* this is a long one so you guys are welcome. it's more than 4K words. *

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THE YOUNG GODS
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

" YOU SAVED MY LIFE "
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      "OH FUCK!" Rosie let's out once they were face to face with the creature of the night. The two felt like their feet were glued to the floor. They couldn't move. Fear had struck them and they just watched the Griever head towards them. Rosie turned to glance over at Minho to see how he was handling it. Feeling around in her pants, Rosie grabbed the one thing she always had stashed with her. Rolling it around her hand, Rosie watched the Griever crawling over to them as she aimed and threw the knife.

The two watched in anticipation, Rosie was a skilled thrower with all the times she had practiced with Vince. She could control where the item went. The knife stabbed into the right eye of the Griever making it halt in his movements. Minho looked over at Rosie, "did you just kill it?"

        Rosie stayed quiet knowing better than to think the Griever was dead by a knife in his eye. She shook her head in slow movements. "That'd be too easy." Rosie whispered.

        The creature let out a small growl starting to shake. Minho and Rosie took a step back watching the knife fall down to the floor. The sound of the knife clashing down to the ground echoed as the Griever looked back up. Rosie brought her hands up to her ears as the Griever let out one of the most terrifying sounds, she ever heard.

       "Minho." Rosie spoke ready to run on his command. She glanced over to a frozen Minho ready to accept his death. But she wasn't. "Oh, c'mon!" The girl grabbed her friend's wrist pulling him before yelling, "Minho, run!"

        She had to take over. Minho seemed incapable of making any decisions especially when it came to their lives. The pair sprinted hearing the growl of the deadly machine chasing them.

        "Snap out of it!" Rosie yelled feeling the need to keep holding onto him. She felt that if she let go, he'd stop running. "Where do we go?!"

         The pair kept running down a straight path with many other paths to go into. Minho finally seemed to snap as he let go of Rosie looking around with anxiety still lingering. "Just follow me."

        They turned right and another right that almost caused Rosie to slip but was able to keep her stance. They rounded another corner causing Rosie to take peek behind her shoulder. It felt her feet were running faster than they could the second she noticed the Griever was a few feet away from her.

         Minho turned left doing his best to remember the structure of the Maze. Rosie's eyes widen once they reach a dead end, "Climb!"

        "Climb?!" Rosie yelled in fear as she followed his instructions. Rosie threw herself up the wall hanging on the ivy. She did her best to climb even though she didn't have any experience. She turned her head looking down noticing the Griever reach her feet.

          Letting out a scream, Rosie felt herself being pulled up before the Griever could attack her. Minho rushed balancing himself through the small space they had at the top of the walls. "Jump down!"

         "Jump?!" Her eyes go wide again turning back to see the Griever climbing up the wall. "Never mind!"

         "Grab onto the ivy and slide down." Rosie breathed in and out grabbing onto an ivy that reached the top. She swung herself down with Minho already ahead almost reaching the floor. Once she reached the floor she noticed Minho already running away.

        She turned noticing there was another Griever that spotted them. "Oh fuck!" She let out sprinting again heading the way Minho went. "Minho!"

         "Come on!" Minho yelled slowing down as Rosie reached him, "there's two! What do we do?" The pair kept trying to outrun the creatures turning different paths.

          "Divide." She stated, "take us where we can separate but end up meeting again."

          Minho nodded even though he didn't like the idea. He didn't complain when he couldn't come up with another suggestion. The pair kept turning lefts and rights making Rosie feel that they were lost.

        "If I'm correct you're going to turn 6 lefts than a right and again a left. I'll be reaching around the same time maybe earlier." Minho explained worrying her the way he stated his explanation.

        "If?!" She panted out of breath.

         "I am. I'll meet you there." Minho replied this time it was him trying to reassure her. "I'll wait for you."

          Rosie nodded not knowing if to believe him or not. He already did it with Thomas but then again it was her. Nobody ever left Rosie behind. Minho took her with him not caring much for Thomas' decision. "Promise?"

          Minho gulped but nodded, "I promise."

