Chapter Five.                            05
( that won't save us! ) ━━━━━━━━
↳ MEMORY LANE ↲

❝ WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? ❞

↢ ❦ ↣

LOST BOY
Ruth B.

there was a time when i was alone
nowhere to go and no place to call home
my only friend was the man in the moon
and even, sometimes, he would go away too
then one night, as i closed my eyes
i saw a shadow flying high
he came to me with the sweetest smile
told me he wanted to talk for awhile
he said, "peter pan, that's what they call me
i promise that you'll never be lonely"

0:08 ─⊙───────── 4:35
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

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      ROSIE RUSHED INSIDE locking the doors. The girl guided herself with her phone's flashlight as she headed to the kitchen. She dropped all of the documents on the table before turning around and letting out a scream.

       "Aaahhh!" Rosie screeched grabbing whatever was closest to her which was her phone quickly pressing the emergency button that automatically called police to the pin address. "Get out! Someone help!"

      The man on the sofa stood up shaking his head as he waved his hands trying to stop Rosie from continuing to scream. "No, no, no, no!" He exclaimed, "I'm not going to hurt you! Look just listen to me! Hear me out!"

     "Who the hell are you!?" Rosie shouted not giving him much time to respond as she started to argue. "The cops will come and arrest you! You're trespassing! They'll find you!"

"Nobody will find me." The man stated putting his hands inside his pockets.

      "The-the cameras they'll catch you!" Rosie threatened pointing at the surveillance camera at the front door.

      The man glanced to where Rosie pointed as he nodded snapping his fingers, "I already stopped the recording and played a loop."

      "What—what do you want?" Rosie stuttered in fear as she took out her wallet from her purse. "Do you want money? Here! Take it! Now leave!"

      Rosie stuck out her hand with a few dollar bills. The guy looked at the money and shook his head. "I don't want money." He replied.

      "Then what do you want?! The authorities are so close! I suggest you leave! They'll be here any second now!" Rosie argued checking her phone as the cop car was still a few blocks down.

      "I'm the guy from the bus." The man explained himself as Rosie felt her world stop. Rosie picked her phone up and stopped the authorities from arriving. "My name's Gally."

      Gally.

      Gally.

      Gally.

     That name sounded so familiar to her but Rosie didn't know why. She didn't have any recollection of who the boy in front of her was. Rosie pointed at him, "how, how did you get inside?"

      Gally pointed at the door, "door was unlocked."

      "Okay," Rosie muttered asking him another question, "how do you know the nickname?"

       Gally furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "what nickname? Little one?" He asked. The young girl nodded still not knowing if it was okay to let this man be inside her home. "I'm the one that came up with it."

Rosie stayed quiet trying to figure what else to ask him. "What do you want from me?"

      "What?" Gally questions. "I don't want anything from you. Matter of fact, I want to try and help you remember."

       "How do I know that I can trust you?" Rosie asks really trying to figure out if she could genuinely trust the stranger in her living room. "How do I know that you're not actually messing with me?"

      The boy stayed quiet not knowing what to say before rolling up his long sleeve and showing her the bracelet. "You gave me this the last time we saw each other." Gally explained glancing at her wrist and noticing that she didn't have hers. "You took mine. I have your name and you had mine."

     Rosie took a few steps forward to look at the old bracelet and seeing her name with blood stains over it. "I made matching ones when we were inside the maze—"

      A loud knock stopped Gally from speaking as the pair turned to the door wondering who that could've been. "Security at the door! Please open up!"

      The girl's eyes widen as she grabbed Gally's arm and rushed into the hall. Gally followed before being pushed inside a closet. "Stay there and stay silent!" Rosie stated before shutting the door on him as she rushed to open the front door.

      Two cops stood outside Rosie's door as she greeted them. "Hello! Is there a problem officers?" Rosie asks putting her poker face on.

      "Evening, Miss. We got an emergency alert from this address. Is this your apartment?" One of the officers questioned.

      Rosie nodded, "yes, it's my apartment. I, uh, accidentally double clicked on the emergency button on my phone. I tried to decline the alert but I guess it didn't stop."

       "Is there a chance that we can actually come in and do an inspection?" The other officer asked causing the other one to raise an eyebrow at him. "Just to make sure everything is safe for you to stay the night."

       The girl tilted her head to the side as she quickly figured out that man's intention. "I don't think that will be necessary at this late hour. It's so late, you guys should just head out. I'm fine."

      "I insist." The officer stated stepping inside without permission.

      "Partner, this isn't allowed—"

       "Wait outside then." The officer demanded, "I won't take long."

      Rosie started to shake her head as she motioned with her hands towards the door. "I don't think so. Please leave. You're trespassing inside my house. I'll call the—"

       "What? The police?" The officer mocked as he added trying to install fear in her. "I am the police. Now why don't you give me a tour to your bedroom?"

