Gladiolus ~ The Maze Runner

3~6: Hold Me Through the Shakes Darling

"After the Maze, I got picked up by a group headed to the city," Gally explains, leading us through what used to be a mall parking lot. He passes through into the main area of their base, large hallways with alcoves of smaller rooms that used to be shops. I get flashbacks to when we were running through the abandoned mall in the Scorch, trying to escape Cranks.

"They realized I was immune, patched me up, and brought me here to Lawrence," the boy continued. "This group's been at war with WICKED ever since they took control of the city. WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever. The time will come when they've paid for what they've done."

Well, I sure hope so.

Gally stops and turns to us. "Listen uh... he doesn't get a lot of visitors so... let me do that talking. Alright? And try not to stare."

Telling us not to stare is just going to make me want to stare. We follow Gally down into a dingy basement that has portions of the ceiling removed to act as a greenhouse for the beds of roses that are laid out on cement flooring.

"Rose took my nose, I suppose," a man, probably Lawrence, is whispering, his gravelly voice echoing off the bland walls. 

So Gally works for a nut. Great.

Gally leads us down the stairs to the man who has his back turned to us.

"Gally!" Lawrence greets. "Glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened."

"It was a slaughter," Gally nods. "There's nothing we can do against those guns."

"No..." Lawrence agrees. "But they can only poke the hornet's nest so long before they get stung. Now who are these people? Why are they here?"

"We need to get into WICKED," Thomas answers, ignoring Gally's orders to shut up. "Gally said you can get us through the walls."

Lawrence looks up at Thomas before staring back down at his roses. "Well, Gally should know better than to make promises he can't keep."

Lawrence taps the ground with his cane a few times, almost menacingly. I roll my eyes. What are you gonna do, you dying fuck?

"Besides," Lawrence continues, "That wall is only half your problem." He grabs the IV pole next to him, slowly approaching us. "Getting inside WICKED is impossible."

"There might be a way now," Gally admits, frustrated with Thomas's outburst. "But it doesn't work without them."

"Is that so?" Lawrence huffs. He limps toward us until we can make out the details of his face. He's a Crank. Not fully turned yet, but still a Crank. And he's running on a dwindling amount of serum to hold back the virus.

"Do you know what I am, boy?" By boy, he meant Thomas. His grotesque face gets very close to Thomas's before whispering, "I'm a businessman. Which means that I don't... take... unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?"

"Because I can help you," Thomas claims, refusing to back down. "You see, if you can get me through those walls, I can get you what you need."

"And what is it that you think I need?"

"Time," Thomas says evenly, his eyes flitting over to the nearly empty bag of blue serum hanging from the IV pole. "Every last drop."

"Hmm," Lawrence chuckles, looking at the bag. "Is that what I need?"

"WICKED has something we both want."

"...Tell you what. Two can go for now. The rest stay down here with me."

Thomas glances over to me. Lawrence notices and shakes his head. "Not her," he orders. Thomas is about to argue before Lawrence says, "Just a little insurance to make sure you find your way back."