One Of Us - A Gally, Maze Runner Fan Fiction

Chapter 14 - Relief

Song - Safe and Sound (Taylor Swift)

"Gally! Eleanor!" A voice stirred me from my sleep. It took me a moment to register where I was. Who was holding me so tightly. Gally... The memories flooded in. I felt his heartbeat under my head. Felt the way I put all my weight into his body, similar to how we shared the weight of our situation. I felt his arms tighten at the sound of our names from somewhere far away. He must still be awake. How long had I been asleep? Had he been holding me, watching me this whole time? I peeled my face off Gally's chest, his shirt now damp from my tears. I looked up at the boy, seeing the tired smile he wore to try and hide the despair in his eyes.

"Guys?"

I shifted my body to see Chuck standing on the edge of the clearing. Eyes wider than usual, which was a sight. I felt Gally's grasp around me loosen.

"Yeah Chuck?" I croaked, wiping my face with my sleeve.

"Um... Thomas found something in the maze. They told me to go find you guys,"

Gally's jaw tightened, and his body became tense. I pulled away and slowly stood up, feeling lightheaded after all the tears I had cried. Gally stood up beside me. He gave me a look which I knew the meaning of. Even though I wanted to deny it. His eyes narrow, eyebrows raised and lips forming a thin line.

We followed Chuck through the forest, back to the meeting room. The other boys were waiting outside. They sent me glares like daggers as I passed through the swarm, into the room.

When I saw Minho and Thomas standing beside Newt, I felt so relieved I could cry again. I quickly did a once over, scanning their bodies, looking for any sign of injury. Nothing. The other keepers stood around the boys as they examined something in Newt's hand. Looks like something from a machine, a metal canister with wires peeking out the ends, covered in a gunk of sorts. They looked up at me and Gally as we entered. I saw their jaws tighten at the sight of the builder beside me. Tom gave me a slight nod and I quickly returned the favour.

"We found this... it was inside a griever," Thomas revealed. I slowly moved closer to the boys, finding my spot to the side of Newt. Gally followed behind me and stood slightly in front, making me frown, but I didn't say anything. His arms were crossed over his chest tightly. His shoulders tense and face sour. I swallowed nervously at the sight of him.

"These are the same letters we get on our supplies," Newt realized, looking up at Thomas across the room.

"Yeah. Whoever put us here obviously made the grievers. And this is the first real clue, the first anything... you've found in over three years, right Minho?" Thomas said.

"Right," Minho confirmed firmly.

"Newt, we gotta go back out there... who knows where this might lead us?" Thomas pleaded.

Thomas and Newt shared a look. Newt looked at him with such affection and yet his eyes were brimmed with fear. Then Newt looked at Gally. Gally saw the look on Newt's face. How he was considering it. Gally's entire body seemed to tighten as he interrupted,

"You know what he's trying to do right?" he seethed. "First, he breaks our rules, and then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally!"

He's mad but I can tell he is something else. Hurt. I gently brush my fingertips on his forearm. He ignored my touch.

"The rules are the only thing that has ever kept us together, why now are we questioning that?" he snarled. I looked over at Minho. His face gave me no insight to his opinion on the situation. As if Gally has done this countless times before. Why is he acting like this?