It took less than a second for Florence to move after Gally had spoke. She took her eyes from the boy and nudged Minho to encourage him to also start running.

It blew her mind that Gally could feel happy staying in the Glade his entire life. She couldn't think of anything worse than being trapped there forever.

I hope it all goes okay for him.

Remembering their route from before, Florence helped Thomas lead from the front, taking everyone towards section seven where they discovered the 'Griever's Home' as Chuck named it. Minho stayed at the back to make sure no one was left behind or got lost. Florence could only imagine his frustration in having to run slowly for everyone else.

"Everybody, this way!"

They ran through the Blades before Thomas came to a stop besides a wall. Glancing around the corridor, he swallowed a lump in his throat and flattened his body against the wall.

"Is it a Griever?" Chuck asked nervously, to which he nodded. 

Florence felt her chest tighten in nerves but she tightened her grip on the spear she had in her hands. She was ready to fight one if she had to.

"You take this, Chuck." Minho held out the metal cannister to the young boy who took it from him, his hands visibly shaking.

"Stay behind us." Thomas advised, patting his shoulder. Florence gave him a reassuring smile, only imagining how nervous he must be.

"It's okay. Just stick with me."

Florence questioned Teresa's eagerness to stay back and refrain from fighting, internally, and left it at that. After all, it was good that Chuck had someone in particular to stay with and follow.

"Once we're through, it will activate and the door will open. We stay close, we stick together, we get through this. We get out now, or we die trying." 

Thomas' eyes were firmly on Newt as he spoke, as if the boy was encouraging him to continue talking. When he finished, he gripped his spear in both hands, finally breaking his stare on Newt to glance at everyone else.

"Ready?" 

Everyone voiced their agreement, and Florence felt her heart pick up in speed. 

It was like the moment before you dropped on a rollercoaster. The adrenaline and the rush creeping up on you, knowing it was about to come rushing in in only a second.

"All right. Let's go!"

Thomas' yell was what led them to charge around the corner, headed straight for the Griever. It was the stupidest thing Florence had probably ever done in her entire life, but here she was doing it.

Upon sight of the group, the Griever began scuttling down the corridor towards them at an alarming pace. Florence was now at the front of the pack, her spear brandished out in front of her, yelling to distract herself from the fact she wanted to cry.

When they reached the Griever they skidded to a stop. Thrusting their spears at its skin to pierce it and shove it away, they managed to shun it to the side and sidle past so they had access to the end of the corridor.

For a while, pushing it towards the edge was working, but the Griever had its own strength. It roared back at the teenagers, flinging its arms about and grabbing a Glader stood near the back of the group, chucking him off the edge.

Florence felt her stomach drop, but she couldn't stop fighting back. Teresa sliced an arm off the Griever, in the process somehow knocking the cannister Chuck had been holding tightly in his hand.

"The key!" His voice was panicky. Immediately running in the direction it rolled off in, he slid across the floor onto his knees, grabbing it before it fell off the edge. He didn't stop in time to stop himself from hanging over the edge precariously.

"Chuck! Watch the edge!" Teresa's voice came just before she moved herself in the direction of the younger boy, pulling him back. Florence quickly darted around the other Gladers towards the pair, since neither of them had weapons if they got ambushed by another Griever.

"That was too close, little guy." She scolded him, to which he had too much adrenaline pumping through him to get angry. He only laughed, feeling a little lighter due to the fact he just narrowly escaped death.

The other Gladers had driven the Griever off the edge of the corridor, sending it tumbling down in the abyss below. Florence wondered when the drop finished, and if the Griever would break into pieces or splatter on the ground...

But when Florence, Chuck and Teresa took a few steps towards the others, they noticed the two Grievers climbing the walls of the platform, up onto it.

Maybe they don't even die from the fall. 

Florence ushered the two in front of her, glancing back to see the Grievers hot on their tails as they raced away. Reaching the group again, they were instantly protected by the shield of spears prodding at the Grievers.

"It works!" 

Glancing back from where she had joined the fighting group, Florence could see Chuck and Teresa by the now opened wall. Chuck was in awe of it all, Florence briefly remembering just how young he was.

