CHAPTER TEN: GRIEVERS ATTACK THE GLADE

Thomas was the first one to get into action, turning to Chuck as he tried to hide his own fear. "Chuck, I want you go to the council hall." Thomas instructed the small boy, "okay, and start barricading the doors."

"Mmm-hmm." Chuck nodded. It was clear that he was panicking, but Layla admired him for putting on a brave face.

"Winston," Newt turned to the teen, "you go with him."

"Got it." Winston immediately complied, making his way over there with Chuck.

"Get the others." Gally instructed, "tell them to go to the forest. Go hide, now!"

"Minho, I want you to grab every weapon you can find." Layla almost envied how Thomas could sound so calm in a situation like this. "I'll meet you at council hall."

"Let's go." Minho nodded to a few of the Runners who knew where the weapons would be, as well as Frypan.

Layla turned to face Thomas, immediately knowing where she had to go. "I'll go with him." She said, already beginning to back away. Thomas nodded, clearly thinking it to be the best thing for her to do. It was like an old memory resurfacing to both of their minds—Layla was great with weapons. Not only that, Layla knew where the shed for weapons was, given that she was a Runner herself.

"Go." Thomas said, and Layla didn't waste a second before rushing off, quickly catching up with the others. They ran as fast as they possibly could, but Layla saw a few of the boys flinch when the first screech from a Griever was heard. She couldn't blame them, either—the sound was heart-stopping. Layla felt the familiar fear return from the night she survived in the Maze, but this time she felt more grounded. Literally. She wasn't jumping from wall to wall like before, facing her fear of heights and monsters. Layla was in her element.

Layla was surrounded by darkness, completely grounded, and the weapons weren't far. She could do this.

     Minho led the boys and Layla to the woods, jumping over fallen tree branches and large rocks, not bothering to stop despite how treacherous the journey was.

     The group had finally made it to the small weapons shed, which didn't look like much from the outside, but Layla knew that it was more than meets the eye. Minho whipped open the door in an instant, immediately walking in and pulling a chain to turn on a small light on the ceiling, before going to grab weapons for both the others and himself.

     Layla heard huffing, as the final boy made it to the shed. She turned to see Newt, who always had a little trouble running due to his limp, but she was glad to see that he was okay. With the chaos taking place in the rest of the Glade, she was worried he wouldn't make it. It hurt to know how many boys were being killed in the little time that they had spent running to the shed—gods knows how many more would be killed before they made it back to the centre of the Glade.

     Layla had managed to think about all of that in only a second, her mind running wild, completely alert. She rushed to the front of the group, entering the shed to help Minho pass weapons out.

     Inside, loads of weapons lined the walls; machetes, throwing knives, spears, pretty much anything. None of them had ever felt right when Layla held them, but it didn't matter in that moment. Quickly, she began to hand them out. Newt took a spear from her with a nod.

     Soon, everything had been cleared out—well, almost everything. Minho turned to Layla with a knowing look in his eyes, turning to the floor at the back of the shed. There, a small carpet had been laid down. The boy lifted it up, revealing a trapdoor. Minho opened, bringing the small staircase into the dim light of the shed.

     Minho squeezed through the trapdoor, with Layla close behind. Once Minho had turned on the second light, the two could see the more dangerous weapons. A crossbow and a compound bow were left on the table in the centre of the room, collecting dust. Two quivers of arrows were nearby, which were in perfect condition. They were hardly ever used, but Minho and Layla knew that they would have to use them now.

     Layla took the compound bow, while Minho took the crossbow. Layla found that she felt more comfortable with a bow than she did knives, but it still felt wrong. Minho had always felt the most comfortable with the crossbow, and seemed glad to put it to use, despite the circumstances.

     Once each of them had gotten their quiver of arrows, they raced for the stairs, Layla going first. When they made it to the top, neither bothered taking the time to close the trapdoor, and rushed outside. The other Gladers had left, but the two Runners weren't far behind. They could see the Gladers just up ahead, weapons held tightly in hand.

Layla and Minho pushed forward, hardly thinking of how exhausted they were. Get to the Glade, survive, Layla thought over and over, like it was the only thing that mattered. She pushed her body to its limits.

     The group of Gladers made it to the clearing, along with Minho and Layla not long after. They paused to scan the Glade—a place that had been their home for so long that was now up in flames. Grievers ran wild, leaving the Gladers to flee in all directions with little hope of survival. It was impossible to outrun a Griever.

