˚ ༘✶₊˚.                         ⊹ ˚ .  FIRST ACT
❪         SEVEN      ♥︎    ₊˚༢࿐
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MAE SKIDS ACROSS THE STONE when she crashed on the floor, cutting her knees against little pebbles. She was breathing heavily, staring at the ground with wide eyes. I did it. Mae gave a shocked laugh, but the sound of the Maze doors clicking in place made stopped in a sick realization. Oh, god, I did it.

She didn't seem to be the only one surprise, and it took her a second to register Nick charging at her until she was thrown onto her back, with him standing over her.

"Are you shucking crazy?!" He bellowed, shaking her shoulders hard with tears in his eyes. "What is the matter with you? Why did you do that?"

"I wasn't going to let you be trapped here!" She yelled back, slapping at his chest. "You didn't even try to come back!"

"For good reason!" He screams, scrambling to his feet.

Mae watched him peel up his shirt, and her heart broke when she saw the black veins crawling up his abdomen from the large hole of a Grievers sting.

"You were stung. ." She states the obvious, "H-How did it happen?"

He sighed, seeming to calm down as he turned on his heel and began walking back into the Maze. "The section was full of them, I've never seen so many in one place. I was right, they were guarding something. But I couldn't get close enough to see."

Mae nodded, taking in this information as she rushed after him. She forced herself to push away the fear of death, looking at the pathways surrounding them as they past. The sun was going down quickly, and she had no choice but to follow an injured Nick.

She was alive. Mae instantly reminds herself that there was always something worse that could happen. She needed to look on the bright side, at least she wasn't alone, at least she wasn't hurt.

"Okay," She says suddenly, stopping in her tracks. "Let's get somewhere safe for the night."

Nick scoffs, "Nowhere to go," He said, turning to face her, "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's not exactly safe down there."

She starts to think, putting her finger to her nose as she tapped it in concentration. Then, comically, her head began to turn up the wall beside her. Nick followed her eyes up the ivy, noticing how small this wall was compared to the others—— still big enough to kill you with one miss step.

"Then we go up," She suggests.

"No," He said shortly, continuing his way down the path.

Mae frowned. "Where are you going? We should wait until the doors open in the morning!"

"I'm going back to section seven," He responds. "Let the Grievers finish the job."

The girl grows pale, and quickly ran up to him. She grabs his shoulder, and turns him around to face her. He looked defeated, and annoyed at her.

"I'm going to save us!" She says optimistically, "We are going to make it through the night, and I'm going to help you through the Changing—"

"Mae stop!" He bellowed, his aggression mixed between his inpatients and the sting in system. "Just stop, alright?! Do you hear yourself? Save me? You can't even save yourself!" He points into her shoulder roughly, moving her back, "It's over! We are going to die and the sooner you accept that the quicker we can move on!"

The blonde's lip began to quiver as she allowed Nick to yell at her. Her mind swarming with so many things she didn't know what to follow. A part of her ran into the Maze because she wanted to prove she was capable of surviving it. She wanted to prove Gally wrong, she wanted to prove them all wrong by saving Nick.

But then there was the other part of her, the part that knew she couldn't do it. The part that was too scared to even try. She did things on a reckless instinct, it was the reason she ran into the Maze the first time. She didn't think.

It seemed that Mae was too quiet, and Nick gave a big scoff, which turned into a laugh as he pressed his palms into his eyes before running his hands through his messy hair.

"God, I should've known." He shook his head, amused with himself, "Alby was right, you don't know how to obey orders! We told you never to run into the Maze, remember that? You promised! You promised that no matter who it was—"

"Well I didn't." She said firmly, "I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. . ." The girl stops herself from crying by giving a shaky inhale, "I need to get you somewhere safe, so I can treat your wound."

"Without the antidote I'm as good as dead—"

Mae opens her backpack, and pulls out one syringe with a smile.

He clenched his jaw, "Did you steal that from my room?"

When Stephen died, another Glader victim to a Grievers sting, the box came up with only one syringe the Gladers could give to someone who is stung by a Griever. It with their weekly supplies, and Frypan had been the one to find it.

     Then, Gally had gotten stung last year. Mae had never been more horrified, and no one bothered to ask how. Nick and Alby took the risk without knowing what the syringe contained and after a brutal night Gally had gone through a process called the Changing.

