teenage wasteland ;; the maze runner

1.9

at the sound of boys yelling, florence was instantly reminded of what exactly happened twelve hours ago, which is what got her up and going in the first place. even so, a thought plagued the back of her mind as she grabbed her boots and pulled them onto her feet.

not only did she find herself churning over the thought of waking up in antony's arms, but she was finally awake and aware enough to reflect on... just him. him, and why. why he'd joined her, why he even cared enough to sit in the rain and listen to her.

it was an awfully confusing conundrum.

but, she knew she had more important things deal with considering she could hear the ruckus outside as boys ran to stand in front of the doors to the maze, and before she knew it, she was standing right there with them.

anxiety bubbled in her belly alongside newt, gally, fry, chuck, sammy, and a few of the other boys. the groan of the doors echoed across the clearing, and florence's hands began to shake.

the image before them began to expand, the doors leaving a gaping scene that made florence's stomach crawl to her throat. nobody was there.

"told you chuck," newt said, his voice distant to flo's ears. "they're not coming back."

all that hope, all that faith, everything that all the gladers tried to ignore and banish the night before despite their own humane optimism, it all dissipated into a cloud of nothing. just like that.

even florence found herself at the bottom of her own pit, giving up.

and then, she spotted something. her eyes left the ground from where they previously laid in hopelessness, and she looked into the maze, squinting in an attempt to focus on the distance.

one of the boys found his words faster than she did. "no way."

and there they were, minho and thomas, with alby in between them. they staggered, tired and worn out from... a night in the maze. thomas, minho, and alby just survived a night in the maze.

florence's mouth gaped wordlessly as the cheers of the gladers consumed her senses. she couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't even process what was happening. all she did was smile.

well, that is until she realized exactly what was at hand. two probably injured gladers carrying a definitely injured alby between them. it was almost as if everything came back to her in that second, every bit of florence's personality that made her the big sister of the glade.

it wasn't long until she was yelling orders. "where's clint? jeff?" she knew, instantly, that she needed all hands on deck. none of them had an idea of what had transpired over night, and it could've easily been something life threatening. she swallowed and let out a deep breath at the thought.

the rest of the gladers watched minho and thomas limp in, helping them lay alby to rest of the ground. of course, a path was cleared as soon as flo's voice rang out, pushing the boys out of the way to approach alby in the center.

she cursed under her breath as she crouched beside minho, hands shaking as she lifted the shirt just slightly. of course, she thought to herself. of course that dream was just another shitty foreshadowing.

above them, chuck stood and stared with wide eyes before asking, "you saw a griever?" even florence took a moment to collect her thoughts, looking up and staring at the boys expectantly. it's not like she could do anything anyway, not until she got the full story.

thomas voice was shallow when he answered, clearly tired from a night of running and trying to survive. "yeah," he answered breathlessly. "i saw one."

florence's eyes narrowed, looking back down at alby in that moment. she felt nauseous at the sight. clint and jeff better start running, she thought, silently trying to put puzzle pieces together.