         Rosie took the courage as she watched Minho enter one path as she ran into the other. It was a straight path with only right turns that she wasn't suppose to take. He told her six lefts. Fear struck again as she thought the Griever had gone a different path but to her dismay at least one was still after her.

         A breath of relief left her lips once she found the first left turn. Rosie took it running despite the feeling of her feet on fire. She took a few more lefts hearing the Griever still behind her. Rosie wanted to stop and catch her breath but she couldn't. If she stopped she'd be dead.

        Rosie took her sixth left remembering to take one right turn. At the moment, Minho had crashed into Thomas in hopes Rosie was with him. He had been able to outrun the Griever a few turns away.

        "You crazy son of a bitch." Minho panted bouncing on his feet ready to run when he saw another Griever. "Come on! Come on! Follow me!"

        Minho and Thomas ran for their lives as Minho explained to him that they could outrun him with the walls moving. "It's changing. It's changing! Rosie's not here yet!" Minho yelled not knowing what to do. He sprinted down the moving wall. "We can lose it down here."

       Rosie ran through the right turn Minho had told her to take but it seemed the last left turn she had to take was closed. The walls had moved. The section she was in was closed. Minho was nowhere and a Griever was heading towards the middle of the only pathway she had.

     Tears welled up as she was lost. She had nowhere to go and the Griever was going to notice her soon. She breathed in and out knowing it was no time for her to panic.

       Think. Think. Think.

       Her eyes looked around noticing the large rock near a loose ivy she could swing herself to the top with. A pitch scream left the Griever's mouth as he had spotted her. Rosie backed up a little bit to have power to pull herself up. She sprinted to the rock that helped her jump the wall and reach the ivy. One hand reached for the other ivy that reached the top as the one she initially grabbed was now falling to the ground.

        Rosie pulled herself up not daring to look back down as she had to analyze where to go next. The top of the walls were narrow. She couldn't place her feet together. Rosie balances herself as best as she could heading to the wider path of the walls. She starts sprinting once she was able to run without the fear of falling down.

        Her heart felt like it stopped for a few seconds. She had two options jump down or try and take a big jump that seemed to be a familiar path she was in back with Thomas and Minho. Rosie turned back to see the Griever heading towards her.

        Rosie backed up taking a deep breath, "here goes nothing." She muttered sprinting trying to jump to the other side. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Panic built up in her chest. She feared for her life. Her jump wasn't enough as she was barely able to grab a hold of a an ivy. Before she could even use her other hand to grab onto the ivy, Rosie let out a piercing scream.

       A scream that echoed.

       Thomas and Minho turned hearing the scream from a distance. They knew it belonged to Rosie, who else would be screaming. They both didn't know what to do. She was too far away and they were close to where they left Alby.

       Rosie felt goosebumps run down her entire body. She felt cold. Rosie tried her best to use her other hand to hang onto the wall but she rolled down. "Ow." She muttered tears spilling down her face. She heard something crack, what it was? Rosie didn't know as she looked up to the wall.

       The Griever was in the midst of climbing down the wall. Rosie weakly stood on her knees holding onto her wounded bicep. The Griever was able to slash into her bicep causing her hard fall onto the harsh ground. With tears in her eyes, Rosie used whatever willpower she had left to stand up and keep running. She could feel blood dripping out of the wound.

       Rosie kept turning left and right not knowing where she was going. Her eyes went wide as she saw a wall start moving. Rosie sprinted the Griever a few feet away from her. The wall was starting to crush the large creature. Rosie slipped out of the small space with ease as the Griever had trouble. Rosie watched the Griever's two thirds of its body get crushed into the wall. It's front fell down on Rosie's feet.

       Now she was sure she killed the Griever.

≪ °❈° ≫

      Rosie had stayed in the same spot to tend to her wound. She intended to rest for a few minutes but a few hours passed that she used to only close her eyes for a bit. Her head shot up as she heard the walls start moving. The entrance was opening. The night had left and the daylight was shining on her. She made it through the night. But where the hell does she go. There were three paths she could follow.

        "Guys! Get up!" Chuck yelled standing at the entrance of the maze watching in anticipation. A few of the Gladers stood by him. Newt standing next to him with a glint of hope that Rosie was still alive.