     Layla was suddenly hit with waves of a feeling that she could only describe as death. Her eyes landed on the body of a boy, then another... more and more appeared in her line of sight. It was too much. These boys were all she had left, so when Newt called out to them and pointed to the direction of Thomas and the others, she immediately ran after him.

     Thomas held himself at the front of the group, pointing a machete at a nearby Griever as he yelled at the others to get back. She could see Alby held loosely in Clint and Jeff's hands, too. She felt relief flood through her at the sight of Alby being more or less okay.

     Just as the Griever was about to strike, two spears imbedded themselves into its fleshy body. "Over here, let's go!" Newt called out, his hands now empty as he lacked his only weapon, the same as Fry. The two boys had bought the others some time. "Come on!"

     The Gladers began to run to the council hall, and Layla felt relief for the second time that night at the sight of Chuck standing in the doorway, completely unharmed. "Over here, come on!" He waved them over, a lantern in his hand.

     "Get Alby inside!"

     They all rushed into the council hall, and Thomas quickly shut the door behind him. "Lock down the doors!" He called. After that, they all went silent, listening to the chittering and clicking noises that came from outside.

     Layla flinched as a Griever hit the door harshly, trying to break through. She could see through the wooden posts as the Griever walked around the council hall. Layla was sure it could break through with ease, but it hadn't done so yet. Was it taunting them? Was it able to do that?

     A small scream left her throat as it jumped on top of the small building, crawling around it. "Stay back, guys." Newt mumbled softly. Layla felt a shiver run down her spine as it walked along the roof, not making any move to attack, yet.

     "Shit." Layla cursed softly, backing away from where the Griever was as all the boys pushed into the small corner as well. Dust slipped through the cracks of the roof from the weight of the Griever, and Layla began to wonder how much longer it would be able to hold itself together.

     Suddenly, the Griever stopped walking around, and the only sound was the clicking that it always seemed to make.

     The entire group let out a chorus of screams as the Griever's tail burst through the ceiling. It wrapped itself around the post in the middle of the room, and pulled it out of its place.

     The action caused the entire ceiling to collapse, wood fell left and right. Layla covered her eyes to avoid getting anything in them, groaning in pain as a small stick hit her head.

     "Is everyone all right?"

     "Yeah, I'm okay."

     "Help!" Layla furrowed her brows at the sound of someone screaming from under the rubble.

     Thomas turned to face the noise, "hey, help him!"

"Help!"

Just as Thomas grabbed the boy's arm, the boy was yanked out of the council hall by the Griever, leaving the rest of the group in shock. They quickly backed away from that side of the building, looking around to see where the Griever could've gone.

"Watch out!" Minho called.

The sounds of the Grievers screeching grew louder, and they all whipped their heads into the direction that it came from. "Get away from there!" Layla heard someone shout to another boy who was near the wall, far too close to where the Griever was.

She let out a scream as one of the Griever's tails burst through the wall, nearly getting the smallest boy. "Chuck!" Thomas screamed, but it was too late.

Chuck let out a scream as the griever wrapped it's tail around the boy's body, pulling him up into the air. Minho dropped his crossbow in an instant, and was quick to wrap his arms around the boy, attempting to pull him back down.

Layla found myself reaching for the boy's hands, her compound bow hastily left looped around her arm in her panic. She yanked down on Chuck's hands to help Minho get him out of the Griever's grip, her heart beating faster at the thought of losing Chuck.

"Help!" Chuck screamed desperately as tears began to blur his vision.

"Chuck, don't let go!" Thomas shouted.

"No shit!" The boy called back, his nails digging into Layla's arms. She ignored the pain, her eyes staying locked on his. She could see a tear slip from his eye, and the fear shining within them.

"Pull!"

"Don't let him go!"

Layla's eyes widened when she saw thr Griever's stinger eject itself from the it's tail. It began to inch closer to Chuck's back. "Guys!" Layla called out in her panic, desperately hoping that someone could do something to help when Layla couldn't, her hands already holding onto Chuck's.

Suddenly, Alby let out a deafening scream as he snapped the stinger off the Griever's tail, causing it to land on the ground with a thud.

Alby repeatedly whacked at the tail with a machete, causing sparks to fly as metal hit metal. The Griever eventually let out a screech, letting go of Chuck as it's tail twitched, slightly damaged. Alby let out one more scream as he watched the tail retreat, sliding out of the council hall.

"Chuck, you okay?" Thomas asked the boy quickly, who coughed slightly.

