ADRONITIS (II) : tmr minho

39: I could be Aggressive

Michelle 39

"What do you mean you are rationing us?" Jackson shouts at the Cooks.

The crowd gathering around the kitchen is massive. Nearly every Glader that isn't searching the shucking Maze is crowded in a circle around the Cooks, trying to get food. There is none though. The three of them that are left are guarding the entrance to the Kitchen. Two are gone: Dave and some other dude. I never learned his name.

That's how I know the curse on the Builders is broken. It's moved on to the Kitchen.

"We're starving!" Someone else calls out.

"We have no food," Fry tries to beat the voices shouting around him. "If we don't start going down to one snack and one meal a day, we will die before the week is up."

"It's my decision." Alby shows up. He still looks shucked. His skin is taut, and his hands almost purple in tint. Everyone has got to see he's lost it. I don't understand why Newt hasn't just taken over yet. Alby has gone crazy. "We ain't got lunch for you shanks. Get back to shucking work."

"There is no work!" Doug shouts back. "I'm finally on my shucking break from runnin' in that shuck Maze, and I can't eat!"

"We're all tired," Newt calls out. "But we need to do this, alright? Or else, we'll die before the Grievers pick us off."

People begin to stir and whisper, accepting this as truth.

"This is klunk." Jackson mutters, and charges for the kitchen. I dash through the crowd, shoving boys aside. Doug has him in a headlock before I can get there. As boys surge around me, trying to get in the doors, people begin to fight. Fry is shoving back Gladers with his arms, and Frankie and Dawn are both physically holding the kitchen shut.

"Enough!" Alby calls out. "If anyone steals food, they are getting banished."

"You can't banish no more!" Someone cries. "We've got no shucking doors."

He's right. There are no consequences for our actions. If I wanted to, I could kill Jackson. Or Doug. I mean, Jackson did come at me with a knife, and Doug stopped him. I'm still mad enough to kill someone over it.

But then, someone would kill me. Alby's power is and has always been fake, but the spiel he spreads is the truth. We can't just do what we want, or crowds break into violence. We can't handle chaos.

Newt whistles loudly, getting up on a picnic table, he pulls Leo up next to him. In her pale hands she holds a syringe. I wouldn't be surprised if she fainted and fell right off the table. Newt nudges Leo carefully, and she decides to speak.

"If anyone steals food, they'll be sedated." She instructs. She doesn't look happy about it, or unhappy. I guess she's prepared either way.

"Tied up and left for the Grievers." Newt finishes the sentence for her, a grimace on the face. "Stealing food is stealing our shucking lives."

"Deal?" Frypan's voice rings out.

Nobody answers, but people begin to back off. I guess they realise they can't just take whatever they shucking want. It's not just their life. It's everyone else's too at stake.

The crowd dissipates. Doug shoves Jackson off him. He lands in the dirt, and Jackson glares up at the boy.

Dawn thanks Doug briefly, with Frankie hanging on to her. Doug doesn't bother answering and chooses to walk off instead. When he catches my eye, he nods, gesturing towards the Deadheads. Something possesses me to follow him. I can't tell if he is calling me. At this point, I've got nothing to lose.