Wildfire ~ Newt

2.6

That evening there was no laughter. No music. No dancing. No smiles.

Vera instead had gone with Gally, Winston and Zart to cross off Ben's name from the wall. Yet another friend she had to see's mark be carved across with a thick line in the stone. 

None of them said anything to each other. 

Gally did most of the work, whilst the other three held up torches so he could see what he was doing. It was a process that Vera never missed, whoever the boy was. She felt like it was a way of showing her respect and a way to say farewell. 

"All done" Gally muttered, lowering his chisel, quickly making eye contact with the other three. 

Winston mumbled something that Vera couldn't quite understand and Zart gently gave her a light hug, all of them slowly making their way back to the homestead. 

The walk  was quiet, only the crickets up and about. A few torches had been lit, and Vera noted in the dim light how shaken lots of the boys looked. 

It suddenly occurred to her, that many of them wouldn't have seen a banishment. They'd had three in the past...Steven, Michael and Toto, but the last one hadn't been for many months now. 

Lots of the boys here would have had their first look at the horrors of the changing and what it could lead to. Vera hated how she was special. She didn't understand why. Before she had been stung, Newt had told her that a few of the boys had been infected during the early days, but they all died fairly quickly because of it. Then because she was sent the serum and recovered memories, Alby liked to hold out as long as possible incase the creators decided to be benevolent, or maybe even clues and bits of information would come back to its victims. 

Ben was too far gone for them to wait any longer...

Vera silently walked through the homestead, quickly doing checks if everyone was in bed. She was sure Newt and Alby had done this earlier, but she didn't want to go to sleep just yet, and wanted to find an excuse to escape from what happens when she closed her eyes. 

Chuck was nestled in his hammock which was a good sign, and putting on a small smile, Vera crept up to the youngest glader. 

"Hey, you alright?" she asked weakly, crouching down to meet his height in his bed. 

The boy turned in his position, leaning his head on his hands as he saw her, "Vera! Yeah, I'm alright...just a little shaken" he muttered, pursing his lips together as he looked at her. 

She did the same, running her hand through his curls slowly. "That's alright then, the best thing now is to get some sleep" she told him, pushing herself off her knees. 

Chuck yawned, nestling into his hammock, "blondie" he whispered, causing Vera to pause, a tiny smile creeping onto her lips. 

"Yes?" 

Chuck yawned again. "If the changing was so bad, how come you survived it?" he asked, memories flashing into her head. 

Vera froze, her breath hitching. It also suddenly occurred to her, that Chuck wasn't the only one listening and Thomas had lent in curiously closer. 

Her throat bobbed as she looked down at the small boy, "that's a story for another day" was all she could muster. Most of the gladers knew the changing was a sensitive subject, most of them also knew something had happened concerning her and the grievers, but no one pressed further than that. 

She didn't blame Chuck for his question, nor Thomas for his curiosity, but she was in no fit state to go into the details and so crouched down again, brushing her hand over the youngest's forehead.