I woke up early. And ready to go. I actually slept last night...and it seemed Gally did too. I lay for a few minutes with my face pressed into his neck. I kissed him gently. And I felt him stir. I smirked a little and kissed him again, it was a gentle hardly there brush of my lips, but I felt his chest rumble. Gently, I sucked on one spot, swirling my tongue I felt his heart beat pick up.

"This is one way to wake up!" He whispered horsely, but I heard the grin and amusement in his sleep laden voice.

I just hummed. I climbed on top of him, resting my chin on his chest. He shifted so his one arm was under his head. His one hand went to my hair, running his hands through it.

"What's your big plan for today?" I asked.

"Fixing the Homestead roof and a hole in the barn, shucken cow made a huge hole." He yawned.

I hummed. "good that."

"You?"

He gently applied pressure on the back of my head, so I had to shifted higher. He lifted his head and kissed me gently.

"Checking out that dead Griever Min and I found yesterday."

He kissed me again. Then pulled away slowly and laid back down. He had a frown on his sleepy face.

"You'll be careful?" The worry in his voice made my tummy flutter.

"Yes. Alby is coming with me, and Min I'll be okay. Newt'll be in charge for the day."

He hummed.

"Hey, I'll see you at super!"

"You in the maze always...makes me uneasy."

"I know. And thank you for not fighting me on it anymore. It's gonna be fine, babe. I'm with Min and Alby."

"Still..."

"Stop worrying!"

I left a small trail of kisses from his toned strong chest.

"I'll help you forget your worries." I purred in his ear.

"Shuck it Char!" He whispered, pushing his head back into the pillow, he closed his eyes and growled when I went back to kissing his chest and up his neck and down his jaw to his lips.

He wrapped his arms around me, one around my back his hand on my butt the other burried in my hair.

It was a good thing we woke up a bit earlier than I needed to be, to meet Minho as Alby in the MapRoom

I came waltzing in, a smile on my still slightly flushed face.

"Someone is glowing." Minho raised an eyebrow.

"Why thank you Mouse."

"How's Gally doing this morning?"

I raised an eyebrow, "why don't you go ask? He's already at the Tool table."

I smirked at Minho and walked over to the model, and looked down. I heard him chuckle and he stepped up beside me.

"It's good to see you smile again, Tiger." He said seriously, he glanced at me from the side of his eye, but his head was looking down at the model.

I paused thinking, what had changed? I had no idea. But...today I did feel better emotionally than other days. I shrugged.

"The other day...Tommy helped me make...a small cross for baby Bean. And it really helped me say good bye, and I brought Gally last night. We said our good byes." I said quietly.

Minho didn't say anything but put his hand on my back.

"You and Greenie have made quite the connection early."

I shrugged. Not really knowing what to say, but it's true. I felt safe and comfortable with Thomas. But I also felt like that with Chuck and Fred. But even those relationships with Fred and Chuck felt different. Thomas just felt...right. Nothing was forced or awkward.

The door opened behind us and Alby and the other runners came piling in. Minho grinned at me, held out a fist for a fist pump. I obliged and we turned in unison and faced our group.

"Okay. A slight change to the line up. Admiral Alby is accompanying Tiger and myself to section four, to check out that dead Griever." Minho called to his runners around the table. They all nodded.

"Alright! We know the sequence of open sections. 71526483..." I said, quickly scribbling this down.

The guys nodded. Minho and I looked back to the Runners. They had grim faces and right lined lips.

"Nick and Kev, section one, that one just opened last night, see if anything is new." Minho said pointing to the two boys.

"Leroy, Allen section five is open today, check that one, so tomorrow we can compare if anything changes." The two boys nodded in understanding.

"Jasper Devon check section seven." I said pointing at the guys, frowning at the paper, I looked up.

"...and Jonny, I want you to go with Jasper and Devon."

"Good that Tiger." Jonny walking over to his group.

"Shuck...were gonna need a few more runners..." Minho muttered.

"We'll be okay...for now." I muttered back, "put on a smile, these guys don't look too good."

Minho straightened up and clapped his hands.

"All right shuck faces. We're gonna check this dead Griever Jax killed, we'll get some answers for ya. And either have a way to fight off those nasty beasties or a possible way out! Keep your shucken eyes open! Run fast. Run safe!"

The guys high fived each other and headed out with a bit more pep in their step.

