I think I just have to come out and admit that I am absolute shit at waiting to publish a chapter when I have it sitting in the Doc Manager all ready to go...which explains why this one is now published. I have a feeling that no one here would object quick updates, though! It's still a bit mind-boggling to look at my story and realize that it's one of the most followed recent stories in the Maze Runner category after only being published for a week (We're 1 week old today! Yay!), and for that I can only thank you guys who keep inspiring me to make this story the best it can possibly be.

RMoriluvr; Thank you so much! I read your Maze Runner story not too long ago and fell in love with your writing flow and attention to detail, so to hear that you enjoy it does mean quite a lot. I hope you continue to read! :)

julesjumper; I feel like Dashner was a fan of cliffhangers too; if I remember correctly, almost every chapter ended with something that made you jump to the next chapter, but his were a bit more kind seeing as the follow up was immediately on the next page :) I'm glad you found the chapter to be well balanced - I feel like that's something that can really turn me off about a story, if it's either too much fluff and not enough actual plot, or too much plot and not enough time to really know the characters! Thanks for the feedback, hope you like this next one as well! Poor Gally indeed.

Guest; I only recently came across both Thomas and Teresa's real names - unfortunately, I'm not that clever and the name is only a coincidence, but good spotting! And yes, Charly's a bit of a killjoy in the beginning of that moment, but Newt did throw the thing at her, so I don't think she's completely unjustified. She just enjoys giving him a hard time :) Thank you so much for the feedback!

koichii; Thomas and Teresa will not be making an appearance! The way this is written, the story should flow directly into the Maze Runner with little to no changes, seeing as I've added a few names that do not appear in the books when it comes to the other gladers. It's essentially a prequel for all others who are wondering :) Thank you for reading!

Zstar1; Who doesn't want a wiggly puppy?! I saw the movie the first day it came out, actually! I think in terms of a stand-alone movie, it was excellent; I think they cast the movie incredibly well, and I really loved the way they shot it artistically. However, as a book-to-movie adaptation? I'm a little more iffy on my review. I think some of the changes they made were unnecessary and changed a lot of plot points that I really enjoyed as well as some character motives, but I understand that it was never going to be exactly like the book. Overall, I would see it again, and of course will be seeing TST when it comes out :) But yes, attractive boys galore, no doubt about that. Please don't die, the update is here! Hope you enjoy it :)

Sraxell; Thank you so much, as a writer that's such a lovely thing to hear. But I completely understand your wariness when it comes to longer fanfictions, but no worries with me! I'm writing this from an outline, which is around 7,000 words or so in itself, which also should explain the quick updates to everyone who is wondering - I had written the first three chapters before even making an account on this site! And thank you so much for the critical feedback. Charly is a flawed person just as everyone else in the fictional and non-fictional world is, but when she's your protagonist, it's sometimes hard to let her flaws show without turning off the readers, so I appreciate your kind words. As for the pace, I was worrying about whether it was too quick or not. It's hard because the events are supposed to happen in quick succession of each other, but I always fear that it will overwhelm the readers or become to unbelievable. I'll try to break it up a bit :) Thanks for the great review, and I hope you like this update as well!

SomethingLikeMe; I know, the poor guy unfortunately had it coming and of course I couldn't leave it out. I hope you still see him as a great character and not a complete asshole ;) Thank you so much for reading!

Niclo121212; Yes, Gally as we knew him will soon be back. I'm glad you started to like him! That really was my goal, to get people to empathize with the guy because so many people wrote him off for his attitude in the book - I just wanted to show how he might have been this great guy before he had to go through hell and back with the changing. Thanks for another kind review! :)

And now we continue that damn cliffhanger...

They're never the bloody same after that.

The room erupted. Minho leaped forward and grabbed Gally by the shoulders, pulling him back, but with Gally's hands still fastened around her throat Charly lunged forward. She stood petrified, trying to scream but instead gasping for air and clawing at Gally's hands. His eyes were glossed over and unseeing as Newt's words flashed again through her mind.