"Teresa, go!" Thomas roared, prompting the two into action.

As the group continued to push the Grievers away, they were slowly making their way up the corridor towards the tunnel Florence and the others had discovered the other day. It was their way out. It had to be.

And then yet another Glader was taken. 

As he was flung from the group, Florence ignored the tears falling from her eyes. They may have be making their way out, but how many of them would actually get to the end?

"Thomas! There's a code! Eight numbers!" Teresa's shouting stopped Thomas in his tracks, and his mind clicked instantly with what it would mean.

"Eight sections of the maze." Thomas turned back to strike the Griever with his spear, and Florence drew back to question the Keeper of the Runners. After all, no one knew the Maze better than him.

"Minho! What's the sequence?" She yelled, the boy's eyebrows furrowing in confusion, his brain only half concentrated on her voice.

"What?"

"The sections of the maze, what's the sequence?" His face lit up in realisation and he immediately began yelling out the order, Teresa running to the screen with the numbers to tap them in.

"Seven! One! Five! Two! Six! Four!"

As Minho became preoccupied with calling out the sequence to Teresa, Newt's eyes drew up to the ceiling which in fact wasn't a ceiling at all. Above them was a gap of blue sky, in which another Griever was falling down on top of them.

"Heads up!" He screamed, startling and catching everyone's attention so they jumped back. But as the person calling out the code, Minho realised only a second too late, and so he became trapped under the Griever on the ground.

"Minho!" Florence yelled, her eyes wide. 

Frantically, she scanned the scene to try and figure out a way to free Minho from its clutches without getting herself or anybody else killed. Minho had his spear in its mouth, the only way he was keeping it from biting his flesh.

"Get off of me!" He growled, his voice laced with fear. Florence yearned to pry the Griever off of him, but she knew she didn't possess the strength.

As if reading her thoughts, Jeff had moved forwards and pierced the Griever with his spear, giving Minho the time to slide out from under its menacing figure. Tugging him back towards the group, Florence immediately enveloped him in the quickest of hugs, yet it shielded her vision long enough to miss her friend being lost to the Grievers.

"Jeff!"

Winston's cry tore Florence away from Minho, her breath hitching and trembling with grief. Her expression echoed Winston's. Yet another friend gone.

At least he's with Clint now...

"What's the sequence? Come on!" Chuck's voice pulled Florence from her despair, as the group continued to retreat down the corridor, beginning to become cornered. 

"Six! Four! Eight! Three! You got it?" Minho called.

The Grievers were slowly creeping closer, and the Gladers were running out of room to escape from them. Teresa typed in the numbers of the code, waiting for the door to unlock.

"Keep holding!" Thomas urged. 

Newt jabbed his spear at the Griever, his face lighting up in horror when he retrieved it - half snapped off. Before the Griever could grab at him, Florence had seized the back of his shirt and dragged him back to safety.

"The door opened!" Teresa told them, but they didn't need her voice to find out. The set of sliding walls that led down the corridor were slamming shut quickly, trapping the Grievers in a box sized space between two of the walls, the three of them piling on top of one another.

They could exhale now.

The group had stepped back into the tunnel whilst evading the Grievers, and they were caught off guard when they were suddenly cast into darkness. Startled by her inability to see, Florence felt for something in the dark, her hand making contact with someone's cheek.

The person let out a frightened yell before Florence burst into laughter in recognising Frypan's high-pitched scream. The boy relaxed on realising it was her, and she pinched his cheek playfully. He joined her laughter, the others more than confused at the random spurts of giggles from the dark room.

Teresa's hands ran along the wall before finding a door - much more helpful than Florence only finding Frypan's cheek - pushing it open and flooding their vision with light. They all stepped out, out of the Maze.

They were met with yet another corridor. This one didn't have cracked concrete walls, and it wasn't outside like the Maze. This one had pipes running along the walls and flickering lights just above their head, casting no light for them to see what was in the distance, only each other.

But then, as if their presence was expected, a chain reaction was set off, and a series of lights switched on, illuminating the corridor. It looked just as eerie and creepy as the Maze corridors, but Florence was convinced they didn't have the danger of the Grievers here.

