p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"I sit there in agonizing silence as I stare at the Maze walls. Something is going on behind me, but I dont pay any attention to it. I am empty. There is nothing left in me. I feel dead. I might as well be dead. I collapse onto the ground and people swarm over me. I shove them away, insisting that I am /"Are you sure?" Newt asks me. br /"Yes. I'm fine. Just get me my guitar." I tell him. At first he is hesitant about it, but eventually he does go and get me my guitar. I strum chords randomly and stare at the Maze walls. People are still hovering around me, I can sense them staring at me, but I dont care. br /br /A few hours later, it's really late and some people try to convince me to get some sleep. I am listening to their conversations, but none of the words are processing in my head. All of my senses have been dulled to the point where I feel no emotion and show no reaction to anything. Behind me, Newts voice manages to cut through the numbness that protects me. br /"They're not coming back." Is all that he says, but as soon as he says it, something inside of me breaks. Just like that the numbness is gone, replaced by an overwhelming wave of emotion. Sadness crashes through me in an immense tidal wave and I don't know what to do with all of it. I need to cry but I cant. I need to scream, but I can. I need to do something, but I am frozen in place. Without realizing it I start playing a song on the guitar that has been sitting in my hands for hours, not doing much. Once I realize what song it is, I start to sing. /p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;""I'm an angel with a shotgun,br /Fighting 'till the war's won,br /I don't care if heaven wont take me /I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you /Don't you know you're everything I have?br /And I wanna live, not just survive tonight."/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"By the time I am done with the song a crowd of Gladers is surrounding me. I still havent cried or screamed or anything that I had originally planned on taking care or my emotions, but once the song is over, I feel a lot better. It's like they used to say, I poured my heart and soul into the music. Then a loud boom echos across the Glade and I refuse to look into the Maze. I refuse myself to hope that they made it out. I stare at the ground and feel like crying all over again, but my body still wont let me. The entire Glade sits in a few agonizing minutes of silence after the Doors have opened all the way. I still havent looked up from the ground. Finally I see a movement. I look over to see Newt limping /"What happened?" He asks. "How in the bloody-"br /"We'll tell you later. We have to save Alby." Thomas voice says, cutting him up. My head snaps up at the sound of his voice and I immediately find Minho walking along with him. Happiness fills my body as he and Thomas move forwards and I once again find myself frozen in place. He looks at me as Newt and Thomas say something to each other and then Minho grabs Thomas's arm and drags him towards the Glade. br /"We need sleep. And bandages. Now." He says forcefully as he continues towards me. When he steps into the Glade he let's go of Thomas and I can move again. I scramble to get up and run to Minho as fast as I can. I crash into him and nearly knock him over in the process, but I don't care. I hug him as tightly as I can and begin to cry. He strokes my hair and holds me /"It's okay. Everything is okay." He repeats over and over /"I thought I had lost you!" I sob into him. "I thought you were gone!"br /"I'm here. I'm okay."br /I pull away from him enough to see his face and for some reason my mind drifts off the the first dream that I had that was a memory. I think back to that kiss we shared before he went into the Maze and suddenly I crave for that feeling again. Without thinking twice about it I press my lips to his. He kisses back immediately, but the kiss is short lived as he pulls away, breathing /"As much as I love the fact that you finally kissed me, and believe me, I do, I'm breathless enough as it is." He tells me and I nod, holding in a giggle as a feeling of giddiness flows through me. I help him and Thomas get back to the Homestead and get them into their rooms. I get some water, food and bandages for Minho, but by the time I get back to his room to give it to him he is sound asleep. I smile and walk over to him. Placing the food, water and bandages next to the bed, I begin to look at him. As I notice the cuts and scrapes and things I put small bandages on them, the Med-jacks can look at the injuries more later. br /br /A few hours later they got Alby down from the vines and gave him the serum. I have been rotating between Minho's and Teresa's rooms all day. Nothing has changed with either of them. Both still sound asleep. I walk into Minho's room to let him know that Alby is okay, but right as I am about to wake him up a horrid scream erupts from Alby's room. Minho sits up gasping and looks at me. His eyes brighten slightly and then /"Who was that?" He /"Alby. He's going through the Changing."br /He lets out a sigh of relief. "Good."br /"How are you feeling?" I ask /"I've been better."br /"I can imagine. What exactly happened in there?"br /"A lot. I'll explain it later."br /"Alright. I have some food for you if you want it."br /"I would love it." He says, reaching for the food. I give him the water as well and he chugs all of it down in one /"I'll go get you some more water." I tell him before walking away. I check on Teresa on my way there. Nothing new. When I get back all the food is gone and Minho is still sitting on his bed. I sit on the edge of it and hand him the water, feeling like a mother nursing her sick child back to health. br /"Thanks." He says,br /"No problem. I'm going to assume that you want some more sleep?"br /"That would be great, even