Eleanor knew Thomas had gone to see Teresa. But she couldn't bring herself around to go with him, partly because she had a feeling the two Greenies had some sort of weird connection that she wasn't sure she wanted to be in the middle of; but mostly it was because she was completely terrified to leave the homestead, more specifically Newt's side.

Most of the Gladers were, by then, already packed inside the biggest building.

There is safety in numbers, Eleanor tried to think, to reassure herself.

It barely worked. She didn't feel safe.

The young girl stood by the Second-in-command's side while he finished directing the final boys to the designed places.

Gladers had been organized all through the wooden building. The rooms were filled with scared boys cooped up together. The windows had been covered with spare boards that had been nailed down quickly,in a rush. Eleanor doubted they would stop a Griver but she guessed leaving the windows as they were was worse.

She had made sure Newt would let Chuck stay with them during the night. She didn't want to let him out of her sight. Furthermore, as soon as she saw Minho, she would make sure he stayed with them too.

There was no way they were going to be apart in a moment like that.

No one knew what was going to happen but there was a general aura of fright and uncertainty. Something bad was coming. They could all feel it.

Eleanor tried not to fall prey to her anxiety. Would she have to fight? She didn't know how to fight. She didn't think she could survive if she had to fight.

She tried to force those thoughts out of her head with little success.

When it was almost completely dark, Minho finally came through the Homestead's door carrying the last pile of available weapons, which were really just rakes from the Gardens.

Eleanor gave out a sigh of relief after seeing him.

Her friend deposited what he was carrying against the nearest wall and exhaled. He looked tired.

Newt was in the middle of talking to a builder when she tapped his shoulder.

"I'm gonna go with Minho." She spoke when he had finished ordering the boy and had turned her way.

He seemed to debate on what to say for a second. He opened his mouth to say something but soon closed it. He gave her a curt nod.

Eleanor tried to give him a reassuring smile as she made her way to where the Keeper of the Runners was standing. She noticed he was holding a rusty spike and a kitchen knife. She saw many Gladers around holding onto their weapons too.

"El," He said as she approached him, "You ok?"

She could see he was scared, just like everybody else around them, but he looked concerned too.

"I'm fine."

Minho pretended to believe her lie, probably for her own sake.

He handed her the spike. She took it without a word.

"Come here." He said as he had taken a seat against the wall, which was not an easy task given that the room was very crowded with nervous Gladers.

The boys spoke in low whispers around them in a murmur of background noise.

"Move it, shuck face." Minho ordered the boy on his left.

Will gave him an annoyed look but did not fight. He got up, without a glance at Eleanor, to find a new place to sit.

The girl took his seat without a smidge of remorse, propping her spike up against the wall. She hadn't forgotten the whole dare ordeal so she felt little to no pity for him.

"Is there a plan?" She asked although she had been with the leaders all evening and she already knew the answer.

Minho shook his head. "We don't know what's gonna happen, so we have to prepare for anything."

The young girl had already known that fact, but she still felt a wave of fear struck her.

"Do you think they'll come?"

She hadn't specified but he understood.

"Yes, I think they will."

Eleanor didn't think she had ever felt this frightened. "Fuck..."

Minho was visibly scared too but he draped his arm around her, bringing her closer.

"Yep, I'm gonna die." She mumbled, forcing herself to relax against his chest, to no avail.

She felt him shake underneath her head.

"You're not." He said, he sounded very sure. Eleanor did not believe him. "I won't let you."

She knew he was trying to make her feel better, but she couldn't. She knew she would never let him protect her if that meant that he would end up getting hurt in the process. So she didn't reply.

All around them the whispers had almost quieted down. Most boys were staring straight ahead, waiting. There was a current of nervous energy drowning the room.

After a few seconds of silence, she looked up. He looked exhausted.

"Get some sleep." She said, sitting up.

"No, no. I'm fine."

"Sleep. There's still time." She insisted, patting her leg. "It'll do you good."

Seeing he was about to retort she spoke again.

"I promise I'll wake you as soon as something mildly interesting happens."

Minho seemed to consider it for a second. Then, he laid his head down on her thigh.

Eleanor stroked his hair and waited.

She was still sitting with Minho's sleeping head on her lap when it started.

Chuck had joined her a little before sun-down, if there had been any sun to indicate the hour. And Thomas had arrived a few minutes later.

The light on the Glade hadn't changed, though she somehow knew it was night time already, but the light inside the homestead had diminished considerably. The small stripes of light that penetrated through the boarded windows were barely coming through. The crowded space was bathed in semi darkness.

Eleanor had thrown Thomas a questioning gaze but he had simply nodded, letting her know the girl was okay. Eleanor had responded with a nod and a small smile.