       "Told you, Chuck. They're not coming back." Newt stated looking down at him. His eyes were glossy and were hurt. He was now officially the first in command of the entire glade.

       All the other gladers gave up hope starting to walk away and back to their stations. Zart walked off with Newt glancing back at Chuck but focused his attention on movement inside the maze. "No way." He stated walking back noticing the three boys.

      "Yeah!" Chuck cheered. "Yeah! I told you!"

       Newt turned jogging towards the entrance noticing only three boys and no girl. His heart started racing faster once he realized she wasn't with them. "I got him. I got him." Zart spoke as the three stepped out of the maze.

       "Watch out. Watch out." Frypan spoke as they sat Alby down on the ground. "What happened out there? Where's Rosie?"

       The two boys avoided Frypan's question and instead answered Chuck's, "you saw a griever?"

       Thomas nodded out of breath, "yeah, I saw one."

      Minho added on, "he didn't just see it. He killed it."

       Newt was more worried about Rosie than he was about Thomas' achievement. "Where's Rosie?" Newt asked his eyes focusing on Minho who dropped his head down, "Minho, what happened to Rosie?"

        "She was with you guys." Frypan added, "is she dead? Where is she?"

        "Why isn't Rosie with you guys?" Gally asked as he had sprinted over noticing the three boys but not his best friend. Anger started boiling inside of him as their silence let him connect the dots.

        Minho shook his head, "we got separated."

       "What do you mean you got separated?" Newt asked. He couldn't understand what Minho was saying. Especially when he talked to Minho about her a few months back. Minho had agreed to watch over her whenever she was in near danger. This was obvious great danger.

        "She, she—a griever was chasing us and we got separated." Minho stated

        Newt stood up, "that's it? That's all you've got for me?"

       Minho stood up, "I'm sorry, Newt. I don't know if she's dead or alive. But she was alone for most of the night and one followed her instead of me. I don't think she survived by herself."

      Newt paced back and forth trying to gather his thoughts. He was holding himself back from hitting his friend for his actions. He wanted to blame Minho for it all. But he knew, he shouldn't. Instead he walked away trying to not drown himself in more intrusive thoughts.

≪ °❈° ≫

       ROSIE halted. She almost stepped on something. Or better to say she almost stepped  on someone. And there he laid. The body Minho and Alby came looking for. Rosie let out a whimper falling to her knees as she stared at the corpse.

       Ben was decomposing. He was dead, the creature had killed him before he was fully turned into a crank. He had bled out to death alone and cold. He didn't have anywhere or anyone to go to. He spent the last of his life alone wishing the gladers helped him instead of banishing him.

       "I'll help you!" He told her as Rosie turned the corner shaking her head. The boy looked around making sure no one was around as they walked up the stairs.

       "I told you to go down to the basement. My team will be waiting for you out there." Rosie explained to the boy she has just saved. "You can't come with me. I'm on a suicide mission and it's better if you don't tag along."

       The boy kept nagging, "you saved my life. The least I could do is repay you and help you find your friend."

"I can't promise we'll come out alive, kid." Rosie replied standing outside the door she needed to go through to confront the people who had her friends.

"It's worth it trying to save someone's life." He mentioned before holding the gun up ready for Rosie's instructions. "I'm Ben, by the way."

The girl raised her eyebrow annoyed, "I told you not to tell me your name—"

"I don't want to be forgotten. I want someone to remember me. No one else remembers who I am." Ben added opening up the girl he had just met half an hour ago. "I'd rather die trying to save someone's life than be a part of their project."

Rosie nodded understanding where he came from. This is why she didn't want him to tell her his name. She didn't want to mourn him if he was killed, especially if it was on her watch. "Go back. Please."

He shook his head. "I'm staying with you."

        Rosie sat down next to his body as she had remembered a bit of him before the Glade. She had freed him from a lab test and tried telling him to go with her team who were waiting for him to escape. But he didn't, he stuck with her feeling he owed her something for saving his life.

She closed her eyes again trying to bring back that memory unlocking a small portion revealing the last time they saw one another before the Glade.

