Author stuff: I rewrote one scene about NINE times for this chapter. Nothing felt right for this until I went with this idea. It has all the scenes I wanted in it, hits all the plot points I needed it to, and wraps up this part nicely.

It's also nice and long for the girlies out there who like reading a lot. Things are happening y'all.

Trigger warning: Blood, medical — vivid description of getting stitches done, violence

Chapter 40

In Which A Message Is Received

"I can walk," Flossy said, crossing her arms.

"Not well," Carl, the Builder who'd picked her up, said. He carefully deposited her on a cot.

"I don't want you putting weight on that leg until I can get some stitches in it," Jeff said. "And even then, I don't want you walking with sutures. I'd hate to redo them."

She nodded, biting back a wince as her leg was elevated with a few pillows.

"You guys should get back to work," Jeff said, gathering everything he needed for stitches. "I don't think any of you really want to see this."

A few of them shuffled uncomfortably, and a few others blanched. They scuttled out, murmuring their goodbyes with promises to check up on her later.

Flossy fixed the pillow behind her back and settled into it. She focused her attention on the ceiling as Jeff unwrapped her leg with a hiss. She jumped when he rinsed her leg with water again and dabbed away the blood.

"Cold," she said, letting herself relax back down into the cot.

"Sorry," he said, focusing on the task at hand.

It doesn't take him too long to clean, but the stitching? Flossy forced herself to focus on anything except the cold fire bite of the needle piercing her skin and sliding of the suture. That… was a sensation she didn't wish on anyone.

He was quick with it, though, so she didn't have much to complain about other than the pain radiating from the area. Jeff was quick to provide some pain killers and water.

"You're on bedrest," he told her.

"I can still help out in the Gardens," she said, setting the water on the end table close to her.

"I don't doubt it, but I don't want to pull any of the sutures out. They're a pain to redo."

Just as she was settling back into the pillows the door was thrown open. Gally limped in with the help of two Builders, cradling his head.

"What the shuck did you do this time?" Jeff said, sighing.

"Not the time," Gally said through clenched teeth.

"Didn't see what happened," said one of the Builders. "I turned my back just for a second, and he was on the ground."

"Lie him down and let me take a look. Girlie, you stay put."

Neither of the Builders helping Gally in looked at her. It was almost as if they were forcing themselves not to.

They helped Gally stumble over to a cot, lying him down with the injured side of his head facing up.

"That's a lot of blood," said the second Builder. "Will he be okay?"

"So long as I can get through to look at him," Jeff said, elbowing his way past them. He set a bowl of water and a rag down on the end table behind Gally's head. He tapped Gally's hand. "You're going to have to move it so I can see."

Shakily, Gally pulled his hand away, taking a blood soaked cloth with it, and Jeff got to work.

"Good thing I still have the sutures out. Looks like you're going to need them."

"Just get it over with," Gally said, blinking his unfocused eyes.

Flossy scooted off the cot and lowered herself to the floor between the two of them. She took the bloodied cloth from Gally's hand, dropping it beside her injured leg stretched out beside her.

"Hey," she said, taking his hand in hers. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Gally blinked again, his eyes settling on her.

"Can't really remember," he said.

There were some calls and cries outside, jerking the attention of the Builders away from them.

"Can you guys go check on what happened?" Jeff said.

"Yeah, sure."

Flossy watched as they filed out. She caught the barest glimpse of figures running around before the door closed behind them. She turned her attention back to Gally.

"Why can't you remember anything?" she said.

"Got hit in the head."

"I can see that. What were you doing when you got hit in the head?"

"Talking with Newt."

"Do you remember what about?"

He frowned and pursed his lips. After a moment, he said, "Something about Adne. Then there was a commotion. Something happened."

"'Something happened'?"

"Yeah."

"All done," Jeff said, leaning away from the back of Gally's head. "Not as bad as it looks, but I'm going to ask you to stay here tonight so that Clint and I can keep an eye on you. Both of you. Gally, pretty sure you have a concussion. Flossy, you're on bedrest, so get back in bed."

"Bedrest?" Gally said, lifting his head. His unfocused eyes moved between the two of them.

"An accident in the Map Room," she said, giving his hand a squeeze and letting it go so she could raise herself back into the cot.