     It was heaven sent. But sadly the Creators were assholes who only have them one syringe each month. It was sickening, having to choose who lived or died. Nick wouldn't allow the risk of wasting it, so he hid them away in his room, trying to collect as many as possible so they didn't have to depend on just one.

     Mae put the serum back in her bag, her smile dropping. "I thought it was smart to keep one on me, just in case something happened. . ." And it did. "I just wanted to help."

"You worrying about others is the reason you're in this mess," He shook his head, "When are you going to start worrying about yourself?"

"Apparently never, considering you're so sure I'm going to die tonight." Mae huffed back, grabbing a fist full of ivy as she was ready to climb. "Now, come on."

—————

     With great effort and a quick slip that almost sent Mae tumbling, they had finally reached over the wall. The girl rolls onto the platform with a tired heave, just as Nick's elbows buckled and he fell on top of her. She rolls from under him and he face-plants on the stone.

     "Okay," She groaned, getting to her knees and shrugging off her backpack. She rumbles through it before pulling out a small metal jar, twisting it open. "I'm going to rub this on your wound, it should stop the bleeding and from getting infected. Then I'm gonna—"

     "Mae, no offense but don't walk me through the process just do it," He winced out, pressing his head into the stone as he fought back the pain.

     Mae sighed, looking up at the sky. It was dark now, and a part of her was dreading the hours to come until morning.

     "All right, hold still."

     For a second, she held her breath in hopes to hear the Gladers on the other side. But it was quiet, and the grand wall was too big to see over. Mae wondered what they were doing now as she rubbed yarrow on Nick's wound.

     The council room had never been this loud as the Gladers overlapped each other with opinions and solutions.

     Alby was standing in the middle of it all, his face pale as he tried to think of something to say. He never had experience taking charge this way, especially not when Nick had been their leader for so long.

     He turned to Newt, hoping the young boy would have something to say. But Newt wasn't looking at him— he wasn't looking at anyone.

Instead he was standing at the door, his back turned as he stared directly at the Maze doors. Alby only assumed the boy was filled with guilt and regret over Mae.

     None of them had expected it.

     And now, Mae was likely dead.

     "We need to climb the walls!" Gally said breathlessly, face red, "Build a fucking bridge, we need to do something!"

     That sent another uproar of arguments and opinions.

     "The ivy doesn't go up that high, slinthead!" Theo yelled back, "Even then, how are we gonna get back down?! Just accept they're dead and move on—"

     Gally raises his fist and tries to punch Theo hard across the face, but Frypan and Clint were holding him back with all of their strength.

Chuck tried to yell over them, but his voice drowned out in the chaos.

His eyes fleet over to Alby, and when the eldest noticed the Greenie's panicked eyes he finally swallowed his nerves and stood up on a table.

"ENOUGH!" He bellows.

The boys quiet down instantly, turning to face Alby. Newt slowly walked back in the room, ready to hear what their new leader had to say.

He hoped that Alby had a plan to get Nick and Mae out of there, but Newt knew deep down that Alby was just as lost as the rest of them.

"Why are we acting like this ain't never happened before?" He began, "People run into the Maze and they don't come back, nothing we can do about it. ." He hesitates slightly, but continues to be firm, "Nick knew the risks, and Mae," He scoffs, "We always knew Mae wasn't gonna make it that long anyway."

At this, most of the boys bowed their heads. A swarming guilt surrounded them as they thought about all the times they teased the girl about it but deep down they all truly and genuinely cared for Mae.

Zart began to tear up, wishing he could apologize for all the trouble he caused her over the years. Simply wishing for his gardening partner back.

And Gally, he felt like he couldn't breath. He didn't think the last thing he'd say to her was something so horrible. He had told her those things so he could put back up his walls, so it would lessen the blow when she was gone.

But now, she was gone. And he had never felt worse.

"In the morning, Minho and Ben will do a search. . .to see if we can salvage something to bury," Alby continued.

Both Minho and Ben silently nod, physically and mentally dreading the tasks. Minho almost threw up right then as he thought about finding the remains of Mae—— a girl he considered a sister.

"For now, we wait."

Nick let out a painful scream against the fabric in his mouth, but Mae worked through the tears in her eyes as he trashed in her arms. He was experiencing the changing, and there was no way she could tie him down from where they were.

Her bright idea was to wrap the surrounding ivy around his arms and legs, which seemed to do the job for a little while until he broke free and almost choked her.

