The First Gladers

Chapter 9: Pain 'n Dreams

  You can't even feel any pain. It's all been numbed. Your thoughts are fuzzy and you can barely see. Gosh, how much you want to just fall asleep right now. It'd be so easy... No. Something inside you screams for you to stay awake. You blink wildly, trying to focus on where you are and why you're there. You stumble to your feet, wobbling where you stand. Across a long hallway, you see a boy... You recognize him. What's his name?

Your mouth moves on its own, "Will!!!"

Then your mind clears. You can see it all. The Griever tackles Will to the ground, jabbing a spike into his torso. You can't believe your eyes. This can't be real.

"NO! WILL!!!" You shout, trying to run to him. Pain screams up your leg and you crash to the ground. Your head starts to spin. You can't think straight. You raise a hand to your head, only to feel a hot thick liquid coating most of your skull. Despite the excruciating pain in your leg and head, you rise to your feet. You can't even recognize Will. There's nothing left, except blood and shredded flesh. You stumble backward, quickly losing your grasp on reality. Miraculously, someone catches you. They slide an arm under your legs and stabilize your back with the other. Your arms hang limp out to the side as you lose control over your body. The boy starts to run from the Griever. You catch one last glimpse of Will's mangled body before the world as you know it fades away...

"Come on Y/n. Stay with me." Chris mutters as your eyes flutter shut.

He's running as fast as he can away from the gruesome beast, but he's running out of time. The doors of the Maze will be closing any minute now. Chris continues anyway, following a trail of bread crumbs. Thoughts of Will start to invade his mind, be he pushes them away, he has to focus or neither him nor Y/n will make it. Just as the sun disappears over the edge of the walls, he rounds the last corner and starts his sprint to the courtyard. Alby and Alex see Will's struggle and run out to help carry Y/n home. The doors seem to be closing faster than ever. The three boys work together pushing Y/n through the narrow gap. The walls close in, pressing against Chris's chest, squeezing him until he's about to burst. Alby slips through the wall first. Claustrophobia grips Chris's mind and terror overtakes his body. Alex and Chris push Y/n through the gap into Alby's arms. I'm not gonna make it. Chris fears. The stone walls are now crushing every bone in his body. Just a little further. Chris pushes through at the last second, falling to the ground. Then he hears a gut-wrenching scream that cuts off as quickly as it was formed. Chris's blood turns cold as a chill goes down his spine. Alex. Chris can't bear to look. Yet he does anyway. He immediately doubles over, losing the contents of his stomach. He turns away abruptly, met by a pale-faced Alby. Chris lets his eyes fall to see Y/n. Her head is covered in blood, and her leg has practically been chopped off. She may not even be alive. Why her? I can't do this without her.

"We... We have to try and save her." Chris stutters.

Alby nods absently and carries her over to the Homestead. Chris follows him, moving as if in a daze. Alby sets her on a bed, then runs to collect all the medical supplies he can find.

"Come on Y/n. Stay with us." Chris pleads. "I... We need you."

Alby rushes back into the room, his arms filled with all sorts of medical supplies.

"What now?" He questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Newt, they're sending Chris into the Maze. Tonight!" You exclaim frantically.

Well, not really you. More like a younger you, an innocent you. Maybe? Who is Newt? This is all so confusing.

"I'm sorry Y/n." A blond boy, Newt you assume, replies.

You look at the boy, Newt, incredulously.

"Really!? That's it, just 'I'm sorry Y/n!?" You shout. "We have to do something!"

Newt shakes his head, a strange mixture of apathy and sadness on his face.

"Y/n, there's nothing we can do." Newt states. You sigh, frustrated.

"You used to say that anything was possible. If we worked together, we could do anything. What happened to that Newt?"

"There's nothing we can do." The boy repeats.

Your shoulders slump as a sense of complete despair washes over you. Why won't he help you?

"Fine. Be that way. I'm going to save him." You command, anger obvious in your voice.

"Y/n, no, you'll get yourself killed!" Newt exclaims jumping to his feet.

"Oh, so now you care!?"

"Y/n, don't be like that." He begs.

"I'm going to save him."

With that, you turn and walk out the door. Newt calls after you, but you don't stop. You're determined. You hear a choked sob behind you. You keep walking. You sneak through pristine white hallways, glancing every which way, fearing getting caught. Finally, you arrive in a room filled with glass tanks. Then you see his face. Chris, is in a tank, drowning. He's screaming, pushing against the glass. He's in a complete frenzy until he sees your face. He immediately calms down, his face overcome with sadness. You run up to the glass tube, banging your fists against the cool surface. Tears are streaming down your face as you try desperately to break him free. But it's useless. You rest your forehead on the glass, and Chris puts his forehead near yours. He mouths something to you that you can't quite make out, then he loses consciousness. You sink to your knees with a sob.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" A deep voice shouts behind you.

You spin around to see a heavily armed guard. He pulls out a taser, and before you can react, an electric shock jumps through your body, causing you to lay on the ground motionless. The guard scoops you into his arms and shoves you into a tube. He then presses a button the starts filling the tube with water. Panic rises inside of you. You can't move. You can't move! The water rises quickly, trailing closer and closer to your face. A woman bursts into the room.

"NO! What have you done! She's not supposed to go up yet! You idiot, you've ruined everything!" She shouts

"I'm sorry Dr. Paige. I thought, she had escaped or something." The guard replies stupidly.

Dr. Paige rolls her eyes, walking up to your tube. Your eyes are wide with fear as the water covers your mouth. You try desperately to move. Dr. Paige looks at you sadly.

"Good luck out there Y/n."