'Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter Twenty Two - They aren't closing.

Rileyyyyyyy."

Riley twisted round from her lying position, coming face to face with none other than Newt. "What d'ya wantttt?" She imitated his tone, grinning.

Newt raised his eyebrows. "Guess you don't want to hear the news, then?"

For the past few days, Thomas had been brining her and Teresa food regularly, but he never had anything much to tell them. Riley had seen Newt once or twice, but he'd been busy recently.

"Shut up, shuck-face."

Newt cracked a smile. "Well, Alby's back on his feet. Seems a bit out of it but he's doing okay. And, Gally's gone missing."

"Missing?"

"Yep. No one knows where the bloody shank went. Must've ran out into the maze. But, the good news? Council voted again, and you're officially allowed outta here. Thomas thinks he can find a way out of the maze altogether- needs your guys help. He's telling Teresa as we speak."

Riley grinned. "Finally!"

"Yup. Minho's coming with the key soon- the shank managed to loose it in his mess of a bedroom."

Riley sighed. "So I can't get out now?"

At that moment, Minho came running up to them, Winston chasing after him, yelling abusive comments. Minho pulled a face as he tossed the key at Newt. "Sorry, can't stay!" He called, as he sprinted away, followed by Winston screaming bloody murder.

"Jeez, what'd he do to Winston?" Riley rolled her eyes, as Newt slid the key into the lock.

"I don't even want to find out." Newt laughed, as the cell door swung open.

Riley crawled out, and stood up and stretched, yawning. "Jeez, it sure is cramped in there. Anyways, what's Thomas' plan?"

Newt shook his head. "I'll be shucked if I knew. He said he wants us all together to tell us. He's called a gathering. And we need to discuss the bloody missing sky and Gally's dramatic disappearance."

"Newt?"

"Yeah?" He turned to look at her.

"I've missed you, shuck face."

Newt grinned. "I missed you too."

"Ew, guys. Get a room." Thomas' voice complained. He had appeared behind them, Teresa beside him, a smile playing across her lips.

"Shut up, shank. So, I hear you have a plan to get this out of here?"

Thomas grinned. "You betcha. We plan to leave at nightfall. I've been talking to Teresa recently, and we figured it out; the maze is a code."

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind. Just be ready to get your shuck ass outta here."

"Right. What can I do to help?"

"Go find Minho in the weapon room. We'll be in the map room if you need us. Newt, you need to go muster the Gladers, yeah?"

"Got it." Newt nodded, and strode off to the homestead. Riley gave Thomas a thumbs up and took off for the weapon room.

Running felt good after so long in the small cell. Her limbs ached, but she felt free once more - and, soon, she would be truly free. She ran for the map room, which was situated beside the map room, her feet flying.

"Welcome." Minho greeted in a presenter voice, as she pushed the door open.

"You managed to outrun Winston?"

"Duh, shank. I'm not the keeper of the runners for nothing." And Riley was sure if his hair was long enough, he would've flipped it over his shoulder.

"And modest, too." She added. "So, what can I do to help?"

The room was smaller than the map room by far, but still big enough to move around in by far. It was, as the name suggested, full of weapons. Daggers on the table in the centre of the room, hammers and dangerous looking gardening tools on shelves lining the room, large sharp poles and spears leaning against the walls.

"Gather the best weapons. Enough for all fifty of us, though I doubt that some of these shanks are gonna come with us, to be honest." Minho instructed.

"Kay." Riley said, and began to rifle through the weapons. She picked up a rusty old dagger and tossed it into the air before catching it again. "Where did you get these things?"

"Like the rest of the supplies - throw a note into the box. Creators send anything we ask for up. Within reason, obviously. Asked for a pair of roller skates to make it easier to run the maze - didn't happen." Minho shrugged, as he examined a relatively new-looking spear.

"Right. Why do you even need these things? From what I've heard, nothing like this'd do much damage to a griever."

Minho's face hardened. "Dark days, Riley. Dark days."

They worked in silence for a while after that, tossing the best weapons into a pile beside the table. Riley's mind spun on what sort of exit Thomas possibly could have found.

"That'll be enough." Minho announced, after an eternity. "Let's get these things back to the homestead and get some dinner."

Riley gathered as many weapons she could in her hands, the top ones balancing precariously. It was dark by now. They both walked back to the homestead, stumbling in the dark and grumbling under the weight. Riley's pile was so large she could barely see over the top.

Suddenly, her burden was lessened and she could actually see again. Newt had appeared from nowhere and taken half of the pile. "Thanks." Riley panted. "How's Thomas."

Newt shrugged, seemingly carrying the pile with ease. "Shuck knows. Those pair are running round, maps and tape everywhere. They said it'll all be clear later or whatever."

Minho's face went white. "What? Maps? My maps? That little shank better have not done anything to them!"

"Drop 'em here." Newt instructed. Riley dropped her pile, her arms aching. Minho did likewise and ran off to make sure Thomas hadn't wrecked his precious maps.

"So who's coming?"

Newt sighed. "Well, half these stubborn shanks-"

Suddenly, a loud shout interrupted Newt, followed by several more. Newt frowned, raising the torch he held to see. "What the-?"

Winston, Zachary and Zart ran past, torches held high, shouting and panting. "Woah!" Newt shouted, grabbing Winston by the arm. "What's happening?"

Winston's features looked ghostly in the small light, his face pale and haunted. "It's the doors. They aren't closing."