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

63. Assumption of power

We took Thomas to the sani hut, which had survived most of the attack, and laid him on the cot where Alby had been lying. When a little calm had returned and Teresa agreed to stay with him, Clint and Jeff, Newt, Minho, Fry Pan, Chuck, Winston and I left the hut together and walked across the glade where a few fires were still burning.
The huts were destroyed and as we passed Minho's and mine I had to swallow hard. So many memories from three years ago lay there in ruins. At first we didn't know where to go, but then eventually we found ourselves at the edge of the deadheads, where we sat down on the ground leaning against a tree trunk.
Chuck sat to my left, turning the little figurine in his hand that he had carved with our help and seemed to be finished.
"It looks great," I whispered tiredly to him and he smiled weakly.
"That's what Thomas said."
"Don't worry, Chuck. He'll be fine."
Again we were silent, staring at the glade that had been our home for so long and was now completely destroyed.
"Alby's dead," Newt broke the silence after a few minutes.
I nodded. I had guessed that much.
"Zart too," I said hoarsely. Again a thick lump rose in my throat.
"They killed so many.... Where do we go from here?" Minho asked Newt.
"We have to bury the bodies. And then we'll start rebuilding the huts, one by one. Somehow we have to carry on as before."
"How are we going to do that, Newt? If the box doesn't come up again, we'll soon run out of supplies. And the fields are ruined too," Fry Pan noted.
"I know, Fry. But what should we do?"
"If Thomas wakes up again, surely he'll know what to do, won't he? He'll get us out of here, he said. You've found the exit, haven't you?" Chuck looked at me with wide eyes and moved forward a bit so he could see the others.
"Chuck, we can't just go back out there. What if it wasn't an exit at all, but really the Griever's nest?" Minho asked the boy.
"Chuck is right, Minho. We have to try, we have no other choice. What if they come back night after night now? Then we'll all be dead soon." As I spoke, I stared at the fire that was still consuming our huts.
"Okay. We'll wait until Thomas is awake and then talk to him. Maybe he really does have a plan." Newt took a stick and drew patterns in the earth.
Suddenly I saw a group of boys coming towards us. From the looks of it, they were the other few survivors.
"That's Gally," Winston noted, who had also noticed them.
"What does he want now?" Minho asked, standing up as Newt was the first to jump to his feet.
The rest of us stood up too, facing the gladers that were now coming closer and closer.
"Newt," Gally said, not paying us any attention as he stopped in front of my boyfriend.
"Gally?"
"The gladers have unanimously decided that I will be in charge from now on. They don't think you're fit anymore after all you've allowed to happen."
"Can't they tell us themselves?" I asked aloud, looking past him. When my eyes met Tim's, he quickly looked to the ground. I was sure Gally had intimidated them.
"They don't have to. If I tell you, that's enough." Still not looking at me, he watched Newt.
"Good that. If that's what they've decided, I'll take it."
"That's not fair, Gally! Newt is a good leader and you know it!" Chuck pushed past me and stood up in front of the much taller boy.
"Let it go, Chuck." Newt put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him behind him again.
"Okay, I'm going to tell you how this is going to go. Either you do what I tell you or you're going to be banished, just like the greenie and his little girlfriend. The choice is entirely yours." He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Good that, Gally," Newt replied calmly.
From the looks of it, Gally hadn't expected so little resistance, for he looked confused, almost disappointed. But he said no more, instead turning and disappearing, followed by the rest of the gladers.
"Why have you done nothing? You are keepers!" Chuck put his hands on his hips and looked at us plaintively.
"It wouldn't have done any good, Chuck. They were much more than us." Minho patted the boy's shoulder.
"So what do we do now? He wants to banish Thomas and Teresa, you've noticed, haven't you?" the boy asked. "Newt, we have to do something!"
"Yes, and we will, Chuck. When Thomas is awake again, we'll ask him about his plan and then we'll get out of here."
"Those who want to come with us, come with us, the others stay with Gally. It's their choice." Fry Pan was right.
A stab went through me as I realised that Gally would not be coming with us. If we were actually going to make it out, it would be without him. But I'd rather he stayed here and be fine than have anything happen to him, that much was clear.
But when I thought about what I had just said to him when everyone had heard it, I almost felt sorry. I didn't want to break up with him like that, because no matter what was riding him at the moment, he was still my best friend and he had saved my life.