girl in the maze // {the maze runner, thomas}

chapter 4

 The three of us walk into the Gathering room. It's located in the Homestead and consists of chairs arranged in a semi-circle with a small table in the corner. There are no windows, and the room gives off a scent reminiscent of mildew and old books.

Alby points out my chair, which is three down from his. Then, Newt and Alby take their respective seats, and the meeting is called into order.

"As you all know," Alby starts, "we have a few orders of business to attend to."

"First of all," Newt continues, "we want to formally address our new Keeper of the Med-Jacks."

Newt points to me, and I instantly feel my face flush. The boys all turn to me, and those who don't already know stare at me with looks ranging from shock to confusion to anger.

"What?" Gally stands. "You can't be serious."

"I am," Newt responds. "The Greenie has a knack for medical stuff, and we all know the Med-Jacks tend to be overlooked. It's far past time we give those Shanks a proper leader."

"Well what about Clint?" Gally fires back. "What does he have to say about all of this?"

"Clint," Alby interjects, "is more than okay with the position change. In fact, he's elated that he no longer has to come to these long meetings, only made longer by Slinthead's like you asking stupid questions."

"It's not a stupid question," Gally retorts, his nostrils flaring and his scratchy voice growing deeper. "This shank got here yesterday. Yesterday. And you're already giving her a position that the rest of us worked years for."

"Well she earned it," Newt responds, upholding his calm composure. "When you save someone's life, let me know, will ya?"

"Does she even know her name yet?" Gally asks, standing up and walking over to where Alby and Newt are sitting.

Neither responds, and Gally takes this as an invitation to continue.

"Figures," he sneers. "I feel like we haven't even thought about why they'd send a girl here. She's the first one. Shouldn't that raise some alarms?"

Gally looks around, making eye contact with the other boys. Some of them nod along, easily persuaded by what Gally is saying.

"You know," Gally begins, shifting his gaze to me, "I might have an idea of why she's here."

He walks toward me, and my heart rate quickens, dread seeping into my stomach. Gally stops right in front of me and bends down so we're level.

Newt immediately stands, but Alby holds him back as if waiting to see what happens.

"Maybe," Gally says, a smirk spreading across his face, "she's here to help us repopulate."

The room erupts.

Half the boys cheer and laugh, while the others start yelling loud disagreements.

"I call dibs!"

"Slim it, Gally!"

"Too bad she looks like Klunk!"

"Gally's right!"

I stand up. I'm starting to feel like a cornered animal, and I don't like it. I take a few steps back, but I run into the wall. I didn't realize how vulnerable being the only girl amongst a group of fifty or so boys truly was. And if their leaders are this willing to throw me to the wolves, I can't imagine what the rest of them are thinking.

"SILENCE!" A voice bellows over all of the other ones. I turn to see Alby standing on his chair. The room quiets instantly, and all attention is returned to Alby.

"The next person," he barks, "to say ANYTHING crude or suggestive about her will be banished. Banished, do you hear me?"

The boys mutter in agreement and return to their seats. Gally gives a huff and sits back down, defeated. The look in his eyes, however, gives me the impression that this is far from over.

"She's one of us now," Newt adds. "So get that through your thick skulls or get the Shuck out of here."

"Good that," a few staggered voices reply.

I cautiously make my way back to my seat and try to avoid eye contact with any of the boys near me.

The rest of the meeting proceeds without any more contention. A few of the boys continue to give me dirty looks, but I do my best to ignore them and focus on the Gathering.

Once the meeting is dismissed and most of the people have filtered out, I walk up to Alby.

"Thank you," I say, "for defending me back there."

"Of course, Greenie," he responds and gives me a quick nod before walking out, leaving just me and Newt.

"Well, I'd say that went well," Newt chuckles. I roll my eyes at him.

"Do you think they'll ever warm up to me?" I ask, glancing down at the floor to hide how scared this meeting made me.

"Give it time, Greenbean," Newt reassures me. "Gally is a loud voice and the boys are easily influenced. But once you gain their trust, which I'm sure ya will, they'll have your back no matter what."

"I guess," I sigh. This place is dangerous and deadly, but I never expected fitting in to be my biggest challenge.

"D'ya wanna go get some food?" Newt asks, a poor attempt at a subject change.

"Sure," I laugh, and we start towards the door. "I wonder what they're serving toni-"

Suddenly, an intense pain fills my head, and I stop walking, bringing both hands up to push on my temples. I groan, squeezing my eyes closed. I reach out for something to hold on to, find one of the empty chairs, and grip onto it for support.

After another moment, the wave of pain subsides as quickly as it had come.

"What is it?" Newt asks, panic lacing his tone. "What's wrong?"

I let go of the chair and look up at him, eyes wide. A smile slowly spreads across my face.

"Elizabeth," I whisper. "My name's Elizabeth."