Most of The Gladers slept outside in normal times, so packing all those bodies into the Homestead made for a tight fight.

The Keepers had organized and distributed the Gladers throughout the rooms, along with blankets and pillows. Despite the number of people and the chaos of such a change, a disturbing silence hung over the activities, as if no one wanted to draw attention to themselves.

When everyone was settled, Clara, Archie and Thomas found themselves upstairs with Newt, Alby and Minho, and the Runners were finally able to finish their conversation from earlier in the courtyard.

Clara, Alby and Newt ended up sitting on the only bed in the room while Thomas and Minho sat next to them on chairs, Archie being forced to sit on the floor because there weren't anymore chairs. The only other furniture was a crooked wooden dresser and a small table, on top of which rested a lamp providing what light they had.

"Closest I've come so far,"Newt was saying,"to hangin' it all up. Shuck it all and kiss a Griever goodnight. Supplies cut, bloody gray skies, walls not closing. But we can't give up, and we all know it. The nuggets who sent us here either want us dead or not dead."

When no one responded, Newt asked,"Alby? Are you gonna pitch in?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Good that. But you've seen what happens at night. Just because the Greenie the freaking superboy made it doesn't mean the rest of us can."

"I'm with Thomas and Newt,"Minho stated. "We gotta quit boohooing and feeling sorry for ourselves. Tomorrow morning, first thing, you guys can assign teams to study the Maps full-time while the Runners go out. We'll pack our stuff, shuck-full so we can stay out there a few days."

"What?"Alby questioned, his voice finally showing some emotion. "What do you mean, days?"

"Days? As in a 24-hour period of time? C'mon, Alby, I'm pretty sure you know what a day is,"Clara replied. "With open Doors and no sunset, there's no point in coming back here, anyway. Time to stay out there and see if anything opens up when the walls move."

"If they still move,"Minho corrected her.

Archie, who didn't know what the hell anyone was talking about, just said,"Good that."

"No way!"Alby said firmly. "We have the Homestead to hide in - and if it ain't workin', the Map Room and the Slammer. We can't freaking ask people to go out there and die, you shanks! Who'd volunteer for that?"

"Me,"Minho replied. "And Thomas and Clara."

"I'll go too,"Archie agreed.

"I will if I have to,"Newt said. "And I'm sure all the Runners'll do it."

"With your bum leg?"Alby asked, a harsh laugh escaping his lips.

"That isn't funny, Alby!"Clara had snapped back before she had even thought about what she was going to say. Hadn't Alby known? Didn't he knew what Newt had been through? Or did he just not care?

"Clara, it's fine,"Newt said, then turned back to Alby. "Well, I don't feel good askin' Gladers to do something if I'm not bloody willing to do it myself."

Alby scooted back on the bed and propped his feet up. "Whatever. Do what you want?"

"Do what I want?"Newt asked, standing up. "What's wrong with you, man? Are you tellin' me we have a choice? Should we just sit around on our buts and wait to be snuffed by the Grievers?"

"Well, it sounds better than running to them."

Newt sat back down. "Alby. You gotta start talkin' reason."

Alby took a deep breath, and looked at each of them in turn. "You guys know I'm all screwed up. Seriously, I'm... sorry. I shouldn't be the stupid leader anymore."

"Oh bloody-"Newt started, but was interrupted by Alby. "No!"Alby shouted, his face showing humility, surrender. "That's not what I meant. Listen to me. I ain't saying we should switch or any of that klunk. I'm just saying... I think I need to let you guys make the decisions. I don't trust myself. So... yeah, I'll do whatever."

"Uh... okay,"Newt said slowly, unsure. "We'll make it work. I promise. You'll see."

"Yeah,"Alby muttered. After a long pause, he spoke up, a hint of odd excitement in his voice. "Hey, tell you what. Put me in charge of the Maps. I'll freaking work every Glader to the bone studying those things."

"Works for me,"Minho said.

Alby put his feet back on the floor, sitting straighter. "Ya know, it was really stupid for us to sleep in here tonight. We should've been out in the Map Room, working."

"Probably right." Minho shrugged.

