Into The WICKED Maze | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

53. The second girl

"What do you think Gally wants to talk to us about?" Jeff asked me as he, Clint, Minho, Thomas and I walked together to the meeting hut.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, but it didn't sound good."
"Did you see the way he looked at Thomas? I guarantee it had something to do with him." Minho looked down at the ground and kicked a stone away.
"That's what I thought too. He's just way too unrelaxed," Clint said, shaking his head. "I feel like this is getting worse."
I wondered if he was right and I just hadn't noticed. Had Gally changed since we'd been here? I didn't know the answer to that and so I pushed the thought aside as we entered the hut.
Gally was waiting in the middle of the room and most of the gladers were already there. Jeff sat down with a couple of slicers and Chuck waved at us excitedly when he saw us. I smiled and waved back before joining Minho next to Zart and Winston. Clint walked to Gally's other side, to Fry Pan. Newt was leaning against a pillar next to Gally with his arms crossed in front of his chest. It looked like he didn't suspect anything good either, because he looked at me seriously when our eyes met.
When Gally caught sight of Thomas, he just said, "Sit there, Greenbean." and pointed to a box behind him.
Without a murmur, Thomas sat down and then looked at Minho and me as if to ask if what Gally was doing was right. I could only shrug my shoulders again, because I still had no idea what this was going to be. A court hearing? But why?
Now the last of the gladers came running up and I realised that it was Alex, Jackson and Tim who looked furtively over at us but made no effort to greet us. They quickly sat down and whispered to a couple of builders as Gally began to speak and one by one everyone fell silent.
"Things are changing. There's no denying that. First, Ben gets stung in broad daylight - and then Alby. And now our Greenie here has taken it upon himself to go into the maze - which is a clear violation of our rules here." He spoke quietly and slowly and seemed sure of himself. I looked over at Thomas, who was sitting on the box with a blank look on his face, apparently expecting Gally not to be very nice to him. The reconciliation of the night before seemed to have been blown away.
"Yeah. But he saved Alby's life!" Fry Pan interjected and Gally looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Did he?" he asked, still far too calm.
Newt's expression changed. He looked at him incredulously and if the situation hadn't been so serious, I probably would have teased him with that look.
Gally didn't seem to notice his look at all and just kept talking. I wondered if he wasn't aware that after Alby, Newt was the one in charge. Why didn't he let him speak?
"For three years, we have coexisted with these things."
I groaned out loud. What did he mean, coexisted? They had taken our runners over and over again. Was that what he called coexistence?
Gally ignored my snort and just kept talking again.
"And now you've killed one of them!"
With those words he turned to Thomas and pointed. Then he turned back to the gladers. "Who knows what that could mean for us?"
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" asked Newt, who was still watching him suspiciously, calmly.
"He has to be punished," he replied, shrugging his shoulders as if this were the clearest thing in the world.
Now the gladers burst into excited chatter.
Chuck shouted, "Whoa, whoa, come on! Gally, come on!" but no one paid any attention to him.
"Anna, Minho," Newt now turned to us. It looked like he was starting to steer the conversation after all, I noted with relief. "You were there with him. What do you think?"
Thomas looked up at us resignedly, as if it was already clear that he was going to be punished anyway, no matter what we had to say.
"I think," Minho began, inhaling loudly. "In all the time we've been here, no one's ever killed a Griever before." He paused and looked at me meaningfully. "When I turned tail and ran, just taking Anna against her will, this dumb shank stood behind and helped Alby. Look, I don't know if he's brave or stupid. Whatever it is, we need more of it. I say we make him a runner."
I had been looking at Thomas all this time, but now I startled and looked up at Minho, as did Thomas himself. Had he really just suggested that?
I nodded in agreement and looked at Newt, a grin spreading across his face. The other gladers shouted confusedly again.
"A runner? What?" it came from all directions.
Behind Newt, Fry Pan was also wide-eyed. "Minho, let's not jump the gun here, right?" he exclaimed, making a reassuring hand gesture.
Chuck looked around the hut enthusiastically and kept calling out, "Thomas! Thomas! Thomas! Thomas!" but when no one joined in, he fell silent again and looked at me resignedly.
"What's wrong with that?" I now spoke up and most of the questions fell silent around me. Only isolated whispers remained. "He's fast and he's brave. That's what we need out there. If it wasn't for Thomas, Alby would be dead now. He..."
But Gally interrupted me, "If you want to throw the newbie a parade, that's fine! Go ahead. But if there is one thing I know about this maze, it's that you do not -"
But he fell silent.
At first I didn't know why, but as the heads of the gladers turned one by one towards the door, I heard it too. A rumble was heard and the siren announcing the box sounded.
"What's going on?"
"What's happening now?"
"Hurry up!"
Questions were muttered and Newt and Gally exchanged a glance. They were the first to leave the hut and run towards the box. We followed them, completely confused.
As we stepped out of the hut, Thomas stopped in front of us and said, "Okay, wait, wait, I know that sound!"
"The box! It's coming back up!" Chuck shouted and we ran after the other gladers, all running towards the box that was coming up.
"It shouldn't be," Minho explained to Thomas.
"What can that mean?", I asked as we ran, looking over at Minho. He just gave me a meaningful look and answered nothing.
When Newt and Gally reached the box, they exchanged a quick glance and opened the bars. I could see Newt jumping into the box and Gally standing on top.
Because we had stopped short at the beginning, we were the last to arrive and couldn't see anything.
"Newt, what do you see?" asked Winston.
"...It's a girl." You could hear the confusion in his voice.