"All right their ya old man. Ready for some running?" I elbowed Alby.

"No. No I'm not. This is gonna shucken suck."

"If I can do it while puking...you can do it too."

"True. Girl is tough as nails! Puking every...what? Hour and a half? And ran all day. For two months!"

"Come here quick, this is the route were taking and this is where the Griever was."

___________________________

It took us so much longer than it should have been to get to the end of the section, all because Alby was definitely not a Runner.

We had to go a lot slower and take more breaks. I kept glancing at my watch and up and the sky, trying to gauge the sun.

Finally we made it to the end of section four. Minho and I peeked around the corner. I  sighed in relief. And walked around the corner. Minho right behind me.

The Griever was in the same spot. So obviously it was dead. Nothing moved. There were no signs of life. We were still cautious, because this is the maze and who knows.

We crept around the giant monster, trying to figure anything out. Jax's knife was still wedged inside the back of its head. I squatted down and tried to look beyond the blubber and goop. I saw a lot of machine parts, a lot of gears and wires.

The guys were looking at something else. I reached out and took hold of the knife handle and pulled it out. It made a gross sucking noise. Nothing happened, nothing moved. I let out the breath I was holding.

I pushed off the ground and went to go look at the long tail and claw. It was laying on the stone floor, open and lifeless.

I knelt down and peered at it. It looked like a regular old metal claw, that one would see in a video arcade. Looking closer, I saw that in the centre of the claw was a small hole. I'm assuming where the needle comes out and stabs you. I shuddered.

Standing up I turned to see what Minho and Alby were doing when I heard a very small click. I whipped around, my heart thumping wildly.

"Guys?" I called quietly.

They were discussing something and didn't hear me.

"Guys!" I called louder, backing up a few steps

Alby pointed at something inside the Griever. I heard a small Humm of an engine.

"Guys!" I screamed.

Both their heads whipped up and looked at me, fear in the faces. The Griever, considering it was mostly a machine, jumped up with surprising agility. The tail swung around like a whip. Its head turned in my direction.

It's dead beady eyes looked at me for a full ten seconds before it turned its head, opened its huge mouth and screamed. All the rows of teeth showed. Rows of razor sharp knifes, perfect for ripping.

The boys had backed up into the wall. I had Jax's knife still in my hand. I quickly looked around.

What else did I have as a weapon? Nothing. Other than my backpack. I shrugged it off and threw it at the Griever's head. It hit the side of its head, causing it to stumble.

Minho had pulled his machete out. We ran for the biomechanical monster, at the same time, both screaming. This monster had killed Jax and effectively killing Ben and it caused me to miscarry. I was going to end it.

I sprinted forwards, it's attention was on Minho at the moment. I dropped to my knees and slid under it, slamming the knife up into its belly as I slid on my knees under it. I ripped open it's underbelly. Minho managed to knock a leg off with his machete. I rolled out from underneath it and got up panting hard.

"Together?" Minho yelled.

"Together! Ride or Die!" I called back.

We charged it screaming. I ducked under the tail that whipped towards me. I chucked my knife as hard as I could. I watched it fly end over end.

A few things happened all at once.

The knife sunk deep into its biomechanical chest, where it's heart should be. Minho tried slashing at it, but my knife in its heart was causing it to spazum. A leg flew out and hit Minho in the stomach, causing him to fly and then roll far down the hall.

The tail and claw went for Alby. And a leg I didn't see slammed into my back, making me fly forwards and slamming my head onto the ground.

My would went fuzzy and then it was dark and silent.

_______________________

I woke with a moan. Someone was shaking my shoulders.

"Oh thank shuck!"

I groaned again, holding my head. I felt a huge lump and winced when I touched it. My hand came away red and sticky.

"Can you sit up?" Minho asked.

With a groan, and Minho's help I sat up. Looking around I saw the Griever laying in a crumpled heap, smoke issuing from it. And Alby was laying a few feet away.

"What the- and I can not stress this enough - shuck happened?" I asked.

"You killed the Griever, the well placed knife throw to the machine parts made it spark and then it imploded. Alby was stung."

"What? He's stung? Shuck! We gotta get back." I yelped.

I used the maze wall to get to my feet. I was slightly dizzy. When I got to Alby I saw a huge lump and gash on his head.

"Did you...?"

"I did what I had to." Minho said flatly.