So, her next best idea was to rip the fabric of her dress to tie his hands and feet together. She had ripped away so much, that the dress now hung awkwardly above the knees, but she didn't pay that any mind.

"Nick, please," She begged, her voice just above a whisper as she looked around the Maze, "Please, I know it hurts but try to keep it down!"

He began to cry against the fabric, his eyes were a sickly bloodshot color and black veins slowly traveled up the side of his neck, making his skin blotchy and discolored. He was in pain, and on his second seizure of the hour.

"It's okay," She hiccuped, running a shaky hand through his matted brown hair, "Shh, shh. It's okay," She continued through her tears.

Her eyes fleet up to the moon before she softly grabbed his face and made him look up at it too. Slowly, his eyes follow where she wants them, and at the sound of her voice his crying turned into slow whimpers.

"Look, Nick. The moon, that's where George is. Remember? He's behind there right now, w-with Stephen and Miles and all the others." She explains, "But they want us to see the sun, Nick. You have to keep fighting, for them."

An hour turned into two, which turned into three until she lost count. Nick was now in and out of consciousness, and Mae felt completely alone.

She didn't like being alone with her thoughts, they were always so taunting and negative. Which was why she only ever seemed to be positive.

Because her heart was filled with hope and light and her mind was just a looming emptiness. They both clashed in opinion, and Mae was finding it hard to keep up.

You're an idiot. Her mind said with rage. Gally was right, you were too soft! Too childish! Now look at you, you're going to die and you let it happen! You didn't grow up, you didn't survive. She allowed herself to pretend, she allowed herself to be oblivious.

     You did the right thing. Her heart reminded tenderly. Nick was in trouble and all you ever wanted was to be helpful, and kind. It's not your fault they don't understand how you cope. You're going to be fine!

     And as they battled for the last word, Mae shrunk into herself. Pressing her head between her knees as she cried.

     By then, another hour had ended, and Mae couldn't remember how long they had been there. She was only snapped out of her daze when Nick began to stir.

     "Nick. ." She muttered, a hopeful smile on her face as she crawled up to him and cradling his face.

He was looking at her differently, almost cautiously as she removed the fabric against his mouth. She was smiling hopefully at him, but as Nick swallowed away the dryness of his mouth, Mae could sense something was wrong. There was a tension and she didn't know why.

"You. . ." His voice was hoarse, and Mae couldn't help but wince at the sound. "I saw you. .on the other side of the–of the pod."

She furrows her brow, shaking her head to show that she didn't understand. Slowly, he forced himself to sit up, looking at her in sadness.

He remembered.

Not everything, not really, but Nick remembered her. It was in blurs and flashes but he could recognize her blue eyes anywhere. It was one of the last things he saw before the Creators took away his memories.

It was her, her eyes filled with tears and guilt as she pressed her hand against the pod. Mae was saying something, something the water drowned out but it was something important.

And then, the memory flashes again and she was fighting against the soldiers—— she was screaming the same thing over and over again, but still, he heard nothing.

Then his eyes closed and only opened when he woke up in the Maze.

"I saw you, Mae." He repeats softly, "You were one of them. .and you knew we wouldn't get out."

     To that, Mae broke down. She began to cry, wishing that she could remember what they did. Her mind fleeted to George, who once told her the same thing all those years ago. The thought of having something to do with it, being the cause of the pain her friends went through.

     Her.

     All she ever wanted to do was help but all along she was the one who had help cause this mess.

     "Hey," Nick muttered, instantly dropping his guard and rubbing his thumb against her cheek, taking the tears away. "Mae, it wasn't you. We don't know the whole story, what ever happened. . .it wasn't you."

     "You don't know that." She sobs.

     "Yes, I do." He said firmly, "I don't remember the you before, but I know the you now. And this Mae," He looks at her in the eyes, "This Mae would never betray her friends, not ever."

     "I just want to help. . ."

     He could hear the desperation in her voice, and pulls her into a tight hug. It was a simple action, but it was one that she needed most of all. She needed to know that the people she took care of would do the same for her, that it was okay.

     "I know."

     Before the sky was awake, all of the Gladers were. Alby, Newt, Minho, Gally, Ben and all the others had gathered around the door. With torches in hand everyone was quiet, too scared to voice their thoughts as they waited for the sun to rise.

