I don't think I've ever turned my body around faster in my life. I had to hand onto Newt for balance as my leg tried to give out. But when I turned around, I suddenly wished I hadn't.

Gally was standing there, with a gun in his hand. The first thing I noticed were his eyes. The black inhumanly void that they had turned into. How did he even get here? Did he follow us? So many questions were scrambling in my mind right now that I didn't know which one to hold onto at the moment. My eyes darted to every part of his body, and it was clear that he'd been stung. Newt very subtly pushed his body in front of mine, but as hard as I tried to fight him off, he wouldn't let me. Even Minho pushed me to his side.

"Gally?" Thomas asked in disbelief, taking a step towards him.

"Don't," Teresa warned, placing her hand on his bicep. Thomas looked back towards her, his brows furrowed in confusion, "He's been stung," She elaborated.

We all looked back towards the tall boy with the gun in his hand. I thought it was sweat that was dripping down his cheeks, but when I squinted and took a step forward, that's when I noticed it had been tears. They were leaking from his eyes like a never-ending stream. Because that's what fear does to you sometimes. It eats you alive like it did Gally, and you'll do anything to stay alive. Even if that meant pointing a gun at every single one of your friends. Although he was stung and half out of his mind, the words he spoke told me that he had a little bit of his conscious left. And as Thomas tried to reason with him, I kept my eyes on the little boy standing next to him.

"We can't leave," He whispered as the tears flowed down his cheeks. The gun was pointed at Thomas, who had his hands up in the air, almost surrendering to him.

But he continued to talk against him, "We did. Gally, we're out," He sighed and shook his head. I could see his eyes narrowing on the barrel of the gun as Gally moved his finger over the trigger, "We're free." Thomas tried to reason with the boy.

"Free?" Gally whimpered as he let out a depressing breathy laugh. He motioned towards the hall that we were so close to walking through, "You think we're free out there?"

I tried to take a step forward, knowing that I could reason with the boy. But Newt and Minho kept their arms out in front of me, not allowing me to go any further even if I really tried. But I couldn't draw much attention to myself. I had to stay calm even though my insides were screaming for someone to push Chuck behind them so that he could be safe. I wanted to run towards Gally and push him to the ground, even if that meant sacrificing myself so that the others could get out. Get to safety.

Thomas pursed his lips and sighed, not having a real response for the boy after the video that we just watched. But Gally did. He shook his head and clenched his teeth, like he wanted to say something else, but he was preventing himself from doing so, "No. No, there's no escape from this place."

Just as he clenched his teeth to pull the trigger, I said the first words that came to my mind, "Gally, listen to me," The boy turned his head towards me, and his face relaxed, "Y-You're not thinking straight. Okay?"

I tried to be as gentle as I could from my place behind Minho and Newt. I gently pushed their arms away, and moved in front of the boys, but I felt a small tug on the back of my shirt. I stopped in my tracks, but kept my eyes on Gally, trying to find new words to say.

"You're not," I repeated, "Look...we can help you." I clenched my jaw as he let out a sob, but didn't drop the gun from it's position on Thomas. I knew it wasn't going to hit me, but if I could prevent it from hitting anyone else, then that's what I needed to do. I was ready.

"Just..." I tried to stop my voice from shaking as I swallowed the lump in my throat and took another step forward, "Just put down the gun, please."

He shook his head again, and I took another step forward. In the heat of the moment, I turned around and looked at Newt, who was breathing heavily. When my eyes met his brown orbs that I'd spend so long fantasizing over, they started watering. He shook his head as his bottom lip started to quiver, and I tilted my head and blinked, trying not to let my own tears fall as I looked at him for what could be the last time.

If I decide to do this, I would spend every second of my afterlife watching over him. Making sure that Newt didn't get hurt, making sure that he didn't die... I would spend the rest of whatever life there was to live being his savior. A guardian was the term that came to mind. I was ready to sacrifice myself for my friends, and even if they had no idea what the hell was going on, they would get out, and they would be safe. That's all that mattered. I don't know what the future brings for any of them, but I wanted Newt to at least know that I would be there until the end.

"I'm sorry," I breathed towards the boy. A single tear fell from his eyes, but he didn't try to stop me. I think he was frozen in his spot. Too shocked to do anything. I turned back around to face Gally, and I put all of the little energy I had left into getting him to place the gun down.

"I belong to the Maze," His eyes were back on Thomas.

I took another step forward, now in between Gally and the rest of the boys, a little to the right. If I really was gonna do this, then I needed to get in front of the gun, so that it would hit me and not Thomas.

"Just put the gun down," I spoke, turning my body to the right slowly. But he was no longer listening to me. As I looked into his eyes, I saw that the glimmer of little consciousness he had left was gone, and he was now fully going through the Changing. My heart beat faster as I became frantic, the tears fell from my eyes as Gally shook his head again, but I knew what I had to do.

