In Dreams We Drown

8- The Test

Newt

I could hear Minho jogging behind me as I walked towards the Council Hall where Alby was waiting. It had been an exhausting day, my usual work in the gardens swept aside so that I could deal with a dozen problems the Gladers were having. Alby had decided he should be the one to deal with problem number one- Beth.

"What's up then, shank?" Minho asked as he reached me and slowed his pace.

"Alby wants to talk to you." I replied.

"I didn't do it." I turned to look at Minho who seemed nervous. "Whatever it is, it wasn't me."

I couldn't help but laugh at the look on my best friend's face. He always thought he was about to get a telling off, which in all honesty he often deserved.

"It's not about you, slinthead." I said as we reached the Council Hall. "It's about Beth."

"What about her? Has something happened?" Minho's sincere tone made me uncomfortable, though I had no right to be. From the looks of it, Minho was just as close with Beth as I was. I'd been quite surprised to see them eating together, but it made sense. Beth and Minho were similar in a lot of ways- both upfront, always ready for a fight, and smarter than was good for them.

"Nothing's happened, Minho."

"Oh, good that. I just thought, seeing as she was upset earlier..." This got my attention, and I turned to him fiercely.

"She was upset?"

"She was angry. But she wouldn't tell me who she was angry at." Minho told me. I sighed in frustration.

"And you didn't think to ask?"

"She didn't want to tell me." Minho shrugged. "I wasn't about to push her on the subject. It's not of my shucking business."

"What took you so long?" Alby asked as we entered the room. He was stood in the centre, his hands resting on the back of the chair that faced the benches.

"This shank wanted to finish his bloody dinner." I mumbled jokingly.

"What's this about, Alby? I'm shucking exhausted." Minho said, perching on one of the front benches. I remained standing.

"I'm gonna let Beth keep your room, Minho." Alby said simply. I scoffed slightly, surprised at how trivial the subject Alby had wanted to discuss was. Sure, Beth could keep Minho's room. No big deal. We didn't need to be wasting our evening chatting about it.

"Hang on a second, Alby!" Minho cried. Oh, looked like it was going to be more complicated than I'd anticipated. "I only offered it to her until you two worked out what to do with her. I made it clear it wasn't a permanent arrangement."

"Slim it, Minho. You can have Nick's room." Alby had spoken hesitantly when he'd mentioned Nick's name, like he might accidentally resurrect the shank's ghost or something. Nick had been dead for months, but nobody wanted to go into his room. I couldn't tell if my discomfort came from Alby's suggestion feeling disrespectful, or if I was simply being reminded of the awful circumstances of Nick's death. In that moment, I knew that both Alby and Minho were also seeing Nick's torso hanging from the rope, his body cut clean in half. I shuddered.

"Fine. I'll take Nick's room." Minho wasn't about to argue with Alby about this.

We all knew how close Alby had been to Nick, when Nick was second-in-command. Back when I was just a shuck Runner. When Nick had met his awful death, I'd guiltily felt immense pride and excitement that Alby had chosen me to be Nick's replacement. Those feelings were almost strong enough to quell the dull ache of misery that hadn't left my heart since I'd woken up in that shucking Box. But recently I'd been resenting the responsibility that Alby had given me, wishing desperately that I could just give up. I supposed that was part of the reason Alby picked me to lead with him, because he knew it meant I had no choice. I couldn't give up. Not again.