They started down the corridor, in mutually decided silence, their feet taking them towards another door. Florence saw they had come from a door just like it, so what if it was another Maze?

Don't be ridiculous, Florence.

Above it was a florescent green sign that read the word 'EXIT'.

Suspicious.

"Seriously?" Frypan pointed to the sign, his eyebrow arched in amusement and distrust. It felt like a trick, and yet they still approached it.

Thomas reached for the handle, slowly pushing open the door so they could all peer at what was there. As he stepped inside, Florence got a better look when she moved closer.

It looked like some sort of science lab - not that Florence knew where she could remember them from. Orange alarms flashed and blared above their heads, but it was the body slumped against the wall that stole their attention. 

Continuing to move past, she caught sight of a small doctors room with two bodies lying unmoving on patient tables. Blood was stained on the sheets that covered them up, telling Florence someone shot them whilst they were laying there, and there were no doctors to be seen.

"What happened here?" Minho asked, his figure stopping in front of a dead soldier. His gun was what told them he was a soldier, that and the fact no doctor or scientist wore that khaki uniform into their work.

The small corridor the door had led them to eventually opened up into a large room. A long oval table sat in the middle of the room, with dozens of blue screens piled up in front of the chairs. Many of the screens were cracked and smashed, and Florence was beginning to notice the unconscious scientists laying still around them.

It was obvious by now that there was some sort of mass killing here.

Moving to the side of the room besides Newt and Frypan, a scoff escaped Florence's lips. It was like Thomas had said, but it was still hard to believe.

The blue screens showed images of the Glade, some sort of security footage and even their brain activity. They had every little bit of information about them, what they had done in the Glade, what they had achieved

"So they were watching us. This whole time." Newt mumbled.

Florence couldn't feel even the slightest bit of familiarity in the room. She knew for a fact that she had never been in there before. However, the same couldn't be said for Thomas.

Thomas stood at the computer he sat at for two years monitoring his friends. His eyes found Teresa over the screens like they did so many times so long ago, and then went back down to his computer sheepishly. He hovered his finger over a red button illuminated on the screen and pressed on it.

Across the room a television flickered on and began to play. The group approached it, enchanted, as a voice boomed and echoed through the room.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Ava Paige."

A woman with an immaculate white suit, white-blonde hair and striking red lipstick sat with her eyes on them. It was a pre-recorded video of course, but it seemed to be made for them to watch. 

"I'm Director of Operations at the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. If  you're watching this, that means you've successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but circumstances seem to have prevented it."

As the woman continued to talk, her calming voice differed greatly from her background. Scientists in white lab coats rushed about the room - the very room they were in - seemingly in a panic. Yet she seemed as though nothing was wrong.

"I'm sure by now, you must all be very confused. Angry. Frightened. I can only assure you that everything that has happened to you, everything we've done to you was all done for a reason." 

There could be no reason great enough to justify torturing and murdering kids.

"You won't remember, but the sun has scorched our world. Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable. What came after was worse. We call it the Flare. A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable, incurable. Or so we thought. In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus."

A group of soldiers in khaki uniforms armed with guns stormed the room. They didn't hesitate in shooting all of the scientists on sight, yet Ava Paige didn't seem to stop once.

"Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not being easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed, inside harsh environments where their brain activity could be studied. All in an effort to discover what makes them different. What makes you different."

We can survive the Flare? So they threw us in a Maze, alone, to try to find out why? Why didn't they just look for a cure? Or for a way to get the cure from us?

"You may not realize it, but you're very important. Unfortunately, your Trials have only just begun. As you will no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow. People are scared. It may be too late for us. For me. But not for you. The outside world awaits."

The soldiers were shooting at the glass Dr. Ava Paige was hidden behind. She didn't flinch at the bullets shattering the glass in the moments leading up to her inevitable death.

And then she pulled out a gun. Holding it against her temple steadily, the words she spoke - ones Florence had heard before and was being haunted by - were as clear as day.

"Remember... WCKD is good."

The gunshot sounded out and Florence's eyes squeezed shut to avoid the image of Ava Paige's suicide imprinting in her mind. Thomas had flinched away, turning his head from the screen. He moved past everyone, his eyes fixated currently on her real dead figure lying behind shattered glass only ten feet from them.