"He'll be okay. It'll be easier...he's not thrashing." I said, trying to be possitive.

"It'll be dead weight."

Minho came over and we each grabbed an arm and hulled his unconsious body up.

"Better then him fighting us." I groaned, "Man Alby! You gotta lay off Fry's stew! Shuck you're heavy!"

Together Minho and I hulled, dragged and carried Alby back towards the Glade.

It was slow going.

"I take it back. Thrashing Alby might have been easier." I groaned as my legs gave out for the second time.

"We coulda pissed him off and he could have chased us." Minho panted.

Everything was burning. My leg muscles hurt, they were burning with the lactic acid and shaking from the prolonged extra weight. My back was aching. And my head was pounding, making the ground teeter sometimes.

"Come on Tiger. We gotta get up! It's getting late!" Minho said, looking at his watch.

"Yes thank you for that helpful piece of advice."

I struggled to my feet.

The sun was getting lower. And the shadows in the cracked stone were getting longer. And the air was cooling off. I was covered in sweat, and the cool air made me shiver.

Minho and I had stopped trying to talk, it waisted to much energy. Every few feet we each took turns having our legs give out.

"We...only..have...10 minutes!" Minho panted.

"Thank you for the update." I huffed back.

I glanced at him from under Alby's arm. His face was pale, and full of panic and fear. But when I caught his eye I saw the determination.

"Go."

"The hell?"

"Go. Back to the Glade. We won't all make it."

"You! Shut the shuck up!" I snapped.

I readjust Alby and kept pulling him.

"You have... someone waiting for you." Minho panted, trying to convince me.

I stopped and let Alby fall to the ground. I winced, but looked back to Minho who had sunk to his knees.

"Minho!" I yelled, pointing an angry finger at him. "I am NOT leaving you behind. Or Alby. You shucken hear me? You BOTH are brothers. And I'll be damned if I pulled the coward move and left. You want that guilt on my conscience? You should know me better than that."

Minho held up his hands in a defensive gesture, "okay okay, claws away."

"That was two minutes of shuck waisted time." I spat, grabbing Alby's arm again.

Minho hung his head and grabbed Alby's other arm. 3 minutes left. Two more halls and two more turns.

I felt the wind starting to pick up. My blood went cold. My heart was beating so fast I was surprised it didn't over work and kill me. I honestly couldn't feel my legs anymore. The wind whipped my hair all over, as it came screaming down the hall.

This was the last turn. Minho and I dragged Alby around it. My head was bent against the wind and with the effort of pulling Alby.

I could hear Minho's labored breathing. I heard my own groans and grunts. I also heard a yell. I lifted my head. From the fog and gloom of the dark hall, I could see Gladers, all standing at the entrance of the Maze. All watching us.

"Min." Was all I could muster, Minho lifted his head. I'm not sure if seeing everyone gave us hope to keep going or sorrow, knowing we weren't going to make it and that was the last thing I was going to see.

The stones had started to shake, meaning the doors were closing. The vibrating made my legs give out. I crumpled into a heap, Alby landing on top of me and Minho on top of him.

"Come on!"

"Come on Minho!"

"Charlie get up!"

"Leave him! Come on!"

Minho and I both looked up and back at each other. We knew. We both knew, no shucken way we were leaving Alby behind. We struggled to our feet. Grabbing Alby and dragged him.

There was a constant stream of screams from everyone. The doors were more than half way closed. The vibrating shaking of the doors was worse. Minho trilled on a stray rock and took us both down.

"Charlie! Get up! Please!"

I was seeing spots, my entire body screamed in protest, but somehow I managed to roll onto my stomach, trying to lift myself up, my arms gave out and I landed hard. I caught sight of intense blue eyes, there was only a crack left with the door. There was no spark of life, they weren't soft and gentle. They were full of fear and murderus.

Gally was crouched on the grass held by a few other Gladers. He was silent, and unmoving. Like someone had pushed paused. He was frozen in fear and panic.

"I...I can't." I tried to call, but even that was too much work, so it was hardly a whisper. "I love you."

Charlie!

I felt my head vibrating and the familiar presence of the Voice, but it was full of fear and panic. I felt the fear flash through my screaming exhausted body.

"Thomas! NO!"

The Maze doors closed with a final boom that echoed our death across the Glade.

_____________________________________________

**...**