Death is a funny thing. Where do you even go when you die? Do you stay inside the body? Or does your soul rise and find a new body? I feel like so many people are scared before they die. Scared of the unknown...scared of leaving their friends...the people they love. Some are even scared about how much it'll hurt. I wasn't really scared about the pain...sometimes the only thing I wanted was so feel it. But the only thing I was terrified of, was watching my friends go on without me. Watching them through their struggles without being able to help. Being helpless, and having to figure out how to embrace it. I wasn't scared of the pain...pain is only temporary. But having to watch your friends go through it, that lasts forever.

I watched as my body racked with unsteady breaths, and my hands shook in anticipation as I waited for Gally to drop the gun. But he didn't. He kept going on with his speech like we weren't even there. Like nobody existed in the room besides Thomas and him.

"We all do," He finished his speech.

Everything suddenly went in slow motion. I felt the strong breeze and a whooshing sound from my left, and the sound of a gun being fired to my right. Despite everything I wanted to do, I felt a strong hand on the back of my shirt, and before I could even blink, I was being harshly tugged backwards and onto the ground. I hit the floor hard, my head slamming against the tile. I groaned and yelped in pain, my ears suddenly ringing like a bell in my head. I placed my hands over my temples, trying to stop the throbbing pain. I opened my eyes, but I wish I hadn't.

Gally was on the floor, a spear through the middle of his chest. He was laying limp in a pile of broken glass, but his eyes stayed open like he was watching a horrific scene in front of him. I let another grunt of pain pass through my lips as I tried to keep my eyes open, and I shifted my body so that I was turning around.

The ringing in my ears finally started to subside, and that's when I heard it. Thomas was weeping frantically, muttering things under his breath that sounded like complete gibberish to me. I turned my head to the left and saw Newt kneeling on the floor beside me, his eyes watering more and more by the second. I placed a gentle hand on his face, and he leaned into my touch. I tried to speak, but it was like I didn't even know how. It was all just a bunch of gibberish that I attempted to get out of my mouth.

"Chuck..." Was the only word I heard. I sat up just in time to see the small boy drop to the floor, and Thomas go with him holding onto his chest. I grunted once again and got up to my knees, shuffling over to the scene.

The boy was laying in a heap of his own blood, Thomas trying his best to stop the bleeding. And just like that, everything came back to me. My hearing, my words...

"Chuck?" I asked as I scooted myself right behind the boy's head. Thomas was holding his hand to his wound as the boy started to wheeze and fight for air just like I did when I had my asthma attacks. I placed his head on my lap as my eyes started to water. I turned back to Newt, "Do something! Get something, please!"

"Oh shit..." Thomas breathed, wiggling the boy's body as his eyes slowly started to drift closed. All of the pain that I had felt from being pushed to the ground seemed to have traveled all the way to my heart, and now I ran my fingers through the little boy's curly hair, trying to make him stay awake in anyway possible.

"Look at me," I whispered to him through the lump in my throat. The kid stared straight into my eyes, and I nodded at him, giving him the weakest smile I possibly could right now, "You're gonna be alright, okay? We...we're gonna go meet your parents, right?"

Thomas shook Chuck's body, "Chuck, stay with me, okay? I got you," Tears flowed down his cheeks just like they had on Gally's, but it wasn't because of fear. We all knew that the worst was going to happen. All of my nightmares were coming true as I watched the little boy slowly fade away into the black abyss.

It should've been me.

"Mae," He wheezed, reaching into his pocket frantically to take out a piece of string he had braided together. I watched him work on it for hours and hours...while I was being patched up by the Med-Jacks when Ben attacked me...and other times where he just seemed bored. But now he was giving it to me, and it could only be used to remember the boy. How much silly joy he brought the Glade, how his chubby smile lit up every room he was in...How much he was going to be missed.

I shook my head, "No, Chuck. You're gonna be okay, alright?" I was saying the words more to myself now than anyone else, "Just hang on."

"Just take it, please," He whispered to me with as much plead in his weak voice as possible. I let out a sob, and took my shaky hand out from underneath his head, gently grabbing the string from in between his fingers. I baled my hands up into fists and moved them back to his head, cradling him for as long as I could before he eventually slipped away.

He then reached back into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden figure, holding it up to Thomas, who stared at him with wide eyes.

"Thomas," Chuck breathed, nudging the boy's shoulder with his balled up fist. His wheezing was starting to become louder now, and his body started to shake. Thomas shook his head as Chuck held the wooden penguin up for him, "Take it," He pleaded.

"No, Chuck," Thomas refused, "You're gonna give it to them yourself, remember? I told you that..." I let out another sob, my throat now starting to burn as I watched the little boy's face, and I held him to me with everything that I had.

Chuck shoved the figure towards Thomas again, "Please, take it..."

Thomas' words now started to become nothing more than mumbles and muffled sobs as he placed his hand on Chucks, finally giving in. Chuck let out a long sigh and looked at the boy, "Thank you," He breathed. He then looked back up at me, "Thank you."

I wiggled his head, my voice becoming weaker by the second, "No..."

