting at the Weapons Range away from prying ears of Gally's goons, trying to come up with a plan to stop said boy. The girl sighed, looking over to the blonde boy. "Why can't you just pull the second-in-command card?"

"I tried," he replied, leaning his head back against the tree. He was Alby's next choice if anything happened to him, and something did happen. So, Newt should have been in charge, but he was not. "He just kept saying that we needed a leader that hasn't 'gone soft,' whatever that means."

"I still say we take control back. It's three against one, and I bet we could get some people to help us with his supporters," Minho told them firmly.

Alex shook her head, knowing that that would only end horribly for everyone involved. "We can't stoop that low. The other Gladers would never respect us if we were as bad as Gally."

"They know us, though. They respect us already," Minho countered, and it was true. The people that they had known for years already knew that they were good leaders and only wanted what was best for the people.

"Yeah, well that was the same situation with Gally," Newt pointed out. Gally had been a trusted member of their community, and now look at where that got them. He suggested, "What if one of us just tried to sit down and reason with him?"

"Good luck with that. There's no one he would listen to," the Runner scoffed, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms. Then, it seemed as if a light bulb went off in the two boys' heads, and they whipped around to look at the girl next to them.

She furrowed her eyebrows, confused for a moment, but then her eyes widened in realization. She shook her head frantically, knowing what they were about to ask her. "No. No way. No."

"He'll listen to you," Newt insisted, but she just kept shutting him down.

"No, guys," she insisted, running a hand through her hair as she stood up from her sitting position to look both of them in the eyes so that they knew she was serious. It was one thing to go behind Gally's back, but she and Gally had had the same conversation a million times it felt like. It was clear that she could not change his mind, and she was sick of trying to. "I can't do it. No. He's not going to listen to me. I promise you."

Minho shrugged. "It's worth a shot. Please, Alex." They both gazed at her with pleading eyes until she just groaned and nodded slowly, stuffing her face in her hands.

"Oh, my God. I can't believe I'm agreeing to this."

《 ✢ 》

NEWT AND MINHO HELPED HER to work out a strategy about what to say to get Gally to agree to hand over power or at least stop the Banishing from happening. The only thing left to do was talk to him, so she asked around the Glade and found him in the Council Hall with a few other Gladers.

They all looked up when she entered. She glanced around awkwardly before looking to the boy she wanted to speak with. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute in private?"

"Sure," he replied before nodding to the boys with him so that they walked past the girl and out the door. He raised his eyebrows at her in question. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I want to be Banished with them," she announced after taking a deep breath. She decided not to build up to her point and to just blurt it out. Rip off the band-aid, you know?

He furrowed his eyebrows and smiled a little bit, thinking that she was joking or playing a prank on him. Why would anyone want to be Banished? It was absolutely crazy. "What?"

"Teresa and Thomas, I want to be Banished with them," she repeated, and she scanned his face for a reaction. Minho and Newt had pointed out that if she demanded to be Banished, then he would cancel the Banishing all together.

For a moment, she thought he was going to just shrug and say that that was fine and that he did not care what happened to her. He chuckled a little bit, still not believing that she was telling the truth. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I've thought it through, and it's what I want," she insisted, but her voice was getting kind of shaky. She sucked at lying, especially to Gally because for some reason, he always knew when she was.

He shook his head, quickly shutting her request down. "I'm not Banishing you."

"You don't get it, do you, Gally?" she sighed as she walked down the stairs to where he was standing. He just could not seem to get it through his head that they had to leave sooner or later. "We can't stay here forever."

"I know that," he replied, rolling his eyes because she had said this to him multiple times whenever they talked about Thomas and getting out of the Maze. It did not seem like he understood it. He just said he did to make her happy.

She raised her eyebrows at him, calling his bullshit. "Do you? Because it seems like you have this fantasy of all of us living happily ever after in the Glade, but that's not going to happen. We'll run out of supplies eventually."

"God, you sound like Thomas," he muttered.

"Maybe he's right, then," she sighed, and she realized that her earlier request was starting to become less like a tactic and more true. "Gally, I told you that I'd rather die than stay here, and I stand by that. So, if that's your plan, then just Banish me."

He grabbed her shoulders, holding her steady as he leaned down so that he was eye level with her. "You're staying, Lexi. End of story."

"You can't keep me here!" she shouted, wrenching her arms out of his grip and taking a couple steps back, but he just followed her around the room. As much as she loved the Glade, she could not stay there a moment longer without going completely insane.

Not even wanting to hear her out, he just yelled back angrily, "I can sure as hell try!"

"I can't stay, Gally," she told him, and her voice was beginning to grow desperate as tears appeared in her eyes. She let him catch up to her so that they were face-to-face, gazing sadly into each other's eyes. She pleaded, her voice breaking, "Please don't make me stay."

His gaze softened as a tear rolled down his cheek as well. Alex was shocked because she was pretty sure that she had never seen him cry before. "You remember that time after the Bonfire when I asked for a reward for being nice to the Greenie?"

"Yeah," she responded with a nod, scared for what he was about to say.

He inhaled deeply like he was nervous, and she definitely never seen Gally nervous before. He was really starting to worry her. "Can I cash that in now?"

"I'm not going to change my mind if that's what you're thin—" She was cut off by his lips on hers. One hand went to her cheek while the other held her waist so that she did not fall over from the impact.

She froze for a second because she was surprised, but as soon as she realized what was happening, her hands made their way to his shoulders, and she stood on her toes to get closer to him. The kiss was desperate and sweet, tragic and beautiful at the same time. It was salty from their tears mixing together, and they clung to each other like one of them was going to disappear at any moment. For all they knew, it could happen. When he pulled away, his voice was shaky.

"I can't lose you."