Hazel was dumbfounded. Everything would be different now. No sun, no supplies, no protection from the shucking Grievers.
    Alby pointed at Teresa. "I want her locked up. Now. Billy! Jackson! Put her in the Slammer, and ignore every word that comes out of her shuck mouth."
    Teresa didn't react. But Thomas did enough for the both of them. "Alby, what are you talking about? You can't-" He stopped when Alby gave him a death glare. "But... How could you possibly blame her for the walls not closing?"

    Newt stepped up, gently placed a hand on Alby's chest and pushed him back. "How could we not, Tommy? She bloody admitted it herself."
    "Just be glad that you ain't goin' with her, Thomas." said Alby, giving Teresa and Hazel's brother one last glare before leaving.
    Billy and Jackson came forward and grabbed Teresa by both arms, escorting her to the Slammer.
    Before they could re-enter the forest, Newt stopped them. "Stay with her. I don't care what happens, no one's gonna lay a shuckin' finger on this girl. Swear your lives on it."

    The two guards nodded, then walked away with Teresa in tow. Hazel glanced at her brother, then back at Teresa. She could tell that they were having a telepathic conversion. She didn't know how she knew, it was just a feeling that she'd get.

    The next thirty minutes were an eruption of mass confusion. Newt and Alby had made the Keepers in charge of making assignments. Jeff was packing up the medicine and Hazel was packing up the first-aid kits and ointments. Clint, the Keeper of the Med-Jacks, had to make sure that his group -Jeff and Hazel- got inside the Homestead within that short hour.
    "Hazel!" shouted Clint, standing beside the open door. "Jeff and I are going to help the other Keepers. Be sure to get inside the Homestead after you're done here, Okay?"
    "Sure, Clint." replied Hazel.

    After Hazel had emptied out the last cabinet she picked up the boxes of first-aid kits and walked out the door. As she made her way to the. Homestead, she spotted Newt talking to her brother.
    Thomas, just the person I need to talk to, thought Hazel, approaching the them.
   VBy the time Hazel reached the two boys, Thomas had already ran off.
    "Newt, where'd Thomas go?" asked Hazel.

    "He left to find the girl." replied Newt.
    "Can you give this to Clint for me please? I need to speak to Thomas." said Hazel, handing the boxes to Newt.
    "Make sure you get to the Homestead before they barricade the doors for the night, love." replied Newt, pecking Hazel on the lips.
    "Thanks, Newt." replied Hazel, walking off to find her brother.

    Hazel sprinted towards the Slammer, along the back of the Homestead. She ran past a corner and bumped into something, or should I say, someone.
    "Oof!" exclaimed Hazel, falling.
    "Woah! Are you okay, sis?" asked Thomas, helping her up.
    "I'm alright, I just need to tell you something." said Hazel.
    "Can it wait?"
    "Trust me, you don't want other people to know." said Hazel.
    "Wha-"

    "I know that you and Teresa are telepathic." she blurted out.
    "How...?"
    Because I can do it too, answered Hazel in Thomas's mind.
    Thomas's jaw dropped.
    "It doesn't always work. I just get little bits and pieces sometime, like I heard Teresa talking to you in your mind."
    "When did you find out?"
Hazel opened her mouth to explain but another voice interrupted her.

    "Thomas! Hazel!" exclaimed Newt, grabbing Hazel's hand in his. "What are you guys still doing here?! Get back to the bloody Homestead, the doors are about to close."
    "I'll tell you later" mouthed Hazel, following Newt back to the Homestead.
    Hazel turned around the corner towards the front door of the Homestead, just as the last couple Gladers were entering. Thomas stepped inside as well, followed by Hazel, then Newt who closed the door behind him.
    Just before the door latched shut, Hazel could've sworn that she heard the first hair-raising groan of the Grievers, coming from somewhere deep inside the Maze.
    The night had begun.

****

    Most of the Gladers normally slept outside, so packing all those bodies made a tight fit. The Keepers had organised and distributed the Gladers throughout the rooms, along with blankets and pillows. Even though there was a huge amount of people in the room, an eerie silence hung over the Gladers, as if no one wanted to draw attention to themselves. When everyone was finally settled, Hazel found herself upstairs with Newt, Alby, Minho and Thomas.

    Newt and Alby sat on the only bed in the room while Thomas and Minho sat next to them chairs. Hazel lay on the side of bed, curled up into a ball next to Newt with her head resting comfortably on his lap. The only other furniture in the room was an old wooden dresser and a small table, which had a lamp on top of it, providing what light they had.
    Hazel tuned out the boys' conversion as she played with the seam of Newt's hoodie.

