Lost in a Maze

Chapter 36: First night with company.

There was a chilling moment of complete silence once the doors opened. Everyone was frozen. I felt like someone had placed cups over my ears, I could only hear a high pitched ringing. Whether it was due to my fear, or everyone's collective silence, I don't know.

As quickly as the silence started, it ended, broken by Newt and Thomas. If anyone thought they were scared before, they were petrified now.

"Gally, go with the others and start barricading the doors, Winston go with them!" Newt shouted as Thomas turned to a group of fill-in Runners. "Go grab as many weapons as you can carry, Minho show them where!"

Newt shouted, "Bring the weapons to the Homestead, start boarding up the windows!"

Everyone disappeared, shouting words of encouragement at eachother, grabbing every piece of wooden structure they could find and piling it up at the entrance of the doors. I turned to run and help Gally, but Newt grabbed my arm. "You need to hide, now." He said firmly, his eyes wide and terrified.

"No Newt, I'm not going to sit around thinking of myself, I need to go help!" I shouted, wrenching my arm out of his grip and sprinting across the Glade to where Gally was, stacking piles of chairs and tables to form a blockage. I appreciated his efforts, but I knew there was no way it would hold.
"Gally you've seen the size of those things, this will never hold against them!" I shouted as he flung a large pallet of wood over his head.

"I don't care we need to delay them!" He yelled back, picking up more.

I helped him, us both carrying the heavier pieces of wood and piling them on together, not saying anything but orders. I saw Thomas at the main entrance, helping people pile whatever they could up there. Newt was there too, Emily and Teresa both helping.

I ran over, leaving Gally with most of the other builders. I found myself anxiously glancing over my shoulders at the other Doors more often than not, one Door had been plenty to keep an eye on never mind four. Minho came bursting out of the storage shack with his group, knives and pitchforks in hand, blades sticking out of every pocket. I took a handful from him and ran from Door to Door, equipping as many Gladers as I could manage with knives, accidentally cutting myself various times in the process.

After a very short 10 minutes, Newt raised his fingers to his lips and whistled, gaining the attention of most Gladers. "HERE!" He shouted, they abandoned their posts and joined us in a large group near the Homestead.
"Times up, they'll be here any second!"

I was impressed with the amount of progress we had managed to make within the few short minutes we'd had, even though I knew the Grievers wouldn't be stopped. Slowed down, maybe.

"Minho I want you to take around 25 boys down to the basement, make sure you have weapons! Lock the door and turn out the lights, once you are hidden you must put out any torch you're holding!" He yelled, Minho took off with a large number of boys, the air thick with tension. "Gally, take as many as you can fit into the Box, lock it up you should be safe in there."

"Got it Newt, come on shanks!" Gally yelled, running off with his group behind him, worried faces all round.

"Some of you go to the Pit! The rest will fit in the Homestead, or if you'd prefer to take to the forest and climb a tree that's your call, NOW GO ON MOVE IT!" He ordered, people ran off to their preferred hiding locations. "Erin, with me!" He shouted, I pushed past a few scared looking boys so he could see me, and followed him towards the Homestead.

He kicked open the door and stood back to let other people inside first, continuing to give orders. "Thomas take half upstairs, spread out among the rooms and stay quiet! The rest of you downstairs with me, all lights should be out, no fires or you'll set the whole bloody place on fire!"