Epilogue

Madeline's Pov:

I slowly open my eyes, squinting slightly from a bright light blinding me. I slowly turn my head when I hear a voice call my name softly. 

Am I in heaven? Will I see Chuckie, Alby and Ben? Will all the gladers be here?

I have my answer when I focus my eyes on the blurry figure. I feel my lips twitch upward at the sight of Gally sat beside me, teary eyed. 

"Gally?" I ask, my voice cracks from how dry it is. 

"Madeline" Gally greets, giving me a small smile as he wraps his hand around mine. "How are you feeling?".

"Well, I can actually breathe properly now. So, I'm feeling a lot better than before" I say, shifting carefully to sit upright. Gally hands me a cup of water, which I accept gratefully. I take a small sip, feeling much better now that my throat doesn't feel so dry. I then notice my uncle Jorge sitting on a chair at the foot of my bed, his head low as he snores. 

"How long has he been sitting there for?" I ask Gally, looking at my uncle fondly. 

"Almost the entire time since we got to the safe haven. I've been bickering with him about taking a walk and letting me stay with you, but he's one stubborn shank. It explains where you get it from" He says with a smirk, glancing at Jorge. 

I shake my head with a smile on my face. "He is stubborn". I look back at Gally, finally processing his words. "We made it to the safe haven?" I ask.

"Yeah, we made it. And before you ask, everyone is fine. Newt's been feeling a lot better and Thomas should be waking up soon. Brenda should be here any minute to kick Jorge out so she can take his place" Gally explains with a chuckle. 

"Wait, what happened to Thomas?" I ask, feeling the worry build inside of me. 

"It's a long story, but he got shot" Gally informs me, causing me to pale. "He's alive though. Vince patched him up and he should wake soon. Don't worry". Gally pauses, then takes a breath. "There is something you should know though". 

"What is it?" I ask, concerned. 

Gally hesitates. "We almost couldn't save Thomas. It was Teresa who really saved him. She gave her life, practically throwing Thomas to us so that we could catch him. We was gonna try and save her, but then the building they were on collapsed before we could. Teresa's gone". 

I feel myself tear up at the news. As much as I hated Teresa for what she did, she ended up helping us a lot with saving Minho. It warms my heart to know that she saved Thomas. There was a time when I used to think of Teresa as a sister, and even though she betrayed us, she still used her last moments to do something good. I still don't think that I could forgive her for what she did. I blame my stubborness for that, but I no longer feel any resentment towards her. I will be forever grateful to her for helping us in the end. 

"What else did I miss?" I ask him. 

"Nothing much. Once Thomas wakes up, we're going to attempt to use a little bit of his blood to cure Newt permanently, and Vince has planned a bonfire for tonight. He wants me to help him set it up, but I told him that I'm not leaving your side" Gally says, his cheeks heating up. 

I smile, blushing as I use my free hand to brush his cheek. "You should go and help them. I'll come and find you when I feel good enough to take a walk. I want to explore the new place". 

"Are you sure?" He asks, not looking very eager to leave me. 

"Of course. I've got my uncle here, and you said Brenda's showing up soon. And once the others have heard that I'm awake, they're gonna want to see me. Stop slacking off and go help Vince" I say with a cheeky grin. 

"Fine, but I'll be back as soon as I can" He says, pecking my cheek. 

Brenda walks in just after Gally pulls away. 

"Maddie, thank God. I've missed you!" Brenda says with a wide smile, walking over and carefully hugging me. Brenda's excitement ends up waking up my uncle Jorge, who bolts up in shock at the sight of me awake.

"Madeline, you're awake?!" He asks in shock. 

"It seems so" I say with an amused smile. 

Jorge snaps his head to Gally, narrowing his eyes at him. "My little Magdalena wakes up and you don't think to tell me?".

"You've hardly slept, Jorge. I didn't want to wake you" Gally says defensively. 

"Don't lie to me, Hermano. You just wanted her all to yourself. You selfish little bastard" Jorge accuses causing Gally to frown. 

"I'm not selfish. You needed the sleep. You've been up all damn night!" Gally exclaims. 

"Yeah, because I was waiting for her to wake up. She's my niece, you should've woken me!" Jorge huffs. Brenda and I grin at eachother, turning back to watch the men bicker. "Stop trying to steal my precious niece from me!".

