florence was still trying to catch her breath by the time they found gally and newt and began to tell them everything. flo was a bit surprised that gally was taking it so calmly, although she didn't miss the way his eyes flickered over the group with a bit of betrayal rooted deep within his gaze.
thomas, he expected this behavior from, but everybody else? it felt like a gut punch, especially antony. they weren't best pals or anything, but florence knew they were also friends, friends that worked together nearly everyday.
she couldn't help but almost feel for the boy, but any evidence of his emotions disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving behind a blank stare while thomas explained.
"we found this." thomas turned over the piece of tech in his hands, the guts of the griever now dried into some sort of black goop. "it was inside a griever."
newt took the thing in his hands, running his fingers over the metal and stopping at the right of the yellow label. "these are the same letters we get on our supplies," newt figured, looking up with furrowed brows.
flo only nodded from where she sat. "yeah," she agreed with a hearty sigh. "whoever put us here... they're orchestrating all of this. our captivity, the box, and the grievers. it's the only thing that makes sense."
thomas jumped in at that, his hands moving quickly as he spoke. he gestured a lot when it came to talking. "this is the first real clue, the first anything you've found in over three years. right, minho? florence?"
she merely nodded once again, minho replying with a wispy, "yeah."
"newt," thomas continued, not giving the blonde boy another second to think. "we gotta get back out there. who knows where this might lead us?"
a moment passed, and florence watched in observatory silence as newt and gally exchanged a look. it was skeptical, mixed with two major emotions: hope and fear. they almost always came together, a negative to balance out the positive.
"you see what he's trying to do, right?" gally often let the negative rule his life, often acted as the counterbalance to whatever hope the glade felt. it was a difficult role, but it was crucial. without fear, without something to keep flo and the boys grounded, they wouldn't be where they stood now. "first he breaks out rules, then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally. wha—" he paused, taking a breath. "the rules are the only thing that have ever held us together. why now are we questioning them?" he looked at newt, eyes locked. "if alby was here, you know he'd agree with me."
"if i may?" heads turned to look at florence, her hand held patiently in the air. "he isn't here, gally. he isn't here, ben isn't here, thomas is here, this random girl is here. why can't you see it? if there has ever been a time to question our rules, to question the reality we've been locked in, it's now." florence took a moment, eyes looking around the group, only snagging on the inquisitive gaze of antony for a split second before she began to fumble for words. "i mean, come on, gally. if now isn't the time to start looking for the way out, then i'm afraid... i'm afraid this is it. we've had every sign in our favor, and so far, thomas is the only one who's chosen not to ignore them. and even if these are all crazy coincidences, i guess fate wanted us to fail."
newt held out a moderative hand, one towards flo, the other towards gally who was itching to retaliate, and let out a loud, "everyone, quiet. flo, quiet, and same with you gally." both shut their mouths in an instant. "that's a large jump, florence, and you know it is. i think gally has a right idea, a fair thought and feeling that we're abandoning what built as a society far too quickly. maybe we can make exceptions, if we really believe in these signs, but that's something we need to talk about together, and even if we do... even if we do, we can't let them all go at once, or else our society will fall into nothing but chaos."
with a new found calmness and a bit of understanding, flo fell back and leaned against the wall. she still simmered, and still didn't fully believe gally was right, but she also could respect that she also wasn't completely right. instead, she cast her gaze on gally, as did everybody else.
gally looked around, his shoulders relaxing at the attention. "i think he should be punished."
newt weighed the idea, shifting from one foot to another before stepping forward and handing minho the piece of tech. "you're right," he finally said. "thomas broke the rules." flo resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "one night in the pit and no food."
"oh, come on, dude!' gally protested. "one night in the pit? you think that's gonna stop him from going into the maze?" he cast a finger at thomas.
newt shook his head immediately. "no," he figured. "and we can't just have non runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it."
that was when it finally clicked, and florence felt herself stifle a grin. oh, newt always was smarter than she gave him credit for.
"so," newt continued, "let's just make this official. starting from tomorrow, you're a runner."
around the group, there were nods of approval. all but gally, of course, who only let out a disbelieving, "wow."
just as he began to stalk off, antony reached out a hand to grab his bicep. "gally," he attempted, but he shoved off instantly.
"not now, antony."
at the rejection, flo found it odd that antony's eyes found her's. they were unreadable, perhaps searching for help, but she only shrugged. she wasn't gally's keeper, that's for sure.
at her shrug, he looked away, and antony walked out right after gally.
now in an arguably calmer atmosphere, it was thomas who broke the silence. "thanks, newt." he looked over at the blonde boy, and then, in realization looked over at flo, too. "and you, florence."
the girl smiled, truly genuine, and only shook her head. "call me flo, big guy."
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hey, thanks again for reading. vote, comment, anything would be appreciated. if anyone also has questions, thoughts on characters, suggestions, constructive criticism... all of those are also warmly welcomed.
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teenage wasteland ;; the maze runner
Action" don't cry, don't raise your eye. it's only teenage wasteland." she arrived just the same as everyone else. scared, confused, and lacking fifteen years of memories. the only difference, however, was the fact that she was a 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭. nevertheless, f...
