˚ ༘✶₊˚. ⊹ ˚ . FIRST ACT
❪ SEVENTEEN ♥︎ ₊˚༢࿐
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     MAE STOOD IN FRONT OF the South doors with a torch in her hand. She narrowed her eyes down the dark passageway of the Maze, letting out a shaky breath when a breeze pushed out from the doors with an anticipating chill. Still, Mae stood firm in the front with Teresa and Thomas at her side.

     A loud boom from inside the Maze makes everyone reach up to cover their ears — then every door began to pull apart at the same time. Mae's eyes fleet to the small group of Gladers separating toward each of the doors, a bad feeling creeping up in her chest.

"Chuck, go to the Council Room and start barricading the doors," Thomas tells the boy, who instantly nodded in agreement.

"Winston, you go with him." Newt ordered.

"Get the others. Tell them to go to the forest, go hide! Now!" Gally bellowed to the Builders, motioning them to take any Glader on their way.

"Minho, I want you to grab every weapon you could find," Thomas said lowly to the Runner, "I'll meet you at the Council Room."

Minho nods, turning toward Newt and squeezing his hand before motioning for Frypan to follow, "Let's go."

"Teresa, Mae," Thomas walks up to them, "We're gonna go get Alby, all right?"

Gally shakes his head, "Absolutely not."

"I wasn't asking," Thomas states.

The sound of screaming made everyone go quiet. Gally's hand wraps tightly around Mae's, watching a group of boys run away from a doors, their yells of warning were too far away to hear, but the group could only make out one word.

"Griever!"

A loud and familiar whirl of metal could be heard from the door right in front of Mae, and when she turned her head she saw not one but three Grievers rolling their way.

"All right, everybody hide!" Thomas yelled.

In a panic, a dozen boys tumbled in between Gally and Mae, causing their hands to break apart and send the other tripping into a different group. She could hear Gally scream her name over the chaos, pushing himself through the crowd but Mae couldn't see him through the darkness.

A soft hand clasped around her wrist and Mae's panicked eyes locked with Teresa, then before the girl knew it she was being dragged by Thomas into the tall corn field.

They crouched down in the field, and Mae covered her hand over her mouth to keep herself from breathing too hard as her hands still locked tightly with Teresa's. Zart sounds panicking beside her and Mae instantly reached forward and grabbed his hand, too.

Then, in a blink of an eye, a whirling claw comes up from somewhere in the field and grabs Zart by the back, Mae let out a scream, her hand gripping tighter on his hand.

"Zart!" She cried. The Griever was stronger, and when it tried to pull Zart up, it began to lift Mae too. Thomas and Teresa scream her name, grabbing each of her legs before she was taken too. "Zart! Hold on!"

The Keeper knew that if Mae pulled any harder, the Griever would take her too, so without a second thought Zart uses his free hand to push Mae off of his other, forcing her to fall back on the dirt as the Griever pulled Zart apart, his screams filling her ears.

"Mae! Come on!" Thomas screamed, hoisting her up and pulling her out of the field, "Get to the village!" He screamed to the others.

Mutely, Mae followed, her eyes burning with tears as she ran through the Glade. Everything was either burning or being destroyed by the Grievers, bodies of young boys scattered across the field and making her sick.

Her eyes scanned for Gally, hoping that he had found somewhere to hide — praying that she wouldn't come across his body on their way to Homestead. Unknown to her, that Gally was being held down by two boys inside of the Box so he wouldn't run back out for her.

Alby is being carried out by Clint and Jeff when they arrived, who look just as confused. Mae let out a relieved sigh to see them in one piece. "Are you okay?" She asked him.

"What's going on?" He demands.

"They're here." said Thomas.

"Grievers?" Jeff asked.

     A Griever turned a corner and grabs at another Glader running in their direction, tearing into him like a rabid dog before turning toward them — that seemed to answer his question.

     "Thomas, what do we do?" Jeff asked.

     In response, Mae grabs a pointy spear on the floor and hands it to Thomas and the group quickly forms in a semi-circle around each other as the Griever picked people off one my one, "Everyone, run!" Thomas orders.

     He tries to lead them North, but a Griever plows through a Hut and blocks their path with a loud shriek. Teresa picks up a jar of throws it hard at the Griever, causing it to go up in flames and giving them enough time to run through. Jeff had lost his grip on Alby and the Leader had crashed on the grass.

