Sanction -Minho-

Chapter 27

Thomas had stung himself. It was a shock to all of them. Jeff and Grace reacted first. Clint was gone. He never made it to the Gathering hall. Grace couldn't afford to think about her fallen friend. She knew that come morning, things would be different. Alby was gone as well. The Glade was damaged. There were fires everywhere. Huts were burning down, and the animals that were still alive were running freely.

"We can not trust him," Gally said. "Any of them. Look what happened to our Glade. This is their fault." Galley pointed at the group. Grace was kneeling on the ground beside Thomas. He was unconscious but alive. Chuck had gotten the serum, and Teresa had injected him with it. He was going to live, but Gally wasn't backing down. He wanted to Banish Thomas, and other Gladers seemed to agree. "We can't trust them. This is their fault." That's what he kept saying. Gally wasn't just talking about Thomas and Teresa. He was talking about her too. She had seen that look in his eyes before. It was the same look he gave her when she first arrived. Things had changed between them for a while, but they were changing again. He was turning on her. "We need to take the first step. We need to bring security to the Glade, and we can't do that with them here."

"Gally," Newt tried to stop him. "This isn't the way."

"We need to protect the Glade." A few of the Gladers seemed to agree with him. "This is happening because of them. Because of Thomas. We can make things right. We can get back what we lost." Nobody disagreed. "We can fix the Glade and go back to how things were before."

"You're out of your mind," Teresa yelled as she stood up.

"Am I?" Grace stood up as well. She had no idea what was going to happen next. "Take them to the Pit."

Grace didn't think anyone would listen, but she was wrong. Two Gladers picked up Thomas. Jeff watched them, knowing he had to follow and help. Two more Gladers grabbed Teresa. They began dragging them towards the Pit. Gally looked at Grace. She stared back at him. There was a moment where neither moved. Grace had no idea what he was thinking. Newt and Minho watched carefully. They had already figured out what Gally was going to do. He looked away first, nodding at someone. Gally wanted her taken to the Pit with the others.

Before they could get near her, Minho stepped in front of her. "Gally," he warned him. "Don't."

Everyone was watching them. "She's one of them. She's going to destroy the Glade."

"Gally," Frypan whispered. "It's Grace."

"So?" He looked at the group. "Our Glade is destroyed! Our home has been destroyed. We need to fix it. To bring back peace. She's one of them. She always was. She always will be." Grace's entire body was shaking. She was terrified that her fellow Gladers would bring her to the Pit. That they would Banish her. The Glade was her home. She would never destroy it. Neither would Thomas or Teresa. They weren't bad people. A few Gladers seemed to believe Gally, but others didn't. It hurt Grace that any believed him at all.

"We're leaving now." Minho stepped back, pushing Grace with him. She didn't object. Her body was shaking. There were tears in her eyes. She tried to fight them, but they fell instead. "Come on." Everyone was looking at her fearfully. They were scared of her. They believed Gally. For a moment, Grace thought Gally would stop them. He didn't. He let them walk away. Where they were going was a mystery. Most of the Glade was up in flames. Gally started yelling again about Banishing Teresa and Thomas tomorrow. "You okay?" They approached the Med-Jack hut. Some of it had been destroyed, but not all of it.

Grace was far from okay. She was terrified. The Glade was destroyed, and her friends were turning on her. "They're going to turn on me. It's only a matter of time." She might have been safe for tonight, but she knew her future was questionable. "Gally easily convinced them that Teresa and Thomas are evil." Grace had never been so scared in her entire life. "And the way he was looking at me. It's the same look he had when I first got here." Gally was turning on her. Everyone was turning on her. "It's only a matter of time before I'm next." Maybe it wouldn't be today or tomorrow, but it would happen. Gally would try again. Everyone in the Glade was terrified. Grieves had destroyed everything. Nowhere was safe. "They'll kill me too." They'll Banish her.