Rosie struggled getting out of the soldiers grip as she continued to kick and hit anything she could to free herself. Her friend's body was sprawled out on the floor. There was no sign of her breathing. It was a trap. Rosie had walked right into a trap. There was nowhere to go anymore. This was her fate.

She felt herself being pulled down on the ground as bullets were heard inside the room. Her head shot up realizing who the person shooting was. Rosie made eye-contact with Ben who came back.

"You idiot!" Rosie yelled grabbing one of the soldiers guns before shooting at whoever aimed at her.

"I couldn't leave you behind." Ben replied, "now come on, we gotta go."

She let out a quick laugh making sure no one else was shooting at them. Rosie headed towards the door with Ben in front of her his back on the back door. "We're leaving. All we gotta do is get to the basement—" Her eyes widen as she notices a soldier on the other side of the door pointing at Ben who was unaware opening the door. "Ben!"

Rosie aimed at the soldier pressing the trigger wounding the soldier. She let out a breath of relief turning to look over at Ben. Her heart felt like it stopped once she witnessed him falling to the ground.

"I'm sorry." Ben muttered tears forming in his eyes as he applied pressure on his abdomen. "I'm really, really sorry."

She shook her head getting down on her knees. "No, it's okay. It's okay. We can still make it." Rosie replied taking off one of the layers of clothing she had on herself. "We just need to put pressure."

"Rosie, it hurts." Ben mumbled as Rosie looked up to see him lick his lips that were painted red by his own blood.

Cutting the shirt in half, Rosie placed one piece on the wound as Ben continued to apply pressure. She then wrapped the other piece around his stomach so the piece of cloth won't fall off while they walk. Grabbing the gun, she carried it under her armpit while she struggled to lift the boy up.

"Come on, we can do it." Rosie stated as she shushed him once he started telling her to leave him behind.

"Just go, I'll be fine."

"Shush!" Rosie replied as they passed through the door. "Grab onto the railing."

Ben nodded trying his best to ignore the pain as he didn't want to disappoint Rosie. He wanted to try his best and walk down the flight of stairs. He just didn't know how many stairs there was. They were at the top level of the building.

"It's 7. I know it's a lot. But it's doable." Rosie encouraged the boy who was already panting as they had barely finished one level. "Take your time. There's no camera's installed here."

The pair walked down another flight of stairs before making another stop. Ben groaned in pain holding onto his stomach. Rosie was worried. She didn't know what to do but she wasn't going to leave him behind.

They kept going despite Ben's injury and Rosie feeling worn out from having to keep Ben up on his two feet. She had his left arm around her neck and his right hand holding onto the railing for support.

"At least we're not going up the stairs." Rosie joked receiving a tired chuckle coming from the large boy whose face was turning paler.

They were halfway down the flight of stairs. Ben stopped once more coughing up little bits of blood. He took his hand off the railing to clean his lips. Forgetting what he was doing, Ben took a step down forgetting to grab onto the railing.

"Ben!" Rosie exclaimed as the two rolled down the flight of stairs. She did her best to shield herself from any injuries. The girl's momentum finally came to a stop and so did Ben's. Her eyes looked up to see what level they were on. Level #1 main lobby. "Ben, we gotta go. Anyone can see us here."

Rosie raised her eyebrow when she wasn't getting a response from the curled up boy. She started panicking as she tried standing up. "Fuck," Rosie cursed not being able to put weight on her leg. She dragged her body with her arms trying to reach Ben. "Ben."

Her hands were able to flip him over to see him fighting the urge to close his eyes. "I'm okay." He slurred not knowing how badly wounded he was.

"Can you get up?"

The boy placed his hands on the ground trying to lift himself up off the ground but failed to do so. Ben shook his head, "uh-uh."

Rosie cursed under her breath as her only solution was to drag the boy down the stairs with her. Her thoughts flew out of her head when the door opened revealing two soldiers. Rosie reached for her gun but realized it was several feet away from her.