The last thing that I ever saw from the boy was the warm smile the he sent up to me. Like he was finally accepting his death. Like he was okay with it.

Then, with my heart feeling like it was being stepped on by the largest elephant on the planet, he took another long sigh, and let it out, that being the last breath that he ever took. In that moment, I felt my heart be ripped into two separate pieces. All of the cries that I had been holding back while watching the video were now being let out, and I sucked in a huge shaky breath of air before letting it out in a long sob. Thomas was shouting for Chuck to wake up, but I couldn't form any words. I wanted to scream, but the burning in my throat grew and grew. I moved my hands from the boy's head and ran them through my hair as I began to hyperventilate.

Tears fell from my eyes with no intention to stop as the rest of my body felt like it was no longer there. I felt numb. Like the only emotion I knew was pain. I pressed my forehead to the boy's chest and let out a long string of sobs, my body rocking with each cry I vocalized. I didn't even register the fact that someone had their hand on my shoulder until I felt my body being slowly pulled away from the boy. I shook them off, never wanting to let go of Chuck.

I wished that I had payed more attention to him. Even though he was my best friend in the Glade, I wish I hadn't done some of the things I did to him. I wish I could've died instead of him. It should've been me. I was ready.

Without even thinking about it, I let out a heartbreaking scream, "It should've been me!"

I felt my body being pulled away from the little boy a little more forcefully now, and my forehead met the chest of a boy in a white sweater. My fists grabbed Newt's shirt, and I held onto it as tightly as I could, as he hugged my body. I shut my eyes and cried into his chest, not caring that he was slowly standing me to my feet. He basically carried me up, Minho putting his arm around my waist to help the boy. I could hardly see anything, I didn't even notice the guards until I heard Thomas screaming behind me.

I turned my head, taking one last look at my dead best friend that now laid on the floor. Thomas fought the guards, but eventually they got him away from Chuck. When I turned my head around, I had to squint my eyes from the sudden light that appeared. A strong breeze blew my hair out of my face, and quickly dried up the tears that were falling from my eyes. I felt myself being lifted onto a helicopter, and I didn't fight it. I looked back for Newt and Minho, and they both jumped into the vehicle, moving themselves to either side of me immediately. Newt placed his arms around my waist, and I didn't hesitate to bury my head into his chest, letting a few more sobs escape my lips as he brushed my hair out of my face. Minho rubbed my back in circles, trying to comfort me as well.

Newt jolted to the side as Thomas was thrown into the helicopter, probably just as confused as everyone else. I peeled my stinging eyes open to look at him, and I moved forward, only to grab onto his hand. He looked towards me as another one of his tears escaped, and he gave me a small nod as is lip continued to quiver. I pulled on his shirt, and he moved towards me, moving his body in between Minho and I. I kept my hand in his, and my head against Newt's chest.

A guard jumped in after him, quickly shutting the door and sitting in front of us, taking off his black face mask, "You guys alright?" He asked us.

None of us spoke, we couldn't. So he just continued to speak, "Don't worry. You're safe now..." Suddenly, the helicopter jolted forward, and began moving into the air. I pulled my legs up to my chest and clenched my jaw as Chuck's words kept repeating over and over in my head.

I felt Newt tap my shoulder, and I opened my eyes again, only to be met with the view of the entire Maze.

My mouth dropped open as I felt Thomas lean over me. Everyone else moved so they could get a better view of the area that we had been living in. It's all we've ever known. From up here, you could see everything. The way the smoke was still coming from the Glade, the path that Thomas, Minho and I had made only a day before... All we've ever known was now below us, and I suddenly felt an overwhelming exhaustion run through me.

I wondered what was going to happen to the boys who stayed behind. Would the Grievers get them? Would they try to get out themselves? Or would they just live in the Glade like nothing ever happened? My heart ached for the ones we had to leave behind, and the ones who died along the way. I was ready to sacrifice myself. I was ready to let the others go on without me. But the one who actually sacrificed himself was the one who deserved to live more than any of us. The one with the longest life to live. Chuck was going to get back to his parents, but he never got the chance to. He was so close. If Gally had come only a few minutes later, then maybe he would still be alive.

But I guess only special people get all the luck. But now we had bigger fish to fry. We had to figure out where to go from here... Where this journey was going to take us. Our problems now laid beyond the Glade.

We all sat back down in awe as the helicopter gained altitude and started to move faster. Newt held me close to his side, and I sighed into his chest, finally feeling like we were going to be okay. My heart still ached for the little boy that had so much of a future ahead of him, and I squeezed Thomas' hand at the thought. I felt him squeeze back as he relaxed into his seat again.

"Relax, kids," The guard spoke to all of us, mainly looking at Thomas, "Everything's gonna change."

I didn't have time to think over his words before I closed my eyes and leaned into the comforting chest of Newt. I took another deep breath, in through my nose, and out through my mouth before I felt my body become limp, and I drifted off into a sea of strange possibilities and unconsciousness.