A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chapter 3

Originally published: 05/03/18

Edited: 26/09/19

.~.~.~.

Cally's pov

"Sooo... what's a Gathering?" I asked while I followed Alby, not remembering it from the movies. Not that that was a lot to go on, I had only seen the first two, and that was years ago. I didn't remember a lot at this point.
     "You'll see." Alby answered me without even glancing at me. It seemed like my question had irritated him in some way.
     It didn't take long before I realized we were heading for the biggest building inside the square. It was made out of wood, one part clearly had been the base while other parts had been built around it.
     Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to take it all in because I was taken into the building. Inside seemed to be some sort of cafeteria. There were all kinds of tables, benches and chairs scattered around the room. Sleeping bags could be seen everywhere as well. All of it wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for all the boys. They were staring at me and whispering at each other. It made me very uncomfortable, until I realized this was all a dream! So, instead of dreading all of the attention, I straightened my back and stared back, making faces at some of the boys that looked at me weirdly.
     Even though I had seen a couple of stairs, we didn't go there. Instead, we walked into a room at the ground floor. The room was empty, except for eleven chairs that stood inside a half circle. Eight of the eleven were filled with boys, one of them I recognized from this morning; Gally. In front of the half circle were three other chairs, two next to each other and one a bit further apart from everyone.
     What shall I do? It's a dream after all... I thought, wanting to take full advantage of the realistic dream. But eventually, I decided to just play along to see where it all would go.
     "Go sit there, Shank." Alby commanded me while gesturing to the chair furthest away from the rest, pulling me out of my thoughts in a rude way. "Don't talk, only when asked a question."
     "Someone doesn't like mornings, and this time it's not me." I mumbled under my breath, making a small smile appear on Newt's face for a short moment before he joined Alby, who had made his way to the front of the group, by sitting down on one of the empty chairs.
     "You may have noticed that, after searching the entire night, we've found the girl." Alby started talking, gestured to me as he did. Everyone's attention now switched from him to me, which made the uncomfortable feeling from before return. Trying to escape the feeling and distract myself, I looked down at my hands. There wasn't really a lot going on with them, but it did make me notice I was wearing the bracelet I 'borrowed' from Mr. Gibs.
     "She appeared in the Glade at night. But there were no sirens, nor did anyone open the Box. The gates of the Maze were closed. So that leaves us with the question: How did she get here?"
     The silence that followed made me look up at Alby, only to see he was already looking at me. "Ow, that was a question for me?" I asked. "Sorry, she didn't notice that she was allowed to talk."
     "Watch your tongue." Alby told me with a threatening tone in his voice. "How did you get here?"
     I shrugged. "I don't know. Just woke up in one of the fields."
     "Liar." One of the boys accused me immediately. "She knows more."
     "I'm not-" Alby cut me short.
     "That wasn't a question. What were you saying, Winston?" I sighed in frustration as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
     "She obviously knows more." The guy that called me a liar, this Winston, continued. "Maybe she's one of them." The group now looked at me with something in their eyes that I could only describe as a mixture of fear and hate while most of them started to whisper among each other.
     "Possible." Alby stated. "She did know our names and that she was in the Glade. She could be one of them."
     "Them? Who are them?" I asked.
     "Slim it." Alby bit at me. Even though I did not know what that meant, I assumed he just told me to stop talking, causing my annoyance towards the guy to grow. "What do you suggest we do with her?"
     "We should Banish her. She could be dangerous." Winston stated confidently. Some gasps came from the other boys the moment the word 'banish' fell. Tipping me off that it wasn't a good thing, causing fear to creep up in me.
     "That's a bit dramatic, don't ya think, Winny?" Newt joined in, disagreeing with the other boy.
     Ow thank God. Or Newt. Ah, whatever.
     "Why don't we treat her like any other Newbie?" The blonde continued. "She hasn't done anythin' against the rules so far."
     "Exactly, Newt. 'So far', what if she is one of them? She could be the death of us." The dark-haired boy named Gally said, looking at me with doubtful eyes, as if he wasn't entirely sure about his own words.
     "Don't be such a Slinthead, Gally." The Asian boy, Minho, started. "If you use that way of thinking, we would have to Banish every shuck Greenie that pops up."
     I could see Gally was about to make a probably nasty remark, but Alby seemed to have noticed that too and quickly took charge again. "Okay! There's only one way to settle this. Let's vote." The dark skinned guy looked around the room to see if everyone was listening. "Who's for Banishing the Shank, raise your-"
     "Wait!" Before I could stop myself, it had left my mouth. The fear of whatever Banishing meant became too much, and I just had to do something. Now everyone was looking at me, I continued in a calmer voice. "Wait. I lied. I was scared and made up those things. I don't know my last name, or age, or my birthday. I just didn't want you to know that I didn't know, because I didn't know what was going on. Still don't, by the way, but Banishment sounds bad."
     "Then how did you know our names?" Minho was the first one to react.
     "I heard you talking." That wasn't a lie. "I was hiding in a tree... you all kept talking, and I heard a lot. No one ever looked up, though. Which is a really stupid mistake from your side, guys." My words apparently amused Minho because I saw a small smirk on his lips.
     "So... how did you get here?" Newt asked, looking at me with crossed eyebrows.
     "That, I really don't know. I just woke up here."
     Alby cleared his throat, getting back the attention. "So, who votes for Banishment?" The leader of the boys got everyone to get back to the point. There was some hesitation going around, but eventually, three people raised their hands. Newt scribbled something down on a piece of paper. When he was done, he nodded at Alby, who now continued with his next question. "Who votes for a new Newbie?" There was another wave of hesitation, but eventually, five hands got raised. Including Newt's and Minho's.
     "It's decided." Alby turned himself to me, for the first time he sounded glad. "Welcome to the Glade, Greenie."
     A small smile appeared on my lips, happy that I didn't get banished, even though I still didn't know what that was or what was going on. It felt like a small victory.
     "Newt." The leader addressed him. "You're giving her the tour. After all, it was your idea to keep her." Newt nodded at Alby and then shot me a quick smile. "Okay, Shanks! Go to work!"