control ⇢ the maze runner / thomas [1] ✓

Chapter Five

"And when my prayers to God were met
with indifference, I picked up a pen — I
wrote my own deliverance! In the eye of
a hurricane, there is quiet for just a
moment."
—Hurricane, Lin-Manuel Miranda

CONTROL,
CHAPTER FIVE

LATER THAT NIGHT, Ruby had trouble sleeping. Guilt was settling into her stomach. Staring at the ceiling, she reached up and traced a finger along the bruises on her neck. Martin's haunted eyes remained in her memory. And it wasn't the last time she'd see something so horrible.

Was Banishing him really the right thing to do? Should she have spoken up? But no, that's not what was really bothering her. Every time she closed his eyes, she felt his hands slithering along her body. She smelled his rank breath. She felt disgusted.

In the distance, she swore she could hear poor Ben screaming for bloody murder. Ruby shuddered. Her feet touched the wooden floor and she peeked outside. Not a soul in sight. Ruby slipped out the door, trailing each door until she found the one she'd been introduced to earlier. She didn't even knock, just stuck her head inside. "Gally", she whispered. "Can I sleep in here?"

The boy grunted, looking at her with beady eyes. "Nightmares?"

Ruby nodded. "Somethin like that."

Gally didn't say anything else, but he wordlessly scooted over, blinking at her. His expression said to get in before he changed his mind. Ruby didn't hesitate. She crossed the short distance and slid under the covers. Gally offered her the tiniest of smiles in the darkness before he rolled over. "Night, lightning bug."

Ruby scrunched her nose. "Where did that come from?"

Gally shrugged, but didn't turn back around. "Just seems like something I say to you. Maybe... we knew each other once." Maybe that's why he stopped being a jerk.

"Maybe", Ruby whispered. "Then I'm glad I knew you once."

"I'm glad I knew you once too."

This time, when Ruby drifted off, she dreamed of something peaceful. No, she remembered something peaceful.

Ruby was seeing things from the eyes of a young girl. She was watching a boy stand on a stack of chairs that barely held him up. She didn't recognize the boy, but he had Gally's eyes.

"Oh, get down from there!", the girl cried out. "Please! You might hurt yourself!"

"Oh, relax, lightning bug. I'm fine! You said you wanted chocolate, so I'm getting it for you."

"And you're gonna damn near kill yourself in the process!", the girl huffed. The boy successfully held out two candy bars, prompting the girl to roll her eyes. "Okay, now—" Before she could finish speaking, the chairs clattered to the ground, bringing the boy with them. Thankfully, he seemed okay. The two shared panicked looks before running off hand in hand.