"Is it over?" Chuck's voice came out squeaky yet deeply hopeful, surprising himself in the way he didn't recognise his voice. 

Were they really free of WCKD?

"She said we're important."

'You're very important.'

"Well what are we supposed to do now?"

No one had an answer. How could they? They knew nothing of the outside; where any other people were, where they could live, how they would survive. They would probably die in days.

And although they had no idea what would be in store for them, Thomas' voice echoed everyone's desire,

"Let's get out of here."

The group turned towards the door to the side of them, intent on leaving once and for all. But Florence faltered at the sound of shuffling footsteps too far away to belong to one of them.

"No." 

She froze completely, whirling around. "Gally?"

Gally's voice was shaking, and as he turned his head to her, Florence could see the crazed look in his eyes. He dropped the broken off Griever syringe to the ground, further confirming her suspicions.

Thomas made towards him, but Teresa put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place. Gally breathed heavily, his eyes firmly and angrily on the boy.

"Don't. He's been stung."

Again.

Gally's hand trembled by his side, where he held a gun tightly. He was holding it as if he thought he would die if he let go.

He probably will die without the serum.

"We can't leave."

"We did. Gally, we're out. We're free." Thomas tried to persuade him, but his mind was clouded by the crazy thoughts the Griever's sting could bring on. He was experiencing it all for the second time.

"Free?" Gally's laugh sounded suspiciously similar to a sob, and the blur of tears in his eyes only further confirmed his upset. "You think we're free out there? No. No, there's no escape from this place."

"Gally, listen to me. You're not thinking straight. You're not. Now, we can help you. Just put down the gun."

Thomas was persuasive, but there was no way that Gally would ever listen to him. Not in this universe, or any universe.

"I belong to the maze."

"Just put down the gun." Florence pleaded, but the boy had aimed the gun directly at Thomas' chest. Thomas did nothing in response.

Out of the corner of her eye, Florence could see a subtle exchange. Newt's spear was inching its way into Minho's hand, the boy clasping it tightly in his fist. She knew what they were communicating and planning.

She said nothing to stop it.

"We all do."

When the gunshot sounded, Minho's spear was thrown and landed in Gally's chest. He exhaled just as he crumpled to the floor, dead. Florence hadn't seen the other thing that had happened just beside her.

She thought Gally missed.

"Thomas..." Chuck's pained voice told her of her mistake. In his tone, she could tell it was hard for him to talk, or breathe, and so she also knew the wound was bad. 

Very bad.

"Chuck."

The younger boy's legs gave way, and he crumpled to the ground. His back rested on the floor, blood spreading from a hole in his chest and spilling over onto the floor.

"Look at me, look at me!" Thomas shook him gently, keeping his eyes from drooping shut. Feeling her old Med-jack instincts in the back of her mind, Florence began saying nervously,

"We-we need to stem the, uh, blood flow. A-apply pressure..." 

Florence tried to go towards the younger boy, but arms pulled her back. She knew deep down they couldn't save him. They couldn't remove the bullet. He was going to die. 

Her voice trailed off.

Minho wrapped his arms around the girl from behind as her hand went to his arm to grip it for comfort. In horror, they struggled to keep from crying as they watched Thomas' attempts to keep Chuck from slipping unconscious.

"Chuck, look at me, all right? I got you, buddy. Just hang on."

"Thomas..." He choked out, his breath already beginning to be stolen from him. He fumbled with the wooden figurine he had carved in the Glade, urging Thomas to take it. The older boy pushed it back to him, shaking his head firmly.

"No, Chuck. You're gonna give it to them yourself. Remember, I told you that."

So did I.

"Take it." Chuck ordered, but as Thomas' eyes began to glaze in tears, he didn't waver from his previous stance.

"No."

"Thomas, take it." Florence tried to be stern, wanting him to obey Chuck's wishes, but her hot tears failed her internal desire for a cold exterior. Chuck was beginning to weaken, and they were beginning to lose him.

"Thank you. Thank you." He told Thomas, pressing the figurine into his palms as his eyes began to flutter closed.