The frown deepened on his face.

"Why were you in the Map Room?"

She waited until she was settled into the pillows to answer.

"Verena got in there, and Clint and I were trying to get her out."

"Are you okay?" he said, starting to get up. He winced and settled back down.

"She'll be fine in a few weeks, but there'll be a gnarly scar on her leg," Jeff said.

Gally's eyes flitted down to her legs, settling on the bright red line against her skin. He opened his mouth to say something again when the door burst open once again.

Billy and two other Baggers rushed in, their eyes leading them to every corner of the Med-hut.

"Is she here?" Billy said.

"I'm right here," Flossy said, sitting up.

"Not you. Verena. She escaped."

"What?" Gally said, getting to his feet on unsteady legs.

"Lie back down, you dumb shank," Jeff said, quickly getting to his side.

"She didn't come in here?" Billy said, meeting each of their eyes in turn.

"No one's come in since Gally and the other Builders," Flossy said.

"Right." Billy scratched the back of his neck and frowned. After a moment he nodded and added, "I'm going to have a couple of Baggers stand guard here, just in case she tries to come in."

"Baggers? Is that really necessary? It's just Verena."

Billy didn't answer her, instead he nodded to the two other Baggers who'd some in with him.

"Jackson, Reed, you two keep an eye on the Med-hut. She's hurt and will probably be looking for some bandages."

"Billy —" Flossy tried to say.

"You both know the alarm to use?"

"Yeah."

"Of course."

"Good that. I'm going to go check in with the others. Jeff?"

"Yeah?" Jeff said.

Billy untied a machete and sheath and handed it over to Jeff.

"Use this only if necessary."

Jeff nodded and accepted it.

"What about me?" Gally said.

"You're out of commission. We'll take care of her, don't worry."

"Billy," Flossy said, managing to get to her feet. "Don't hurt Verena."

Billy looked her up and down, the frown lines on his face deepening.

"She's hurt not only you, Adne, and Gally, but the Baggers who were watching the Slammer. Not to mention, she's armed."

"Armed?" The strangled sound of her voice was foreign to her own ears.

"She grabbed some tools from the gardening shed. Almost took my head off with a sickle. Now, if you don't mind."

Flossy's hands trembled in her lap as they fluttered about as her mind tried to find something for her to focus on.

"You okay?" Gally said, sitting up in the cot.

"Why," she said, licking her lips. "Why would Verena hurt anyone? I don't… She… Gally, I don't know… Shuck."

"Hey." Tentatively, he slid over to her cot, sitting on the ground next to her. He took her hands in his. "Whatever is going on with Verena is something out of your control. We don't really know her or what she's been through or what she's going to do. For all we know she could be working with the Creators and trying to drive us out into the Maze for a night."

She gave him a wry smile.

"You're terrible at comforting people."

He gave her hands a squeeze.

"Listen," he said, letting her hands go to dig in the pockets of the toolbelt he always had strapped around his hips during the day. He pulled out a small blade and a chunk of wood and held them out to her. "How about I teach you how to carve something."

"I don't trust myself with small blades," she said, pushing them back to him. "They're always sharper than a normal one."

"Alright then."

He shrugged and started carving away at the wood. Little curls floated down as he worked away at it. There was something oddly calming about watching his hands make something out of nothing.

"What do you think?" he said, holding up the object for her to inspect.

"A ring?" Flossy asked, taking it. It was twice the size of any of her fingers. "It's a little big."

"I was thinking about a bracelet, but it looks a little small. Here, hand it back. I'll figure out something to do with it."

"What if I want to keep it?" She held it close to her chest.

He sighed through his nose and shook his head. He was about to retract his hand, but after a moment of thought, he held it out to her.

"At least let me sand it."

She placed it in his open palm and watched as he dug out a few sheets of sandpaper from the toolbelt.

"What's the difference between the two?"

"One's a finer grit than the other. It finishes the polish or removes any inconsistencies from the carving."

She flitted her eyes up to his face. He kept his whole face trained on the task in his hands. His eyebrows arched toward the bridge of his nose, his mouth forming a thin line, his nostrils flared out. She blinked when he rapidly looked up.

"Here," he said, holding the ring back out to her. "I'd offer to stain it, but I don't have any that go good with pine."

