They Don't Own Me

Chapter 26

Gally pushed up on the Box lid, peeking outside. The screams and shrieks had stopped and from the look of it, the Grievers were gone.

"We're clear," Gally said, nodding.

He climbed out first then bent down to offer his hand to Ivy. She grabbed it and allowed him to help pull her up. Once she was out of the Box, she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep from shaking more than she already was. Scott and Dmitri climbed out as well, brushing themselves off.

"What the h*ll," one of them muttered, looking around. Several structures were on fire, many of them destroyed.

Gally stormed off in the direction of the Council Hall. The other three exchanged quick looks before following after him. The boys stayed close to Ivy though to make sure she was all right. Neither had seen her as shaken up as she had been in the Box and they wanted to make sure she wouldn't have another panic attack.

As they drew closer to the Council Hall, Ivy saw a group of Gladers standing outside it. Ivy couldn't tell who was there, but she was glad that they were alive. Gally marched straight up to them and punched one of the boys, knocking him down. Ivy froze in shock as the others quickly restrained Gally.

"This is all you, Thomas!" he shouted. So it was Thomas that he had hit. "Look around!"

"Back off, guys!" Minho said back. "It's not Thomas' fault!"

"You heard what Alby said! He's one of them!"

"One of who?" Newt asked, helping hold the Builder back.

"He's one of them, and they sent him here to destroy everything, and now he has! Look around, Thomas! Look around! This is your fault!"

"Back off, Gally!" Minho said again. "This is not Thomas' fault!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Calm down!"

"They sent him here, and now he's destroyed everything that we've built!" Gally shouted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ivy." The girl turned her head to look at Scott. "Listen, it's all right. Just calm down, okay? You're shaking again."

Ivy glanced down at her hands, noticing that she was indeed shaking once again.

Suddenly, Teresa shouted Thomas's name. Ivy turned her head to see Thomas lying on the ground, twitching and with a Griever stinger in his leg. The boys that were holding Gally back raced to his side. They all knelt down beside Thomas, trying to make sure he was okay. Chuck ran off to get the second syringe. Ivy stared at Thomas for a moment before looking at Gally.

"This is not his fault," she said, taking a step forward. Gally turned his head to look at her. Before Ivy could stop herself, she punched Gally in the face, just as he did to Thomas. The boy stumbled a little, obviously shocked that he was the one getting hit. "Don't you dare say that is his fault! Don't you dare! He's a victim in this, just like the rest of us!"

"Things started changing as soon as he got here, Ivy. How can it not be his fault?"

"Does it matter? Since he got here, we've been closer to finding a way out. I know you've been here for years, Gally, but Alby and I have been here longer! I've spent years looking through that d*mn Maze just so we could go home. So we could find out if we have lives outside of here!"

"We've been happy-"

"Not all of us, Gally! Some people have wanted to leave! Chuck wants to know who his parents are. I've wanted to know if I had family out there somewhere, looking for me, wondering where I was. You don't know how many boys think of me as their sister or mother because they think I remind them of someone they may have known before their memories disappeared!"