      The sound of a door opening was loud and clear causing the officer to ask her, "is there someone else here?"

      Before Rosie could even speak, Gally showed up revealing himself. "Yeah, there is." His voice sounding with much more authority than the cops. His demeanor was very different compared to a few minutes ago. This version of Gally was angry and ready to act on impulse. "Did you not hear her? She said get the fuck out." Gally pointed at the door towering over the officer already establishing dominance.

      Rosie moved as quickly as she could behind Gally as she felt safer with him than the actual cop. The officer stepped back and exited the apartment. "If I ever see you coming around here again, I'll report you. The cameras already have you recorded." Gally pointed at the security camera even though it wasn't recording but the cop didn't know that.

     The officer stayed silent as the other one's eyes widened noticing the tag on the girl's shirt. He read the words WCKD employee. "She works for WCKD!" The officer hissed. "Apologize and let's go!"

      "I'm sorry." The officer who had trespassed pleaded not wanting to lose his job. "I really am. I don't know what came over me—"

      "Get lost." Gally demanded before shutting the door on the officer's face. The boy turned around, his feet automatically walking to Rosie as he gently approached her with his hands that reached her face. "You alright? Did he grab you or, or touch you? I'll go and beat him to a pulp if you want me to—"

      Rosie's heart skipped a beat as she felt his fingers rub the sides of her face in such delicacy. His eyes searching frantically for any sign of harm. The girl slowly shook her head as she watched the boy get calm after her response, "no, he didn't touch me at all."

     "Sorry." The boy took his hands away rather quickly as he remembered, she didn't remember him. "It was a habit." He quickly explained.

"Oh." She muttered turning away as she didn't know if this was okay. She didn't know if wanting to feel this warmth that spread through her body because of him was okay to feel. She didn't kno—remember him.

      Gally backed away a few steps to give enough distance for her to not feel unsafe. "I know it's hard for you to understand but you can trust me. I need you to trust me. All I want is for you to be safe."

      "I am safe." Rosie replied fumbling with her fingers.

      The boy shook his head, "not here you're not."

      "How? I have a roof over my head, a good paying job and food! Seems like a safe place to me unlike whatever's outside the city."

      "Whatever's outside the city?" He repeated what she had said, "what's outside this city are your friends! People who actually care about you! Not like these people who are just using you."

      Rosie crossed her arms sitting down on the sofa and patting the seat next to her, "then explain yourself. How did you find me? How did you know it was me?"

     The boy licked his lips sitting cautiously down on the girl's sofa."It's not that hard to spot the girl I was trapped with for almost a year. I could recognize you anywhere in any crowd. I could never forget you." Gally admitted.

     The girl's lips parted because of the comment the boy made. It stuck with her because no one had spoken to her like that. Maybe before when she had her memories in tact but these words Gally was saying made her feel fuzzy.

     "When I first saw you, it was on accident. I'd gone up to a lookout and there was this telescope facing towards the WICKED building." Gally explained trying to paint the girl a picture even though he was bad at describing. "I'd seen Teresa before so I thought that if I kept looking I'd eventually see Thomas but instead I saw you walking down the hall with her."

       "When I saw you for the first time in the city, I was furious." Gally explained staring up at the ceiling. "I thought how terrible of a person could you be to lie to all of us and be on WICKED's side. I despised you for days. But then, I came to a realization that, that wasn't possible. That couldn't be you. So, I gave you different tests to see if you had your memory. But every time you passed me down the street you never looked my way nor did you ever spare a single glance. There was no signs that you knew me. That's when I figured they took your memories away."

     Rosie was sat on the other side of the sofa with her feet curled up. "Why is WICKED bad? Why would you be so mad if I was a part of this?"

     "Because." Gally looked over at her for the first time in awhile. "They've killed our friends, Rosie. I saw how every time one of the guys lost their lives, it broke a piece of you. I know that the Rosie in the glade would never be a part of WICKED. And I guess all I'm asking is for you to trust me."

"I don't know why or how but something in me is telling me to trust you." Rosie muttered picking at her nails as she felt the inkling in her gut to allow herself to trust the boy. "But you might be my only hope. So please don't end up being some sort of serial killer."

A little curve formed on Gally's lips as he shook his head, "I can definitely confirm I'm no serial killer. I'd never hurt you or let anyone hurt you. I can promise you that."

Rosie nibbled on her bottom lip as she nodded, "Take me back." Rosie pleaded, "from the moment you met me to everything you know now. Help me remember who I was."

Gally smiled relieved that she was giving him a chance. Hopefully spending time with him could help her remember. "It'll take some time."

      "We have all night."

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      Gally spoke for hours as Rosie listened about their lives inside the glade. He made it seem peaceful and somewhat fun before the Griever attacks started to happen, the infection they both got at some point, and the deaths of their friends. "So, the British guy was my boyfriend? What was his name again? Newt?" Rosie asked.

