Silence

Chapter 10

"I present to you, the homestead" Gally said as he proudly showed us his creation. "Wow" Minho whispered to my right. The project Gally has been working one since his arrival was done and he had built a house.

The wooden structure was quite tall, and I'm guessing it had two floors. It seemed a little uneven and leaning but it was beautiful nonetheless. Gally had fixed a roof, windows in the walls and working doors. "Inside is a few rooms" Gally explained to us. "There is a bigger room for Gatherings" "What's that" Zart interrupted. "Gatherings are meetings about situations that might occur in the Glade. Such as the panic at your arrival yesterday" Alby answered. "There are also some smaller rooms with beds in case the weather changes or something" Gally continued. "On the top floor we have built rooms for medical care. I have spoken to Clint and Jeff who have volunteered to be our Med-Jacks".

"It looks awesome" Newt said as I gave thumbs up to Gally. He had really outdone himself. "It's nothing" Gally said, waving away the comments as I could see his cheeks grow a little bit red. "Good job shank" Minho said as Frypan nodded in agreement.

"Since Gally has fixed storage rooms, we will all now help with stuffing our boxes in there instead of out by our sleeping area" Alby said, sending us to work. "However, Clint and Jeff" The boys stopped at Alby's voice, "help Newt get Em to the medical room. See to her leg".

I was once again riding on Newt's back as he carried me up the stairs. We entered the medical room and I found myself amazed by the amount of details Gally had put into his work. Shelves filled with medical supplies stood be the walls, a few beds for examination standing in between.

"Here" Jeff said, pointing at the nearest bed. Newt walked over to the bed and put me down before moving over to the wall to let Clint examine me. "Try not to scream" He said as he put his hands around my leg. It must have hit him a moment later, because he looked up at me with regret in his eyes. "Emily, I'm sorry I didn't-". I shook my head at him, saying it was okay.

Clint's attention moved back to my leg and he carefully squeezed it. I had to bite my lip, it hurt really bad. "You're getting a bruise" He said and showed me the place where the bench had slammed down on me. "I can bind this to the leg" Clint said, holding up a strange pack Jeff had given him. "It will cool it down, making it hurt less" He explained as he placed it onto my leg and started binding it.

After a few minutes, Jeff helped me down from the high bed. I tried putting some weight on the leg and smiled when it didn't hurt as bad as before. I gave a hug as a thank-you to Clint and Jeff before descending down the stairs with some help from Newt.

"I'm glad it feels better" He said as we reached the last steps. I looked at him and said me-too with my eyes, hoping he would get it. I believe he did, because he chuckled and held the door open for me. "Only you this clumsy in the Glade" He ruffled my hair as we headed towards the hammocks.

The place was almost emptied, everything being moved to the storage unit in the homestead. "Looking good" Newt said as he and I each picked up a box to help. "Almost everything is moved to the storage" Gally wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "Everything except those boxes" Nick joined and pointed at a few boxes left on the ground. Gally walked over to the boxes and handed them out as the boys returned, leaving only a small wooden box on the ground.

"What about that one?" Zart wondered as he received a bigger box from Gally. "Em's chalks. It's best to keep them close, she always loses her pieces" Gally answered. "Now let's set these last boxes to place and get some dinner".

Newt and Minho walked at a slower pace than the others so that I wouldn't walk alone. "You think they want another fire tonight?" Minho asked. "Maybe" Newt said, ""I don't think we have enough wood even if they want to". "Maybe a smaller fire" Minho said. Newt and I shrugged our shoulders as we reached the homestead.

"Newt, your box goes in that corner" Alby said, directing our paths. "Minho, behind that bag of potatoes. Em, top shelf". I walked over and stood on the tip of my toes to reach the shelf. Of course Gally had made sure to install a shelf just out of my reach where he could keep all the good stuff. I lifted my box over my head and used the tips of my fingers to push it into place.

"We are officially done" Gally said with a smile on his face as he closed the door to the storage unit. Minho and Newt highfived as the greenies sighed out in relief. No more work today. "You do this everyday?" Zart asked as Nick stretched himself and rubbed his back. "More or less. Sometimes we have to get the pigs out of the box you know" Alby said. "A whole lot of running on our part, but we've created a working system" Minho said as he playfully punched my shoulder, making me stumble sideways into Newt. "Minho, leg" Newt laughed as he helped me regain balance.

"Yeah, yeah" Minho waved his hand at Newt. "I just gave you guys a moment" He said, holding his hands close to his heart and batting his eyelashes. Newt and I looked at each other before shoving Minho away. "You know I'm right" He shouted and ran away laughing. I turned to Newt and rose my eyebrow. "I know, he's crazy". I laughed my silent laugh at Newt as we headed after Minho towards the food. Even so, I couldn't help but wonder; had Minho given us a moment? And even more important, had I liked it?

As Newt and I reached the kitchen, Minho looked over at us. "Ah" He said as we sat down on either side of him, "The lovebirds made it". "It's official" Newt said while holding his hands up in defense as Minho and Gally laughed, "Minho has finally lost it". "He might have a point" Gally smirked as me as he handed me a bowl of soup. "What?" He asked innocently as I raised my eyebrow at him and Minho continued his laughing. "Oh shut it you shanks" Alby said, but even he had a small smile on his lips.

As the familiar rumble of the doors sounded, Alby rose from his seat again. "Before the dark arrives, we need to fix your sleeping places. Follow me" He took the greenies to the hammocks. I stayed behind with Minho and Frypan to help with the dishes. Newt would fix Frypan's hammock for him.

"You think they'll find a good system for the hammocks?" Minho asked as he received a dry plate from me and placed it on a shelf. "How has it been before?" Frypan asked as he handed me a plate to dry. "Well" Minho said and jumped up to sit on the counter. "Alby just found a place he thought would work. When Em arrived, she hung her hammock near Alby so they wouldn't be alone". I gave him a dry plate and he continued.

"When Newt, Gally and I came with the box a month ago, we decided to hang our hammocks there as well. Right now they hang in a half circle, Newt on the left side, followed by Em, me, Alby and ending with Gally on the right side" Minho took the last plate and placed it on top of the stack.

"So it might be a full circle or another half circle in a new row" Frypan guessed as he dried his hand. "Probably a new row" Minho said as he jumped down from the counter, "in this rate the Glade will be filled in no time"