From The WICKED Start | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

2. Not an easy decision

When I had taken care of Newt and he had twilightened away again, I set off for the living area. It took me a few minutes to get there through this huge building and I started to think again. What had given me this hope? A strange boy, maybe 16 or 17 years old? I had known him for an hour and had just learned that I would lose Gally.
Gally would forget me. The thought of that was unbearable now that I was walking alone through the sterile white corridors. What should I do without him? Look after a stranger, spend the whole day with him? What about my job with the children? And why did Janson want me of all people to take care of this Newt? Weren't non-immunes for WICKED actually much less important than immunity? Why was this control sample so important to them?
And would he get into the same maze as Gally? I knew that Minho was planned it that way, and at the same time I knew that I shouldn't come into this one when I was ready. Thomas had told me a few months ago. But did it make any difference at all if I wouldn't be able to remember my friends anyway, just as they couldn't remember me? Alby, Nick, George and all the others. And now soon Gally as well. My Gally.
In the meantime I had reached the corridor from which our room departed and was slowing down. Was he already there? I did not know what time it was.
Should I tell him? Or should I wait? Would he go crazy? I didn't know.
With a trembling hand I opened the door with my card and peeped in. He was not on his bed. I breathed out, happy about it, noisily. But the bathroom light was on and I could hear water running. So he was there after all.
"Gally?" I cautiously shouted.
No answer.
Once more: "Gally?"
I heard it rumble in the shower, then the water went out and after a few seconds the bathroom door opened. Gally peeked out, a towel tied around his waist. His cheekbone had turned blue.
"Beaten again?" it burst out of me and I realised I sounded like a mother.
Gally laughed. "Heath the jerk was pretty slow today. I wanted to get ahead."
I rolled my eyes. Gally was just too quick-tempered. Still, I had to smile when I saw his look. He worked here at WICKED as a mechanical engineer, which meant that he and a few other guys worked on broken things and - if it worked - fixed them.
For a moment I had forgotten what had been bothering me for over an hour, but when Gally closed the door again with a "I'll be right there, lil' one, wait" and I sat down on my bed, it all came back to me. I had to decide now whether I told him or not. Postponing it until tomorrow would only cause us an argument because I had kept it from him. And not telling him at all would mean that we couldn't say goodbye.
At that moment a thought crossed my mind. What if I ask Thomas to let me say goodbye?
Maybe he could make it happen. I decided to ask him first thing tomorrow at breakfast. I had missed dinner thanks to the new arrival, I realised now, looking at the alarm clock on my bedside table.
Gally finally came out of the bathroom, in shorts and a faded shirt. He sat down opposite me on his bed and we looked at each other for a while.
"What is it, lil' one? Why do you look so glum?" He knew me far too well.
"Oh, I...," I started to say.
Come on, Anna, you've made a decision! Now pull yourself together!
"Janson took me away from the children today. He... He showed me a new subject, one who is not immune. He seems important somehow. He wants me to take care of him."
Gally raised his eyebrows. "Not immune? What's gonna happen to him? What's his name?"
"His name is Newt. He's supposed to be in the maze. Next month. After... the next one that goes in." I swallowed.
"How old is he? You know who has to go up next? Hopefully not Minho after all?" Gally asked, already a little more indifferent as he stretched out on his bed. It was still his. I shivered.
"I... He should be like our age."
"And who has to go up next? Did Janson say that? Come on, don't make such a mystery out of it."
I got dizzy. "I don't know," I breathed as I stared at him.
He looked up, raised his eyebrows again and frowned.
"Are you okay, lil' one?" he asked anxiously, which was not his usual style. I must have looked pretty bad.
Now I really had to pull myself together to keep from bursting into tears. Three days until he had to go into the labyrinth. Two until he was put in the memory chamber. Two days until he would have forgotten me.
"Me... I don't feel so good, Gally. I'm scared. Scared you... scared to lose you," I quickly corrected myself and couldn't suppress a sob.
Faster than I could look, Gally was on his feet and beside me. He took me in his arms and I buried my face at his chest. Now I could not hold back the tears. I soaked up his smell and clawed into his T-shirt.
"Shh, lil' one, everything will be all right. They won't send me in. And we'll get through everything else together. You know it's you and me against the world. Or the Cranks and WICKED."
I heard that last sentence made him smile. Somehow that helped me to calm down a bit, so I could get away from him a little.
"Thank you, Gally," I whispered.
I lowered myself onto my bed and he stayed lying with me, his arms still wrapped around me. We didn't talk and I noticed how sleep slowly caught up with me, even though I still had my work clothes on.
Before I fell asleep I heard him whisper: "And if they come for me, I would never forget you. Even if I never remembered my name, I would never forget you. Never forget that, lil' one."
And he kissed me on the cheek where a single tear finally made its way.