NIGHT BEDS ━︎━︎ THE MAZE RUNNER

vi. MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK.

tdc soundtrack // closing in.

IT WAS THE SAME UNSETTLING SMELL OF OUTDOORS, as well as the scorching hot sun that lay soft on Gally's eyelids when he stood under the skylight. But he wasn't allowed to step foot outside until everyone was ready. As Gally stood there he noticed Campbell wasn't wearing any gear with him. Instead he left the foyer. He felt like God had answered his prayers. Campbell wasn't coming along with them.

He stretched into comfort of his gear at the wall and waited for the middle aged leader Lawrence to come. He was going to let them go as soon as he double checked for anything missing in their guns.

Gally had been with the same people for months, traveling one place to another until they settled down at a building not too far away from the walls of the city. Already they had twice fought their way around the crowd almost everyday whenever they rallied up at the edge with their protesting yells and angry signs. They were there for the same reason, they wanted to get in just like everyone else. Each day they couldn't get WCKD's attention, no guarantee of convincing them of anything otherwise.

Still, there was today. Gally climbed on top of the van, the sun poured over and soaked into him from his buzz cut and to the shirt. He heard calls from Lawrence, giving them access to the exit and they were off. Lawrence gives him a nod as a farewell for the day, the same gesture he would make to Minho or Ben when they left the Glade to run.

It was weird, he thought, how the feeling of loneliness never left him. He wasn't physically alone after being picked up by the group heading to the city and the "advice" from Lawrence and Campbell that were meant to "push" him to "man up", but he was alone. He didn't mind them but things were so different. Instead of leading, he was following. But he kept the same mindset like in the Glade that made him the boy who he was, he would always follow the rules.

So today, he thought today would be a good start to "man up".

Always the feeling of it was in his senses, but he felt more exposed in the outer world and had came across the same struggles as Thomas and them, they fought cranks before and dealt with people who were just as bad and were anything but selfless and friendly.

He sighed deeply as he thought of his friends and girlfriend who were technically "dead" according to Lawrence. Since Thomas came everyone dropped him entirely and ignored him. When Thomas had said, "Gally it's over. Just come with us." Gally only wished them good luck against the grievers before staring coldly at MK. And then there had been quiet between them, but not the peaceful kind of quiet. An ugly stillness. Not even a proper goodbye.

Despite wearing the mask, the outdoors still reeked of sweat and manure. Gally hated the mask, it fogged up almost every five minutes, but everyone was required to wear one when outdoors while armed. He kept his balance on the roof of the truck as Jasper yelled and cheered through the loudspeaker, preaching about how everyone deserved to be let in, and WCKD was going down.

The crowd parted to let the van drive by, cheering along. They were groggy and dusty looking people, as if they had came a long way to get there, but everyone coming together felt like music to Gally's ears. He turned to his right to watch the upcoming crowd, and through the red mask that covered his face, he could see Thomas staring back at him.

Thomas?!

His ears began to ring, but he was able to keep his balance without falling forward or back. This wasn't a dream at all, he was just thinking about them not too long ago. What was he supposed to do? The truck wasn't gonna stop until they reached the rusty fences where they could watch the back of the crowd. He can't just hop down without letting them know what he had in mind. Was he gonna wave at them? No, it would be weird. They wouldn't even recognize him through the mask and his new hair, how much taller he got over time, and how much muscle he gained through training. Plus he's holding a gun.