𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 - 𝘔𝘈𝘡𝘌 𝘙𝘜𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘙

23 ~ 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝

Newt

 The world was ending.

Or so it seemed, since everything we'd ever known had changed completely. It was six o clock; the time that the Maze Door closed every single night. But not tonight. The Maze Door was wide open, the gaping hole seeming to swallow my soul.

The second problem was that the sky was gray. That usually wouldn't be a problem; it would just mean that it was cloudy. But it wasn't clouds. It was just gray. An endless void. It reminded me of -

"The Cliff," Minho said at my shoulder, also staring up at the blank sky.

"Exactly," I murmured.

"Alright, everyone!" Alby boomed, voice echoing off of the stone walls. "Here's what we're going to do!" Everyone fell silent, clutching to his words like a lifeline. The only time every single person stayed quiet when Alby spoke. "Everyone to the Homestead. Bring as much rations as you can; we don't know how long we're gonna be in there. Builders, start boarding up the windows. Go."

There was a mad scramble, and yet I was surprised at how organized the boys were. The Track-hoes went to gather the baskets of produce. The Slicers went to lock the animals away safely. The Builders were already at the Homestead, hammering the boards on the windows.

I headed straight for the kitchen. I helped Frypan load some food into baskets, and then handed them to the nearest Gladers to bring to the Homestead. Every few moments, I looked up at the Door to see if any Grievers had found their way in yet. They hadn't, but it was just a matter of time.

Once Frypan and I finished loading up the food, we started for the Homestead ourselves. By that time, most of the others had already gone inside, and the Builders were almost done boarding up the windows. There was a movement from the forest, and the Runners came bursting through. They each carried a trunk full of maps.

Once we were all inside, Gally nailed the door shut. Frypan and I set the extra baskets down by the others, and then went to find our friends. The Gladers were scattered throughout the place; some hid in the med hut, some hid in Alby's room, and some went to mine. I checked my bedroom first, and sure enough, there I found Lottie, Minho, Julian, Mitch, and the dog Bark. I strode inside without a word and sat on my bed next to Lottie. She looked troubled.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, and Minho snorted from the foot of the bed.

"What's wrong?" he repeated. "What's wrong is that we're all going to die tonight."

"Don't," said Lottie, her voice much higher than usual. "Don't say that! It's my fault it's happening anyway," she buried her face in her hands.

"How is this your fault?" Julian asked her.

"It's a punishment, I just know it. If I hadn't told you what I saw in the Changing, WICKED wouldn't have done this."

"There's no way for you to know that," I tried to reassure her. "This is just another one of their cruel tricks." I sounded as if I were trying to convince myself more that I was her.

"Lottie," said Mitch in a small voice. "Y-you don't think WICKED will make the Grievers kill anyone, will they?" Lottie glanced at me uncertainly, and then turned back to Mitch. She took one look at the fear on his face and said,

"No. They won't. Okay, Mitch? There's nothing to worry about. How about you try to sleep?"

"You can use my bed," I offered, eager for the kid to fall asleep so that the others and I could talk without scaring him. He climbed under the covers and hesitantly closed his eyes. We waited until his breathing slowed to speak again, this time in soft voices.