To The Shucking End

Chapter 11

How everything changed so quickly in a matter of a few hours.

Gally had taken over as leader and he'd promptly had Thomas and Teresa thrown in the Pit before they could cause any more damage. He then gave everyone else a choice, they could either join his side or be banished at sundown with the two Greenies, and not even Tanya could talk him out of it.

He wouldn't hear of it because he was convinced that this was the only way to keep the rest of them safe.

He almost lost Tanya last night and he wouldn't have been able to stop it, he wasn't about to get put in that situation again. He was determined to keep her and everyone else safe.

Gally had also been forced to cross off so many names last night, one of them being Alby's, and he'd be damned if Tanya was next.

Thomas and Teresa weren't about to get banished without a fight though.

He'd woken up in Teresa's lap in the Pit with all his memories back. Memories of how he and Teresa watched as the Creators sent people up into the Maze one by one.

Newt, Minho and Chuck who were sitting outside the Pit hadn't cared at all. They just wanted to get out, Newt and Minho not wanting to let Alby's death be in vain. They had to finish this.

Thomas had agreed but first, they had to get through Gally.

Newt had only said, "It's been taken care of."

Thomas would only learn what that would mean later near sundown when he faked being unconscious and was dragged towards the Maze entrance along with Teresa, Tanya simply watching as she stood in the centre of it all, her expression blank.

"This is such a waste," Gally sighed as Thomas was dropped onto the ground in front of two wooden stakes.

"Gally," called Winston. "This doesn't feel right man," he admitted.

"Yeah, what if Thomas is right?" Jeff added. "Maybe he can lead us home."

"We are home, ok?" Gally replied, the boys turning to Tanya who was just staring at her feet as she bit her nails, her heart racing with stress. "I don't want to have to cross any more names off that wall."

"You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Teresa asked.

"No," Gally said calmly and that's when Tanya looked up as she dropped her hand from her mouth. "But this isn't a banishing. It's an offering."

Teresa began to protest as the man that held her began to tie her hands to one of the stakes.

"Gally-"

"No, Tanya!" he spat, cutting off the girl. "You really think I'm gonna let Thomas back in the Maze after what he's done? Look around you! Look at our Glade! Look at your ribs Tan! This is the only way. The only way to keep all of you safe," he continued, not seeing the subtle nod Newt sent to Minho or Chuck standing off to the side holding spears and supplies. "And when the Grievers get what they came here for, everything goes back to the way he was."

"Are you listening to this?" Teresa exclaimed. "Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy!"

"Will you shut up?" Gally retorted.

"If you stay here, the Grievers are going to come back. They're gonna come back and they're gonna keep coming back until you're all dead!"

"Shut up! Tie him up!" Gally roared, Tanya flinching slightly as the guards that brought Thomas here didn't move. "Did you hear me? I said, tie him up!"

The two boys reached down and picked up Thomas by his arms, only for the boy to wake up as he struck at them, Newt and Teresa striking at a few others under Gally's command, while that left one person to deal with Gally himself.

Gally had begun to rush forward to intervene with Thomas when he felt a blade rest on his shoulder.

"I can't let you do that Gals," Tanya said, her voice tight as she tightened her grip on her machete to the point where her knuckles were white.

"You're siding with him?!" he spat as Tanya moved in front of him with her back to the Maze, reminding them both so very much of the first time she held a machete at him.

"I love you Gally, but you're wrong," she said, her eyes welling with tears, Gally not even thinking to move against her. "This was never our home. And things have changed. They can't go back to what they were. What if it's not Thomas they're after? If they still come back? What are you going to do then?"

"Tanya," he began as Frypan handed a free Teresa a knife, the rest of them staying quiet as Tanya spoke to Gally. "It's the only way I know I can keep you safe."

"I don't want to be safe!" she blurted, a tear trailing down her cheek as every word she said killed her inside. "I want to be free. I don't want to spend the rest of my life, no matter how short, stuck inside these four walls. And you know that," she said brokenly, as Gally simply stared at her.

"And you don't have to come with us, but we are leaving," Thomas interrupted, this time addressing everyone rather than just Gally. "Anyone else who wants to come, now's your last chance."

"Don't listen to him. He's just trying to scare you," Gally reassured everyone.

"I'm not trying to scare you. You're already scared. Alright? I'm scared. But I'd rather risk my life out there than spend the rest of it in here," Thomas continued. "At least out there we have a choice. And we can make it out of here. I know that."

It took a moment, but eventually, people began to move.

Winston and Jeff were first followed by a few others as Tanya stared at Gally, still standing in front of everyone else.

"Gally, please," she begged. "It's over. Please, just come with us. Come with me. We can finally get out of here. Together."

He was tempted.

He really was.

But in the end, he couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to trust Thomas or to accept the fact that the woman he'd loved for the last three years just chose someone else over him. He couldn't accept the fact that he couldn't keep her safe anymore.

So, in the end, Gally's only answer was, "Good luck against the Grievers."

To say Tanya looked heartbroken was putting it lightly.

She looked as if her whole world had ended. And it had.

She wasn't enough for Gally to let go of his hatred towards Thomas or his dislike for change and new things, and most importantly, his fear that he wouldn't be able to protect Tanya out there.

"Tanya," Newt called from behind her, everyone else having run off as Thomas guided them but he and Minho waited behind for their friend. "Tanya, we've got to go," he said softly as he approached her to place a hand on her shoulder.

Tanya lowered her blade, her eyes still never leaving Gally.

"For what it's worth Gally," Tanya began. "I always loved you and I always will. To the shucking end. I'm just sorry that it wasn't enough."

And Tanya turned, taking Minho's hand as they began to run into the Maze for the final time.

As they ran away from their Glade.

As they ran away from their friend.

As she ran away from her heart and towards her freedom.