Redamancy (Minho | The Maze Runner)

七 : Brother

Once they had reached Homestead, Minho let go of the girl that he was holding and sat her down on her hammock. He looked her up and down for a moment, placing both hands on his hips before finally asking, "why did you go?"

"I... I was curious," Qiufeng replied after a pause, looking away. Her hands were clasped tightly together on her lap, her shoulders stiff.

"So now you need a psychiatrist or something?" He rolled his eyes as he looked at the girl who was avoiding eye contact. "Talk about your feelings as you looked at Gally?"

"Hey, I didn't know it was going to look so bad, you guys told me stung so I assumed stung by a needle, not by a freaking polearm!" she spat, eyes flashing as she whipped her head around to glare at the other.

He raised an eyebrow at her, surprised by the fierce glow in her eyes that he had never seen before and opened his mouth to speak when a bloodcurdling scream echoed across the glade. Minho turned nonchalantly towards the sound while Qiufeng jumped and stared for a moment before both of them glanced back at each other, his gaze unwavering as he noticed the uncertainty in her eyes.

"Well, that's the changing." He shrugged as he turned to leave.

She thought for a moment to stop him but decided not to. With a last glance over his shoulder, Minho jogged away.

Over the next two days the glade was graced hourly by Gally's showcase of his vocal capacity, and Qiufeng flinched whenever she heard the screams coming from Homestead. Today was the third day, and she was going to be delivering food to the Med-jacks in place of Fry, who was busy with the new stock of supplies. Luckily though, it seemed as if Gally was calming down already, the screams gradually getting weaker throughout the day and eventually dying off an hour or so before dinner.

Okay, let's get this done and over with.

She took a deep breath as she stood outside the room Gally was in. Giving the door a polite knock, there was a grunt of acknowledgment before she pushed opened the door with her shoulder, her hands occupied with carrying a large tray full of food.

Coming in, a faint medical scent greeted her as she noticed in surprise that Gally was finally untied and sitting upright on the bed, Clint taking his pulse. "Just set it on the table Fry," the Med-Jack absent-mindedly said without looking up, staring fixatedly at the other boy's wrist.

"Not Fry, but okay," Qiufeng replied cheerfully as she set down the tray on a table opposite the beds.

"Oh Qiufeng." Clint looked up in surprise at her presence. He glanced at the listless boy for a moment as if indecisive, before getting up and looking over to where Qiufeng was laying out the dishes. He actually wanted to ask Fry to do it for him, but since Fry wasn't around perhaps it would be alright to ask Qiufeng, it wouldn't take so long after all. Clint coughed before speaking, "I'm going to let Nick know that Gally is done changing, could... Could you watch him for a sec?"

"Me?" She blinked in surprise as she stopped in her actions and stood upright. She sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth as she looked over to Gally over Med-Jack's shoulder. Qiufeng was a little uneasy being left in a room alone with someone she wasn't familiar with, but he seemed harmless enough, sitting at the edge of the bed, back hunched and face hidden. She turned back to Clint with a small smile. "Sure."

He returned it wearily, thanking her briefly as he walked past. There was an audible click from the door as it closed behind her, leaving her alone with Gally. She wondered if perhaps Clint stayed up all night looking after boys when they went through the changing, but she could always think about that later. Holding the tray close to her body, she stayed close to the door as she eyed Gally, wondering if perhaps it was safe should she try to talk to him.

"Why?" There was a hoarse voice from the bed and she glanced up quickly, startled at the sudden question. The other had looked up, directly at her. His eyes were unreadable from her position, but his voice seemed a little pissed.

"W-why?" she repeated as calmly as she could, trying to hide her confusion.

"Why are you here?" he asked again, this time standing up and walking over to her.

Qiufeng felt the alarm bells go off in her head as she took a step back cautiously, feeling her breathing quicken. "How would I know?" she replied defensively, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"Don't joke with me shuck face, of course you would know!" The boy snapped, slamming his palm into the wall harshly and making her jump. "Y... You and your brother were always beside them... They never ever let you out of their sight..." His voice seethed as he spoke and now that he was this close, she could see his face.

He seemed delirious, furious eyes darting all over her face as if searching for anything he could find in her expression to accuse her with. His mouth was clenched together, lips pulled back in a fierce snarl as he breathed heavily, waiting for a response from her. He was too close for comfort, she realized as she couldn't find a way to slip out without any physical contact with him.

"B-Brother...?" Qiufeng couldn't help repeating, her eyes widening in bewilderment at his words. At the same time she felt relief tinge her confusion, hearing chatter coming a little way from the door. She shut her mouth for the time being in case speaking would agitate him, hoping that Gally wouldn't do anything stupid for the next few seconds.

"Always so precious to them..." the boy continued mumbling nonsensically when suddenly the door swung open, and it felt as if an invisible dam was lifted within as relief flooded through her. She turned quickly at the noise to see Newt, Minho and Clint standing in the doorway, their conversation stopping short when they saw what was happening.

"What the bloody hell?" Newt was the first to recover from the sight, followed by Minho who went into a rage, pushing Gally across the room into the adjacent wall. "You little slinthead!" He hissed as he raised his fist to punch the other, who had fallen to the floor without so much of a fight.

"Wait!" Qiufeng panicked as Newt stood in front of her, placing his hands on both her arms in a comforting gesture. She was glad they came in when they did, but she didn't want Gally to get beaten up either, poor Clint was already swamped with work! "He didn't do anything to me really!"

"Don't even speak up for this worthless shank Feng," Minho spat but relented when Newt gestured for him to step aside.

Minho walked away, his enraged eyes not leaving Gally for a second until he tore his gaze away to look at Qiufeng, who seemed more confused than scared. "You okay?" he asked, as he gave her a quick glance over. "Was supposed to wait for Nick and Alby. They're scratching their heads over some supplies so we decided to come up to ask this slinthead about the griever, good thing we did."

She nodded, briefly registering what he had said, eyes still fixated on Gally whom Newt was trying to reason with in a low voice. She approached them slowly after the other had seemed to calm down, and exchanged a glance quickly at Newt. He nodded his head towards the larger boy and showed no signs of objection - so she spoke.

"Gally, just now you mentioned something about me having a... A brother?" she asked quietly, and at the question both Minho and Newt glanced at her.

The other was silent for a moment, still slumped against the wall, and she thought that he wouldn't speak anymore.

"You and your brother," Gally suddenly said just as Qiufeng was ready to give up and leave, his eyes still on the floor. "The Creators would keep telling us how precious you two were, and we were never allowed near you, like some kind of... of... Prized pet," he spat the last two words out before pausing, looking up at her warily. "I wonder why they would let something so precious into the maze."

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AN: I hope you guys enjoyed the little plot escalation in this chapter! :D

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