Alby flew forward to pry Gally's hands from Charly's throat while someone threw an arm around her waist. Her hands tried to remove his grip but she was already losing her senses, her hands unable to grip. Why was she seeing two Gally's? Why were voices around her echoing?

She fell backwards onto Newt as Alby finally managed to pull Gally away. He screamed, fighting the boys as they strapped him back down to the bed, where he fell back into convulsions. Charly shook in Newt's grip as his hand gently stroked her hair, but everyone was speechless, panting.

"We thought…he was done…with the changing…" Minho said between breaths, leaning up against the wall.

"That's never happened before," Alby said to no one in particular, staring at the ground.

Charly had an unnerving feeling that the reasoning behind Gally's snap wasn't random, but some cruel, calculated endeavor.

And she triggered it.

"I'm fine," Charly hissed for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

They were situated in Newt's bedroom; Charly, Alby, Minho, and Newt, scattered about the bed and floor. In the span of ten minutes, Charly had been asked if she was okay on approximately seventeen different occasions. Which, in all fairness was incredibly kind, but she was starting to feel like she was been taken care of as opposed to cared for - two very different feelings as well as her pet peeve. She could take care of herself, and they needed to know that.

"No one goes in there until tomorrow," Alby demanded. "We make him recall everything he remembers from the changing before he goes anywhere, we need to make sure it's over and done with. Can't have another incident like this." There were nods and mutters of agreement.

Charly fell back onto the bed, exhausted. She didn't want to think abut this anymore, she didn't want to think about anything. She spotted the book on the floor beside the bed and leaned to pick it up as Minho and Alby trickled out of the room. She grabbed the book by the cover, hoisting it up as she lay back down against the thin mattress, and holding the book straight above her.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

She began to read as her mind began to wander, but found herself needing to read over each line again. Nothing stuck. Exasperatedly, she dropped the book to her stomach, resorting to staring at the ceiling; a much less satisfying activity. Newt dropped to the bed beside her, kicking his feet up and resting his head beside hers.

"I can't even mentally escape right now," she sighed, patting the book's worn cover. Newt nodded, his mind evidently elsewhere as well. It was a few minutes before he spoke.

"Do you think he attacked you for a reason? Something to do with that note?"

Charly wrapped her arms around her body tightly and shuddered.

"Whoever they are," she started quietly, "I don't think they want me here." Her shallow breaths were shaky as she thought back to the note, the dream, Gally's hands closing around her neck, strangling her.

"You okay?" Newt asked softly, turning his head to the side as his hair flopped over the pillow.

Charly wanted to say yes with ever fiber of her being. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, a failed attempt at clearing her mind. Before she could help it, weakly, the word fell from her lips.

"No."

Almost immediately, she felt his hand edge over to hers, and a warmth rushed up her body. Nimbly, their fingers laced together and she squeezed his hand. Reassuringly, he returned the gesture, before turning on his side and pulling her close. Back pressed to his chest and legs tangled in a mess of limbs, she smiled to herself.

"However…now I'm slightly better." Newt laughed, and she could almost hear that cocky smirk she came to love so much.

"Only slightly?"

"Only slightly."

"You're hard to please."

"I don't know, I'm pretty pleased right now."

He paused. "More than slightly?"

Charly laughed into the pillow.

"Yes, Newt. More than slightly."

"Good that," he mumbled into her ear with a satisfied grin, his warm breath tickling her skin. She sank deeper into his embrace.

"Get to bed, the lot of you!" Minho's voice sounded from outside. Far away laughter erupted, but grew quieter and quieter as the gladers headed towards the clearing. Charly's eyes shot open, knowing she should go but wanting to stay more than she could remember wanting anything else.

"Should I-" Charly started, but before she could finish her sentence Newt's words were in her ear again.

"Stay?"

She hardly even had to think.

