Her || The Maze Runner

Forty Three

Mara didn't know what to say. The Grievers had complete access to the Glade; their home was going to be destroyed. There was no doubt about it. People were going to die. The Grievers would rip Gladers to shreds. until every last one of them were dead.

They had to find the exit to the Maze, and they had to find it fast. 

"Where are the others? We need to find them." Mara told Newt, jumping from where she lay. She stumbled around when she stood, dizzy from the headache she had received only moments ago. But Mara had to push through the pain; she couldn't let it distract her from making sure as many Gladers were as safe as possible.

"They're okay. Love, you need to lie down. We'll sort everything out." Newt's voice was soft but demanding. He gave Mara a slight nudge back towards her bed.

"You expect me to lie here when the Glade is under attack by God knows how many Grievers? No chance in hell I would do that." She narrowed her brows and scoffed. Mara began to make her way towards the door, but Newt jumped in front of her.  "What are you doing? You can't stop me from going out there!"

"Yes, I can." He argued. 

"Newt, I've been through hell and back with those Grievers. You don't know what it's like to face them, let alone nearly die because of them. Let me do this, I need to do this. No matter how much you try, you can't keep me safe here. They will find me no matter where I am."

Mara shifted her vision to the door behind her, then back to Newt. He stood contemplating his options and eventually closed his eyes and sighed. "Guess you're right. We better get going."

The two of them darted from the Homestead and into the Glade where crowds of Gladers were scattered around the four open Doors of the glade in worry. They had to come up with a plan and it had to be good, but Mara didn't know how long they had until the Grievers arrived to spend the night.

"Gather 'round and listen up." Newt shouted, and all Gladers turned to him. Mara followed him as he advanced towards the centre of the Glade, surrounded by fearful and worried boys. Through the crowd Mara could see Teresa being dragged from the Deadheads, with Alby, Thomas and Minho close behind her. The four boys ran through the crowd to join Newt and herself at the centre of the group, but Teresa was being dragged across the Glade towards the Homestead. Towards the Slammer.

"Where are they taking Teresa?" Mara whispered to Tommy, who was watching Teresa being willingly dragged away from everyone else.

"They think it's her fault the Doors are open." Thomas shook his head disapprovingly. What was the point? They couldn't just lock her away. The Slammer could have be an option to keep other Gladers safe, but now that Teresa was there Alby would never allow other Gladers in there with her.

"What's going on?" A boy called from the crowd, which sparked up more curious Gladers and their questions.

"Why aren't the Doors closing?"

"Are they gonna get in?"

"We're all gonna die!"

"Shut your traps!" Mara screamed over the voices, and the Glade immediately fell silent. "It's not gonna help if all you shanks do is moan. We can't waste the time we have before they arrive."

"Mara's right, all you'll do is attract the bloody Grievers. Is that what you want?" Newt chirped in. 

"Okay, listen up for your allocated jobs." Alby yelled, cutting off Newt mid sentence. "Builders, start barricading up each of the open Doors, might buy us some extra time. Frypan, you and your cooks grab as much food as you can and get it into the Homestead. Med-Jacks, get everything you'd need for injuries and gather it in all in one of the rooms upstairs. We need as many people as we can helpin' out, gatherin' food, supplies, tools and what not. Every shank'll be sleepin' in the Homestead tonight, so get to it!" 

Everyone ran off to help, all heading in different directions to help out with what they could.  Mara didn't know what to do first, so when Newt pulled her and Minho back to him she was glad she didn't have to choose who to help.

"Hey, do somethin' for me will ya?" He asked, and both Mara and Minho nodded. "Bring up all the weapons and the Maps from the Map room. Alby told us to protect the Maps, better now than never. Just don't trust any of these shanks to help and don't tell no one what you're up to."

"Gotcha." Mara saluted. Then, her and Minho turned and jogged towards the Map Room.

"Maps first, the weapons are in the Homestead anyways. Can't let any of these shanks see us get them out." Minho ordered as he approached the door to the Map Room and swung it open with a loud thud.

The two of them ran back and forth with weapon chests- which were really filled to the brim with maps. They swapped them out for different chests, to make it seem as if they Maps were still inside the Map Room. Minho had come up with the idea, and Mara could admit that it was a good one. Newt was right, everything had gone wrong that day, and the Maps could have easily been the next problem. Swapping them was a brilliant idea.

Once they finished placing the last dud trunk inside the Map Room, Mara and Minho headed their separate ways. Minho joined the other Runners in handing out weapons to those that could be trusted, but Mara made a visit to someone she had wanted to talk to for a while; Teresa.

As Mara ran through the clearing she passed Thomas, who had just visited the Slammer before Mara. She told him she wouldn't take too long and he left her alone. The Slammer was darker than normal in the dim light of night. The top of Teresa's head was barely visible through the small glass-less wall that Mara had been on the opposite side of just a few hours before.

"So we finally meet." Mara chuckled, poking her head through the gap. Teresa stood up to face Mara, her brightly-lit blue eyes meeting hers. The girl's long black hair fitted around her face's frame, glowing slightly in the darkness. "How did you know I needed help earlier?"

"When you were screaming, it was in my head." The girl replied with a friendly smile.

"My screams were... in your head?" Mara repeated, sounding doubtful. She knew it was possible, but if Teresa could hear her why didn't she say something earlier? All she told her was that the Teresa she was seeing a fake, but that was a little late.

"It sounds stupid, but they were." She shrugged. Teresa sighed, pausing for a brief moment before changing the topic completely. "Do you remember me, Mara?"

"Yeah, I do, sorta. I know we used to be friends, that we knew each other before this place. Tommy too, we knew him. And I knew Newt. Maybe all the Gladers were friends with each other before we came here."

"Maybe."

"Do you remember those words we talked about?" Mara asked, curious to see if Teresa had told her of them, or if they were the product of WICKED's control.

"Words? What words?" The girl asked, her eyes widening. Obviously, she didn't know what Mara was on about. But, then who had told her? Had it been Teresa, or someone else? An old memory? Maybe Teresa had told her but she just couldn't remember, or maybe she had never said anything. "Mara what do you-"

"Mara? What are you still doing out here? Come on, you're the last one!" Newt called out, appearing beside the Slammer. She shot Teresa an apologetic look before following Newt back towards the Homestead. Mara wanted to learn more about Teresa, she wanted to keep talking to her but she knew if she had stayed out there any longer the Grievers could have arrived. And she wasn't really willing to spend any more time with them.

Newt held the door to the Homestead open, allowing Mara to enter the building. He closed it behind him, pulling the door to make sure it was securely shut. Just as the door latched shut an eerie moan distantly rang through the Glade; the Grievers had been released.

The night had officially begun.