ADRONITIS (II) : tmr minho

1: I could be Helping

Leo 1

When the box opens, I notice it's another boy. My chest almost collapses in on itself. The relief washes over me in waves. Not another girl; I don't think I could handle that trouble. Everything seems to be running smoothly, for once, as far as I can tell. The boys laugh at his apparently "slintheaded" face.

He stares at the boys around us, blinking at first but then doe-eyed. Perhaps confused and lost describe him better than idiotic would. I've been told we can't tell him anything until tomorrow, which only makes my attempt at a smile more attempt than smile. First day in the Glade and he's already begun to lose his mind.

I wonder, prompted by the look on his face, if we have ever seen the sky before we get here.

Alby glances at me, before looking at the boy down in the Box-hole. Part of me wonders what the Glade would be like if us girls had never showed up. Would Alby and Newt be talking? As far as Dawn has told me, which is as far as Minho has told her, the two who were previously thick as thieves find themselves at odds. Newt had been lying to Alby for a long time.

Life here is hard and we make it harder.

I wonder which of Clint and Jeff would be here right now, staring at the boy, and which would be caring for Ben. Part of me wonders if Ben would have been so close to the Doors if we weren't here. Maybe he wouldn't have been stung. Is that good or bad? Who wouldn't know how despicable he was if Dawn wasn't here in the first place.

They pull the boy up, and the boys considering to snicker. I find myself staring at him, intently. Our eyes find each other, and he stares back. He furrows his brow, I can see him mouthing something to himself, but I can't Instead of focusing on me, his head spins until his eyes land on Dawn. Michelle didn't bother showing up, or if she did she left, so he only can find Ella, who stares at him intently across the circle.

Does she remember him? She made it seem like his arrival was a big deal, so maybe.

"Keep it up and your next break'll be sliced in two," Alby yells over the voice as they continue to poke at the kid.

I can see Ella making over to go closer to him, and I find myself ducking into the back of the crowd and running around to meet her halfway. My arms pull her away as she claws at my skin.

"Let me at him," her voice is commanding and confident in a way I've never heard it before. Thankfully she's smaller, and younger than me. Fifteen was my guess, right? I think both Dawn and I are seventeen and Michelle is sixteen, so at most fifteen for her, I think.

I only pull her down to the ground, and I find Zart has pulled away from the crowd to help me move her away. We've drawn the attention of the two kitchen boys Frankie and Joe, as well as Doug the builder, but no one else has bothered to glance our way.

There is a piercing scream, loud and violent. Ben's voice tears itself to shreds, breaking and cracking at its own sheer force. If the Grievers weren't done with him, they are certainly turning back now to finish what they started. The sound of his cries reminds me of the sound of the metal cage scratching against the concrete as the Box I was brought in move up. Just as loud, and somehow more agonizing.

Maybe Ben is a banshee.

"Can you handle her?" I grunt, moving Ella behind the Farmhouse.

Zart nods as she grunts. He has clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming, and I find myself thankful, running towards the room.