The taller boy nodded not wanting to speak much about Rosie and Newt since it still hurt but she needed to hear it, "yeah, you two were close. There was something between you two since the beginning I think. He really loves you."

"Huh." Rosie mumbled.

"What?" Gally questioned.

"From what you've told me about us—I thought you and I would have been together." Rosie responded surprising Gally as his lips parted in shock, "I mean you're not bad to look at and seem to know me very well—or my old self? What I'm trying to say is, why didn't you ever want me?"

Gally stayed quiet as he had no words to what Rosie admitted. His heart had started to beat faster than usual and he could feel his body heat up from the nerves. Gally replied with a simple answer being truthful, "it was impossible not to fall in love with you, Rosie."

The girl could feel a little flutter in her chest the moment he spoke those words. "Then, why? Why didn't we ever get together?" Rosie asked in all genuine curiosity.

The boy shrugged his shoulders answering her question, "you just never looked my way."

"Oh." Rosie spoke and decided to be bold in the middle of the night adding on, "I'm looking at you now."

A little chuckle left his lips as he started to shake his head at her. Gally looked away trying to say this lightheartedly as he stood up, "there's only one heart in this body, Rosie. Have mercy on me won't ya?"

     The girl stayed quiet before changing the subject feeling as if she might have hurt his feelings. "Gimme a second," Rosie stood up jogging to the table and searching through her purse. Gally looked around checking the time on the clock up on the wall.

3:18 am.

The boy stood up a few seconds later deciding that it was way too late and he had to leave. The girl needed to go to sleep and rest so she could go to work later today. "Hey, I think I should actually head out." Gally spoke up causing Rosie to stop searching through her bag and turn around to face him. He could see the slight frown on her face as she shook her head. "It's really late and you need to get some rest."

"No!" Rosie let out grabbing a hold of his arm, "you can't leave! I still need your help."

      Gally watched the worry in her eyes form as she didn't want him to leave. She wanted him to stay and tell her more about her and about him. "I'll come back another day—"

      "Wait, just give me a second, I need to find something." Rosie dropped his arm to go back and look through her purse until she found it. "Here."

      The boy grabbed the piece of paper she handed him and read the piece of handwriting. "What's this?" He asked.

      "An address." Rosie stated.

     Gally looked down at the girl, "obviously." He deadpanned.

      "Oh!" Rosie exclaimed as she finally understood what he meant, "it's an address to the parents of a boy who was in the lab. Can you take me there?"

     "That's outside the city." Gally explained knowing a few buildings that still had their address.

      "Yes, it is. Can you take me?"

      Gally shook his head, "it's dangerous being outside of the city. Especially for someone like you."

      "I think, I can take care of myself." Rosie replied, "if I'm the girl you told me about than I'm pretty sure I can protect myself. Don't you think?"

     A sigh left the boy's lips as he shook his head again, "it's going to be a no, Rosie."

     "Please!" The girl pleaded, "I need to talk to the parents that live there! No one's letting me go because it's outside the city. They gave me an address to send a letter but I know mail doesnt go outside the city. I just—I need to tell the family about their kid. They need to know that—"

     Rosie paused herself from continuing as she didn't want Gally to know. She didn't want him knowing that she was the reason a little boy passed away. Even though she barely knew him, she still didn't want him to look at her differently.

      "Rosie, I'm sorry but that's not enough to take you." Gally explained, "there can be consequences of you leaving the city. People can find out and get you into a lot of trouble."

      "Please, Gally!" Rosie repeated herself, "I can't live with myself if I don't go."

      "Why? What's the big deal to go—"

      "It was me." Rosie cut him off quickly turning away to not face him. "It was me who injected the serum into his body. It was my blood that flowed in his veins. It was my fault, he turned into a crank. It was me."

     Gally stayed still staring at the back of Rosie's head. Thoughts were running through his mind knowing that Rosie from the glade wasn't capable of doing such thing. She wouldn't even think of doing such thing. He wanted the old Rosie back. He missed her.

      "Okay. I'll take you."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

hi guys . . . 👋

how's everyone been doing since i last posted which was I think back in July?

i wrote a short chapter and decided that I'd rather make short chapters that I like over long chapters that i have to force myself to write. that means this book will probably have more chapters than I intended. so that's good?? I think.

just wanted to let everyone know that i won't be consistently updating chapters but i will do my best to bring out only the best of the best of my abilities.

i miss writing and i don't think i could leave it this long. i've taken time to get a hang of my last year of university and i think i have a good hang out of it now. hopefully everything goes well for me. send prayers and luck my way!! please!! lmaoo

now to the book questions:

did you guys like the chapter?

any ideas or predictions for upcoming chapters?

what would you like to see?

next chapter will most likely be about gally taking her out of the city

does anyone know any good books within the maze runner fandom that you guys liked? i really want to read some so leave some recommendations.

I'll see you guys in the next chapter! Byeee!

— carmela 💌