    She was brought back to reality by the boys' raising their voices.
    "I'll go," said Alby. "Right now."
    Hazel felt Newt's chest vibrate as he spoke. "Forget that, Alby. We already heard the bloody Grievers out there. We can wait till the tomorrow morning."
     Go where? What are they talking about? Wondered Hazel, furrowing her eyebrows.

    "Hey you shucks were the ones who said it. Don't start whinin' when I actually listen. If I'm gonna do this, I gotta do it, be the old me. I need somethin' to distract me."
    Hazel heard the bed creak as Alby stood up.
    "Seriously, I need this." said Alby, moving towards the door of the room.

    "You can't be serious," said Newt. "You can't go out there now!"
    "I'm going and there's nothin' you shanks can do to stop me." said Alby, taking his keys out of his pocket and rattling them mockingly. "See you shucks in the morning."
    And with that, he walked out.
    "What was that all about?" asked Hazel, sitting up.

****

    It was strange to know that as the night was growing later, that darkness should've swallowed the world around them, the sky still stayed a pale grey. Time slowed down to an excruciating crawl. Thomas lay on the floor in one of the upper rooms, on top of a thick blanket, several other Gladers were crammed in the room with him. The bed had gone to Hazel and Newt.

    Almost every person had a torch by their side in case of an emergency. Newt had ordered all the lights to be turned off -despite the pale deathly glow of their new sky- no sense attracting any more attention than necessary. Anything that could be done on such short notice to prepare for a Griever attack had been done; the windows were boarded up, the furniture was moved in front of the doors as a barricade and knives were handed out as weapons.

    Hazel was given her bow, Gally had fixed it before he disappeared. She kept the bow and quiver full of arrows under the bed. Hazel lay on the bed with Newt, her head resting on his chest. The distant wails of the Grievers grew closer as the night stretched on. The anticipation of what might happen drove Hazel crazy. The waiting was unbearable.

    Hazel looked down, at the floor where her brother lay tossing and turning.
    Seems like I'm not the only one who has trouble sleeping, thought Hazel as she closed her eyes, the soft sounds of Newt's breathing slowly started to lull her to sleep...
    Hazel guessed it was about two in the morning when she gained consciousness again. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
    Then everything changed.

    An eerie groan sounded from outside the Homestead, followed by the familiar rolling clicks of a Griever on the stony ground, as if someone had dropped a handful of coins on the floor. Hazel immediately reached under the bed for her bow and quiver while Thomas shot to his feet. As did Newt and many others.
    But Newt was up before anyone else, waving his arms wildly, then shushing the room by putting his finger to his lips. Favouring his bad leg, Newt padded towards the lone window, which was covered by three hastily nailed boards.

    The large cracks in the between the boards allowed for plenty of space to peek outside. Newt slowly leaned in to take a look, and Thomas inched over to join him. While the boys did that Hazel strapped the quiver onto her back. After a minute or so both boys gave up, Thomas turned to sit with his back against the wall and Newt sat back down onto the bed.

    Hazel flinched every time she heard a noise, tightening her grip on her bow. It sounded like there were three or four of them just outside the Homestead. Hazel's mouth dried up and she had to keep reminding herself to breathe every now and then. No one made a sound.
    One of the Grievers sounded like it was moving towards the house. The clicking of its spikes against stone grew louder and closer as the seconds passed. The other boys had shuffled acrossed the room as far away from the window as possible.

    Thomas, Newt and Hazel followed them in suit; everyone was huddled against the furthest wall, staring at the window. Hazel's breath hitched when she realised that the Griever was right outside the window. Lights flickered out there, casting small beams of light through the cracks between the wooden boards. Then a thin shadow interrupted the light, dancing back and forth. In one swift motion, Hazel reached for an arrow and loaded her bow. She pulled back the bowstring to her cheek, aiming at the window.

    A few seconds later, the shadows stopped moving and the lights came to a standstill. The tension in the air was thick. Suddenly, the door from the hallway whipped open. Gasps and shouts errupted throughout the room. They had been expecting the something to come in from the window, not from behind then. Hazel turned to see who had entered the room, she was still in a shooting stance. But she lowered her bow when she saw who stood there.
    "Gally?"

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Uh oh, what do you guys think'll happen next?

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Vote, comment, rate, do whatever you want <3 ☺

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