Chapter 17

"Wakey wakey love birds!!" Minho yelled as he flung the door wide open, a couple Thomas right beside him.

Emily and Newt were in too deep a sleep to even hear Minho.

"Geez, had I known they'd share a bed I would've taken the other for myself." Thomas mumbled quietly.

A mischievous thought crossed Minho's mind as he snuck up to their bed.

Leaning in, he bent down really close to Newt's face.

"Wakey wakey newtiepieeeeeeeeeee~" He whispered.

Newt's eyes flickered open for a second, but that was enough to give him a shock. He shot up straight, knocking Minho in the head.

Emily, who was once in Newt's embrace, had now rolled off the floor and landed with a loud thud.

Dizzy from the knock, she sat up slowly, only to find Minho in a mix of hysteria and pain on the floor, with Newt rubbing his forehead vigorously.

"What the..." Emily muttered, as she took in the scene around her.

Thomas ran up to Emily and stretched his hand out, helping her back to the bed.

With a quick thanks,Emily turned back to Newt.

"Are you okay?? How's your head?" Emily asked, feeling concerned.

"Hey! Does no one care about me???" Minho whined.

As if scripted, Thomas skipped over to Minho and held his head in his lap, gently stroking his hair.

"I got ya baby." Thomas cooed, a silly grin plastered across his face.

"Ew get a room!" Emily and Newt laughed.

"Says you! You guys were so loud last night, none of the Gladers could sleep." Minho pointed at them.

Emily's face turned crimson and she tried to cover her face with her hair - while Newt was in complete shock.

Then it dawned on them.

Nothing happened.

They were just playing.

Minho started laughing wildly again, and Newt chucked his pillow at Minho's face.

It was nice to have a sense of normalcy for the Gladers, one last brief moment of their lives, before it changed forever. "C'mon shuckfaces. We got a long day ahead of us." Minho said as he nodded towards the Glade.

Every single Glader was up and about, grabbing all sorts of tools and weapons.

Newt saw Gally in the distance, dragging his feet against the ground as he brought a couple of spears to the pile in the middle of the Glade.

Standing at the pile was Alby, arms folded and a slightly forlorn look on his face.

Despite it being a seemingly happy occasion, no one looked particularly excited. Even Chuck looked drained and anxious.

Newt threw the covers off them and helped Emily up, then immediately went to join the rest of the Gladers.

He took in the sight. The thought of inevitably losing a few Gladers - friends he had gone through this madness with, sunk to the bottom of his heart.

Newt felt a slight pang of anxiety which had started to grow.

Emily, Minho and Thomas also began busying themselves with gathering weapons and checking on everyone.

Alby's voice boomed through the Glade as he drew the attention of the Gladers. "Alright shanks. Gather in," he began, and once everyone was close enough to hear him, he continued. "This isn't going to be easy. Who knows what those slintheads have set up for us. But whatever it is, remember the end goal. We stick together, and fight like the best shucking soldiers they have ever seen. And when we get out, we'll find the answers we need."

The Graders shouted and yelled battle cries in response, their voiced resounding through the oddly silent Glade.

Apart from the center of the Glade, every other part was still and silent, the occasional rustling of leaves due to the beetleblades' constant movement.

"So here's the plan. Newt and I will head in first, and Thomas will be at the back." Minho stops abruptly.

"Anything else to add?" Alby asked, narrowing his eyes a little at Minho, pressing him for a better speech.

Minho let out a heavy sigh, then straightened up and continued. "Whatever happens, don't die." Minho says, smirking slightly as he saw Alby shake his head.

"Great, we're all bloody inspired." Newt mumbled as he rolled his eyes at his friend.

------A/N this is a pretty short chapter and I apologise for the insanely long wait. I'm so busy that I don't even have time to sleep properly so please bear with me >< I'm looking for pockets of time but they're really hard to find.

I now have about 4 hours of sleep before school so.... goodnight and I apologise for any errors.

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