     Gally was anxious, pacing up and down the small patch of dirt. He was biting at his thumb, a nervous habit he picked up from the girl he couldn't get off his mind.

     "They'll make it," Newt muttered to him. It had been the first thing he said in the last hour, making his voice slightly scratched.

     Gally shook his head, mostly trying to shake away his panic.

     "You need to have faith—"

     "You don't get it," He snaps. "I shucked up, like really shucked up and now the last thing I might've said to her was that she dragged me down! Like she was some burden—"

     Newt put his hand on his shoulder, stopping his pacing with a deep frown. He wouldn't question why Gally had done it, and truthfully he didn't care. The damage was done, and there was nothing Newt could say to comforting him on it.

     "You can apologize when she comes home," He said firmly. "Now keep yourself together, you're scaring Chuckie."

     He was right. Chuck looked absolutely horrified. It was only his second day and now his leader and one of the only friends he's made so far was most likely dead. Not only was he scared, he felt helpless.

     Gally gives a short nod, and walks to Frypan.

—————

     Mae wobbles when her feet hit the ground before reaching up and helping Nick down from the vine. She pulled her backpack straps hard, giving him a concerned frown when he reached up to hold his wound. His eyes flash in pain, but it was quickly hidden with a determined nod.

     "Doors should be opened within the hour," He mumbled, holding his hand out for her to grab. Their fingers lock together as he said, "Stay close, Grievers can be anywhere."

     "How do you know which door will open first?" Mae asked him quietly, looking back as they turned a corner. "The Maze changes."

     "In truth, Minho and the runners have everything mapped out." He admits, "We've scouted almost every inch, we've memorized it. Each path, each corner." He sighed, "At least we thought we did." 

     "What was there? In section seven, I mean." She pressed. Nick visibly stiffened at her question, and she backtracked. "Sorry. . ."

     "S'okay," He gives a shaky smile. "It was like. .a bridge and I think some kind of door, didn't really get a good look cause of all those Grievers. Dozens of them." Mae has to bite her lip to stop herself from questioning further.

     "That must have been scary," She emphasized.

     He shrugged it off, "Let's not talk about it."

     It was then Mae realized she'd never seen a Griever before. She had only ever heard them from behind the walls, and gathered some kind of imagine from the stories Minho and Ben would tell from their runs. Mae asked Gally about it once, after he was stung, but he refused to say a thing about it.

     "Well, when we get back, we can gather some of the others and go back to section seven!" She says optimistically, "This is the closest we've been in almost three years."

     Nick stops, whirling around to face her, "We?"

     "Yes?" Mae shifts at his gaze. "I-I'm a Glader too remember?" She pressed, crossing her arms for good measure.

     He looks stunned, his eyes sweeping up and down in slight judgement before he started chuckling.

     "Aw, you're adorable." He ruffled her hair, and turns to walk again.

     Mae didn't follow. "I'm serious."

     He rolls his head back, and groans at the sky before striding toward her. Their noses practically touching as he said, "Mae, for the almost three years I've known you, you have never wanted any part of this. I mean, just yesterday you were telling me about how much you wanted to stay in the Glade!"

     What's changed?

     She looked away, "I just— I," She gave a heavy sigh, and threw her hands up. "Yesterday, I thought I had everything figured out. I'd wake up, and I'd do my tasks and I'd help as many people as I can and pretend that everything around me was fine, I thought it was a healthy way of coping after George died but then. . ."

     ". . .then everyone kept dying," He continued sadly.

     Mae wraps her arms around herself, holding back tears, "I thought I could act like everything was fine, I thought I could ignore my friends just up and dying but I guess. .I guess I was wrong. And when you told me that you were going to leave I got. .scared."

     Nick sighed. "Mae, I knew the risks—"

     "It still hurt," She emphasized, "Then, Gally said all those things. He said that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life standing up for me because I can't do it myself, how clumsy and unskillful I am and-and how I was too soft to be a Glader. Just cause I don't know how to survive on my own."

He shakes his head. "Gally says all sorts of things when he wants to push people away! You shouldn't take it to heart, Mae. Shuck, I think he only said those things because he didn't want to get attached to you."

"Because you all think I'm gonna die."

She tears up, and when Nick couldn't defend against it Mae allowed the tears to slip away.

"We just. . .we know your limits," He said slowly, "You aren't built for this kind of thing, Mae, and it's really nothing to be ashamed of. Not everyone can be in the center of darkness and still be so bright."

