The Transfer | Gally TMR

Chapter Twenty

"I think we've got to stop meeting like this..." I whispered, a small chuckle. I don't know what it was that felt right about cracking a joke in that moment, but something about him relaxed me. Like, as long as he was here with me, nothing could possibly go wrong. Well, except of course for the massive metallic beast that was lying, dead weight on my leg. Gally was slightly taken aback at first, but cracked the tiniest of smiles.

"How about you crack jokes after we get you out from under the Griever, mkay darling?" Gally spoke softly, a small smile present on his face that was probably 99% for the benefit of making me feel slightly more comfortable, emotionally of course- not physically. I smiled, cringing as the adrenaline left me, and the pain tripled instantly. Gally sighed, shouting for everyone to lift as he pulled me out from under the beast.

"Aye, Shanks! Be gentle with it, yeah! I don't want any of you bloody slintheads dropping that thing on her leg a second time, ok!?" I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the weight lighten slightly, but not nearly enough. Gally wrapped his arms carefully around my arms and waist, pulling gently at my body, but I barely moved what with the continual weight of the griever still compressing me against the ground. I groaned slightly as they lifted again, this time with more force and I was pulled further out from the Griever. Most of my thigh was out now, but my foot was still twisted into the metallic plates of the Griever. I moaned out in pain as the Griever was pushed up once again. This time, however, it was followed by a sickening crack. I screamed. No, not like the shriek you make if a friend jumps out and yells boo. Not even the shrill scream of a near death experience, the terrified relief evident in your voice. No, this was far different. There was no threat of death. Just the desire. This was the kind of scream that comes from the pit of your stomach, the noise so loud and ferocious you didn't even know you had it in you. It doesn't come by choice, it's instinct. Sheer instinct, as a result of extreme, unending pain that cannot be stopped, the kind that's trapped you into a situation where you are forced to endure the sensation of excruciating pain over and over again.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" It rang out through the air as I felt my pitiful excuse for an ankle crumpling from the pressure of the Griever. Everyone was taken aback by the scream, in horror they used what strength they had left to push the dead corpse off of my leg, my broken, limp foot now much more maneuverable, despite the added pain that came with that maneuvering. I felt my body being lifted off the ground, the blood leaving my head as I was suddenly overcome with the feeling of being extremely lightheaded. I felt Gally's strong arms cradling my frail body as I allowed my eyes to, regretfully, look down towards my foot that had inevitably snapped into pieces. Despite the darkness of the night, it was still clear to see the dark, oozing blood that dripped from the mangled limb that was my foot. It was swollen and purple, and twisted in an unnatural direction. I cringed, shutting my eyes as I buried my face in Gally's chest, listening to the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat. I saw Shai worriedly running towards my mangled appendage, but her face remained calm. She always was the better one with handling injuries, especially blood. I was not a fan of blood. I felt a cool, refreshing liquid poured over the injuries, and I noticed her carefully pouring the contents from a canteen on my foot. She then took stray rags, dabbing away the cuts. Gally gently set me down against the side of wall, sitting beside me and holding my hand as I allowed my leg to be propped up on Shai's cross legged sitting position, as she tended to the wounds. By this point, most of the Grievers had either been killed or had been too injured to continue fighting, leaving our small courtyard like area of the Maze barren except for the occasional Griever body.

"Oi! Shanks! Guard the all the other maze openings. We don't want anything else getting' in here." Gally commanded kissing me gently on the forehead before standing and joining the others. Minho nodded, quick to take charge as he guided different people to different monitoring posts. Glancing back down at my foot, I noticed that it looked substantially better.

"Don't worry, it was mostly just blood and cuts. It's still pretty swollen, and I think you probably broke something in your ankle, but the swelling should go down by tomorrow." Shai said sympathetically as I nodded, suddenly aware of what Zart had said. We still had another section to travel to. That was going to be at least a 5 hour trek. My eyes filled with concern as I sat up slightly straighter, panic evident.

"What about tomorrow? H-how will I get there? What if we can't make it by dark and the Grievers come again? What if it's all my fault and-" Shai stepped closer so that were staring eyes to eye- and then she slapped me. Right across the face. I opened my mouth in shock, my eyebrows furrowing together. She rolled her eyes.

"Lilli. Stop worrying about shit you can't control, ok? What you did was heroic and brave, and you had no idea that your foot would get caught. It wasn't your fault. Ok? You're my best friend, Lilli. And sometimes, accident's happen. Now snap out of it, ok?" that was the thing about Shai. Even when She slaps you, she gives you a damn good reason for doing it. I sighed, nodding.

"You still didn't have to slap me.." I pity-mumbled. Shai smiled, rolling her eyes as she made her way back over to my foot, cleaning and drying it steadily.

"It was the only way to shut your big mouth. Always was." I chuckled slightly, nodding in slight agreement."Yeah, maybe. Still, next time I'm slapping you back."

"Mhmm...suuuure, Waters.""Just you wait, Okamoto." Shai just smiled softly, rolled her eyes at the use of her last name. She hated her last name. Probably a result of her early childhood memories. They weren't good ones- to put it lightly. I was the only one she put up with when it came to people using her last name. I guess because she knew that my life was just about as awful as hers. Maybe it was because she knew I'd say it anyway. But to everyone else, she was just Shai. Always was, always will be. Lillian Marie Waters...and Shai. It was all she needed to define her, all she wanted. She sighed as she finished wrapping my foot in clean, white rags, taking a seat next to me against the wall as she laid her head against the solid, cold concrete.

"What's gonna happen to us, Lil? After the Maze...? After all of this is over?" I sighed, pulling my undamaged leg up to my chest, letting to wounded one lay stretched out on the merciless pavement.

"I don't know, Shai....I really don't know." I glanced over towards her, her eyes fixated on Minho as he attempted to help Thomas make a fire. I smiled as I noticed Newt standing behind them, leaning against the wall as he admired Thomas, nothing but love radiating from his eyes. I smiled, chuckling to myself as I sighed.

"You really like him, don't you." I said, more of a statement than a question. Shai didn't even need so much as a moment of pause to answer.

"I...I don't know what it is about him, Lil. There's...just...something. Something, and I knew it from the moment I saw him. Man, you guys must've thought I was crazy! Just standing there in the midst of a Griever attack, just staring longingly at some boy!" Shai chuckled, obviously thinking back to the first time she saw Minho. It hadn't exactly been the best of timing. I smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, basically. Although, technically we thought you were both crazy." Shai smiled, rolling her eyes playfully as I laughed."So what about Mr. Eyebrows, then?" I looked at her in momentary confusion, before catching on to what she was saying. I smiled, giving her a light shove as I shrugged my shoulders.

"We're...good." I said modestly. Shai rolled her eyes, watching him intently as he stood, spear in hand, talking comfortingly towards Chuck, who looked a little more than scared. He gave him a reassuring hug, and I couldn't help but smile at how soft he really could be. Shai "awwwed" mockingly, batting her eyelashes at me in a goofy manner and I laughed.

"Oh, shut up! You thought it was sweet too!" I said defensively. She laughed."There's a difference between thinking it's cute, and drooling!" We both laughed, and I suddenly realized just how long it had been since we had really, truly laughed together. Too long.