"I'm not stealing her. You clearly need more sleep, because you're acting delusional right now, Jorge" Gally says, rolling his eyes. 

"Ha ha, you're really funny, Gally. I don't know what my niece sees in you" Jorge says.

Gally gasps in offence. "You told me before that you accepted me!".

"That was before you decided to not tell me that she had woken up. You're trying to take my time away from Madeline, you little snake" Jorge retorts sassily. 

"At least I'm not dramatic, old man" Gally sasses back. This time, it's my uncle Jorge that lets out a gasp. 

"I'm not an old man!" Jorge says, his expression showing how offended he is. 

"Those two have done nothing but bicker like children since we've been here, waiting for you to wake" Brenda says, giggling as she watches them continue to send childish insults to each other.

I laugh, watching them in amusement. "This has been very entertaining, but Gally should get going to help Vince now" I say, gaining Jorge and Gally's attention. 

"Yeah. I'll leave you guys to it then" Gally says, letting go of my hand and leaving the little hut. "See you later, old man!" Gally calls out as he disappears from our view. 

Jorge grumbles. "He has a lot of nerve calling me old". 

"You two are worse than children" I say with a chuckle. Jorge focuses back on me. 

"Are you feeling better, Madeline? I was scared that I lost you for a while there" Jorge says, scanning my face to see if there's any hint of me being in pain. 

"I'm alright now, uncle. I promise. It's a bit sore, but I'll be able to get up in a little while" I reassure him. 

"Do you need anything? Food? Water?" He asks. 

I shake my head. "I'm fine for the moment, thanks". 

"Now that you have seen she's okay, can you leave us to have some girl talk?" Brenda asks him. 

Jorge lets out a sigh. "Fine. Kick me out. I'm fine with only being able to talk to my niece for a minute" he says sarcastically. 

"That's great. Bye now" Brenda says, waving him off. I laugh as he grumbles again, mumbling incoherently as he kisses my head and leaves. 

"So, what did you wanna talk about?" I ask, intrigued. 

"Well, Thomas has just finally woken u and is currently walking around to see everyone which is great news, but I have juicier gossip than that" Brenda says with a grin. 

I sit up straighter. "Tell me everything" I say eagerly. 

"Well, I noticed Thomas and Newt walking off to have a talk. So, me being curious, I decided to be sneaky and follow them. Now, I don't know what they said, but they definitely confessed their feelings because I caught them kissing!" Brenda says, causing me gasp. 

"Finally! That's amazing news!" I say excitedly. 

"I know right?! I told myself that I would tell you first, but then I ran into Minho on the way to check on you. I'm guessing that by now, Minho has told everyone and the new couple are probably getting teases relentlessly" Brenda says, laughing. 

"That's karma for them teasing me and Gally" I say with a laugh. "Do you want to go for a walk. I'm itching to get out of this bed and explore our new home". 

"We can do that, but you have to promise me to let me know the moment you feel pain, or your boyfriend and uncle will give me an earful" Brenda says, causing me to smile. 

"I promise. And Gally's technically not my boyfriend" I say matter-of-factly. Brenda mumbles something that I can't quite hear. I brush it off when she helps me to stand. We walk together around our new camp, running into all of our friends and chatting about anything and everything. Newt cries a little, apologising profusely as he pulls me into a hug, but I tell him that it wasn't his fault and I would do it again if it meant saving his life. 

I sit with my uncle Jorge and Vince for a good hour, before Gally walks over to us looking nervous for some reason. 

"Mads, could you come with me for a minute?" Gally asks, his hands fidgeting at his sides. I watch him, slightly concerned. I don't notice my uncle Jorge and Vince sharing a look with small smirks plastered on their faces. 

"Yeah, sure" I say, getting up. He grabs my hand, walking away from the middle of the camp, towards the empty area just beyond the small huts. I study his face, noticing the slight blush coating his cheeks and feeling the tremble in his hand. "Is everything okay?". 

"Y-yeah, everything's fine" He stutters out. I frown slightly, but don't push him to say more. We walk for at least another 5 minutes before we come to a stop. My breath catches in my lungs at the sight in front of me. 