"Well... I'll go,"Alby said with a confident nod. "Right now."

Newt shook his head. "Forget that, Alby. Already had the bloody Grievers moaning out there. We can wait till the wake-up."

Alby leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Hey, you shucks are the ones giving me all the pep talks. Don't start whining when I actually listen. If I'm gonna do this, I gotta do it, be the old me. I need something to dive into. Seriously, I need this." Alby stood up and started moving towards the floor of the room as if he really meant to leave.

"You can't be serious,"Newt said. "You can't go out there now!"

"I'm going, and that's that." Alby took his ring of keys from his pocket and rattled them mockingly. "See you shucks in the morning."

And then he walked out.

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Clara and Thomas ended up not sleeping at all, huddled together in the corner of the room, sharing the thin, worn blanket between the two of them.

Clara had tried to sleep, but the distant wails of the Grievers grew closer made Clara want to stay awake incase one attacked.

Sleep finally did come, but in short periods. Sometimes Clara would wake up with a jolt when she heard the Grievers, waking up Thomas in the process, and vice versa.

It was about two in the morning when the mechanized surge of machinery sounded from outside, followed by the familiar rolling clicks of a Griever on the stony ground, as if someone had scattered a handful of nails.

Clara and Thomas shot to their feet, as did the others. Clara had already grabbed a throwing knife from it's sheath, and held it ready, in her hand.

But Newt was up before Clara and Thomas, waving his arms, then shushing the room by putting a finger to his lips. Favoring his bad leg, he tiptoed toward the lone window in the room, which was covered by three hastily nailed boards. Large cracks allowed for plenty of space to peek outside. Carefully, Newt leaned in to take a look, and Thomas crept over to join him.

All Thomas saw was the open Galde, although he didn't have enough space to look up or down or to the side - Just straight ahead. After a minute or so, he gave up and turned back to sit with Clara again.

A few minutes passed, various Griever sounds penetrating the walls every ten to twenty seconds. The squeal of small engines followed by a grinding spin of metal. The clicks if spikes against the hard stone. Things snapping and opening and snapping.

Clara moved closer to Thomas every time she head something in fear.

There were at least three or four Grievers outside.

They heard the the twisted animal-machines come closer, so close, waiting on the stone blocks below. All hums and metallic clatter.

"Is there a Griever coming?"Clara whispered anxiously to Thomas. That's what it sounded like - the clicking of its spikes against the stone suddenly turned into a deeper, hollower sound.

Thomas could picture it all : the creature's metal spikes digging into the wooden side of the Homestead, the massive creature rolling its body, climbing up toward the room, defying gravity with it's strength. He heard the Griever's spikes shred the wood siding in their path as they tore out and rotated around to take hold once again.

The whole building shuddered.

The crunching and groaning and snapping of the wood became the only sounds in the world to Thomas, along with Clara's shaky breaths next to him. They grew louder, closer - and the other Gladers had shuffled across the room, as far away from the window as possible.

Just when it grew unbearable - just as Thomas realized the Griever was right outside the window - everything fell silent. He was holding Clara tighter, as if to protect her, and she was holding on to him tighter than before.

Lights flickered out there, casting odd beams through the crack between the wooden boards. Then a thin shadow interrupted the light, moving back and forth. Thomas knew that the Griever's probes and weapons had come out, searching for a feast. He imagine beetle blades out there, helping the creatures find their way.

"Thomas,"Clara whispered to him. "I... I just wanted to say... if something happens -"

"Nothing will happen,"Thomas told her soothingly. "It'll all be fine."

"I love you, Tom,"Clara whispered.

"I love you, too,"he whispered back, holding her tighter, still trying to listen to what was happening outside.

A few seconds later, the shadow had stopped. The light settled to a standstill, casting three unmoving planes of brightness into the room.

The tension in the air was thick, and everyone was holding their breaths.

Gasps and shouts exploded throughout the room. The Gladers had been expecting something from the window, not from behind them.

Clara let out a gasp and her hand and lip started to tremble.

It was Gally.

❀✿❀

gif is clara when she sees gally

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