The Deadliest Generation: The Maze Of Monsters

The Gathering

Authors Note: HAHAHA I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CONFUSED YOU ALL IN THE LAST CHAPTER! And we aren't going back to that flashback for a while, so have fun being left on a cliffhanger! We're back in the Glade. After all, what happened to River, really? Why were all those kids there? Who was Alec and what happened to him? And what did Janson mean by 'the Spiral Games' and what are they? (God, I sound like a cheesy show from the 1930's) Buttt, you won't find out for a while. Don't be sad, there's more Newtmas this chapter.

Thomas found himself sitting in a chair in front of eleven other boys the next morning, worried and anxious, probably sweating a lot more than he should be. All the Keepers were all seated in a semicircle in front of him, including Minho, Zart, Newt and Gally, sadly, the boy who seemed to have it in for Thomas. As he had heard from Minho that morning, Gally had gone through the Changing, and that scared Thomas, along with River's weird freak out that proved they both recognised Thomas from before the maze. And Thomas doubted he'd been doing something amazing, if Gally's stony death stare was anything to go by. 

How are you alive?

How are you alive?

How are you ALIVE?

Thomas shook his head several times, trying to dissolve the thought. He instead looked around at the room they were in, somewhere in Homestead. There was no furniture aside from the chairs aside from a small table in the corner and it seemed to be made of wood. It didn't look too inviting, but Thomas supposed that was the point. It smelled of mildew and old books. 

Thomas was at least glad that Newt was there. He stood just in front of the chair next to the one opposite Thomas, the empty one.

The one Alby should've filled. 

"In the place of our leader, sick in bed, I declare this Gathering has begun." Newt said, subtly rolling his eyes. He seemed to hate the formality, and his stance - tense and uncomfortable - showed he really didn't want to do this at all. "As you know, the last few days have been bloody crazy, and quite a bit of it seems to be centered our Greenbean, Tommy, who's seated before us." 

Thomas's face went a bit red with embarrassment. They were all looking at him.

"He's not the Greenie anymore," Gally muttered, voice almost scratchy and so low Thomas almost didn't hear him, "he's just the rule breaker now."

Murmurs and whispering infected and flooded the room from all the other Keepers, making Thomas tense up.

Why the hell did Gally hate him so much?

Thomas wanted to be away from this room as quickly as possible, and as far as possible.

"Shut up," Newt snapped, "the lot of you. And Gally, we're trying to keep some bloody order here, so if you're gonna blabber every time I open my shucking mouth, go ahead and bloody leave, because I'm not in a good mood. I did not sleep well."

Thomas wished he could cheer at that.

"Newt, what happened last nigh-?" A Keeper Thomas didn't recognise piped up, but was cut off by Newt.

"We're not talking about it." Newt snapped, keeping his eyes trained on Gally in a hard stare. Gally had folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, an incredibly forced scowl on his face. Thomas nearly laughed. He was having a hard time believing he'd been worried about this boy. He seemed silly now, maybe even pathetic. 

Newt gave Gally a final look, narrowing his eyes slightly, then continued, "Glad we got that out of the way." He rolled his eyes again. "Reason we are here is because almost every lovin' kid in the Glade has come up to me in the last day or two, either boo-hooing 'bout Tommy or beggin' to take his bloody hand in marriage. We need to decide what to do with him."