One of the soldiers pointed their gun at her while the other man grabbed a walkie talkie. "We found her and her partner." He spoke through the device. Rosie assumed the man had an earpiece as he nodded talking back to the device, "copy that. Take the boy back to the lab. J wants to talk to the girl."

Rosie grabbed a hold of Ben's hand clinging onto it. "Don't touch him." Her voice was meant to sound threatening but it was tired and weak.

The soldiers laughed as one of them reached over to the bleeding boy. "Don't worry, he's in better hands now." The soldier stated pulling Ben away from Rosie.

"I swear to God, I'll fucking kill you!" Rosie yelled trying to reach for her gun but was stopped by the other soldier. His foot was putting pressure on her injured leg. Tears welled up again in her eyes, "it hurts." She let out as the man took his foot off.

"Here, say goodbye to your friend." The soldier told Ben giving him time to tell Rosie anything he wanted. "You're not gonna be seeing her for a long long time."

Ben stuttered with his words but was able to say, "I'm sorry, Rosie."

She shook her head trying to comfort him from afar, "it's okay. It's okay. Don't worry. I'll come find you, okay?"

He nodded even though he knew deep down that this was the last time he was going to see her. Either he was going to die or they were going to kill her. "Don't forget me."

"I won't."

"I won't." Rosie whispered with tears running down her face. It was traumatizing. The amount of people she watched die in front of her. The amount of people that died for her. Too many to count and for her to be here? Stuck in this pathetic maze?

She sat their for a good amount of time. Almost forgetting she was stuck in the maze. Rosie was coming into terms with herself that she wasn't able to come back and save him.

"Rest in peace, Ben. I'll remember you."

≪ °❈° ≫

"IF YOU WANT to throw the newbie a parade that's fine!" Gally stated more devastated with the news that his best friend was lost in the maze. Probably dead by now. "Go ahead! Forget about Rosie! Seems like you guys don't care! But if there is one thing that I know about the maze it is that you do not—"

Gally stopped midway as the boys went dead silent hearing the box coming up. Newt and Gally looked at one another curiously as this has never happened before. The two rushed out the council hall with the rest of the boys right behind them.

"Wait, wait, wait, I know that sound." Thomas stated to Minho and Chuck.

"It's the box. It's coming back up." Chuck explained getting worried as he looked over at a worried Minho.

"It shouldn't be." Minho replied sprinting towards the box.

All the boys gather once Newt jumps into the box. It hits him like a blow to the chest as he saw an unconscious body. "Newt what do you see?" Frypan asked trying to figure out if he was seeing the same thing.

Newt looked up in shock. "It's a girl."

People looked at one another having similar thoughts. "Another girl?"

"I think she's dead." Newt spoke trying to get a better look at her. She had similar hair like Rosie's but her skin was paler and lighter.

"What's in her hand?" Gally asked pointing at the curled fist with a piece of paper.

Newt crouched down to grab the piece of paper. He slowly unfolded it reading out loud what it said. "She's the last one ever." Boys looked at each other thinking she might be a replacement. Newt was thinking the same thing. Maybe Rosie is dead and that's why they brought a new girl up into the glade. "What the hell does that mean—"

The girl gasped breathing heavily staring straight at the greenie. "Thomas!" The girl with bright blue eyes let out before closing her eyes once again falling back into the coma she was in.

All eyes were now set on Thomas. Gladers started picking up pieces and making assumptions of what happened inside the maze. "Still think I'm overreacting?" Gally asked

"You think they sent her because Rosie's dead?" Jimmy asks Frypan who didn't know what to say to the poor boy. Rosie was like an older sister to the young boy. He went to her for everything. He couldn't bare the fact that they have lost Rosie.

"Rosie's dead! And they figured we need another girl. That's why it says she's the last one ever."

"She's prettier than Rosie."

"No, she's not. Rosie's got the spice. This girl looks like she's bland."

"Will you guys shut up?"

Newt looked back down to the girl. He didn't want to accept that this girl could possibly be a replacement for the girl he loved. Newt has hope deep down that Rosie was still alive. He didn't feel the wanting to mourn the way he did when other Gladers were confirmed dead or not.

"Your call, Newt. What do we do?"

≪ °❈° ≫