The newbie had gone to Alby, who looked worse and worse with every second that passed, and Newt's side to engage in a whispered conversation. They had given him a weapon like the ones they were holding as soon as he sat down.

She had simply observed them, not even trying to descipher what they were discussing. The Leader had long, slightly bloodshot, bags under his eyes and a glimmer in them that had reminded her of Ben; although she couldn't pinpoint why. She had been naive to think the Changing hadn't affected him, but she could see then that she had been wrong. Or maybe, that situation was too much for the leader to handle and it was getting to him. Whatever the reason, he didn't look like himself and that worried her.

The Homestead had fallen completely silent aside from a few low conversation held in hushed voices that would die out as soon as they had started. Everyone had been on edge, alert, waiting for something to happen.

Then, it started.

At first it was just a screeching sound from far away that seemed to come from the Maze. That wasn't out of the ordinary. On a normal night, no one would have paid the noise any mind, they would have simply rolled over and gone back to sleep. But it wasn't a normal night.

The whole place fell completely silent.

Nothing was heard for several seconds but no one seemed to relax.

Eleanor shook Minho softly and he sat up straight away, eyes wide open, completely awake. He read the room and didn't question her. He simply waited, alert, like everybody else.

Then, another screeching sound. Closer.

That one had definitely come from inside the Glade.

Eleanor held her breath. She could feel a paralyzing panic start to rise up inside her. She hadn't realised her hands were shaking until she felt Minho grab one and squeeze, as if saying It's alright, I'm here. But his eyes told a different story. Her friend wasn't doing a very good job of hiding his fear. She saw her own panic reflected in his gaze.

There were more sounds the more time continued to pass.

The Gladers sat listening, ready to jump into action the minute it was necessary, their bodies buzzing with terrified anticipation.

A sudden thud made Eleanor jump. Her whole body was shaking and she still hadn't let go of Minho's hand. She wasn't the only one who had been startled, many Gladers had jumped to their feet, weapons rised. Newt, who had stood up first, put a finger to his lips signaling for everyone to be quiet.

The girl thought the Grievers would be able to hear her heart beats from all the way across the Glade.

The Second-in-command approached the window. She could feel the tension of Minho's body beside her.

When Newt had half tiptoed-half stumbled to the window, he peaked through the small spaces the boards allowed him. Alby had joined him and he too looked through a free spot underneath the blonde's head.

The light was almost completely vanished from the room as their tall forms blocked the only source of light.

Eleanor waited, frozen.

After a few seconds, they turned from the window.

Nothing.

The two leaders resumed their previous positions, still alert. It clearly wasn't over. Eleanor knew it hadn't even started.

The sounds that surrounded them afterwards proved she had been right.

A twig snapped far away. Mechanical wiring echoed around the concrete walls. Then, what sounded like sharp metal against wood.

Eleanor shuddered. She imagined at least three mechanical monsters looming around them, surrounding the Homestead. She still felt like she couldn't move as the sounds were coming closer and her heart pounded in her ears. She worried she had completely lost the ability to move at all. Those animals would come and she wouldn't be able to lift a single finger.

A loud stabbing sound took them by surprise and it made the whole buillding shake.

Then, another.

Many Gladers were on their feet in less than a second.

It's right ouside. Eleanor thought with horror.

With the third hit there was no Glader left who wasn't on their feet. The young girl found herself standing too. Minho must had pulled her up with him.

The whirring sound was loud against the silence. She felt Minho's body against her as they all inched slowly away from the noise.

A sniffing sound told her Chuck was quietly sobbing on her left but she couldn't bring herself to comfort him in any way, or even pay the kid any mind. Her full attention was enraptured by a shadow that had covered the small window.

The children cowered against the farthest wall.

Then, with screeching metal sounds the shadow seemed to grow arms.

The group held their breath as one. Eleanor was sure her heart would explode there and then.

Suddenly, the shadow was gone.

No one relaxed. The Glade had fallen silent but the children continued to gather together away from the window.

Eleanor wasn't naive enough to think the danger had passed, that they were safe. If the Grievers weren't going to attack them the Gates wouldn't have stayed open. It wouldn't make any sense.

Letting go of her friend's hand was not an option but she focused on her right hand. The grip on her weapon tightened and she felt the control of her body coming back to her. She let her hold of the spike anchor her.

She took a deep breath and tried to control her mind. Panic would not help her. She needed to be rational if she hoped to put up some type of fight. She needed to stay alert and focus.

An ancient instinct of survival cursed through her veins and, although her fear hadn't subsided even a little bit, with calming breaths, she noticed her head had cleared.

Eleanor could then analize her surroundings. The heavy breathing from the boys enveloped her. Their sweat mixing together. Chuck was whimpering beside her.

