𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚

Gathering: Ch.21

It was the middle of the day and I still hadn't left the Medhut. Nor had I eaten, since even the thought of food made me feel like gagging.

Another leftover symptom from the Changing was that my veins were all darker and larger. Thankfully, they were slowly going back to normal throughout the day.

The only reason I was able to get out of bed was because Jeff had given me some pain medication, so at least that helped a bit.

Then I jumped when the door opened since it had been pretty quiet all day long.

"Alice, oh my gosh." Minho sighed, surprisingly hugging me just as tightly as Noah. "I came back from the Maze a little earlier today since I had heard you were finally awake."

"I didn't try killing myself." I muttered.

Minho pulled away, frowning at me. "I- you scared me, Wonderland. It just reminded me of...never mind. Let's get you outta this shuckin' hut."

Before I could ask what he was going to say, he was already pulling me outside.

The sunlight hitting me after so long made my eyes squint and want to go back inside right then and there.

"More slowly, jeez." I said, wincing with every fast step Minho had us take.

"Sorry. Just want to make sure you can get some food and talk to Alby."

The way that Minho was being so genuinely nice to me made me wonder what he was going to bring up, and how badly the Changing must have looked from his perspective.

"I'm not really in the mood for either of those things at the moment." I rolled my eyes as he sat me at one of the lunch tables.

"Too bad. Stay here."

"I'm not a damn dog." I mumbled, watching him go get me a plate of food from Frypan.

Within minutes he had already returned with my lunch and Alby beside him, then turned right to a table with his own friends.

"Hey, Alice. Doin' a little better now?" asked Alby.

"I guess, I dunno." I said, zoning out and simply picking at the food with my fork.

He sighed. "Well, I'd love to get to talk with you about things on a more emotional level, but that's unfortunately not possible right now. While you were unconscious, people were talking. There's some controversy."

Great, another thing to deal with.

"Seriously? What are these shanks complaining about now?"

"You did break one of the only rules, Alice. Never go beyond the walls- unless you're a Runner."

I always found that rule to be a little stupid. Sure, it kind of made sense, but how did anyone expect to escape such a large maze with only a few people being allowed in it?

"You're kidding. I was trying to help!" I exclaimed, now much more intrigued in the conversation.

"Not everyone knew your intentions. And still, you broke the rule. There's going to be a Gathering tonight to decide what to do with you. You'll have to attend since you're a Keeper, and the center of the whole meeting anyway."

Obviously, I was not excited about that. I was barely able to get out of bed for goodness' sake! Now I would need to get in front of all the Keepers and explain why the hell I went and purposefully got stung by a Griever.

***

"Alright everyone, take a seat!" Alby commanded all the Keepers entering Council Hall.

I was sitting in the center of the room, anxiously bouncing my leg and wanting to get the Gathering over with.