"Yeah," Chuck wheezed, struggling to breath as dust filled his lungs. "I'm fine." He added. Chuck slowly picked up the stinger, holding it at eye level before turning to face Alby. "Thanks, Alby."

     Alby nodded, sucking in deep breaths. A calmness washed over the group, only to be immediately broken as the Griever returned. "Alby!" Layla screamed, watching as a Griever grabbed him, pulling him up.

     "Grab him!" Newt shouted, and they all ran to help him.

     Layla found that she couldn't reach, as Alby was much closer to the ceiling than Chuck was. Although, Thomas managed to just barely wrap his hand around Alby's forearm, crying out as he couldn't get a good grip.

Layla thought quickly, holding up her compound bow with shaky hands. She reached for an arrow as Alby began to speak. "Thomas," he grit his teeth as he looked at the boy, "get them out."

Layla let her arrow fly.

     The arrow imbedded itself into the Grievers eye, slowing it only slightly, but one arrow wouldn't do the job and she knew it. Layla reached back for another arrow, but the Griever had grown angry now, and she watched in horror as Alby was pulled through the roof, gone.

Alby had been through hell in the last few days, and Layla had been there for it all. He was stung, he was bedridden, and then he was gone. Layla had seen it all, but she wished she hadn't. She knew the memories would haunt her for a long time.

Still, she found her eyes landing on Thomas, who shook with rage at the sight of losing another Glader. "Thomas?" Layla found herself asking, her voice cracking. Thomas didn't make any sign to show he heard her, he only stormed towards the doors of the council hall. "Stay inside, Thomas!"

     They all began to chase after him, screaming for him to get back inside. Layla nearly ran into Thomas as he stopped right in front of the door, his gaze moving around the Glade.

     The flames had spread even further, covering whole buildings and small bushes, inching towards trees. Layla tried to avoid looking at the bodies, but it was impossible when there were so many. The sounds of the Grievers began to grow faint.

     "Where is everybody?" Someone asked from behind Layla, but she kept her mouth shut. "Who's that over there?" Layla turned to where he was pointing, furrowing her brows at the sight of a few boys in the distance walking over to them with fast steps.

     Layla noticed Gally leading them as the light hit his face, and she could see the angry look it held. "Gally..." Thomas mumbled softly, but Gally didn't give him a second more as he swung his fist, connecting it with Thomas' face.

     Layla's eyes widened, "what the hell, Gally?"

     A few boys held him back as he shouted at Thomas, "this is all you, Thomas! Look around!"

     "Back off, Gally! It's not Thomas' fault!" Minho shouted, defending the boy as he got to his feet.

     "You heard what Alby said!" Gally continued. "He's one of em'!" Then, Gally glared harshly at Layla. He looked almost betrayed, like he couldn't believe she was standing there. "You! You should've helped! Alby said you could help! Why didn't you do anything?"

     "One of who?" Newt pushed Gally back, the latter of the two struggling against his grip. "What are you talkin' about?"

     "He's one of them," Gally glared daggers in Thomas' direction. "And they sent him here to destroy everything, and now he has! Look around, Thomas! Look around! This is your fault!"

     "Back off, Gally! This is not Thomas' fault!"

     "What are you talkin' about?"

     "Calm down."

     Layla turned to Thomas, frowning as he took the Griever's stinger from Chuck's hand, looking at it with a glint in his eyes—a dark look crossed over his face.

     "They sent him here, and now he's destroyed everything that we've built!" Gally continued thrashing around, trying to break free and get to Thomas and Layla. "She just stood here and watched it happen!"

     "What are you talking about?"

     "Maybe he's right." Thomas mumbled softly, pursing his lips. He kept his eyes on the stinger.

     Layla frowned, tilting her head. "Thomas, you know that isn't true."

     Teresa furrowed her brows, "Thomas..."

     "I need to remember, Teresa." He glanced at Gally, then at the stinger in his hand.

     "Thomas..." Teresa mumbled, more concerned this time.

     Before either of them could react, Thomas brought the stinger down into his leg, his eyes widening at the pain before he fell to the ground. "Thomas!" Layla rushed over to him, watching as his eyes fluttered open and closed.

     "Chuck, get the other syringe!" Teresa called out to the boy, who quickly nodded and ran to find it.

     "It's okay." Teresa muttered as she rested a hand on Thomas' arm, "Thomas, I'm here."

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lizzie speaks...

me making layla and minho archers was such a good idea. my favourite duo in the entire fucking book omg they're so cool

been waiting to use this one for a long time lol