"Always."

He pulled her closer and pressed his lips to her temple, and at that moment, little else mattered.

The intruding sunrise burst through the bedroom window. Charly's eyes squeezed tighter as she groaned, angry as if the light had rudely woke her from a fantastic dream. Newt's hand was still interlocked with her own, and she smiled before slowly trying to release the grasp.

"No," Newt mumbled through a smile, voice low and raspy. Charly rolled her eyes and slapped his bare stomach lightly, to which Newt clutched his stomach dramatically.

"Ow!" he laughed, feigning a hurt expression, but Charly scoffed jokingly and threw her legs over the side of the bed, tying up her boots.

"Wimp," she muttered playfully under her breath. Suddenly Newt's breath was against the back of her neck, hands pulling her hair aside.

"Heard that," he growled with a smirk, giving her neck a quick nip before sliding off the bed.

"I'm going to check on Gally," he called over his shoulder, darting through the door.

Charly's stomach flipped. She had nearly forgotten about last night, about Gally's horrifying episode. She fumbled for a few more moments with her long black laces before nearly running into the next room.

Gally again was sitting upright and suddenly Charly was overwhelmed with a sickening sense of deja vu. But something was different about him. His normally jovial expression was replaced with a cold, almost absent glare as Minho questioned him.

"Remember anything else?"

"Nope," Gally replied curtly, staring down at his folded hands. His voice was blunt. Emotionless. "Just…desolation, everywhere. Everything was burned, disease ridden…the creators, they're watching us. I saw them, I remember their faces, they made the maze. They planned on putting us in here one by one for a long time. Other than that, it's hard to piece together…" He looked pained as he racked his brain for more information before sighing and getting up, eyes making eye contact with Charly and Newt who had been standing in the doorframe.

Newt walked towards him, hand outstretched. Gally said nothing but forced a grin, taking Newt's hand firmly and nodding. Charly followed him forward, trying her best to smile brightly, but was stopped in her tracks. Just as he had shaken Newt's hand, he held his out to Charly. She only let her smile falter for a second but then pursed her lips together into a grin; a makeshift guise for her internal heartache. Gally shook her hand.

"Charly," he nodded in acknowledgment.

"So you do remember us?" she said without thinking, to which Gally furrowed his brows.

"'Course I do." His tone was matter-of-fact.

"'Course you do," Charly repeated softly, her hand swinging back to her side.

"Good that," Alby said wearily. It looked to Charly like he had been up all night supervising Gally. "Back to the creator information. Charly." He nodded towards the door.

"Oh come on," she said indignantly as soon as she caught on. Apparently, she wasn't of high enough importance to listen in.

"Unless 'ya have anything else to add?" Newt spoke up, his eyes boring intensely into her. She knew what he wanted her to do, to tell the rest of the group about the note. But she couldn't, at least not yet. It wouldn't do any good to throw out even more disconnected information, and for what? To brand her as an outsider, or some sort of spy? Without a reply, she stormed out of the room.

It was lunchtime before she saw Minho run off into the maze, signaling that their interrogation with Gally was over. It appeared as though nothing had come from Gally's memories. He emerged from Homestead and stalked over to the rest of the builders while Newt and Alby trailed behind, talking in hushed tones. Charly turned her head back towards the rest of the med-jacks as they sat in a circle catching up. Stephen and Clint were immersed in some sort of long and, more likely than not, frivolous debate while Jeff laid back with his forearm shielding his eyes from the sun.

"Guess it didn't go anywhere then, or they would've been in there for longer," Stephen said as if following Charly's thoughts. He and Clint were following Gally with their eyes as he got to the builders, his arms gesturing in an annoyed fashion he bellowed what seemed to be instructions. "You should have seen the first shank that lived through a griever sting, they didn't let him leave the place for hours after he woke up."

The sun beat down on them as the hours passed slowly. The runners began to trickle in just as the sun touched down on the maze walls, sweat beading up on their foreheads as they ran into the map room. But something didn't sit right with Charly.

