Questions: Gally x Reader

Questions: Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Weeks came and weeks went. Alby had ordered that Gally stay away from you as best he could, and Gally had honored that. All your assignments came through Alec. You had gotten very close to Alec as time went on. You would have called him your dearest friend in the Glade, except for your constant wall of silence separating the two of you.

You and Gally hadn't said a met since the night by the slammers. The distance between you was becoming unbearable, as were the voices coming from the maze.

They had only grown louder. Now, when you heard them, you winced at the pain caused by their volume. You had to follow their orders soon. But to do that, you had to leave the maze.

Minho noticed you sitting out by the doors every day when he came back from running. He'd been watching you closely. Now, finally, he was ready to start your training as a runner.

You woke up before dawn to Minho's stirring.

"Rise and shine greenie," He whispered, trying not to wake the other boys. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Minho led you to the deadheads on the far edge of the Glade. The trees were thinner towards the wall, making a path to run.

"See the end? Far over there? Race me there and back." It was an order with no explanation, but you didn't need any. This was the first test; if you could keep up with Minho you would go onto further training. And you knew you could do more than just keep up.

"One..."

You leaned forward slightly.

"Two..."

You pushed one foot behind you and onto a rock to give you a jump start.

"Three..."

You took off.

Minho led on the way down, by a lot. But you were saving your strength. As you two touched the wall and turned to run back, you took an easy lead.

You beat him by a few yards, and collapsed, completely out of breath, on a tuft of moss to wait for him.

Minho trotted up to you after his lap was done, obvious surprise on his face.

"Well done." He nodded, and you panted, trying to catch your breath.

He grinned and sat down next to you.

"So, you're fast. But you've got to be more than fast to be a Runner. You've got to run for hours out there; your life depends on it. We'll work on stamina tomorrow. But for today... good work."

Minho clapped you on the back, then stood up to go get ready for his day of running. As he did, the voices called again, harder this time, and ear-splittingly loud.

Come now.

The sound, oblivious to everyone else in the Glade, entered only your ears. It was so loud you could hear nothing but ringing afterward.

Unfortunate enough for you, because Minho was desperately trying to speak to you. You dumbly pointed a hand to your heads, your eyes pleading for relief from the ringing and the pain.

Minho dragged you to your feet and over to the medjack hut, pounding on the door. You couldn't hear a thing, but you saw his lips moving like he was calling someone.

Clint came out, his eyes dark with worry, and tried asking you something?

You shook your head, confused and scared.

They brought you in the hut and motioned for you to lie down, which you did. Clint pushed a damp cloth into your hand, and you held it to your ears. Then Clint pulled Minho aside and spoke to him. You wanted desperately to know what they were saying. Oh, why hadn't you thought to learn lip reading before you came here? You'd learned everything else!

Alec burst through the door suddenly. He ran up to you, sitting on the bed next to you, his lips moving fast but you couldn't hear a word.

When you shrugged and motioned that you couldn't hear, his face went white. He stood up and started talking to Clint and Minho, his body language mad and aggressive. You tried to follow along as best you could. Alec's face was red, and he pointed his finger accusingly at Minho, who acted defensively. Clint just looked concerned, throwing you sympathetic glances now and then.

"... they could be deaf forever and it would all be your fault!"

You blinked, taking the towel down from your ear.

"I'll never get to tell them how I feel about them. Minho, you slinthead, I'll never get to tell the greenie that I love them thanks to you!?" Alec screamed at Minho. Your eyes widened, but you ducked to avoid Clint seeing.

"It wasn't my fault!" Minho protested.

"You were the only one out there with them! What happened?!" Alec demanded.

"I don't know! We ran for a while, then I started to leave to get breakfast, then the greenie just screamed!"

"Wait, wait, did you say they screamed?" Clint asked, butting into the conversation.

"That's what I said, I didn't do anything!"

"No, but... aren't they mute?"

All three boys turned to look at you. You blushed and ducked.

"Greenie?" Alec asked in a soft voice. "Can you hear me?"

You looked up, met his eyes, and nodded.

"Oh, thank the Creators!" He rushed to you, kneeling next to you, pressing your hands in his. "I was so worried. What happened? Can you tell me what happened? What did Minho do to you?"

"Hey! I didn't do anything! Tell him, greenie!" Minho urged.

You shook your head violently, you couldn't talk, not yet! The yell was a slip-up, an instinct, a reaction to the pain, that was all! Oh, what would Wicked say? You'd outstayed your welcome in the Glade. This was the turning point you had known was coming.

"Greenie? You screamed, your vocal cords work. Can you say something?" Clint prodded, sitting next to you.

You shook your head again.

"Greenie, please. Just your name? Just for me? Forget these other shanks. Just look at me. Please?" Alec knelt in front of you, taking both your hands. He looked deep into your eyes, pleading for an answer, a sign, anything. You wanted to give it to him. You wanted to... but you couldn't. Not yet. You forced all that pain, all that longing into a strangled sob that pushed past all barrios of willpower in your throat, and you fell into Alec's arms.

You didn't know how long you cried, or how long Alec held you. Minho left at some point, late for his run. Clint left next, then came back with Jeff. You slept a little, maybe Alec did too. But when you awoke you were still in his arms.

It was safe, for a moment. One brief instant where you felt safe and maybe... loved.

But at the same it, it felt strange... off... wrong. Something was missing... but you were too tired to figure out what.