"I'm just as capable of surviving this as the next person," Mae said firmly, "A-And I'm gonna prove it to you, to all of you." She falters, "With you by my side, of course, because I don't know what I'm doing."

Nick raised his eyebrow, "Always," He chucked, holding out his hand, "Now, let's get out of here. We're so close."

She gave a relieved giggle, and right before her hand can be delicately placed in his, the sound of a shrill startled them both.

The sound was like a whirring and clicking sounds as they moved, like metal slammed against stone. Mae was completely frozen when she noticed Nick's expression. He looked horrified, his chest heaving in panic as he looked behind her.

She didn't know where she found the strength to turn her head, but when she looked behind her Mae wasn't met with an empty pathway.

It was crowded with a large Griever. It resembled a deformed mechanical spider-scorpion hybrid, with many appendages like spikes and shears. It seems to move toward them in a forward roll, a visible stinger on its back.

"Run. .Mae RUN!" Nick screams, latching onto her wrist and turning to flee.

Mae was pulled back into reality, and quickly ran past him.

"Turn left!" He yelled. She listened, taking a sharp left.

     She made the mistake of looking behind her, and she could've sworn she felt her heart stop. Nick had torn his wound, blood seeping through his shirt as he tried to push forward, only to stumble. The Griever was gaining at a dangerous speed.

     "Nick!" She screams, running forward.

     "No! Go!"

     "Not without you!" She wraps her arm around his back, pulling his other arm over her head. She tried her best to assist him, practically dragging him down the path and around the next corner.

     There was a heavy presence behind her, and before Mae could register it, the claw of a Griever pierced into her arm with a shrill. Mae let out a painful scream, and instead of the instant death she expected, the Griever through her away.

     Her back hits the stone, and her eyes blurred at the smack her head made against the wall.

     It was touring over her now, having Mae right where it wanted her. It's jaw unhinged, showing it's disgusting metal teeth.

     With a battle cry, Nick picks up a rock and chucks it hard at the side of the Grievers head. It stumbles back, and turns to the boy with beady eyes.

     "Nick!" She cries, eyes widening in panic as the Griever started to charge at him instead.

     The boy slide right under it, causing it to slam head first into one of the walls. Then, Nick ran up and grabbed Mae, lifting her to her feet.

     "We're gonna make it!" She tells him, her eyes filled with optimistic tears.

     Together, they turn around corner. And it was just their luck that the entrance to the clearing right before the Glade doors was starting to close.

     "Come on!" She pulls him forward, not caring that the arm of her dress was turning a dark red. "We're so close!"

     The Griever was charging again.

     The door was seconds from closing.

     And as the blood seeped out of his torso and his eyes began to blur, Nick knew.

     He knew he was never going to make it.

     So he had to buy her time.

     "Hey," He said softly, grabbing both sides of her face and making her look at him. "Hey, it's okay." It was his turn to comfort him now.

     Her eyes shined with fresh tears, "What are you—"

     "Thank you, for everything."

    Nick kissed her forehead tenderly, his eyes closing in content. He pressed his forehead into hers, and as tears rolled down his cheek he had said the one thing Mae would never forget.

     "I'll see you behind the moon."

     She realized it instantly, "Nick, wait—!"

     With all his strength, Nick fisted the chest of her dress and flung her into the clearing.

     Mae looks up just as the Griever pierced it's spikes into Nick. She let out a horrified cry, and as Nick's screams filled the air Mae was forced to watch the Griever tear into him.

     "NICK!"

     The entrance slamming shut and muting away whatever came next.

     And then the doors of the Glade opened wide.

     They had been so close. . . so close.

     "MAE!"

     Two hands wrapped around her arms and tugged her up. Newt, Gally, Minho, everyone was crowding around her. Familiar faces, safe faces. They bombarded her, asking her if she was okay, insisting she tell them what happened.

     Through the crowd, her teary eyes land on Gally and he moves to step forward to comfort her but Mae runs right into Newt's arms.

The Brit instantly pulled her closer, whispering his comforts as he felt the need to shield her from the cruel world around them.

     And as Mae buried her face into his chest, she only wished she could disappear.

↳ ❛ NOTES ❜
꒰꒰ Bye bye Nickie-poo, one more chapter then we get Thomas the Train ꒱꒱