匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺  丂乇ᐯ乇几ㄒ乇乇几
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"I'll survive somehow. I always do."
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Everything was in piles, as if being discarded. It was no good, all burned and broken. Some of the remaining gladers were cleaning up as much as they could. Gally was crossing names off the wall and Aife, Thomas, and Teresa were being carried forcefully by six gladers. Two were holding Aife and two were with Thomas and the other with Teresa.

Aife had her hands clasped behind her back, since they had been bound together with a rope, it was burning her wrists every time she made a sharp movement. Thomas had been knocked out, his arms were slung over the other gladers necks and Teresa had her arms tied back, the glader had a harsh grip on her elbow.

The two gladers threw Thomas to the ground, he fell with a loud thunk and whammed his face on the sand, yet his body remained limp.

Gally was sharpening his knife as he stood tall, "This is such a waste."

The other gladers watched the scene uneasily, Aife had a scowl on her face as she watched each one of them, they all avoided her gaze.

Winston shifted nervously back and forth on his two feet and he spoke up, "Gally," The boy looked up at him, his eyebrows raised sharply, "This doesn't feel right, man."

Jeff, who had been standing next to Winston, then spoke up and defended his friends, "Yeah, what if they're right. Maybe they can lead us home."

Gally began to take threatening steps forward, Frypan noticed and stepped up next to Jeff and Winston incase Gally tried anything, "We are home, okay? I don't wanna haft to cross anymore names off that wall."

Aife had her fists clenched behind her back as she slumped her shoulders and watched as they spoke.

"And you really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Aife spat out with hatred in her voice as her lip curled up in disgust. She narrowed her eyes at the boy who turned to look at her. The girls hair was slightly matted and greasy. She had fresh cuts on her face, right on her cheekbone and jaw that had dried blood. Gally felt extremely guilty for how he was treating Aife, but he couldn't change his actions. It was too late now. He was discarding the only person who had ever shown true kindness to him.

Gally turned to Aife and sighed, the Gladers that were holding onto Aife looked down at her with the same expression Gally wore, "No, this isn't a Banishing. It's an offering."

Newt gestured to one of the gladers that had been holding Aife to let him take over, foolishly, the glader did so. Aife fought back a smirk as Newt gripped onto her arm.

"What?" Teresa gasped as the gladers pushed her up against a pole that was planted in front of the maze walls and they raised her arms and began to tie her up, "Gally, what are you doing?!"

"You really think i'm gonna let Thomas into the maze after what he's done?!" Gally asked incredulously as he waved his hand around, "Look around you! Look at our glade. This is the only way."

Gally spoke aloud to his peers, they glanced around and did as he said, they watched as the home they once had was now demolished.

Newt discreetly directed his gaze onto Minho and gave him a small nod.

"When the grievers get what they came here for, everything will go back to the way it was."

"Are you listening to this?!" Teresa shouted as she struggled to face the gladers. Aife, on the other hand, chose to remain silent. "Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy!"

Gally rolled his eyes at the girl and huffed in annoyance, "Would you shut up?" Aife bit her cheek to keep from laughing at his words, Newt pinched her arm to keep her in check.

"If you stay here, the grievers are gonna come back and they're gonna keep coming back until you're all dead!" At Teresa's small speech, some of the gladers glanced uneasily at each other as they digested her words.

Then, Gally began to shout at her, "Shut up! Tie em' up!" He ordered the gladers who were holding onto Aife, as well as the ones who were guarding Thomas' body.

They hesitated.

"Did you hear me?! I said tie em' up!" At Gallys command, they began to move. Newt gently and slowly walked Aife over to the pole as the two gladers bent down to retrieve Thomas.

Unknown to the other glader holding Aife, Newt slyly tugged on the girls rope and her restraints came undone.

The two gladers looped their arms through Thomas's and they picked him up, the raven headed boy got to his knees and quickly punched the boy in the stomach, causing him to let go and let out a grunt. He grabbed the stick that the boy had been holding and backed the other boy with it.

Newt grabbed the machete from his pocket and handed it to Aife, he then grabbed one for himself. He brought it back over his head and hit the glader over the back with it. Teresa kicked a glader in his groin, causing him to double over in pain.

Aife punched a glader and he fell to the ground, but she didn't notice the boy that had snuck up behind her. He grabbed her machete and sliced her bicep, causing her to wince as she cradled it to her chest.

Gally looked around in shock, just as he was about to step forward to Thomas, Minho came up behind him and silently threatened him with his machete as he rested it on his shoulder, causing Gally to freeze in his place.

Aife snatched her machete back and scathed the boys forearm causing him to yelp in pain and put his free hand over it in an attempt to stop the bleeding, which had been flowing quickly.

Thomas grabbed the stick and pointed it at the gladers that were with Gally in a defensive stance as Frypan sliced the rope that had been bounding Teresa to the pole, she was now free.

Chuck, who has been waiting with bags in the distance, began to run forward and join his friends.

Thomas, Teresa, Newt and Aife were standing in front of the maze door, their weapons pointed at the crowd in front of them. Minho was taking cautious steps away from Gally with his machete still pointed at them. Frypan then stepped next to them, and Chuck.

Gally shrugged in annoyance, "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"You don't have to come with us but we are leaving." Thomas said in a stern voice.

"Anyone else who wants to come, now is you're last chance!" Aife shouted to the boys who wore nervous expressions. Chuck handed the girl her Katana and she silently thanked him.

"Don't listen to them, they're just trying to scare you, alright?" Gally attempted to assure the boys that were with him.

"No, we're not trying to scare you. You're already scared." Thomas spat out, "Alright? I'm scared. But i'd rather risk my life out there than spending the rest of it in here. We don't belong here. Okay, this place? Isn't our home."

"We were out here, okay? We were trapped here. At least out there we have a choice." Aife spoke, her tone just as stern as Thomas's, "We can make it out of here. I know that."

It was then silent. Slowly, one by one, gladers began to walk away from Gally, they walked towards Thomas and Aife. They realized they had a point, it was better to try than to stay in a place they didn't belong in. The groups were now split in half, some boys remained with Gally.

"Gally, it's over. Just come with us." Thomas said to the taller boy. Gally clenched his jaw and sighed in defeat.

"Good luck against the grievers."

Aife nodded and bit her cheek, one of her hands were slightly bloodied from the cut she received on her bicep when she had been fighting. She pinched her eyebrows together and brought her hand to her bicep, gathering more blood into her palm. She rubbed her hands together, the thick crimson substance stringing together warmly against her fingertips and her palm.

She closed her eyes and slowly brought her hands to her face as she smeared it just above her eyebrow and down her cheeks, her eyes were now filled with pure determination and confidence.

She could feel eyes on her, Minho wore a smirk, he knew that look. He loved it.

She gave a nod towards her friends, signaling that they were now ready. They gave a small smile back and turned to face the maze. And they did what they do best, what they do every day.

They ran.