Don't Leave Me!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Dave, always Dave

Gally and Sam's eyes fell onto the Greenie at the gate. Without another word, Gally stormed towards the two boys and threw the Newbie to the ground before he could reach the open gate. "We gotta stop meetin' like this" he joked, his eyes widening as the boy jumped back onto his feet and spun around. "Woah, calm, calm, calm" Gally repeated, his arms before him to keep the Greenie at a distance.

From every side the Gladers came to his aid, all trying to prevent the Newbie from entering the maze. Among them, beside Henry stood Marina, who first eyed Gally, then the Greenie, whose eyes widened.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" He yelled, turning in circles.

Newt limped to him as fast as he could, his hand held out before him. "Just calm down, all right"

"No, okay. Why won't you tell me what's out there?"

Alby stepped in front of the Greenie, watching him with care. "We just tryna protect ya man"

"You guys can't just keep me here!"

"We can't let ya leave" Alby stated, his eyes piercing through the Greenie's.

"Why not?"

In that moment, the old familiar shrieking, grinding noise echoed through the long corridor from the maze. All eyes turned to the gates as the stone wall set in motion, and, before the Greenie's eyes, closed.

His arms crossed before him, Gally walked by the Greenie. "Next time, I'm gonna let ya leave"

With a smile, Marina stepped away from Henry and followed Gally. "So, me ya won't let go, but him's not a problem?"

His arm on her shoulder, Gally's eyebrows furrowed. "Dunno, something's not right with that one"

"How do ya mean? He's just scared and confused, like all of us on our first day" She wrapped her arms around him and smirked. "C'mon ya didn't like me on my first day either"

Stopping in his path, Gally reached down and kissed her, pulling her tight to his body. "No, I was in love with ya. I just didn't know how to act"

"Can ya two make out later? We got work to do" Luke came up from behind them, grinning from one ear to the other. "Sorry Cap, gotta borrow the lady. Some slintheads klunked up in the blood house" He stepped over to Marina, lifted her over his shoulder and hurried away, chased by Gally. "I'll bring 'er back, promise"

Cheering, Mari waved at Alby and the Greenie as Luke carried on in his way to the med-bay. Upon their arrival, Mari giggled like a little child while Luke had put on a rather serious look.

Clint and Jeff ran around, gathering all kinds of bandages and medical instruments. "Mari, quick, take that to the med room, and that-" Clint handed her another instrument, nodded at the room behind her and made big eyes. "It's bad, shuckin' bad"

With the instruments in hand, Marina opened the curtains to the medical room where she found Dave on the table, half his arm hanging off the side, the skin separated from bone, muscles ripped, the jagged edges turned outward.

Next to him on a chair sat Chris, Winston standing behind him, the eyes fixed on the table. "He hasn't moved in over three minutes" Chris breathed, his hands covered in blood, shaking.

"Win. Get him out! I need the room" Marina ordered.

With a nod, the colour drained from his face, Winston pulled Chris with him, outside the room, and after Jeff told them so, out of the med-bay.

In the meantime the three worked hard to restore Dave's arm. His leg had several gashes on it as well, but since they bled far less, their priority remained the arm. After half an eternity of stitching, pulling, rearranging and bandaging, Marina and the others dropped themselves onto one of the empty beds in another room. Covered in blood, their faces dripping sweat, they patted one another on the shoulder. After a moment of rest, they rose, placed Dave in a bed and gave him something to keep him asleep while they cleaned themselves up.

Standing in the shower, Jeff let out a sigh. "Always Dave, why the shuck did he become a Slicer again?"

Mari washed the blood off her hands and grinned. "Because as a builder he'd get the others killed as well"

"I'm surprised he survived this long" Clint threw in, rubbed his hair with his towel and grabbed his clothes. "That dude really plays with his fate"

Mari nodded, put on fresh clothes and headed to the door. "We'll see, maybe he'll be up soon, or not, we did what we could. See ya later, guys"

"Bye"

"See ya" Clint said, dressed himself and hurried back to the med-bay to keep an eye on Dave.