𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 - 𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘛𝘏 𝘊𝘜𝘙𝘌

16 ~ an explanation

Lottie

I felt like a rubber band had been wrapped around my lungs and was squeezing until black spots appeared in my vision.

There was no possible way that Gally, the boy who had sacrificed himself, was here in front of me, alive and well. I watched him bleed, I watched him close his eyes for the last time. I fought for him. I lunged at the guards who had killed him, resulting in my capture... but he was alive.

"Gally?" Julian's usually hard voice cut through an unbearable silence, but this time it was soft and timid. Half of his face was shadowed by the darkness of the room. The half that was visible was very pale, and I couldn't tell if it was from shock or from the small amount of light coming through the little windows. Dust swirled in the beams of light, and it was clear that this place was not inhabited very often.

Julian took a step forward, probably towards Gally, but the men in black outfits all lifted their weapons at him the second he moved. He froze, but still did not take his eyes off of Gally, as if he was afraid he would disappear.

At the sight of Julian being threatened, Gally's eyes narrowed. "Stand down," he ordered, and the men lowered their guns. The rest of us continued to stare at Gally as if he wasn't real, but how could he be fake if we were all witnessing the same thing?

I cleared my throat. "How - how are you alive?"

Gally turned to me, and I met his eyes for the first time in months. They were not closed off or cold. I didn't even see the tinge of madness I had grown accustomed to seeing after he was Stung in the Maze. He was looking at me with regret.

"After you all left me, WICKED picked me up off the floor and fixed me up. It took days, but afterwards, I was able to walk, run, work... all that. They put me with other boys; captives they were planning on putting in our Maze. They didn't need us for the Maze Trial anymore, since we'd already escaped, so they began testing us. Weeks and weeks of blood tests and mental tests... It was draining. But then... something happened. The Right Arm invaded WICKED, and I was lucky enough to be one of the kids they rescued. Others weren't so lucky, and they're still back in WICKED's facility. During my time with the Right Arm, I must have proved to be a valuable asset to them, so they sent me to spy here."

Gally stood straighter with his last statement with pride.

"They brought you back to life?" Frypan spoke for the first time. He didn't sound shocked at the sight of his old friend, only relieved and slightly tentative. "How is that possible? We watched you die."

"I wasn't dead." Gally said harshly. "I was still breathing, but none of you bothered to check. The second I closed my eyes, you all just accepted my death." He was angry. In his mind, we abandoned him.

"We didn't accept your death," I cut in, matching his tone. I was slowly getting over my shock. It was being replaced by defensiveness; how dare Gally accuse us of not caring when we spent weeks grieving, even while fighting for our lives. "I was about to kill Ava Paige after she ordered her guards to shoot you, and I got captured and tortured for it. I almost died in that basement, Gally."

It was true. I could recall how each cut to my skin felt. I knew the difference between the pain of a cleaver and the pain of a butcher knife. If I looked at my arms and legs, I could be able to tell what made each scar, just based off my memory. I remembered wondering why my body was taking longer than usual to heal itself, and then realizing it was because of the conditions and malnourishment WICKED was forcing me into. I survived it though, and I came out okay, because I kept reminding myself it was for my friends. Gally especially. He had no right to accuse me of not caring.