if it were just for a few more minutes." br /"I'll leave you to that then." I say as I start to walk away. Before I can get very far his hand wraps around me wrist and pulls me to him. He kisses me for what feels like only a few precious seconds, but for all I know it could have been a couple minutes. When he pulls away he looks at me with something in his eyes that I haven't seen before. br /"I love you Echo." He says quietly and I think back to the dream where he said that we would fall in love all over again. br /"I love you too Minho." I say, deciding not tell him about that part of the dream yet. "But for now you don't need love. You need sleep, so get some while you can."br /He smiles at me and lays down. "Yes ma'am." He says and I roll my eyes at him as I walk out of the room. /p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;""I'm an angel with a shotgun,br /Fighting 'till the war's won,br /I don't care if heaven wont take me /I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you /Don't you know you're everything I have?br /And I wanna live, not just survive tonight."/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"By the time I am done with the song a crowd of Gladers is surrounding me. I still havent cried or screamed or anything that I had originally planned on taking care or my emotions, but once the song is over, I feel a lot better. It's like they used to say, I poured my heart and soul into the music. Then a loud boom echos across the Glade and I refuse to look into the Maze. I refuse myself to hope that they made it out. I stare at the ground and feel like crying all over again, but my body still wont let me. The entire Glade sits in a few agonizing minutes of silence after the Doors have opened all the way. I still havent looked up from the ground. Finally I see a movement. I look over to see Newt limping /"What happened?" He asks. "How in the bloody-"br /"We'll tell you later. We have to save Alby." Thomas voice says, cutting him up. My head snaps up at the sound of his voice and I immediately find Minho walking along with him. Happiness fills my body as he and Thomas move forwards and I once again find myself frozen in place. He looks at me as Newt and Thomas say something to each other and then Minho grabs Thomas's arm and drags him towards the Glade. br /"We need sleep. And bandages. Now." He says forcefully as he continues towards me. When he steps into the Glade he let's go of Thomas and I can move again. I scramble to get up and run to Minho as fast as I can. I crash into him and nearly knock him over in the process, but I don't care. I hug him as tightly as I can and begin to cry. He strokes my hair and holds me /"It's okay. Everything is okay." He repeats over and over /"I thought I had lost you!" I sob into him. "I thought you were gone!"br /"I'm here. I'm okay."br /I pull away from him enough to see his face and for some reason my mind drifts off the the first dream that I had that was a memory. I think back to that kiss we shared before he went into the Maze and suddenly I crave for that feeling again. Without thinking twice about it I press my lips to his. He kisses back immediately, but the kiss is short lived as he pulls away, breathing /"As much as I love the fact that you finally kissed me, and believe me, I do, I'm breathless enough as it is." He tells me and I nod, holding in a giggle as a feeling of giddiness flows through me. I help him and Thomas get back to the Homestead and get them into their rooms. I get some water, food and bandages for Minho, but by the time I get back to his room to give it to him he is sound asleep. I smile and walk over to him. Placing the food, water and bandages next to the bed, I begin to look at him. As I notice the cuts and scrapes and things I put small bandages on them, the Med-jacks can look at the injuries more later. br /br /A few hours later they got Alby down from the vines and gave him the serum. I have been rotating between Minho's and Teresa's rooms all day. Nothing has changed with either of them. Both still sound asleep. I walk into Minho's room to let him know that Alby is okay, but right as I am about to wake him up a horrid scream erupts from Alby's room. Minho sits up gasping and looks at me. His eyes brighten slightly and then /"Who was that?" He /"Alby. He's going through the Changing."br /He lets out a sigh of relief. "Good."br /"How are you feeling?" I ask /"I've been better."br /"I can imagine. What exactly happened in there?"br /"A lot. I'll explain it later."br /"Alright. I have some food for you if you want it."br /"I would love it." He says, reaching for the food. I give him the water as well and he chugs all of it down in one /"I'll go get you some more water." I tell him before walking away. I check on Teresa on my way there. Nothing new. When I get back all the food is gone and Minho is still sitting on his bed. I sit on the edge of it and hand him the water, feeling like a mother nursing her sick child back to health. br /"Thanks." He says,br /"No problem. I'm going to assume that you want some more sleep?"br /"That would be great, even if it were just for a few more minutes." br /"I'll leave you to that then." I say as I start to walk away. Before I can get very far his hand wraps around me wrist and pulls me to him. He kisses me for what feels like only a few precious seconds, but for all I know it could have been a couple minutes. When he pulls away he looks at me with something in his eyes that I haven't seen before. br /"I love you Echo." He says quietly and I think back to the dream where he said that we would fall in love all over again. br /"I love you too Minho." I say, deciding not tell him about that part of the dream yet. "But for now you don't need love. You need sleep, so get some while you can."br /He smiles at me and lays down. "Yes ma'am." He says and I roll my eyes at him as I walk out of the room. /p