"Some say, she's as fast as a bullet, but only when she has something to run from."
{Thomas x OC}
{Part 1, 2 & 3}
{𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬}
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"Things would never be the same here."
•••
AS THE FIRE continued to burn and everyone continued to laugh and dance, Leanne found herself wandering towards the large rock. Slowly, people had begun to carve in their loved ones names. Some people went together, others alone. Leanne was the second one; this felt personal. So, alone, she let her fingers trace the names on the rock.
Leanne felt the strongest urge to cry, but she held herself back. This was supposed to be something happy, but she felt like if she carved anyone's name into the rock it would be like saying goodbye, and she didn't want to say goodbye.
She wanted to wake up and find Teresa laying in the cot next to her, and walk out of the hut to find Newt tending to the garden. She wanted to find Chuck talking Thomas' ear off somewhere while Alby was yelling at her for running off into the Maze. She wanted to find Winston feeding the animals while Gally fixed up one of the broken animal fences. She wanted to find Frypan and Elliott arguing about what the next meal should be, or plotting their next escape plan because Elliott had never given up.
At first, she thought she missed the Glade, but the more she thought of it, the more she realized it wasn't the place she missed all that much. It was the people.
Things would never be the same here. Yes, she would make new friends, but they weren't her family. They weren't the people she battled Grievers with, or escaped WICKED with. They were people with different stories. And although the scenery would be a nice change, and would allow her to grow as a person, she just wanted to fall asleep and wake back up in the Glade. But now, only in her dreams would she see the Glade.
Which is why Leanne longed sleep so much. She wanted to fall asleep and go back to the simple days. Things would never be that easy again. When all they had to do was stay inside the walls of the Glade; when they had their food sent up to them and they were able to garden. Where the sun shined all day and the stars glowed bright at night. She would miss the bonfire parties with Gally's awful drink that would make her gag.
Leanne picks up a knife from a nearby log and begins to carve a name in. It felt like so long ago that she had lived this life. Too long ago. She carved in the name of the first sister she truly remembered; Elliott.
Elliott had arrived in the Maze almost a year exactly before Thomas. When she arrived, she picked their lazy asses up and got them running. Leanne missed waking up and walking outside to see Lottie and Newt flirting without realizing it, and Minho teasing them. She missed the fun challenges that came with attempting their escapes; like climbing the Maze walls, and laying in the Box and watching the stars with Elliott while they hoped they could be brought down with it. Leanne has always been a spitfire, a force to be reckoned with, and when Elliott arrived, she calmed her. Elliott was the winter wind that soothed Leanne's summer sun.
The next name she carved in was harder. It was a fresh wound that would take long to heal. Leanne has to stop herself after the first letter and wipe away a round of tears that had begun to fall; she had lost two sisters in under two years. Deedee would always be her real sister; Teresa was the version WICKED had created. But Leanne loved both of them.
As she finished up carving the names, Lea takes a step back to admire her work. Elliott and Deedee's names were up on the rock.
If anyone were to read their names, they would be no one to them. Another lost soul to the cruelty of WICKED. But to Leanne, those two girls were everything. And in the end, that's all that mattered.
Backing up to look at the names, Leanne felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. There seemed to be too many names she recognized. Names of family and friends, names of those she barely knew who had lost their lives for them. Names of the children of the Maze.
Beyond the walls of their mazes, a world had waited for them. It had taken years, but even now this world wasn't ready for the change these teenagers would bring. But really, who could prepare for the best thing to ever happen to them?
