𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦, minho (tmr)

Chapter Twenty Three

Florence's feet took her to the doors of the Maze without a second thought. The Gladers were already crowded there, flaming torches in hand and exchanging worried words.

Their eyes were all fixed on the corridor that they should not have been able to see at that moment. The girl swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat, and her mind ran through the endless scenarios that could occur if the doors didn't close for the night.

All of the scenarios contained Grievers.

A deafening creaking sound stole her from her thoughts, sounding devastatingly too similar to that of when the walls open in the morning. Spinning on her heel, her worst thoughts were confirmed.

The Maze walls were opening on the other side.

And to her right, and to her left.

All of the walls were open.

"Chuck, go to the Homestead and start barricading the doors." At everyone's silence, Thomas had sprung into action. Broken from her daze, Florence caught the Slicer Keeper's attention.

"Winston, you go with him."

He gave her a curt nod, "Got it." Beckoning to Chuck, the pair of them turned to run to the Homestead, disappearing into the darkness. Gally turned to the crowd, attempting to keep the anxiety in his voice to a minimum.

"Get the others. Tell them to go to the forest. Go hide, now!" He sent his Builders off in search of any stranded or isolated Gladers, and slowly the Glade was beginning to turn into a frenzy of panic.

"Minho, I want you to grab every weapon you can find. I'll meet you at the Homestead."

At Thomas' command, Minho immediately found Florence, grabbing her hand to lead her in the direction of the weapons room that hid in the basement. Newt and Frypan also followed, Thomas' voice ringing out behind them.

"All right, everybody hide!"

She heard the screech of a Griever in the distance, but knew it was closer to the Glade than ever before. Florence could feel her heart thumping and her stomach tightened at the thought that had just appeared in her mind.

There's no way everyone's going to survive a Griever attack.

She forced the thought away, choosing not to delve into it deeply despite knowing it was true. She didn't want to imagine who they might lose.

Minho, Frypan and Newt didn't speak a word as they got to the weapons room, immediately spreading out to collect an array of swords and blades. Florence took some herself, her hate for violence nothing but a distant memory at this point.

"Keep this for yourself." Minho held out a long blade in her direction, and feeling a wave of nausea pass over herself, she took it from him, fixing it in her Runner pack. 

Returning out of the room, they were now faced with a difficulty:

The Grievers ravaging the land outside.

Florence could hear the screams of the Gladers who were being snatched and thrown by the Grievers that had invaded. She didn't want to see them getting killed. But she needed to get herself and the others to the Homestead.

They decided to count to three before leaving, as a way to get their adrenaline pumping but not let themselves overthink what they were doing. And so on three, they ran from the room and onto the grass of the Glade.

Florence could see the Griever on the tail of Alby, Thomas, Teresa, Clint and Jeff. It was distracted by them, especially Thomas with his spear raised towards it threateningly. This sparked an idea in the girl.