LIMERENCE ﹐ the maze runner.

32

Gally's eyes raged with lunacy; his clothes were torn and filthy. He dropped to his knees and stayed there, his chest heaving with deep, sucking breaths. He looked about the room like a rabid dog searching for someone to bite. No one said a word.

Was this really happening?

"They'll kill you!"Gally screamed. "The Grievers will kill you all - one every night till it's over!" Gally staggered to his feet and walked forward, dragging his feet and walkedaround, dragging his right leg with a heavy limp. No one in the room moved a muscle as they watched, too stunned to do anything. Even Newt stood mouth agape.

Gally stopped, standing just a few feet in front of Thomas, Clara and Newt, and pointed at Thomas with a bloody finger. "You,"he said with a sneer. "It's all your fault!" Without warning he swung his left hand, forming it into a fist as it came around and crashed into Thomas's ear.

But Clara was fast. She drew a knife and swung it at Gally, only cutting his arm slightly. She swept Gally's feet from under him, and he fell to the ground with a thud. And then she had moved closer to him, and held her throwing knife above his neck.

"It can't be solved,"he said, his voice now quiet and distant, spooky even. "The shuck Maze'll kill all you shank... The Grievers'll kill you... one every night till it's over... I... it's better this way... They'll only kill you one a night... their stupid Variables."

Clara felt her breath becoming heavier as she listened to Gally speak. Was he telling the truth? Or was he just batshit crazy?

Newt took a step forward. "Gally, shut your bloody hole - there's a Griever right out the window. Just sit on your butt and be quiet - maybe it will go away."

Clara took the knife away from Gally's neck, cleaned the blood off it and slipped it back in its sheath, then moved back to Thomas.

Gally sat up, his eyes narrowing. "You don't get it, Newt. You're too stupid - you've always been too stupid. There's no way out - there's no way to win! They're gonna kill you, all of you - one by one!" Screaming the last word, Gally threw his body toward the window and started tearing at the wooden boards like a wild animal trying to escape a cage.

Clara held up another knife, about to go for the kill, when Archie pulled her arm back down and shook his head.

Gally had already ripped one board free, throwing it to the ground.

"No!"Newt yelled, running forward. Thomas followed to help, in utter disbelief at what was happening.

Gally ripped off the second board just as Newt reached him. He swung it backward with both hands and connected with Newt's head, sending him sprawling across the bed as a small spray of blood sprinkled the sheets.

"No!" Clara screamed, and this time threw the throwing knife, sinking it into Gally's leg. She couldn't kill him, could she?

Gally yelped slightly, but continued pullinh at the last board.

"Gally!"Thomas yelled. "What are you doing!

Gally spat on the ground, panting like a wounded dog. "You shut your shuck-face, Thomas! You shut up! I know who you are, but I don't care anymore. I can only do what's right."

"Thomas!"Clara screamed for him as she saw Gally rip loose the final wooden board. The instant the discarded slab hit the floor of the room, the glass of the window exploded inward like a swarm of crystal wasps.

Thomas covered his face and fell to the floor, kicking his legs out to scoot his body as far away as possible. Clara reached out her hand to Thomas as Archie tried to pull her back. As soon as Thomas grabbed Clara's hand, she pulled him back towards her.

A Griever's pulsating, bulbous body had squirmed halfway through the destroyed window, metallic arms with bouncers snapping and clawing in all directions.

And then Clara realized that Newt was still laying unconscious on the bed. "Newt!"Clara screamed, but Archie pulled her back and Thomas put his arms out in front of her to stop her from running to him.

What could she do? The knives wouldn't be able to even harm the Griever...

Then Gally was speaking again; the Griever pulled back its arm, as if it needed the thing to be able to observe and listen. But its body kept churning, trying to squeeze it's way inside

"No one ever understood!"he screamed over the horrible noise of the creature, crunching its way deeper into the Homestead, ripping the walls to pieces. "No one ever understood what I saw, what the Changing did it to me! Don't go back to the real world, Thomas! You don't... want... to remember!"

Gally gave Thomas a long, haunted look, his eyes full of terror; then he turned and dove into the writhing body of the Griever.

"Gally!"Clara screamed as she watched every extended arm of the monster immediately retract and clasp onto Gally's arms and legs, making escape or rescue impossible. The boy's body sank several inches into the creature's squishy flesh, making a horrific squelching sound. Then, with surprising speed, the Griever pushed itself back outside the window and began descending toward the ground below.

Clara and Thomas ran to the jagged , gaping hole, looking down just in time to see the Griever land and start scooting across the Glade, Gally's body appearing and disappearing as the thing rolled. The lights of the monster shone brightly, casting an eerie yellow glow across the stone of the open West Door, where the Griever exited into the depths of the Maze. Then, seconds later, several other monsters followed close behind their companion, whirring and clicking as if celebrating their victory.

Clara backed away from the window numbly, at shock at what had happened, and the adrenaline still running through her veins, but something outside caught her eye immediately. She leaned out of the building to get a better look. A lone shape was across the courtyard of the Glade toward the exit through which Gally had just taken.

Thomas must've seen it to too, because he looked over and whispered,"No,"; shaking his head in shock, disbelief.

"No! Stop!"Clara screamed, her voice piercing through the air, but she was too late.

There was Minho, running full speed, into the Maze.

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gif is clara and thomas as they watch minho run into the maze

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