Seperation // Gally x Reader

Chapter Five - Strung Up

"Get your asses in there, all of you!" The guard hollers as he pushes us inside, slamming and locking the door behind him with a deep grunt. We all stumble backwards, and I make a b-line for my bed, jumping onto it and burying my face in my floppy pillow.

"What the hell was that about?" Minho asks, turning to face Thomas. "You didn't really think they were just gonna let you through?" Newt adds. "Nah, of course I didn't." Thomas replies, fishing a keycard from his pocket. It's the same one that was wrapped around the guard's waistband, so I guess that was the point of the ordeal. I wonder why Aris needed the one that I collected.

"I'm gonna find out what's on the other side of that door."

"Right." Newt crosses his arms across his chest, unimpressed. "Newt, they're hiding something. Okay? These people are not who they say they are." He begins to walk away, but Newt raises his voice. "No, Thomas, you don't know that! The only thing that we do know is that they helped rescue us from Wicked. They gave us new clothes. They gave us food. They gave us a proper bed. Some of us haven't had that in a long time."

"Yeah but-" Thomas begins, but Newt cuts him off, "Some of us a lot longer than others." I understand where he's coming from. I admit, the care that they've given us is something that I will eternally be grateful for, but something about this place just didn't seem right. I groan loudly and push myself off the bed, moving behind Thomas. The singular light casts a perfect ethereal light across Newt's face, and I notice a small red cut beside his nose. It looks quite deep, might even scar.

"I'm coming." I state, drawing them away from their row. "What?" Newt asks, but before either of us can reply, the vent rattles and slides from beneath Thomas' bed. Out crawls Aris, and Thomas grabs my wrist, pulling me over to the flattened boy. "Hey Thomas, Y/n." He greets, half peeking out from under the bed. "What the..." Fry mutters, bending over slightly to get a better view.

"You got it, didn't you?" He asks. "Yeah. Yeah. Let's go." Thomas replies, waving the card in his face before preparing himself to fit inside the tight vent again. "Alright, look, maybe you guys are right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. But I gotta find out for sure. Just cover for us. We'll be back as soon as we can." He slides under, and I'm about to follow, before a tight grip snakes its way around my arm.

"N/n. You can't be serious." Lorenzo says, dropping to his knees beside me. "We'll be fine, Enzo. Make sure nothing happens to them." I reply, flicking my eyes to Chuck who's silently watching beside us, still licking his fingers from breakfast. "Alright. Be careful." He pats me on the back, and I smile at him, speeding into the vent to catch up with the other two boys.

The vent is exactly the same as the day before, but slightly warmer, as though an extra amount of power was being prepared. We arrive at the large grate, and with minimal care, Thomas tosses it to the side and dangles his legs off the edge. "Not too high, right? I'm sure we'll be fine." He mutters, reassuring himself, before dangling from it with one arm and dropping to the floor. I must say, he did it quite graciously.

Aris follows, copying his routine. He holds an arm up towards me as if that would help soften my landing. Peering over the edge, the drop looked much higher than what I had anticipated. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and hop down. Definitely wasn't the smartest decision. Not only did I land awkwardly on the floor with a sore elbow, but I took Aris down with me, and it wasn't exactly quiet.

"Shit n/n, what was that for?" Thomas asks, flicking the grate back up into its locked position. "Sorry, I wasn't in the mood to dangle." I stand up and offer Aris my hand. He takes it and I assist him back onto his feet. "You alright?" I ask, and he nods. He seems to be a man of very few words.

Thomas checks cautiously down the hallways, and once he's positive that the coast is clear, we head towards the door. He swipes the keycard in a smooth swing, the reader instantly granting us access. The doors fly open, and we slowly move inside. We're in a small room that leads to another, rows of dove white lab coats hanging on hooks on either side.