Maze Runner - Oneshots and Imagines

A coping mechanism - Gally

You put the axe down, breathing heavily. You and Gally had been forced to chop wood with two of the smallest axes you had ever seen - well, not like you could recall ever seeing one before, but you were pretty sure that these were the smallest ones anyway. It was afternoon by now and you two hadn't gone to get lunch, way too fixed on your work, or maybe just wanting to get away from each other as fast as possible.

The work itself wasn't fun, but it would've been way more enjoyable if you hadn't been stuck with Gally, this absolute slint-head. Ever since you came up the box about two months ago he had done nothing but annoy you. You didn't know what his problem was, but being forced to work with him every day was pure torture. Though he had never made you do more work than anyone else, you weren't quite sure if that was a good sign, since he instead always kept a close eye on you - apparently not convinced you were capable of being a Builder.

"What, are you giving up already?" Gally was still chopping his part of the wood, now looking up at you taking a small break. You simply rolled your eyes at him, not saying anything and just kept going. You two had just finished about half the work although you had started in the morning and by now you were asking yourself if you would even be able to do it by today. You didn't want to miss dinner as well, your stomach was already painfully empty. So you tried to hurry up a bit, even though you were exhausted because of the long day and definitely not in the mood to work anymore. When you tried to chop an unusual thick piece and your axe got stuck in there you finally had enough.

"Shuck it!", you cursed, and in the second your rage took over, you threw the axe plus its new accessory at a tree next to you. You let out a frustrated groan when the wood didn't even break because of this and sat down on the dry grass in defeat, drawing up your legs. You hated this. You hated work. You hated absolutely everything.

"So you do give up", Gally stated, obviously amused and most likely grinning, though you weren't sure because you didn't look up at him. Instead you buried your face in your hands and tried to get your anger under control.

Your ego had been a problem ever since your first day here - you had spent three nights in the slammer collectively. One on your second day already, when you had got angry at Zart for something you couldn't even remember and slapped him in the face. The boys had quickly learnt that, although you were a girl, you weren't weak, and they better not mess with you.

You heard Gally grunt, laughing at you. "Come on shank, get up, I want this finished before it gets dark." You didn't move, but your jaw clenched for a second until you angrily spat out "Look, I tried, alright? I'm done." You rubbed your forehead, already knowing that you'd have a headache the next day - you didn't drink enough water, once again. Gally scoffed at your words and you could hear the restrained anger in his voice. "Pick up the axe. Now. I'm not gonna do work alone." You looked up at him. He had stopped working, his hand still resting on the axe that was now sticking out of a tree trunk. He was watching you with a weird expression, his face cold and hard. Gally was way taller than you and although you were strong, you knew you couldn't win in a fight with him. After all, he was still the strongest of the guys in the glade. But you were totally frustrated and enraged. Work only seemed to pile up and you were exhausted, hungry and thirsty. You looked Gally in the eyes as you stood up. "No", you simply said. Gally frowned and, if that was possible, he now seemed even angrier.

"Suck it up", he sounded as he pulled his hand away from the axe and stepped closer to you. Though he was a lot taller than you, it seemed to be you who was staring him down, not the other way around. "You're a Builder, shebean. I thought you said you could handle it?" By now you were fuming. You had never done anything to make him believe you couldn't, but this day was simply the worst you ever had. "I can!", you basically screamed, throwing your hands into the air to make a point. "It's just stressful to work with someone who keeps doubting that because he thinks he's better or something while I have absolutely no clue what I've ever done to make him hate me!" You looked at him in exasperation when you had finished and watched as he clenched his fists and jaw only to unclench both yet a second later. "Apparently being a girl in your eyes means I'm not strong enough for any-"

You got cut off when Gally lunged forward and pressed your body against one of the trees with his. You were unable to even react before his lips met yours.

Recovering from the shock pretty quickly you shut your eyes as your lips found a rhythm, working against each other in a mix of pure anger and rage. The moment you pulled away to inhale desperately he grabbed hold of your thighs and motioned for you to wrap your legs around his middle.

A thousand thoughts seemed to cross your mind without actually noticing - it felt as though your head was too full yet empty at the same time. You simply allowed your impulse to take over. So you trusted Gally as you leapt up, his strong arms holding you in place effortlessly.

Now it was you who closed the space left and breathlessly connected your lips.

"What the shuck just happened?", you sounded heavily when the two of you finally broke apart and Gally let go of your hips. The second you opened your eyes again the feeling of his body pressed against yours had disappeared and as you looked up you caught a glimpse of him pulling his axe out of the tree before going back to work. As if nothing had happened.

What the shucking hell had that been? Checking if you had hallucinated because of dehydration you put a hand to your lips. No, definitely not a daydream.

"Are you gonna stand there and stare at me for longer or finally come back and work?", Gally's voice interrupted your train of thoughts, causing a sudden blush to creep up your face. You hadn't realised that you had been staring at him, but now that you had, you noticed the stupid grin on his face. "Sure", you stuttered, pushing your body away from the tree with shaky arms. You picked up the axe and the, now broken, piece of wood from the ground and returned to your work, not even caring about your grumbling stomach anymore. Well, you thought, that's a coping mechanism that works.