We will stand tall,face it all together

○10○

The paramedics, Jeff and Clint, come and say that Minho needs some rest and so they send Newt and me out of the hut. “I'm happy for you that you became a runner,” says Newt and to my surprise he actually seems serious. I look up at him in surprise and Newt smiles and squeezes my hand so I can't help but smile too. I'm about to answer and thank him when I hear some loud shouts. We turn around and see some lights standing together on the other side of the clearing. From this distance it's difficult to tell what's going on, but it looks like an argument. Without thinking or discussing things for a long time, Newt and I run off. “Can’t the Strunks get along without me for a second?” Newt groans and frowns. Without slowing down, I let my gaze wander across the clearing. “Where is Alby?” I ask, because it is his job to take care of such problems. Even if Newt is usually the one who keeps order. “Who cares?” is all Newt says. As we get closer, I see that Gally is by the pile of lights and I remember that he has already served his sentence in the building. He appears to be very angry, gesturing wildly with his arms and shouting at the boys in front of him as they try to calm him down. However, it also looks like some of the lights are on Gally's side and are loudly agreeing with his words. “That idiot can never just shut up!” Newt says behind gritted teeth. When we arrive, Newt walks right up to Gally and stands between him and the other lights. "What's going on here?" Newt asks everyone, but looks at Gally. Gally stretches out his arm and points at me. I frown in confusion.“I should ask you that!” That Strunk there is a runner!” Newt grits his teeth angrily. “Her name is Y/n! And yes, she is a runner. And rightly so.” “Rightly?” Gally snaps at him. “The stem is still a newcomer! Newbies don't become runners! And she's a girl!” “Hey!” I call and walk resolutely towards Gally. Newt extends his arm, but I duck under it, stop in front of Gally and dig my finger into his chest. “Well, first of all, you're just a total idiot, has anyone ever told you that? Secondly, you've never seen a girl before, so how can you say we're weak?" "She killed a Griewer!" I hear one of the other lights shout. I don't know who it was, and under other circumstances I would be happy about it, but now doesn't seem to be the right moment - at least in Gally's opinion. He grabs me by the shoulders and pushes me away with all his strength, so that I, a petite girl, fly about two meters through the air and then hit the ground hard. Groaning, I get to my feet as the lights around me helpfully help me up. I turn around and see two boys holding Newt, who was trying with all his might to break free and fall towards Gally. Luckily, the two boys are stronger than Newt (who alternates between throwing insults at Gally and yelling at the boys to let him go), otherwise I think this would have turned into a fight between him and Gally. However, it doesn't necessarily make things any better that Gally also provoked Newt.At the top of his lungs he shouted things like “What? Do you really think you beanpole can do anything against me?" or "Oh, did your little princess get hurt?" Well, let's put it this way: in the end they have to hold me too. It's probably better for everyone that Alby shows up at that moment. “What the hell has gotten into you?” he yells over the noise, looking from Gally to Newt to me and back to Gally. Everyone starts talking at the same time. The voices of the lights (“He attacked Y/n!”, “But she provoked him!”, “It’s all because she’s a runner!”) are overshadowed by Gally’s (“She started it! Who even had it? "It's a stupid idea to make this weak girl of a newbie a runner, eh?"), Newt's ("He hurt Y/n!") and mine ("Gally started it! And he insulted Newt!") shouts. “QUIET!” Alby interrupts the flood of accusations. Silence returns. “Damn!” he adds more quietly, rubbing his temples as if he had a headache. Then, without looking up, he says: “Newt?” The lights that had grabbed Newt’s arms let go of him and Newt reports, visibly focused on keeping control of himself: “Gally insulted Y/n and accused her of being too weak to to be a runner. She then fought back and he pushed her away.” “And then he insulted Newt!” I intervene. Alby gives me a stern look. "I didn't ask you to speak." I wouldn't have put up with that from anyone else, but I accept Alby as the leader (someone has to give the orders so everything doesn't end up in chaos here), so I keep my mouth shut and see just looking at him expectantly.“Gally, what do you say to that?” Alby folds his arms in front of his upper body and everyone looks at Gally, waiting. "SHE insulted ME, so don't all blame me!" Gally points at me accusingly. “She’s a newbie. She's a girl. She's the smallest and weakest of us all. And you give HER the responsibility to find our way out of this labyrinth? Only an absolute idiot could have an idea like that!” Before I can say anything, Alby answers: “There's a good reason why Y/n became a runner. She may not be as strong as you, but she has a lot more going on up there than you do.” Alby taps his temple. Gally's face contorts, but to my surprise he doesn't say anything, just turns around and stomps away like a frantic child. Nobody follows him. Me and Newt walk over to Alby as the other lights scatter to go about their business. Newt takes me in his arms and whispers in my ear: “Are you okay?” Goosebumps cover my whole body and I answer quietly: “Yes, everything is okay.” “Maybe you should stay away from Gally for a while, Y/n. “Alby interrupts us. I sigh, roll my eyes and say: "I'll never have peace from that..." I'm about to leave when Alby says: "Newt, I'd like to speak to you for a moment." His tone shows that he's not ready to make compromises. Newt gives me an apologetic look. “It’s okay,” I reassure him with a smile, stand on tiptoe and give him a quick kiss. I realize how damn lucky I am to be able to do this and it hurts me to let Newt go, even if it's just for a short time. It just feels like something is missing.It's like there's a gap in my heart in the space that Newt usually occupies - and that space is big. I watch him and Alby go and think about what I'm going to do now. After all, I have the rest of the day free. Finally, I set out to visit Minho again. Jeff and Clint aren't exactly happy about it, but they let me into the cabin. Minho asks me about the Gally thing, so I tell him what just happened. Just as I finished, two lights burst into the hut. “Is Alby here?” one asks, panting. Confused, I answer, "He's having a meeting with Newt." The boys start to turn around and run back, but Jeff grabs one of them by the arm and asks, "What's going on here?" "It's about Gally! He wants to prove that he can kill a Griewer too! He ran into the labyrinth!” the boy blurts out. Jeff lets him go and he quickly runs out of the hut. “He did WHAT!” Minho shouts angrily. “I always knew that Strunk didn't have all his cups in the cupboard anymore, but I wouldn't have thought that he would have SO much nonsense in his brain!” “We have to follow him!” I shout, horrified. "Forget it! Rule number 3: Never go into the maze. Gally has himself to blame, he has to find his way out of this on his own,” Minho admonishes me. I can not believe it! We can't just leave Gally in the maze! The gates are closing soon! I can't stand Gally either, but no one deserves that. “I need to get some fresh air…” I murmur and leave the hut.I walk around the clearing while I massage my temples with two fingers each, head bowed. I just can't get the Gally thing out of my head. It's also not good for my conscience to know that it's my fault that Gally now wants to pounce on the next Griewer. When I look out again after a while, I'm surprised to see that I'm standing in front of one of the gigantic gates into the labyrinth. I just stand there for a moment and stare up at the cold gray walls to the edge. Suddenly I have an absolutely idiotic thought. I look around briefly – none of the lights are nearby. A whole bunch of them are standing at one of the other gates. This is probably the gate through which Gally ran into the labyrinth. But that doesn't matter. When I was in the labyrinth with Minho and Newt, we were in section 4 and my guess is that's about where Gally is now. And the gate I'm standing in front of now is the same one through which Minho, Newt and I entered the labyrinth - that's probably why my feet took me to this gate. So I should still find the way from here to Gally. I look around again – no one around. I look up at the walls again, take a deep breath and then sprint off into the labyrinth.