𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 - ᴍᴀᴢᴇ ʀᴜɴɴᴇʀ, ᴛʜᴏᴍᴀꜱ ➀

³⁹, ʷᵉ'ʳᵉ ᶠⁱⁿᵃˡˡʸ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵇᵘᵗ ᵃᵗ ʷʰᵃᵗ ᶜᵒˢᵗ?

The Glade was a storm on the verge of breaking, tension hanging thick in the air. With the Maze's exit now visible, Thomas's plan had come to life--a last-ditch effort to escape, or die trying. We had nothing left to lose. "Everyone, move! We're going to Sector 7!" Thomas's voice echoed through the chaos, and we all started running toward the opening of the Maze. 

The sound of Grievers growing closer forced our hands, driving us into the mouth of the Maze. Emmette grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. "We have to keep going, Esme. We can't stop." I nodded, though my thoughts were clouded with the memory of Gally storming off, refusing to come with us. There was no time to think about it now. -we had to survive.

As we barreled through the Maze, the stone walls towered over us, casting long shadows that seemed to pull us deeper into despair. The Grievers were hot on our heels, their mechanical roars reverberating through the Maze, making the ground tremble beneath our feet. "We stick together!" Minho shouted as we neared Sector 7, the heart of the Maze. Each of us knew this was it-the final fight.

The Grievers attacked with a ferocity that left us breathless. Their massive, needle-like appendages lashed out in all directions, forcing us to dodge, parry, and strike with everything we had. Jeff was beside me, his weapon swinging in powerful arcs as he fought to keep the creatures at bay. We moved as one, covering each other as we advanced. But the Grievers were relentless, and they found their moment One of the monsters lunged at me, its claws poised to tear through my chest. Before I could react, Jeff threw himself in front of me, taking the full brunt of the attack. 

The Griever's claws pierced through him, and he let out a cry of pain that sent a shock through my entire being. "No! Jeff!" I screamed, trying to pull him away, but the damage was done. The Griever retracted its claws, and Jeff collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his wounds "Go.. Esme..get out.." Jeff's voice was weak, his breath ragged as he tried to speak. I could only nod, tears blurring my vision as I backed away, leaving him behind as I continued the fight.

As we neared the stone rockway, the Grievers closed in on us from all sides. Emmette, Minho, and I fought with every ounce of strength we had, trying to keep the monsters at bay. But we were outnumbered, and the Grievers weren't holding back. Suddenly, one of the Grievers slammed into me, sending me flying off the edge of the rockway. The world spun around me as I fell, the ground disappearing beneath me. My hand shot out, desperately trying to grasp onto something--anything to save myself.

"Esme!" Minho's voice cut through the chaos, and I saw his hand reach down toward me, just as I began to slip further into the abyss. He grabbed hold of my wrist, his grip strong as he pulled me up with every bit of strength he had. With a final, desperate effort, Minho hauled me back onto the rockway. My heart was racing, but I was alive. "Thanks," I gasped, shaking from the adrenaline as I regained my footing. Minho gave me a brief, grim nod before we turned back to face the Grievers. 

There was no time to waste; we had to keep moving. Together, we fought our way through the remaining Grievers, their roars deafening as we made our final push toward the entrance to Sector 7. Finally, after what felt like hours, we reached the door to the chamber. The heavy door slid open, revealing a dimly lit room with monitors flickering to life on the walls. This was the heart of the Maze-the place where it all began.

We stumbled into the room, exhausted and bloodied, our weapons still clenched tightly in our hands. As we tried to catch our breath, the face of Dr. Ava Paige appeared on the screens. The woman who had put us through this hell. "Welcome," she said calmly, her voice almost soothing in contrast to the horrors we had just faced. "If you're watching this, it means you've survived the Maze. That in itself is a remarkable achievement." We listened in stunned silence as the video played, revealing the truth about the Maze and the world beyond it--a world ravaged by a deadly virus, where we were nothing more than lab rats in a grand experiment to find a cure.

The video ended, leaving us with more questions than answers. We were shaken to our core, our minds reeling from the revelation. But before we could process it, the door to the chamber burst open once more Gally staggered into the room, his face twisted in pain, his eyes wild and unfocused. I could see the marks on his neck-the telltale signs of a Griever sting. He had been infected.

"Gally," Thomas breathed, shock evident in his voice. "What happened to you?" Gally didn't respond. His gaze was locked on Thomas, full of fury and madness. In his hand, he held a gun, the metal glinting ominously under the dim lights. "This is your fault,' Gally growled, his voice dripping with venom. "You brought us here. You killed us all." 

"Gally, no," I said, stepping forward, my heart pounding. "This isn't you. It's the infection. You're not thinking straight.' But Gally was beyond reasoning. He raised the gun, aiming it directly at
Thomas. The room seemed to freeze, every second stretching into an eternity as I realized what was about to happen I saw Chuck step forward, trying to reach Gally, to talk him down. The gunshot rang out, a thunderous crack that shattered the silence. 

Gally's finger pulled the trigger at the exact moment I dove for a gun on the floor. Everything moved in slow motion. Chuck's eyes widened in shock as the bullet tore through his chest, the impact throwing him backward. Blood splattered across the floor, and a scream caught in my throat. But in the same heartbeat, I had the gun in my hand. I aimed and fired, my mind blank with a primal instinct to protect.

The second gunshot echoed through the room as my bullet found its mark. Gally staggered, the.gun slipping from his grasp as he looked down at the wound in his chest, blood pouring from the hole where the bullet had hit. For a brief moment, our eyes met. I saw my little brother--the boy I had grown up with, the one who had looked out for me, protected me. But the infection had taken that boy from me, leaving only the shell of the person I once knew Gally collapsed to the floor, his body crumpling as his eyes lost their focus.

The madness, the pain-everything faded away as he took his final breath. The silence that followed was deafening broken only by the ragged breaths of tthose around me. I dropped the gun, the weight of what I had just done hitting me like a freight train. Thomas knelt beside Chuck, tears streaming down his face as he cradled the boy's lifeless body. 

The sight shattered what was left of my heart, and I fell to my knees, overwhelmed by the
grief, the loss, the guilt. "Esme," Emmette's voice was soft, barely audible as he approached me. He knelt down, pulling me into his arms, holding me close as I broke down, the tears flowing freely,"I'm sorry," I choked out between sobs, my voice trembling. "I'm so sorry. Emmette didn't respond with words, but his embrace tightened, grounding me as I tried to process the horror of what had just happened. I had lost my brother. I had killed him.

Around us, the others stood in stunned silence, the reality of our situation settling in. We had survived, but the cost had been too high. The door to the chamber opened again and this time it wasn't Gally. A group of soldiers, clad in black uniforms, stormed into the room, their presence a cold reminder that our nightmare was far from over. They moved quickly, efficiently, gathering us up and leading us out of the chamber. I barely registered what was happening, my mind numb, my body on autopilot as I let them guide me away.

I could feel we were being taken somewhere-another test, another experiment. The end of the Maze was only the beginning and as we were herded onto a waiting helicopter, I couldn't help but wonder if we'd ever escape this endless cycle of ffear and death. But even as the helicopter lifted off, carrying us toward an uncertain future, I couldn't shake the image of Gally's lifeless body from my mind. 

My brother was gone, and nothing would ever be the same again.

We had survived, but at what cost? As the helicopter flew into the unknown I held onto Thomas and rested my head on his shoulder and the memory of what I had lost, knowing that whatever came next, we would face it together. But the weight of that final gunshot, the one that had taken Gally from me, would haunt me forever.