In the small plot of land, sits an unfinished structure. It seems to be the start of a house being built. In the centre of the structure, there are various flowers scattered around the area, but what really catches my attention is a question made up from pretty pink flowers. 

Will you be my girlfriend?  It reads. 

"This isn't much, but we don't have a lot of resources and the only thing that I could actually find a lot of was these silly flowers" Gally tells me. "You're probably confused about this, because I've only just started it, but I'm building a house for us... to live in. It'll look beautiful once it's done, and I thought that once it was built, we could live together, you know. Start a new life together, and a family, but only if you want to" He rambles, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. I don't give him a chance to carry on rambling, because I let go of his hand, cup his face, and stand on my tip toes to smash our lips together. 

The kiss is long, passionate, and absolutely everything. I wrap my arms around his neck. Gally wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, until our bodies are flush together. I pull away, with the biggest smile on my face. 

"You did this for me?" I ask, blushing furiously. 

"Yeah. I love you Madeline, and I want to be official. I want to spend the rest of my life with you" Gally says, lowering his head and resting his forehead on mine. 

"I love you so much, Gally. Of course I'll be your girlfriend" I whisper. He sends me a wide smile, and I've never seen him so happy. He pulls me into another kiss, and I get startled when I hear cheering and whistles nearby. I turn my head to see everyone standing there with happy looks on their faces. Minho, Newt, Frypan, Thomas, Harriet, Sonya, Aris, Jorge and Vince. All of my family grouped together, cheering for us and yelling in excitement. 

"It's about damn time!" Frypan shouts to us. 

"Well done for finally growing a pair, Gally!" Minho adds, causing everyone to laugh. 

Gally huffs. "Shut it you shank!" He shouts back, but Minho just childishly pokes his tongue out at him. 

I look at Gally with a grin, my eyes full of love. "And let the teasing commence" I say. 

"They're gonna be insufferable, and there's nothing I can do about it. I had them help me set this up so I owe them a good few days worth of teasing" Gally informs me, sending them a look of annoyance. 

I look up at him, and I'm sure that my eyes are probably heart shaped. "I love you" I whisper. 

Gally's eyes soften. "I love you more" he whispers back. 

All of us are now sitting around the freshly lit bonfire, each holding a jar of Gally's special drink. He still won't tell anyone, even me, what ingredients he puts in it. 

I'm still 90% that his special ingredient may be his own piss, because why else would he be so stubborn and not tell us what it is? I grimace at the thought, trying to forget it as I take a sip of the disgusting drink. 

At least it gets me drunk.

Vince stands in the centre of the camp, just in front of the bonfire as we listen to his speech. 

"We have come a long way together. So many have sacrificed so much... to make this place possible. Your friends... and your family. So, here's to the ones that couldn't be here" He says, raising his drink. Everything does the same, raising our jars and cups as we think about our lost ones. "This place is for you. It's for all of us. But this..." He continues, pointing to a large stone not far behind him. "this is for them. So, in your own time, in your own way... come make your peace" He tells us, stabbing a knife for us to use into a wooden stump beside him. "And welcome to the safe haven!" He shouts, causing everyone to cheer and erupt in applause. 

I stay close to Gally most of the night as we move around the camp, laughing and chatting with everyone. All of us head towards the stone, to carve out names and make our peace. Minho carves Ben's name, Newt carves Alby's, Thomas carves Teresa's, and Frypan carves Zarts name. Gally and I stand together. Gally carves Chuck's name, staring at it in sadness as I hug him to give him some comfort. I carve out Winston's name, and then Frypan returns to carve out Jeff and Clints names. 

After a night full of fun, and Gally sneaking into my hut to spend the night tangled with me, we wake up early in the morning to watch Vince carefully inject Newt with the cure. It turns out that Teresa had used some of Thomas' blood before she died to make a cure for Newt, and gave it to Thomas before she died. We check up on Newt throughout the day, and he starts to feel fully healed again. 

We may have lost so many friends along the way, but now, we're finally safe. There's no more WCKD and no fear of infection. Just us immunes, and non-immunes, building a new life. 

We finally made it. We're now at peace. 

Author's Note:

I cried a little when writing this, but I'm so happy to have finally finished it. I hope you enjoy this last chapter and remember to take care of yourselves. 

Xxxx