Gally’s eyes raged with lunacy; his clothes were torn and filthy. He dropped to his knees and
stayed there, his chest heaving with deep, sucking breaths. He looked about the room like a rabid
dog searching for someone to bite. No one said a word. It was as if they all believed as Thomas
did—that Gally was only a figment of their imagination.
“They’ll kill you!” Gally screamed, spittle flying everywhere. “The Grievers will kill you
all—one every night till it’s over!”
Thomas watched, speechless, as Gally staggered to his feet and walked forward, dragging his
right leg with a heavy limp. No one in the room moved a muscle as they watched, obviously too
stunned to do anything. Even Newt stood mouth agape. Thomas was almost more afraid of their
surprise visitor than he was of the Grievers just outside the window.
Gally stopped, standing just a few feet in front of Thomas and Newt; he pointed at Thomas
with a bloody finger. “You,” he said with a sneer so pronounced it went past comical to flat-out
disturbing. “It’s all your fault!” Without warning he swung his left hand, forming it into a fist as
it came around and crashed into Thomas’s ear. Crying out, Thomas crumpled to the ground,
more taken by surprise than pain. He scrambled to his feet as soon as he’d hit the floor.
Newt had finally snapped out of his daze and pushed Gally away. Gally stumbled backward
and crashed into the desk by the window. The lamp scooted off the side and broke into pieces on
the ground. Thomas assumed Gally would retaliate, but he straightened instead, taking everyone
in with his mad gaze.
“It can’t be solved,” he said, his voice now quiet and distant, spooky. “The shuck Maze’ll kill
all you shanks…. The Grievers’ll kill you … one every night till it’s over…. I … It’s better this
way….” His eyes fell to the floor. “They’ll only kill you one a night … their stupid Variables
…”
Thomas listened in awe, trying to suppress his fear so he could memorize everything the
crazed boy said.
Newt took a step forward. “Gally, shut your bloody hole—there’s a Griever right out the
window. Just sit on your butt and be quiet—maybe it’ll go away.”
Gally looked up, his eyes narrowing. “You don’t get it, Newt. You’re too stupid—you’ve
always been too stupid. There’s no way out—there’s no way to win! They’re gonna kill you, all
of you—one by one!”
Screaming the last word, Gally threw his body toward the window and started tearing at the
wooden boards like a wild animal trying to escape a cage. Before Thomas or anyone else could
react, he’d already ripped one board free; he threw it to the ground.
“No!” Newt yelled, running forward. Thomas followed to help, in utter disbelief at what was
happening.
Gally ripped off the second board just as Newt reached him. He swung it backward with both
hands and connected with Newt’s head, sent him sprawling across the bed as a small spray of
blood sprinkled the sheets. Thomas pulled up short, readying himself for a fight.
“Gally!” Thomas yelled. “What’re you doing!”
The boy spat on the ground, panting like a winded dog. “You shut your shuck-face, Thomas.
You shut up! I know who you are, but I don’t care anymore. I can only do what’s right.”
Thomas felt as if his feet were rooted to the ground. He was completely baffled by what Gally
was saying. He watched the boy reach back and rip loose the final wooden board. The instant the
discarded slab hit the floor of the room, the glass of the window exploded inward like a swarm of
crystal wasps. Thomas covered his face and fell to the floor, kicking his legs out to scoot his
body as far away as possible. When he bumped into the bed, he gathered himself and looked up,
ready to face his world coming to an end.
A Griever’s pulsating, bulbous body had squirmed halfway through the destroyed window,
metallic arms with pincers snapping and clawing in all directions. Thomas was so terrified, he
barely registered that everyone else in the room had fled to the hallway—all except Newt, who
lay unconscious on the bed.
Frozen, Thomas watched as one of the Griever’s long arms reached for the lifeless body. That
was all it took to break him from his fear. He scrambled to his feet, searched the floor around
him for a weapon. All he saw were knives—they couldn’t help him now. Panic exploded within
him, consumed him.
Then Gally was speaking again; the Griever pulled back its arm, as if it needed the thing to be
able to observe and listen. But its body kept churning, trying to squeeze its way inside.
“No one ever understood!” the boy screamed over the horrible noise of the creature, crunching
its way deeper into the Homestead, ripping the wall to pieces. “No one ever understood what I
saw, what the Changing did to me! Don’t go back to the real world, Thomas! You don’t … want
… to remember!”
Gally gave Thomas a long, haunted look, his eyes full of terror; then he turned and dove onto
the writhing body of the Griever. Thomas yelled out as he watched every extended arm of the
monster immediately retract and clasp onto Gally’s arms and legs, making escape or rescue
impossible. The boy’s body sank several inches into the creature’s squishy flesh, making a
horrific squelching sound. Then, with surprising speed, the Griever pushed itself back outside the
shattered frame of the window and began descending toward the ground below.
Thomas ran to the jagged, gaping hole, looked down just in time to see the Griever land and
start scooting across the Glade, Gally’s body appearing and disappearing as the thing rolled. The
lights of the monster shone brightly, casting an eerie yellow glow across the stone of the open
West Door, where the Griever exited into the depths of the Maze. Then, seconds later, several
other monsters followed close behind their companion, whirring and clicking as if celebrating
their victory.
Thomas was sickened to the verge of throwing up. He began to back away from the window,
but something outside caught his eye. He quickly leaned out of the building to get a better look.
A lone shape was sprinting across the courtyard of the Glade toward the exit through which
Gally had just been taken.
Despite the poor light, Thomas realized who it was immediately. He screamed—yelled at him
to stop—but it was too late.
Minho, running full speed, disappeared into the Maze.
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