𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 - 𝘔𝘈𝘡𝘌 𝘙𝘜𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘙

10 ~ 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧

Newt

A scream from Gally woke me the next morning. I rubbed my eyes groggily and forced myself to get out of bed. I changed my routine that morning to go over to the Slammer, where Gally was kept. I peered inside, and almost regretted doing so.

Gally was strapped on his back to a cot. I could see that he was trying to struggle, but the Med-jacks tied the ropes holding him down so tightly that I was surprised that his circulation hasn't been cut off.

Green veins were crawling up his arms and neck, and his face was a sickly white color. His biceps flexed as he tried to pull himself free, but the Med-jacks' knots held. He screamed again, and I clapped my hands to my ears. I hated when people went through the Changing; I'd realized this the first time it happened, with Will.

The screams were always so full of pain, and sorrow. I hated feeling so helpless, that there was nothing I could do to make their pain go away, but eventually I got used to it.

"Hey, Newt, what are you doing up?"

I turned to see both Med-jacks walking towards me. "I'm always up this early," I replied. "The question is, what are you two are doing up?"

Clint shrugged. "We decided to get an early start while Gally's in the Changing, just to keep a better eye on him."

"Plus, we want to be first in line for breakfast," Jeff added. "Today's pancake day."

My head snapped up. "Uh oh," I said. "Quick, we have to get there before everyone else."

So, after giving Gally a quick sip of water, Clint, Jeff and I sprinted for the kitchens, managing to be first in line. I grinned when Frypan slipped three golden brown pancakes on my plate, and a side of his famous bacon.

I sat alone at the usual table, waiting for everyone else to arrive. Soon, the table was almost full. Everyone seemed tired, but happy today. I assumed it was because of Frypan's pancakes.

Someone who wasn't too happy was Lottie. She stalked over with her plate halfway through breakfast and slammed it down on the table.

"Was no one going to tell me that there would be a stampede in the kitchen today?" she angrily took a bite of a pancake. "I had to spend half of breakfast time in line!"

"Maybe you should have woken up earlier," Zart teased her. She gave him such a sharp look that he looked away quickly, with a slightly scared look on his face. I snickered lightly, and Lottie's eyes snapped to me.

"What are you laughing at?"

My smile fell. "Are you alright? You seem... on edge."

She huffed and stabbed at her food. "I fell out of my hammock in the middle of the night. Gally kept screaming, so he kept me awake, not to mention my ribs throbbing all night. Then, in the morning, I found that Bark had taken all my stuff out of my crate, and then," she stabbed the air with her fork, causing Zart and Mitch, who were sitting next to her, to jump. "I'm the last one in the breakfast line!"

"I'm... er... sorry you're having a bad morning." I said, slightly shocked. It was hard to imagine Lottie in a bad mood, but now that I was seeing it up close, it was kind of amusing.

"It's all right," Lottie waved my apology away. "I'll just go into the forest, and I'll feel better."

I smiled a little. I'd noticed that a few times throughout the week, Lottie would, without a word, drop her gardening tools and stride into the forest. Usually, I'd scold her to get back to work, but I never had the heart. I just waited until she came back.