Your heart broke as Gally opened the Slammer, and forced Newt to hold you back as he forced your group out. He made people Thomas and Teresa weren't close to hold them, but he made the love of your life hold you. You felt a single tear drop onto your shoulder, and you turned around (as much as possible) to see Newt trying, and failing, not to cry.

You reached the doors of the Maze, where three posts where stuck into the ground. Newt took you to the middle one, tying up your hands up feet to look tightly tied, but they were actually very loose. You gave him a wink and a reassuring smile, which he returned, albeit weakly.

You leaned around your post as much as possible, to see Thomas being dragged along the ground and Teresa being hustled along very roughly.

"Why are you Banishing us, Gally?" you called out. "We haven't done anything wrong! Look at Thomas!"

You jerked your head in his direction, where he was still unresponsive on the dirt.

"Look at Teresa!"

Everyone looked at the other girl's blood-stained T-shirt.

"And look at me!"

You felt everyone's eyes on you as you rotated your arms as much as possible to show all of the bandages and cuts.

"We don't want to hurt you! All we want to do is get out!"

Gally leaned against his spear, eyes downcast. "This ... this isn't a Banishing, Y/N."

"Then what is it?" you asked.

"It's an offering," Gally sighed. "If we give you three up, the Grievers will leave us alone."

"Are you shucking stupid?" you spat, all pretence of bargaining abandoned with his idiocy.

"The Grievers won't leave you alone!" Teresa cried, exasperated, looking around at the boys furtively, trying to convince them of Gally's misunderstandings and potential unhinged mental state. "What if those doors never close again? The Grievers will come back and kill you all! They'll keep coming, and coming, until you're all dead."

Everyone seemed to consider this, except Gally. He remained stoic, unmoving. Unconvinced.

"Gally, please, maybe, he's right," Newt begged, trying to reason his with his old friend one last time.

"Who's side are you on, Newt?" Gally glared, his eyebrows in a full-on V-shape. He motioned to Thomas on the floor. "Tie him up."

Thomas lay limp until he was half-lifted off the floor, and then delivered a sharp elbow to one of the boy's groin. Newt unsheathed his machete and cut you down, handing you a spare dagger from somewhere.

When a boy raced to grab you, you grabbed his arms, kneeing him in the stomach and flipping him over your shoulder. Minho held a machete to Gally's throat, giving him a 'try me, shank' death glare. Teresa and Thomas joined you, along with Chuck and Frypan. Your heart ached that Alby wasn't here to escape with you.

Finally, we can go, and Alby's ...

"It's over, Gally," you said. "Come on. Please, just come with us. If you stay here ... Teresa's right. You'll die."

"Don't listen to them!" Gally cried as some people took a step forwards. They immediately froze: the Gladers were loyal to a fault. Every. Last. One. "Y/N's just trying to scare you."

"No, she's not," Thomas stepped in gently. You let him take the lead on this - he was good at reasoning with people. "You're already scared, alright? We just want to get out of here, safe and sound, and get back to our homes, to the people that love us. It's not too late to come with us, Gally. Everyone," he extended his arms. "Everyone - it's not too late. Do you really want to stay here, attacked endlessly by Grievers?"

All the remaining Gladers thought about that. Soon, Winston, Jeff, and others joined your group.

"Sorry, Gally," Jeff murmured.

Newt looked pleadingly at Gally. The taller boy remained stone-faced. Finally, he took a step forward.

"Good luck against the Grievers."

You sighed, looking at Newt. You tried to tell him without words that there was no changing his mind. He looked deep into your e/c eyes, and saw what you were communicating, and gave a resigned nod. Thomas turned to your small group.

"Look, I know you might not like what we find out there, but it's our only choice. And we get out now, or die trying."

You all nodded determinedly, and set off at a brisk run. You could tell Newt was struggling a little, but as one of the last of the Runners, you had to leave to lead.

"I'm sorry," you made a sad face as you sped up.

"It's alright, Y/N," Newt smiled. "I'll be right behind you. I will always be right behind you."

- - -

"Minho, pass the Key," you asked. "Please."

The Asian boy tossed it through the air, and you waved it around the front of the door, which groaned and began to open. Just then, you heard a familiar clicking sound, then the screech of metal on stone, and finally, the scream.

A last stand of monsters.

"Griever!" you all yelled at once.

You pushed to the front of the group.

"Stay behind me," you ordered, unsheathing your knife (or, rather, the small one Newt had lent you.)

"Y/N!" Newt protested, but you could hear Minho holding him back, saying quietly:

"She can take care of herself, okay? Don't distract her."

Your heart warmed at the acts of your best friend and your boyfriend. You took a spear from one of the other boys too, throwing that first, where it impaled neatly in the Griever's side. It didn't make a difference, and the horrid thing kept on advancing. You suddenly had a lightbulb moment, and darted quickly around the back of the Griever, where it couldn't see you.

As it tried to turn around, you slashed your knife, detaching two of its legs and its tail. It shrieked in pain as you continued with the rest of its metal parts until it was a slime-bleeding lump of flesh. You turned to see another Griever approaching, climbing up the side of the narrow path, and you kicked the injured creature at its brethren, knocking both of them off into the dark abyss.

You turned, smiling at your success, but the grin quickly fell off your face, to be replaced by a look of absolute horror. More Grievers were surrounding your friends, and you could hear some cries of pain, of death. You hoped none of them got stung: you couldn't lose anyone else.

"Guy!" you yelled, charging towards the huddle of Grievers. "I need you all to move back. Now!"

You heard Newt faintly relay your instructions, and the group of boys hastily retreated. As the Grievers went to follow, you flexed your arms, searching for the panic you felt for your friends to fuel your strength. You reached the first one, sliding onto your side to knock the Griever onto its stomach, where you promptly stabbed it. You got to your feet, but before you could get to the second Griever, it got to you.

One of its incredibly sharp legs ripped open the flesh of your back. You screamed loudly, falling and rolling across the stone.

You inwardly groaned at yourself for falling over again, but you were in too much pain to express anything.

"Y/N!" Newt cried, and you saw him run over to you, and he gently lifted up the back of your shirt, cursing when he saw what was beneath. "Shit!"

"Is it ... bad?" you wheezed. Thomas beckoned to Jeff, who pulled a roll of bandages seemingly out of nowhere and quickly bound your torso tightly. Newt picked you up, one arm gently scooping under your legs and the other clutching your shoulder tightly to his chest.

"A Code! We need a code!" Teresa yelled from where they appeared to be gathered around a hole. "Nine digits? Anyone?"

You had a flash of inspiration. "The section order! Teresa! It's 71526483!"

The other girl's fingers flashed over what appeared to be a very high-tech lock. You whimpered a little.

"Hey, hey," Newt said gently. "Look at me."

You looked into his eyes, his beautiful, soft, brown eyes. He pressed his lips to yours in a sweet, soft movement, taking some of the pain away.

"You're going to be okay," he promised.

The hole whirred open, and you touched Newt's chest gently, asking him to put you down. He did as you asked, though his arm lingered around your shoulders, just in case. You took a step, and found there was only a slight dull pain. You rolled your shoulders, feeling your back curiously.

What in the ...

"Huh," Newt observed, frowning. "I guess whatever they did to you gave you faster healing. Or more pain tolerance."

"I don't want to talk about what they did to me," you said softly.

"I'm sorry." Newt ducked his head. You pressed a reassuring kiss to his cheek, and then followed the others.

You stepped into a dimly lit corridor, though lights flickered on to slightly increase the light.

"After all that?" Frypan pointed. "Seriously?"

A single door, that the few of you who remained all gathered around

Labelled 'EXIT'.

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