ADRONITIS (II) : tmr minho

11: I could be Stronger

Michelle 11

We're standing in a semi circle, waiting for them to bring Ben out. Most of the boys are sullen and silent. If anything, they are whispering about changes. About how Ben never had a violent bone in his body, and how he is convinced the Greenie is going to get us killed. How things are shifting now, since he did get stung when he was practically in the Glade.

Doug is directly behind me. I can hear him gripping and complaining about everything left and right. He blames me just as much as he blames Thomas. I'd hit him if we weren't surrounded by people, and if Winston weren't standing next to me.

Winston smells like klunk, and has beady little eyes. I don't like him very much, and he seems to reciprocate the feeling. At least, from what I can tell, he likes me more than the Greenie.

Dave stands over next to Dawn and the other Cooks, whispering to her. I choose not to focus on him. Instead, I watch Gally from across the circle. He looks over at me, out of the corner of his eyes, before he looks back down at the ground. He doesn't seem to want much to do with me at this rate.

The last of those shuck Runners arrives and Alby calls out amongst us, "get him out here."

Jackson, Billy, and another of those Baggers come out, dragging Ben. He doesn't fight them, but instead lets his whole-body hang limp. The bandages the Med-jacks wrapped around his head are peeling off, maybe from wear and tear or maybe from Ben scratching at his own skin. The side of his face that isn't covered in bandages soaked red has red lines down it, as if he clawed his own face. It wouldn't surprise me if he had. The Changing is not a fun time.

Winston steps away from me, making his way up to Gally and the other Keepers. He finds a spot next to Leo and the Keeper of the Sloppers. Leo stands at attention, biting the inside of her cheek. If they chose her for this, does that mean she is actually a Keeper now? Is she my Keeper, or is that Winston, or is that Gally?

Newt shows up, with a long pole that scrapes as it drags on the ground. A high pitches whistle echoes through the Glade, which is otherwise silent. The pole has a collar at the end. I wonder if it was the one wrapped around my neck. When do they place orders for that kind of klunk? How many do they have on demand for events like this? I heard there were only like, three banishments before I got here anyway, so this is a serious event.

When they drop Ben in front of Alby, he finally carries himself on his own two feet. He doesn't make eye-contact with Alby though. I don't know if Ben knows that Alby knows what Ben has done to us. Maybe that's why Ben seems so upset.

Him attacking Thomas is an excuse for us actually to kick him out. Which, believe me, is good news for me. Maybe now I can leave the Bloodhouses and go back to working with Gally. Not that I prefer Doug and them, but it's no better working for Winston. Honestly, he is a pain in my back, and my front, and my every possible side of me.

"You did this Ben," Alby takes the pole from Newt, turning to face Ben. "Not me."

That's such a shucking loaded sentence. Because the rule on fighting is ridiculous and needs to be abolished, so long as everybody wants to get in a fight, or somebody starts it and the other person fires back. Sure, Ben came at the Greenie unprovoked, so he should be taken down, and sure, he came at Dawn unprovoked so he should be shoved into the Maze, but the rule itself isn't against attacking. It's against fighting, and that's an important distinction.

"Please, please," he begs and begs and begs, and it's pathetic. "I wouldn't have hurt him. I wouldn't have hurt her. I couldn't do that Alby. It was the Changing Alby, please."