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

68. A heroic deed

"Gally...?" Thomas took a step towards him, but Teresa held him.
"Don't. He's been stung."
Now I saw it too. Gally's eyes no longer looked like his eyes and the sweat of the Changing was running down his forehead. He looked like he was about to burst into tears and the sight of him tore my heart apart.
"Gally..." I groaned, but he didn't look at me.
Instead, he dropped the key. I wondered if he had killed a Griever for it, or if he had retrieved it from one that was already dead.
"We can't leave."
"We did. Gally, we're out. We're free." Thomas held up his hands a little as if to surrender. I could see the hand in which Gally held the gun shaking. He had not yet pointed it at anyone.
"Free? You think we're free out there? No. No, there is no escape from this place." Now he raised the gun and pointed it at Thomas. He raised his hands even higher and now I could see he was shaking too.
"Gally, don't! Stop it!"
I took a step towards him. Minho tried to hold me, but I shook off his hand. I was the only one who could somehow calm Gally down. But I didn't know how. So I took two more steps towards him without him noticing.
"Gally, listen to me. You're not thinking straight. You're not. Now, we can help you. Just put down the gun," Thomas tried to calm him down.
I looked over at Chuck, who was following the conversation with wide eyes, and made sure he was behind Thomas and safe. Then I took another step towards Gally.
"I belong to the maze."
Thomas tried again. I knew he had noticed what I was trying to do and was stalling Gally. "Just put down the gun..."
"We all do!"
Then suddenly everything happened very fast. I was about to take another step when Minho pulled me off my feet and I fell lengthways. Above my head his spear whizzed by and hit Gally, who had pulled the trigger of the pistol a second before, right in the chest.
"No!" Chuck and I screamed as if from the same mouth.
I couldn't see what was happening behind me, but I saw what was happening to Gally. He gasped and looked down at himself where the spear had pierced him. Then he sank to his knees and fell on his right side so that his head came up right next to mine. His eyes met mine and I looked again into the eyes I knew.
I got to my knees and found that I had wounds all over from the glass scattered on the floor that I had fallen into when Minho had knocked me over, but I didn't care about the pain. I crawled the last few inches towards Gally and knelt beside him. Tears were running down my cheeks and I grabbed his hand as his breathing became shallower.
"Gally..." I sobbed, seeing the fear in his gaze before it became more and more cloudy. "Gally, no, please..."
But he made no reply, just lay there motionless now.
It had only taken a few seconds between the gunshot and now for death to take him.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I suddenly heard Chuck gasp behind me and say Thomas's name. I turned around and recognised the blood that was slowly spreading on his chest, starting from the wound the bullet had left.
Chuck had thrown himself in front of Thomas, I realised now.
"No," I groaned out and in one leap was on my feet and then at Chuck's.
"Chuck!" The boy toppled over and Thomas held him so he wouldn't just fall over and carefully placed him on the floor. I dropped to my knees beside them both and put my hand to his head.
I hardly noticed what was happening around me. I only saw that Teresa also went down on her knees and stayed a few inches away from Chuck, also completely horrified.
"Oh no," I heard someone say and thought I recognised Newt's voice, but it was all lost in the gasping breath and moaning from the boy in front of me. He was staring at the ceiling in horror and I kept stroking his hair. Blood soaked his top and I knew he wouldn't make it, even though I tried to push the thought far away from me.
"Oh shit! Shit!" Thomas cursed. "Hey, look at me! Look at me! Look at me! Oh shit!"
The tears kept streaming down my face and I had to bite my lower lip to keep from sobbing out loud.
"Chuck, look at me, all right? I got you, Buddy. Just hang on!"
"Anna..." Chuck gasped.
"I'm here, I'm here. I'll always stay with you, you know that."
Now I could no longer hold back the sobs and stifled them by pressing a hand over my mouth.
"Thomas, Thomas..."
He reached for me with one hand and with the other he took something out of his pocket. When I saw what it was, an uncontrolled sob escaped me.
"Shit, hold on!" Thomas kept saying, but he fell silent when he realised what Chuck was holding out to him.
It was the small figurine he had carved.
"No, no, Chuck. You're gonna give it to them yourself, remember? I told you that."
"Take it!" His voice was tortured and broken.
"No..." Thomas sobbed, but Chuck opened his hand and put the figurine in it.
"Thank you... thank you," he groaned out with the last of his strength before his eyes also glazed over.
He was dying.