Him (Newt x Reader)

Chapter 7: The Council Hall

"OVER HERE! COME ON HURRY!" Chuck yells from the Council Hall. Racing inside, Thomas and Winston barricade the door while the rest of us gather in the middle with the other Gladers. Newt pushes Teresa and I behind him when I suddenly feel a cold handle touch my hand, I look down to see Teresa handing me a machete, "Thanks."

The room goes silent as we listen to the grievers, their mechanical legs and vile growling circling the building. Suddenly, the roof shakes as a griever jumps onto it, letting out its screech and sending some dirt through the roof. Half of us scream and the other freeze.

We all focus on the griever above us, trying our best to silently move opposite of it. Then without warning, the griever penetrates the center of the roof and knocks down the middle pole, making part of the roof collapse onto us. Before I can even move, someone grabs me and pulls me down, shielding me from the roof.

Dust fills my lungs as other boys cough around me, I can't see anything under this. "It's okay! We got you guys!" Minho says, and I finally feel some of the rubble being lifted away as I crawl out, taking Minho's hand to help me on my feet. Newt quickly follows out of the rubble. He was the one who grabbed me.

Teresa reappears at my side as I grip my machete, except I can't help but think if I really need this. After what happened outside, is all of this fighting pointless? I was able to kill a griever without doing any harm. But what if these grievers are different? What if the one outside was already close to death or just malfunctioning?

"HELP! HELP!" A boy suddenly screams. Minho, Newt, and Thomas pull away from the crowd in an attempt to rescue the boy who's being pulled away through the broken roof by a griever. But they're too late.

Another griever suddenly finds a weak spot in the roof and scopes its tail for the next victim, and that's when I see Chuck. "NO!" I scream and run forward, but I'm too late as he's quickly taken from the ground right in front of me.

I've only known Chuck for a day and yet I look at him like a little brother. Maybe that's how everyone sees him. But I know that if anyone is dying tonight, it is not him.

Thomas runs next to me and grabs Chuck's right arm while I grab his left, most of the boys come up behind us and try to pull him down or hit at the griever's tail.

"HELP!" Chuck screams, and Thomas yells back, "CHUCK! DON'T LET GO!"

"NO SHIT!"

"WE GOT YOU CHUCK! HOLD ON!" I yell over the noise, and during all this commotion I finally connect with Chuck's eyes. Fear, terror, sadness, desperation, and hope. That's all I can pull from his teary eyes, my heart beginning to shatter as my own eyes tear up. I grip onto him harder and use all the strength I have left to save him.

Alby suddenly runs up screaming, and I'm afraid he's lost his mind again. But I quickly realize he's saving Chuck, repeatedly hitting the griever's tail with a piece of scrap.

Chuck finally comes collapsing down onto Thomas and I, his tears spilling out. I waste no time in wrapping my arms around him, doing my best to make him feel safe, "You're okay, Chuck. We got you. You're okay." I repeat to him. "Chuck, you okay?" Thomas asks him, "Yeah. I'm fine." He manages to say through coughs.

Alby walks over to Chuck. "Thank you." Chuck tells him, and Alby opens his mouth to speak when another griever tail breaks through the roof, snatching Alby.

"ALBY!" We scream as we scramble to our feet, but we are far too late.

The grievers know what to expect now, this one grasping Alby and whipping him away from us before taking him through the hole. Luckily, Alby grabs onto the side of the Council Hall as Thomas comes running up to him

But from what I can see, Alby doesn't want to be saved. As Thomas holds onto Alby's arm, he puts no effort into saving himself, he just speaks to Thomas. If only the rest of us could hear him, because in less than a second, Alby's gone.