     "Alby!" Mae screamed, rushing back to pick him up, "Jeff, Clint, help me!" The boys quickly rushed forward and grabbed his other side.

     The Griever had caught up to them, and with his hand tight around a spear, Thomas stood in front of the MedJacks, "Come on!" He screamed, poking the spear forward.

     Two spears fly through the air and lands in the stomach of the Griever. Newt, Frypan, Winston and Minho charge forward. Mae had never looked more relieved to see them all in once piece, and followed them toward Council Hall where Chuck was screaming at them to come inside.

     Instantly, Mae searched the faces of the boys in the room, her heart sinking in her chest when Gally wasn't among them.

     The sound of a Griever barreling into the door made her snap out of her negative thoughts. A hand wraps around the sleeve of her shirt, and Mae looks down at a scared Chuck.

     Softly, she grabs his shoulder in comfort as everyone in the room didn't make a sound — hoping the Griever would eventually leave them alone.

     "Stay back, guys." Newt whispered.

     The Griever slowly began to travel up the wooden structure, and Mae knew it was only a matter of time before it snapped until the monsters weight. They move to the other side of the room, and Mae had to hold back a scream when the Griever's claw punched through the roof and grabbed at a support beam, causing one side of the wood to dip.

     "Is everyone all right?!"

     "Mae?" Thomas called out.

     "I'm okay!" She shouts back from the other side, looking down and winching at the beam crushing her left leg. She wasn't the only person stuck, and Mae turned her head just in time to see Clint be dragged away, too. Her eyes shined with fresh tears as she tried to be as still as possible.

     "Chuck!" Frypan yelled in warning.

     A large claw zooms straight for Chuck, and Mae was forced to watch as the Griever tried to pull him out of the room. Thankfully, Thomas, Newt and Teresa had grabbed hold of him last second.

     "Don't let go!" Thomas orders.

     "No shit!" Chuck yells back.

     With a muffled grunt, Mae pulls the beam off of her leg and shuffles painfully on her feet. Alby let out a battle cry and slammed a spear into the Griever's claw. He continued to slam into it until eventually the claw had broken off. With another hard smack, the Griever had gone, leaving a big hole in the center.

     "Chuck!" Mae pulled him into a hug, "Are you okay?! Did it sting you?"

     The boy looks down at his body to be sure, then shakes his head, "I'm good," He turns to their leader with a grateful smile, "Thanks, Alby."

     The moment was short lived when the claw came back and grabbed Alby by the legs, pulling him out. Somehow, he was able to hold onto the roof, and with a loud scream from Newt to grab him both Thomas and Mae rushed forward. Her hand clasped tightly around Alby's wrist as she gave a hard tug.

     "It's not your fault," He tells Mae, causing her eyes to widened in confusion as the Leader turned to Thomas, "Thomas, get them out." Then he pulled his arm out of theirs with a firm nod.

     "No!" Thomas cried.

     Mae runs out of the room, pulling her hand out of Minho's. In that moment, she didn't care that Grievers could be on the other side, she had to try. But, the second she stepped out into the Glade, all the Grievers had vanished — and the field was quiet. Her eyes stared blankly at the spot Alby had been seconds prior, the feeling of his hands in her own still phantom on her skin.

     She hadn't been close with Alby but in less than three months she had lost both of her Leaders. She couldn't save either of them.

     "Mae!"

     She turns quickly at Gally's voice, he was running to her, and without a second of hesitation she closes the distance between them and throws her arms over his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. His arms wrap around her back, almost falling over at the impact. Mae had never been so relieved to see him there, to be held by him again.

     "I thought I lost you," She sobbed, hugging him tighter at the thought. Mae could feel his shoulders drop at her touch, "I-I couldn't find you anywhere, I called out to you—"

     "I'm here now," He pulls away, grabbing the sides of her face softly. His eyes fleet behind her, where Thomas had just stepped out of the Council Room. His jaw clenched angrily, and Mae had no time to react when he charged past her and punched Thomas in the face. "This is all you, Thomas!" He screamed, "Look around!

     "Back off, Gally! It's not Thomas' fault!" Minho defends.

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

     "One of who?!"

