A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chapter 33

Cally's pov

Halfway up the tree, I looked down, "Hey Gally! You're supposed to climb higher!" I called down at him. He glared up at me, his jaw clenched.
     "Slim it and climb!" He called back.
     What were we doing? Simple, he said I couldn't reach the top of the Homestead; I said even I would be able to reach it before he did. And he took that personal. 
     Behind the Homestead, beside the Slammer, there grew the biggest oak tree of the entire Glade. Its branches cast long shadows on the field below where a group of Gladers had gathered to spectate our little game.
     Gally was not the best climber, his bulky posture, and lack of flexibility, making it hard for him to move between the many small branches and leaves. Giving me the advantage, hands the reason I was winning. 
     I looked down again to see how much behind Gally was when I heard a loud snap, followed by the sensation of falling. I could hear some Shanks on the ground gasp.
     In my fall I was able to grab another branch, it took a few seconds for me to recover, but then I pulled myself up again, heavily breathing to try and calm my heart down a little.
     "Cals, come down!" I heard Newt's worried voice call to me. He was standing with the group of Gladers looking up to the game.
     "I will!" I called back, "after I've kicked his ass!"
     "You wish, Shuckface." Gally growled to me as he passed me by. 
     My eyes widened on seeing Gally's face so close to me. Quickly, I grabbed the branch above me and pulled myself up.
     We were getting closer to the top, the branches were getting thinner, and I could hear the snaps from twigs breaking off and crimped in when all the broken off leaves and sticks showered me. He was charging through the branches now he could smell victory with so much force I could feel the tree shaking. "Watch your step, Gally!"
     There was another loud crack, and this time, it was not me.
     One of the branches had snapped under Gally's weight. He fell down screaming, and I had only a split second to jump aside before he pulled me down with him. 
     Hanging from the trunk, I looked down, worried for my friend. He had managed to cling on to one of the thicker boughes close to the ground. "Gally?" I called down, letting myself sink down onto the branch beneath me. "Are you okay?" 
     The raven haired boy groaned, pulling himself back up. He seemed to move okay. It took a second while he stretched his neck, but then he called back. "I'm fine, now get your ass moving!" 
     "But-" I started, thinking it would be better if we stopped, but Gally didn't seem to think so. 
     "I'm not quitting!" He barked at me, catching me off guard. 
     I shook my head as I turned to continued my way up, mumbling to myself how annoyingly headstrong that guy was. 
     I made sure I found a long branch that reached all the way over the roof of the Homestead before I inched my way to it. My sense of balance had always been great, if I say so myself. But now, as I looked down at my friends all the way down, my chest tightened slightly. I forced myself to take a deep breath and focus on my goal.
    Just six more steps; four; two...
     I jumped, arms stretched out. I could hear the gasps and shouts from below when I barely grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled myself up. 
     I threw my hands triumphantly into the air once I realized what I just did. "Ha! I did it! 9 beats 8!" I screamed from the top of my lungs. I heard some Gladers cheer along with me, Newt's voice sounding out above the others.
     Curious, I searched the tree for a guy with black hair. To my surprise, Gally had almost reached the branch I had used. A sour expression  on his face. I laughed, sticking out my tongue at him. Gally only rolled his eyes, climbing back down. Reveling in my triumph a little longer, I jumped around, whooping with laughter. 
     Until my eyes fell on the horizon. From the top of the Homestead, I looked out over the entire Glade. I was still too low to be able to look over the wall, but seeing the field, the Garden, the Pens with the animals, and the Deadheads from up there was breathtaking. I walked to the front of the Homestead and sat down, knees high with my arms around my legs. The sun had started to go down, painting the sky a spiral of soft pink and yellow. 
     I sat there for a while, watching as the colors mixed with each other, yellow turning orange, pink turning purple; dominating the once blue sky. It was the perfect time to put in my earphones and listen to music.