Trapped - Gally x Reader - TMR

28. Run

I blinked up at the sky, disappointed. The clouds were still thick, but the rain was over.

I glanced toward the Maze entrance.

The other Gladers were gathered there.

They were facing the walls, their backs to us.

"What are they doing?" I muttered.

Gally followed my gaze. A second later, his whole body tensed.

"Shit," he muttered.

I looked at him. "What?"

"Minho and Alby." His jaw tightened. "They should've been back by now."

I stood at the entrance of the Maze.

Gally was next to me, kneeling, starring into the dark corridors. Thomas and Newt were on my other side, tense, unmoving. The rain had stopped, but the air was thick, heavy. Suffocating.

Something was wrong.

They should be back by now.

Minho was always on time. Always. He knew the Maze better than anyone else. He wouldn't cut it this close. Not unless...

My stomach twisted. I felt sick.

"Come on guys, can't we send someone after them?" Thomas asked, shifting beside me.

"It's against the rules." Gally's voice was cold. "Either they make it, or they don't."

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. My chest tightened.

Newt sighed. "We can't risk losing anyone else."

I swallowed hard, my breath shaky. I knew they were right. I knew the rules. But it didn't make it any easier to stand here, helpless.

Chuck stood off to the side, pale as a ghost. He looked as sick as I felt.

"There!"

Thomas's voice snapped through the air.

My head jerked up just as Minho came around the corner, sweat-drenched and breathless...Alby was over his back.

A gasp tore from my throat.

He was struggling. Every step looked heavier.

The walls groaned. The doors started to move.

Too soon.

Way too soon.

The Maze was closing.

Screams erupted around me.

"Come on, MINHO! MOVE!"

"You have to leave him!"

"Minho, RUN!"

But Minho didn't. He was pulling Alby, dragging him, fighting for every step.

And I knew.

From the start, I knew.

He wasn't going to make it.

Everything slowed.

The world dimmed at the edges, my ears ringing.

Then my gaze flickered.

To Thomas.

He was already looking at me.

For a second, nothing else existed. No screams, no closing walls. Just him.

Something in my chest clenched. Because I knew this look. And I know what he was up to.

We've done this before.

It wasn't fear. It wasn't hesitation.

It was something deeper.

A decision.

One we didn't have to say out loud. That look said more than words ever could.

Thomas's lips twitched into the faintest smirk filled with fear.

"After you," he murmured.

My breath caught.

I smirked back.

And then..

I ran..

The moment I moved, the world snapped back into motion.

I heard Newt's voice..distant, panicked...shouting my name.

I saw Gally jolt forward, his eyes wide, filled with horror, reaching for me too late.

But I was already gone.

The doors were still closing.

I sprinted, heart hammering against my ribs. Thomas was right behind me. I could feel the walls closing me in.

I jumped forward just as the walls slammed shut.

The sound echoed through my bones like the end of the world.