"So when did you- you know- fall in love with her?" Thomas smirked, knowing he had him right where I wanted him, with his head in Fionaland.
"Woah," Newt defeated with his hands up, "What?"
"I may be slow to getting to know things around here, but...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Gally was the first to stand watch. It killed me to leave her like that, unconscious and hurting, but I knew what it would look like if I stayed with her. But Ben wasn't getting any healthier and we we were going to miss our window. No one liked the banishment process but it was how we kept order. If anyone broke a rule, banishment was the final punishment. In Ben's case, he was stung and he harmed two gladers. He couldn't stay here without putting all of us at danger. It was easiest to think of it as a mercy kill, sleep came easier at night.
Minho had him with his hands bound behind his head, forcing him to face his fate. Every available hand in the Glade held a ten-foot branch so that we could keep him at a safe distance while still controlling him.
Minho cut the rope around his wrist and dropped him in the center of us, at least giving him that advantage in the maze. His tears fell into the dirt and his sobs grew louder. Ben was once the strongest of us, a runner. And now he was turning into a monster. The grievers didn't have a selection process for their next victim. It just killed.
We lowered our sticks, keeping Ben from running back into the Glade and starting the last chapter of his story.
Ben started calling out our names individually, crying for us to save him. It only made it hurt more. I noticed Thomas standing by and knew the importance of his presence. He had to see this. He had to know the harsh realities of the Glade. He has to understand how someone that you once cared for, can become a weapon.
The loud clanking noise of the maze doors started and that was our cue. We took steps forward together. He foamed at the mouth as he looked around at us. I had to keep telling myself that there was no way of saving him. He was lost. He stayed on his knees, praying for a solution. He turned around, seeing all of his friends turn on him. That broke him even further. He screamed now with his full chest. His fate would be sealed as soon as the doors closed.
We took another step forward, backing him into the maze. He started fighting back now, trying to push against the sticks but he was always hit with another. It was twenty against one. First, he lost his mind, then his friends and now he'll lose his life.
He promised to do better. To fight the disease. He would have sold his soul to stay. But as he was pushed into the maze closing doors, he only cried for one person. Of course the person he hurt the most. His voice scratched at Fiona's name as he begged for forgiveness. I was thankful that she was sedated at that point. No more hurt needed to come to her.
The doors shut and that nightmare was over and another name would be crossed off from the wall. No one felt good about doing it. But we knew the consequences if we didn't. Ably looked around, seeing the defeat that we felt in all of our hearts. "He belongs to the maze now."
--
I found myself finding excuses to go to medbay for the rest of the day. Picking up whatever information Clint or Jeff would give me until it was my time to watch over her. I knocked on the door, opening it to see Gally, hunched over in his chair. To be frank, he looked like shit. This day had not been easy on him.