"That's alright," she said, a little breathless. From the tips of her ears to the ends of her toes she felt hot and had to look away, as if continuing to look at him would make her heart thump right out of her chest.

"You okay?" His voice was extraordinarily soft. So soft, she had to turn back to look at him to make sure he'd actually spoken.

"Yes," she said, her voice just as soft. "I'm fine."

"Hey, give it back a moment. I think I have some string. I'll turn it into a necklace."

She gave it back to him a second time and waited as he looped it through the string and he cut a portion off. She had to turn at an odd angle for him, but he tied it around her neck, careful not to get any of her hair caught in it.

The ring settled against her sternum, heavy and warm.

"Thank you," she managed to say.

Gally shrugged and moved back into his cot, his ears looking a little red and he didn't meet her eyes. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before lying down.

She wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep but when she woke, the lights in the room were dimmed and it was dark outside. She could see Jeff and Clint slumped over a table in the corner. Next to her, Gally was sitting up in the cot with his back against the wall, but his head slumped down and eyes closed. He was breathing deeply and slowly. The voices of the Baggers outside carried through the door.

She sighed and turned over to her other side, making sure to keep her leg on the pillows Clint or Jeff put there to keep it elevated. She would have drifted back off to sleep, listening to the discordant chorus of crickets around the Glade, if it weren't for the whisper of fabric in her face.

Her eyes fluttered open.

A leg was in front of her. When she looked up, a gasp escaped past her lips when she saw the striking red hair.

"Verena?" she said. "How did you…?"

Something at Verena's side glinted in the dim light of the room. A blade. No, a sickle.

"Verena."

As she moved to get to her feet, Verena raised the sickle up.

Flossy yelped and fell back and off the cot. Her cheek smacked against Gally's knee.

"What the…" he said, jerking awake. "Princess, what — shit!"

Gally hauled her to the other side of his cot, stumbling to his feet and using his body as a shield. Her leg sang with pain when she landed on her feet.

Around his arm, Flossy could see Verena, her arm still reaching out with the sickle.

Gally's raised voice made the Baggers — Jackson and Reed — burst into the room. In less than one second, they bolted at her.

Verena jumped towards Gally and Flossy.

Flossy grabbed Gally's arm and pulled him out of the way of the sickle. His feet faltered beneath him. Still, he managed to get them both out of the Med-hut.

He tripped over something — a Beetle Blade. Without thinking, she kicked it away. More pain shot up her injured leg.

Verena shot out of the Med-hut behind them.

"Verena, stop," she said, stepping toward her and collapsing on the ground.

Verena did stop. She stopped right in front of Flossy, the sickle still outstretched toward her.

Gally pulled her up and behind him right as other Baggers and Gladers arrived.

Verena was tackled, the sickle tumbling to the ground at their feet.

"Are you two alright?" Nick said, coming from behind them. He looked them both up and down and winced. He patted her shoulder. "I'm going to find Clint and Jeff to take a look at you."

She nodded, watching as the Baggers carried Verena away. She rested her forehead against Gally's arm.

"Hey," he said quietly. He moved his arm and wrapped it around her, holding her close. "It's okay. We're okay now."

She nodded into his side, looking back to where Verena had been. And then down to the sickle.

She got to her knees, her head swimming at the rapid movement. Gally moved with her.

"This is my sickle," she said, picking it up.

As she did, a bit of the pommel fell off and handed on a rock. A rolled up strip of paper fell out after it. Carefully, she picked it up. She handed Gally her sickle before unwinding the paper.

In a messy script, there was only one sentence written down on it.

THE MAZE IS A CODE

Author stuff cont'd.: And that's the end of part 2! Like I said before, I won't be posting next week. But part 3 will be back with a vengeance the week after that!

The sutures part was inspired by the time I broke my arm — both radius and ulna in my right arm — and had to have surgery. I had to have stitches. They had me on laughing gas and my memories are kind of blurry on the whole thing, but I do remember getting them very briefly. It's not something I'd really wish on anyone.

So, the big question for all of you, is what do you think is going to happen next? What effect will that simple note have on the story? Will everyone be able to escape the Maze before Thomas arrives? Before Chuck? Only I know ;D

Anyway, see y'all soon enough!