"Clint, how many runners are there?"

"We got eight, greenie."

"Then why are there only seven back?"

The group looked up in unison, Jeff sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"…you sure?"

"Positive," said Charly. The runners were gathered outside the map room, and she quickly counted them again in her head, hoping she had made a mistake. But no, there were only seven, and they looked equally as distressed.

"Shucking hell," sighed Clint as he got to his feet, examining the group of runners. "It's Finn. He was the greenie before you got here."

Slowly, the runners began to trickle over to the doors, Charly and the rest of the med-jacks following without hesitation. The only times Charly had ever been this close to the doors had been in the midst of chaotic panic. But this time, as she slowly approached the towering walls, she felt a pit grow in her stomach. There was something inherently intimidating about them, about how the closer she got, the harder it was to make out where exactly they ended. She craned her head towards the sky, believing for a split second that they didn't.

More gladers had arrived at the maze doors, all interested to see what the commotion was about. But there was a wary atmosphere, like they had already known the bad news before they were told.

"Who's going in after him?" Charly asked loudly, hoping someone, anyone would answer her. Half of the sun had already disappeared behind the walls.

"No one," Alby stated firmly. "No one goes in the maze to collect people anymore, new rule we decided after the last incident, it's not worth losing more than we need to." He nodded towards Stan, who stood with them a few paces back. Charly turned to him with a vehement glare.

"Collect them?" she repeated incredulously, her voice raising a few pitches in anger. "They're people, not ticket stubs. It's a life which, if you hadn't already noticed, isn't exactly something we have an abundance of here. You need to save him."

But Alby didn't reply. He looked into the maze, eyes narrowed, arms folded like a statue. Charly's eyes flicked desperately to Minho, whose stance mimicked Alby's but his expression was one of concern. He bit down on his lip like he already knew the outcome of events that had yet to transcend.

"Listen, I get that there has to be order, but…" Charly trailed off, her voice desperate and dripping with panic as her eyes scanned the crowd, looking for someone to step up. To do something, anything. But the rest of the gladers stood there silently, peering into the maze with a mixture of hope and fear in their eyes.

"Charly." Newt was behind her, his low voice cautionary. But Charly refused to look at him, her eyes locked instead on a shadow dancing at the far end of the wall in the dimming light.

"Oh my god…oh my god!" she exclaimed, pointing and looking around to the others. Muted voices began to whisper to each other, but no one moved. Alby's face remained stagnant. She turned to Newt, whose eyes were already staring her down. His jaw was clenched and his expression steely, but his eyes were brimming with what looked like fear.

A strangled cry echoed through the towering corridor, making Charly wince. Almost instinctually, Newt grabbed hold of her wrist and clenched it tightly. She saw Finn's arms first as he reached to the ground, pulling himself across the gravel covered cement. He was barely distinguishable in her vision, still so far away. There was no way he was going to make it. Charly widened her eyes. This was really happening. They were going to stand here and watch this boy die.

"Don't you dare," Newt muttered through his clenched jaw. Charly's breathing came harder as she looked at him, livid. She made her own decisions, and not even Newt would tell her differently.

So she ran.

Another cliffhanger?! I'm the worst, I know. But I love an ending sentence that keeps me coming back for more. Luckily, the next update should come Sunday so you all can't be too mad! This chapter felt a little less eventful, aside from the ending, than the previous ones, but if felt like a good time to end it. It isn't all action 24/7 in the glade, but it could be very soon - your hearts might prefer it to be a little less eventful when the time comes.

As always, let me know your thoughts/criticism/input in the reviews - reading them makes me smile so much and I always gush about you all to my best friend. I'm essentially a really proud mom. Do any of you guys write? If so, let me know so I can check your stuff out too! And if you do, let me know what you listen to as you write, or if you prefer the silence to anything else :)

Until Sunday, my loves.