Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Five

One Year Ago 

Alby finished giving the greenie a tour of the Glade. 

"Do you remember the rules I told you?" 

"Do my party, don't hurt anyone, and don't leave." 

"That's right," Alby smiled. 

Alby's heart broke when he saw this month's new arrival. This boy could't have been older than twelve-years-old, younger than Alby had been when he came to the Maze. Just when he thought he couldn't hat eat people who put him here anymore than he already did, they prove him wrong. 

"It's almost time for dinner," Alby said. "You hungry?" 

************** 

The night was normal. The campfire was going, food was passed around, the greenie remembered that his name was Jack and everyone celebrated. Gally led wrestling matches and Newt showed Jack around. Despite his circumstances, Jack seemed to be making friends fast. 

Despite the festive atmosphere, Alby didn't feel like celebrating. Thankfully Nick, his second-in-command, took care of everything. Something about newbies always made Alby think of the early days in the Glade, the month he spent alone and the time when it had just been him, Newt, Minho and Nick. 

There had also been George... 

Alby immediately banished the thought from his mind. 

"Hey, man." 

Alby was surprised to find Nick suddenly sitting next to him. 

"What's up?" 

"Tomorrow is Minho's day off," Nick said. "Think I could go running instead?" 

"Sure you're not too rusty?" Alby teased. 

"Compared to running around doing task for you all day, the Maze is a piece of cake." 

Alby chuckled. "Sure man, I'll have Newt cover for you tomorrow." 

"Cool, it'll give the guy a break from picking crops all day." 

"Anyway, I gotta go take care of something before bed," Alby told Nick. "Do you mind wrapping up here soon?" 

"Sure thing." 

Alby walked toward the woods to visit a part of it he didn't like to go, but a place he always visited once a month. He was going to George's grave. 

*************** 

Present Day 

Thomas didn't remember falling asleep. 

When he opened his eyes he was temporarily blinded by the morning sun and had to give his eyes time to adjust. He looked around to check on his friends. Most had fallen asleep using their backpacks as pillows. Aris was still holding his bat. Newt had fallen asleep with one arm still wrapped around Claire. 

Thomas then spotted a crow digging through Minho's backpack. 

"Hey, get out of here!" he shouted, shoes the bird away. 

The noise caused the others to start waking up. 

"Are they gone?" Newt asked as he and Claire slowly sat up. 

"Yeah, I think we're safe for now," Thomas said. 

Thomas noticed that Claire looked about a million miles away, she didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on around her, her eyes were still puffy from crying. That's when Thomas remembered that a member of their group was gone. He didn't really know Jack that well, but Claire had been close with the young boy. The more Thomas thought about it, he realized that the bond Claire had with Jack was like the one he had with Chuck. 

Thomas felt his heart ache, but they had no time to mourn. 

"Let's pack up, guys," he instructed as everyone woke from their terrible night's sleep. 

Newt rubbed Claire's back, trying to comfort her, but he also felt helpless. There wasn't anything he could do to make the situation any better. Seeing her like this also started to bring his own pain to the surface, pain he'd been trying to swallow since the night Alby died. 

Frypan heard Winston groan as he woke up. His friend was lying on the ground, the cloth they used as a makeshift bandage wrapped around his stomach. 

"Hey man, you alright?" Frypan asked, offering his friend a hand. 

Winston nodded, taking Frypan's help to stand. 

As soon as they were all on their feet, Thomas led them out of the debris and into the open. When they stepped outside they were standing on what mush have been a main street of a city. All around them were ruined, abandoned buildings. The top of many tall buildings looked scorched black, and some looked ready to collapse at any moment. 

"What the hell happened to this place?" Frypan asked as they walked down the abandoned street. 

"I don't know," Newt said. "It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time." 

"Hope the whole world's not like this," Aris commented. 

The other Gladers recalled the video they had seen when they escaped the Maze. It had showed them footage of whole cities and landscapes on fire. Looking at this once proud city, they wondered if there were any nice places left. 

"Hold on," Thomas suddenly said. 

All the teens stopped where they were, trying to figure out what was wrong. 

A moment later, they heard engines. 

"Get down, everybody hide!" Thomas shouted. 

Frypan, Minho, Winston and Aris found cover underneath a crevice formed by the rubble. Teresa and Claire slid underneath a car that was left on the side of the road. Thomas and New ducked under another car. They had all barely made it in time before two helicopters and a large aircraft came into view. 

"Shit," Thomas heard Newt whisper to himself. 

A few terrifying moments past, and then the aircrafts moved on out of sight. 

"They're never gonna stop looking for us," Claire realized. 

Teresa placed a comforting hand on Claire's arm.