"No, Chuck, you're gonna get- Chuck."

There was no response.

"Chuck?"

Still no response.

"Hey. Hey, Chuck, come on!" Thomas shook his body desperately, begging for him to come alive again. He deserved to make it out.

"Come on, wake up! Damn it! We made it. Come on. I'm sorry!"

Thomas began to cry, his voice shaking, yet he didn't move. Florence longed to reach out, to comfort him, but she was frozen. She was in disbelief of it.

"God damnit!" 

As Thomas' sobs and anguished cries rang out in the room, Florence's grip on Minho's arm tightened and her other hand went to her mouth to stop her quivering lip. Minho couldn't feel the girl's nails in his skin because he felt numb.

First Ben, then Alby, and now Chuck.

The door to the side of them opened with a swooshing sound. Blinding light flooded the room and a mass of soldiers just like the ones in the video stormed in. Any sound reaching Florence's ears were muffled as her eyes remained on Thomas shaking Chuck, still trying to will him alive. Her eyes were blinded with hot tears.

"We gotta get out of here." The only clear thing in her ears was Minho's voice. His hand slipped into hers and tugged her gently, breaking her daze. She glanced back over her shoulder as she let Minho guide her down the corridor, who was shooing away the soldiers trying to approach her, and saw two grabbing Thomas.

They would bring him too, Florence. Stay calm.

She needed to relax. She couldn't. None of them could. Every single fibre of her being was rigid with fear, and confusion, and pain. It was like her body was burning but she was disconnected from herself. She couldn't do anything to stop it.

And then they were outside. Really outside.

Florence kept her hand in Minho's as their feet hit the sand. Red, thick sand. Dunes of it, miles of it. The group fleeted across the desert, being led to a helicopter with its rotary blades already spinning in preparation to take flight.

She looked back again at the Maze she knew she was leaving behind for good. The place that she had grown to call her home for two months because she had known nothing else. The place where she had found - and lost in some cases - her friends, no, her family.

She heaved herself up into the helicopter and immediately collapsed into Minho's arms. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest, his chin resting on her head and his uneven breath falling on her skin. With her head resting back on his chest and her eyes glazed with exhaustion, she looked around at who remained.

The survivors. 

Looking across the group, they all looked as traumatised, broken, and exhausted as she felt. None of them looked triumphant, as much as they should.

A man jumped into the helicopter, slamming the door shut behind them. As the helicopter took off, the group stared at the stranger, no words being said, only eyes on him.

He wore a bandana around the bottom half of his face so they could only see his eyes, and his hair looked matted and dirty. He pulled down the bandana and with an expression of concern yet relief, he spoke.

"You all alright? You're safe now." 

Florence's nose was stinging and tears threatened to spill from her eyes again. They may be safe, but she couldn't help but think of those who weren't safe with them. She had lost too many of her friends.

Her eyes turned to the window of the helicopter as they soared over the Maze. She could see every corridor, every wall, every inch of it. She heard the quiet laugh that came from Minho's lips, unsure if it was from surprise, nerves, or relief. She knew that he probably didn't know either.

She didn't know what she was expecting the outside world to look like, but it wasn't this. She didn't think the world would've been destroyed by the sun and was being controlled by a deadly virus. She thought that once she was out, they would all be free. And happy.

"Everything's going to change."

The man spoke again, and his eyes gleamed with some unspoken mystery, as if he was excited to introduce them all to a new world they hadn't seen before. And all Florence could think was,

It better change.

~

~

~

"I think it's safe to say the Maze Trials were a complete success. I wasn't expecting so many survivors, but... the more the merrier. And it seems as though Florence was helpful for their escape, even if she did end up in the wrong Maze. I wonder if she would've had the same effect had she been in Maze B as planned. Thomas, of course, continues to surprise and impress. And for now, they seem to have taken the bait. It's too soon to say... but they could be the key to everything. So let's move forward. It's time now to begin Phase Two."

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Sooooooo.....

This is the end of the first Maze Runner film/book!

I will be writing the next two sections very soon however there will be a delay in updates as I haven't started on anymore chapters yet. Thank you so so much for reading and voting - it means a lot! 

Bye for now <3