❝ It's fine, we're fine.
the kids are alright ❞
Ella was sent up into the maze with nothing but the clothes on her back, a short lived memory of a boy named Thomas, and a necklace. Now, two and half years later, Ella had come to terms with the idea...
When Ella woke up she dashed to the med-Jack hut to find Teresa watching over Alby. She tried to bite down the feeling of uneasiness when the new girl was around, but she couldn't help it. She knew that the only reason she had a disliking towards the girl was because of Thomas. Because the two of them seemed closer now, seemed like they were sharing everything they knew with each other.
She was scared that Thomas would continue to hate her because of what she said. He would continue to grow closer to Teresa, he would continue to build the same bond that him and she had. Call it jealousy or whatever you want, but all she knew was that she was terrified to lose the only real thing she ever had.
As the day progressed though, the two girls began talking as they watched over Alby. Ella knew she couldn't hate the girl, that just wasn't fair. She had also been wishing for a girl to come up in the box since she got here, she wasn't going to have her selfish feelings overshadow the opportunity for the two to become friends.
And in the few short hours that they watched Alby, that's just what they became. They laughed, and joked, and smiled, and Ella couldn't throw it all away because of some boy. Even though that boy was the love of her life. Even though the thought of Thomas and Teresa together crushed her, all she's ever wanted was for Thomas to be happy.
The two girls stopped their fit of giggles as soon as Alby abruptly sat up, his eyes shot open and he gasped for a breath of air. It startled the two before Ella jumped to be closer to the boy. "Alby!" Ella situated herself in front of him, but he didn't look at her, let alone acknowledging her. His eyes began to glisten with tears, his lips quivering as Ella instructed Teresa to go get Newt.
"Ably, look at me." Ella spoke, moving his face so he had to look her in the eyes, when he finally did his breath began to quicken as tears fell. "Hey, hey it's okay, you're okay." The girl soothed, wrapping him in a hug in efforts to comfort him, but nothing worked. Ella stepped back as Alby began to stare blankly ahead again.
Ella didn't know what to do and her heart beat began to quicken the more time she spent alone with Alby. She was questioning herself over and over again why she didn't know what to do. She was the keeper of the med-jacks! She should know what to do! She should know what was happening to her leader! But she didn't, and the more time she spent with that realization, the more she panicked.
Ella's breath began to come out in short gasps, her hands began to jitter, and it seemed that she couldn't think straight. She worriedly looked around the room, what was happening to her? The sound of the door opening made Ella jump, her head snapping to see what had happened. "Has he said anything? When did he wake up?" The voice of Minho pushed passed Ella's jumbled thoughts and all she could do was stare at him with wide eyes as she frantically shook her head.
"I don't know what's—I don't know! I d-don't know! I can't—I don't know what to do!" Minho raced towards the girl, wrapping her in his arms and holding her tight. "Hey, it's okay, take a deep breath okay? Remember? Just like we practiced, right?" Minho knew Ella like the back of his hand, he knew how to make her laugh or smile, knew how to make her feel guilty (which he abused a lot when trying to get her dinner), and knew how to calm her down. He had spent countless hours soothing the girl to sleep after a nightmare, or simply just waiting with her until she fell asleep. If Minho could call anyone in the glade family, it most certainly was Ella.
When all Ella let out was another gasp, Minho leaned back to look her in the eye. "Hey." He spoke softly, yet sternly, "Look at me, you're okay. Just take a few deep breaths, yeah? Cmon let's do them together." Her heart rate seemed to slow as she copied Minho, her jittery hands coming to a stop as well. When she buried her head into his chest, the feeling of panic finally gone, Minho gave a nod to the rest of the group to focus on Alby.
Thomas was reluctant to put his attention on anything other than Ella, but Newt pushed him over to their leader and he was forced to attend to someone else. "Alby?" Newt spoke, not getting a response. "Alby, you alright?" He tried again, nothing. "Alby, we might have just found a way out of the maze." Thomas knelt down in front of the boy, making sure he was in his view. "You hear me? We could be getting out of here." Alby only shook his head, "We can't."
"We can't leave. They won't let us." Thomas shared a look with the group around him before trying again. "What are you talking about?" "I remember." The group shared looks of astonishment and confusion, but Thomas didn't break his stare. "What do you remember?" The leader finally turned his head to look at Thomas, a tear falling from his eye and cascading down his cheek, "You."
"You were always their favorite Thomas. Always." Shouting from outside filled the groups ears, as Alby continued talking. "Why did you do this? To us? To Ella?" The mention of her name made Thomas shift his gaze towards Minho, who Ella was finally letting go of while wiping the spare tears that resided on her face. Thomas's heart fell, did he really do this to her? Did he really put her here? "Why did you come here?" The shouting continued to get louder, causing the small group to migrate outside. Ella wanted to stay with Alby, who now was crying and holding his head in his hands, but Minho told Clint and Jeff to stay, while he dragged Ella out.
She was rushed outside with Minhos hand in her own, and she was surprised when several boys ran past her in a panic, torches lit to guide their way.
"Winston, what's going on?"
"It's the doors, they aren't closing."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
