Chapter Two

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AN: sorry for the chunky chapter in advance, they get shorter from here💀 hope ur enjoying the story!!

JACKIES POV:

My squadrons trucks rolled up one by one to Lawrence's headquarters, it's crumbling, vine ridden walls beckoned us into its stony fortress with its spineless, bony fingers. Home sweet home.

A mixture of smells encapsulated me, freshly turned dirt, something rotten something sweet, the pungent odours of chattering soldiers and rumbling exhausts roaring, exhuming the overpowering aroma of burnt oil and smoke that flooded my lungs. Harsh sounds of metal against metal, like the workings of an ancient steel factory heaved themselves through the humid air, instantly engulfing us in its polluting wake.

"Lawrence is the reason we're all here in the first place, he's the face of the revolution against WCKD and everything they stand for, so you say one good thing about them you're dead, got it?

"There's nothing good to say." Gally replied without hesitation. "What else?" He asked, facing me as we continued to walk, his expression unwavering.

I contemplated the answer, "Hes uh.. lacking, in the nasal area?"

"Hey, Jack!" Cut off by a new voice, I scanned the higher levels of the building, trying to locate where it had come from.

"Hey.. you!" I called back, waving back up at the guy who's name I obviously didn't find important enough to remember.

"Fresh meat huh?"

I chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, picked him up last week, how's the boss?" I ask, stiffly dropping my arm back to my side.

"It's your lucky day, new batch got in this morning, he's in a good mood."

Perfect.

As we continued walking through the hustle and bustle of the brute force soldiers, Gally remained stern, unintimidated. It made sense why he was however. His tall, muscular, sturdy form allowed him to blend in, like one of them.

He wasn't much different to the soldiers we had there, the vast majority of them being kids Lawrence pulled from the maze trials a few years back like Alex and I, the lucky ones I suppose. Gally however was different from the rest of us. He was Immune.

"Scared?" Gally turned to me, his eyebrows raised, causing me to smirk back at him coyly, anticipating his response as if this would solidify my impression of him.

"I'm not scared of anything."

"Alright muscle man, don't hurt yourself." I scoffed, punching his chest before dashing up the last few flights of stairs, decidedly allowing him a second chance at depleting his arrogant response.

As I lead him towards Lawrence's office, heavily guarded by his two right hand men, Oscar and Pedro, I swivelled to meet Gallys eyes.

"Don't speak unless you're spoken to. Keep your sentences short and to the point, he has a thing about time wasting." I sighed, relaxing my hands on my hips. "And uh, he doesn't get a lot of visitors so just let me do the talking, ok? Tread. lightly." He briefly nodded as I turned back, receiving a brief nod in my direction from Pedro as they opened the main doors, waiting patiently with emotionless masks burning holes into any eyes that dared look.

As we stepped in, a wall of rosy aromas engulfed us. Surely enough at the centre, a small form with no distinguishable shape pivoted through the plants, the 'shling' of pruning shears occasionally snipping through the silence of the room.

"Lawrence." I greeted, standing with my hands uniformly behind my back at the bottom of the stairs, Gally slightly behind me.

"Jack." He acknowledged huskily, eventually turning to face us. He beckoned with his rotting finger soon after, urging us to walk towards him. I conceded, bringing Gally up with me with an expectant glance and a tip of my head.

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