She finally risked a glance at the boy.

"It's going to be alright, Chuck." She heard herself whisper and immediately felt unsettled.

That had been a lie, she knew it. She wasn't in the position to promise him that. The kid sniffled again.

Minho stood still, stiff, on her other side. His eyes still completely focused on the window. She gave his hand a short squeeze and his gaze travelled to her. His eyes were hard. Eleanor knew he was ready to fight if he needed to and for a brief second, she felt ready too.

She nodded to him and Minho seemed to understand as he returned the gesture. He knew her better than anyone.

Still, extremely frightened but with a clear head, she waited.

Silence continued to ring through the Glade, but no sound was not better than how it had been before. Their world was always filled with different noises, from the animals, the Gladers, the Maze...

Silence was as much of a bad sign as the clicking of the Grievers had been.

Then, a strong thunderous sound that resonated through the Glade threw the group forward.

A scream left Eleanor's throat and she turned, fighting the caos, to locate the source of the commotion. She felt Minho's hand slip from hers and she quickly jumped around holding onto her spike for dear life.

A big hole had been blown through the wall where they had stood a few seconds prior. Eleanor could barely see a thing.

Between the boys head she managed to spy a long mechanical hard with three spike fingers plunge his way into the room, aiming straight for a blonde head. She held her breath.

"NEWT!" She heard someone shout.

Before she realized she was pushing through Gladers to go forward.

Thomas had been faster. He firmly pushed the Second-in-command out of the way. The metal claw emited a sharp sound as it closed where Newt had stood only a second before.

Eleanor didn't have time to let out the breath she had been holding as she realised she had made it to the front of the group. Nothing stood between her and the Griever peaking through the hole.

However, there was no time to panic. The make-shift hand was on the move for a new victim. She braced herself, weapon pointing ahead, but the arm didn't move towards her.

How Chuck had made it to the front, she had no idea, but there he was. She saw his eyes widen in fear and she knew it was too late to get him out of the way.

She lunged anyway.

At first, she didn't realise what had happened.

The force with which the Griever's claw knocked her side would have shoved her backwards if the kinfe-like fingers hadn't closed around her body.

She didn't scream.

Her spike cluttered, useless, to the ground as it fell from her limp hand that had been trapped by her side. Her left hand, the only part she could move reached out in a desperate attempt to hold onto something as she felt herself being dragged backwards.

She saw the boys shouting but the noise was muffled to her ears. She observed more than felt Thomas grab her arm, fighting against the force of the creature.

The pain where her skin touched the metal was sharp and overwhelming. She felt a tingling feeling as something liquid fell down her arm.

The Greenie's eyes were desperate and she tried to focus on him, to hold on to him. But she was feeling weaker with every passing second and her periferal vision told her she was almost out of the building.

Another hand grabbed hers and her sight shifted to horrified brown eyes. With Newt's added strengh, she was inside again.

The opposite forces made the pain intensify. She tought she would be split in two as she tried not to let go.

A tickling feeling took possesion of her limbs. Her head was spinning and she felt like vomiting. She knew she would not be concious for much longer.

More boys had taken a hold of Newt and Thomas and were helping them tug backwards. The pain subsided considerably or she had just stopped feeling it, she was having problems focusing.

A new sudden force made her descend a little. Her body shook.

The creature roared and she managed a glance back that showed her Minho and Alby were striking against the steely arm with their kitchen knifes.

Her gaze unfocused and she stopped making sense of things. Eleanor felt her body moving back and forth, up and down as she was losing her fight for conciousness.

Then, pain.

Her body against something hard.

A scream.

Nothing.

Then, muffled yelling.

Eleanor opened her eyes, trying to focus. The world circled around her. She tried to make sense of the shadows and sounds that surrounded her.

She felt the cold hard ground on her side. Her sight was tilted as her head laid in an awkward position. She couldn't move.

Her gaze focused at last and she saw figures ahead but it soon unfocused, blurrying the forms together like a broken lense.

Then, she could see again.

A dark-skinned boy was upside down. Many arms were holding onto his body in any way they could. Something silver surrounded his torso. The dizziness kept her from understanding what she was seeing.

Somehow with all the noise that reigned inside the room a voice reached the girl's ears. He sounded calm and clear, although he seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"They'll take one every night before there's no one left. There's no escape."

As if that statement had been a cue, the boy was dragged through the hole and gone from view.

"NO!"

She could process anything. Light shone on her suddenly and that shifted her attention.

A door was opened. A boy with spiky hair ran off.

Her eyes closed. She felt so tired.

Sweet, calming darkness.

"Eleanor."

Light as she opened her eyes.

Warm honey.

Then, darkness.