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

     Mae closed her eyes at his words, taking everything in with a shaky breath. She began to cry. Full blown, no holding back sobs as she looked around at the Glade. Everything was on fire, bodies littered the field and it was only half of what the Griever's had dragged into the Maze.

     Her hut, a place she had called home for almost two years was completely destroyed. The beautiful green of the Glade was nothing but ash and blood.

Is this what Alby meant when he said it wasn't her fault? Did he assume that she would blame herself for his death? For everyone's death today? No. It was more than that, she could see it in his eyes that he meant it as something else. Did it have something to do with her past?

     The death of Zart hit her first, and then the boys along the way who were picked off one by one beside her. Then, it was Clint, her Keeper, her friend. Then it was Alby.

     "Back off, Gally! This isn't Thomas' fault!"

     "Calm down!"

     "They send him here and now he's destroyed everything that we've built!" Gally screamed.

     She wondered if anyone noticed the way she slowly curled herself into a ball, not even flinching when Thomas stabbed himself with a Grievers stinger and toppled over beside her. The ringing in her ears didn't go away, and when she closed her eyes she tried to think of a better place — the place over the moon where she hoped her friends had made it safely to today.

     Gally is released from Frypan's grip, his eyes dropping down to Mae's shaking figure. Instantly, he pushed past the others and ran forward, kneeling in front of her with a worried expression. "Hey," He calls out, shaking her knee, "Mae, are you hurt?! What's wrong?"

     "I—," She choked on her words, another sob falling from her lips as she shook back and forth, "I-I can't, I can't."

     He quickly hooks one arm under her legs, the other around her back as he hoisted her up and moved away from the chaos. Mae didn't question where he was going, and had to close her eyes so she wouldn't see the aftermath as they passed through the Glade.

     The familiar wooden musk of Homestead filled her sense — a building which was in surprisingly good condition despite the large hole in the wall. What was even more surprising was that Gally's room was still standing, and when it kicked his door open and placed her on his bed, Mae was reminded how simple things were this morning. She wished she had never left the bed, like Gally had wanted.

     "Your ankle. . ." He muttered, grabbing a chair and sitting in front of her. He gently placed her foot on his knee, pulling back the cuff of her pants and grimacing at the gash. Gally had nothing to clean it or anything to cover it, so he rolled the cuff back down and said, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

     Mae couldn't bring herself to remind, simply shaking her head with a void expression. Gally sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair and leaning forward on his elbows. He had a few cuts on his face, and his knuckles were red from how hard he punched Thomas, besides that he looked completely fine on the outside.

     "I was worried sick about you," He admits after a long silence, his voice just above a whisper as he stool his head at the thought, "I thought. . .I wanted to go out there and find you, but the others wouldn't let me leave the Box." He paused for a minute, closing his eyes, "Theo is dead. . .and Carl and Eric. I couldn't save them."

Mae's lips tugged down in a deep frown, her eyes watering. She didn't know them personally either, but they were Gally's friends and fellow Builders, she couldn't imagine what he was thinking about himself right now. Mae bet he blamed himself for not being able to save them.

"It's not your fault," She said softly, "You tried."

"Not hard enough. ." He muttered.

Silently, Mae slides off of the bed and sits on his lap, pulling her legs in and resting her head on his shoulder. Tiredly, Gally wraps his arms around her and drops his head against hers, closing his eyes with a shaky inhale. "We can't save everyone," She admits.

Mae wondered if this was the turning point in her life that was inevitably meant to catch up with her. That after years of ditzy little Mae running around the Glade and pretending that everything was safe — this was the moment she had realized it was all a lie, an illusion she created to keep herself sane.

She couldn't save everyone. She can't even save herself. She knows that now, no one was safe and whoever put them here was pulling the strings. Mae didn't have choices, they were all chosen for her. Except maybe one. WICKED could never take away her heart, and who she gave it to. That choice will forever belong to her.

"I love you, Gally." She whispered, closing her eyes and allowing herself to drift.

His hands gripped tighter at her words, "I love you, too." He says lowly.

Mae hadn't realized until later that their 'I love you' had stemmed from different things. While hers screamed acceptance, coated with the hope that he had finally realized why they needed to go. Gally's stemmed from selfishness. It was coated with the determination of keeping her safe no matter what he needed to do.

And in Gally's mind, he knew exactly what needed to be done.

time to write 'that' scene.

11.10.21