| Gally X Reader | Forever and Always | Tmr | The Maze Runner |

Chapter 32: The Gathering (Part 2)

"Why are you only just getting upset about it now?"

"I thought I would be able to convince them, but I wasn't even allowed to talk! Now there's a real chance that you'll- that you'll..." I trail off, not wanting to say his most likely inevitable fate.

"It'll be ok. Just promise me something, yeah?"

"Depending on what it is" I say, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Promise me that you won't try and hurt anyone who you think is responsible for my Banishment when I'm gone"

"If. If you're gone" I insist, still refusing to let him die.

"What did I say about preparing yourself for the worst?" He tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Is that it? Don't murder people?"

"Not quite. I want you to forget about me. Forget I ever existed. Pretend I was just a dream, a figure of your imagination. Please don't lock yourself away and refuse to talk to anyone. There's some good guys here who will treat you much better than I ever could. We were never meant to be. We don't fit together. We-"

"Gally stop!" I beg, tears streaming down my face. "We are meant to be! We do fit! No one can treat me better than you. I love you so much. Not the other boys, not anyone else in the world. Just you. And that's never going to change. I'm not going to forget you just like that. I- I refuse to" I wrap my arms around his neck tightly, talking into the crook of his neck, trying not to let out a loud sob.

"Liv, please promise me" He recoils from my embrace and places one hand on my shoulder, and the other underneath my chin, forcing me to look at him. "I need you to promise" Tears form at his eyes.

"I... I..." I can't promise this. How can he expect me to forget him just like that?

"Olivia. Your turn" Newt calls me. I've never been as grateful as I am right now to be able to excuse myself from a conversation.

I walk into the hut, and glare at Newt and Alby.

"Giving us dirty looks won't change what happens to your boyfriend" Alby rolls his eyes.

I scan the options, but decide to add my own.

In the end, this is what my sheet looks like:

Gally gets Banished ☐
Gally gets put in the Pit ☐
Gally, Luke and Ron get Banished ☐
Gally gets Banished and Luke and Ron get put in the Pit ☐
Gally, Luke and Ron go in the Pit ☐
Luke, Ron, Zart, and anyone else who wants to Banish Gally gets Banished ☑

As soon as I try to put it in the bowl, Alby snatches it out of my hands and rips it up.

"If you're not going to do it properly, then you won't do it at all" he warns me.

"Fine" I grumble, grabbing another sheet.

I vote for all three of them going into the Pit, since that seemed the most fitting out of the options I had to choose from.

I walk outside and Gally is nowhere to be seen.

"Gally?!" I call out, even though I know it's pointless.

I sit on a nearby log, picking furiously at the bark, until Alby and Newt walk out of the hut. I spring up and push my way to the front of the crowd who were all waiting to hear the fate of the three boys.

"There was a tie" Alby explains. "Between Gally getting Banished, and all three going in the Pit. I suggest we-"

"Wait" I pipe up. "There's one person who hasn't voted yet. Ella" A sudden feeling of hope washes over me; Ella would never want Gally to be Banished. He's saved. He's not going to die.

"Are you kidding me?!" Of course it was Zart that said that. "Ella loves Gally nearly as much as she loves Olivia. Why the shuck would she Banish him? It isn't fair! I say we ask her, but don't tell her whose life is at stake. It's fair that way"

"HOW?! You all knew who the people were! Why should it be different with El?!" I shout, getting right up into Zart's face.

"Unlike her, we all remained impartial"

"THAT'S A LOAD OF BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT! AT LEAST EIGHT PERCENT OF EVERYONE VOTED PURELY BASED ON THEIR OPINION OF GALLY! YOU-"

"Olivia, that's enough!" Alby booms. "We'll ask Ella her opinion, but won't tell her who is getting punished"

Alby walks off to find Ella.

"Hey, Alby!" the girl greets him, a big smile on her face. Alby may be moody most of the time, but he did have a soft spot for Ella.

"Hi! I need your opinion on something" He sits next to her

"Oh. Ok" She sits up slightly straighter, suddenly feeling very important.

"So, a Glader attacked two other people and hurt them very badly. However, they did have a reason to attack. The other people were making some comments, and a lot of people agreed they had the attack coming. We had a vote, and the results were tied. We either put all three people in the Pit, or we, uh..." Alby trails off, not knowing how to word the next bit. He doubted that she knew what Banishing meant, so he needed to simple it down. "Or we send them away from here"

Ella thinks about it, weighing up the options in her mind. She knew the Pit was bad, but being sent from here? They would be able to escape the Maze. They would be far away from this terrible place and be able to see the outside world. How is that a punishment?

"They should be sent away from here" she says eventually.

"Ok. Thank you, Ella" Alby walks, dreading having to tell Olivia the news.

Olivia spots Alby, so she sprints to him. Gally had also come back by this point.

"What did-"

"Go sit down. I'm going to tell everyone at the same time" Alby says, cutting the girl off.

"Oh. Ok" She goes and sits next to Gally, taking hold of his hand. "She would never Banish someone. You'll be ok. I promise, Gal" She speaks so firmly, that for one, stupid minute, Gally believes her. He believes he will be ok. He believes he's going to survive, and he will be able to joke about the time he almost died at the Bonfire.

"Gally will be Banished at sundown" Alby says gravely.

"WHAT?!" Olivia yells.

A/n: Hey guys, I won't be able to update tomorrow because I'm going to the waterpark for my best friend's birthday and then having a sleepover with them. I'm really sorry :(

Also, I got about two hours sleep last night. I tried to go to bed at half ten to get a kind of early night, but it took me a few hours to fall asleep, so I ended up falling asleep at around half one. It's always taken me a couple hours to fall asleep my whole life, but for the past couple months, it has taken me an hour (which is really good for me) but for some reason it took ages last night. I then woke up at 3:30am, and tried to fall asleep again, but gave up around 5. For some reason, I'm less tired then I would be if I had gotten six hours sleep (which is a good nights sleep for me). Basically, that's why this chapter is pretty bad so I'm sorry about that I am literally functioning on 2 hours sleep. I also barely got any sleep the night before sooo😅

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