Silence

Chapter 11

Minho, Frypan and I reached the hammocks just as the last knot was being tied. "Over there" Alby said and pointed Frypan towards a hammock on the left of the new row. "As we guessed" Minho said while nodding his head knowingly. "Next time, you do it Minho" Gally walked over to us. "These slintheads change their mind a lot. 'I wanna have mine there, no wait there, I took that place first" He used a high pitched voice to act as the greenies.

Minho and I laughed as we walked to our hammocks. "Man am I glad I got kitchen duty" He said as he flung himself into his hammock. "Next load of greenies, we change" Newt commented from his hammock, making Minho groan in frustration. "You wish" He muttered and turned his back to us, facing Alby instead.

"Did I hurt the precious princess?" Newt asked, putting on a shocked face. Minho mumbled something in response and Newt laughed. "Don't let me stand in the way of your beautysleep" He said and shook his head at Minho before facing me.

"Can you believe that guy?" He said, rising his upper body to lean on his elbow. I laughed at him in response. "I know Em, he is going nuts in here" My smile died a bit and I felt my eyes flicker down to the ground for a moment. It wasn't much, but enough for Newt to notice. He sighed, "Please don't tell me you're thinking of going back out there again".

*******

The question of the maze had surfaced again. The following day, everyone gathered in the big hall in the homestead for a Gathering.

"Welcomes Gladers to the first Gathering in the homestead" Alby said. "The subject of the meeting: the maze". "Why should we go out there? We've seen those things" Winston commented from his side of the room. "If it's a maze, it has a way out" Minho said.

"Why haven't you tried the hole from the Box? The Box leaves, right?" Nick said from another corner. Newt and Gally looked at each other. "Well, we haven't thought about that" Gally said, rubbing his neck.

"Well I say we do it" George entered the conversation. "Why should we search the maze for an exit that might not exist when we know there is a possible exit right here?". "However, you're not in charge" Newt interrupted.

"I have to agree with Nick and George" Clint spoke for the first time. "They are right, the maze is a dangerous place. Just imagine how the exit would be if we found one".

"But we've only searched a small part of the maze" Minho joined the conversation again. "Maybe if we try a different gate or go in bigger groups?". Alby nodded his head.

"I've made my decision" He said. "Yes, the maze is a dangerous place but as far as we know, the Box is a one way ticket". He looked around among the Gladers. "We continue searching the maze for a way out. If that fails or is proven to be too dangerous for us, we try the Box". "We search the Glade in bigger groups" Alby continued as Nick opened his mouth to protest the decision.

"Tomorrow, we prepare the things we will need. After that, we enter the maze". Alby turned to face Minho, Gally, Newt and I. "You four have watches. Along with me, you will keep track of time. We do not want to be one the wrong side of the wall when the doors close".

"Gathering's closed. Return to your work" Alby dismissed us and we walked out of the homestead. "I suppose we'll pick some tomatoes for Frypan" Minho nodded his head towards the gardening section. "I'll go get some baskets" Newt said, heading towards the kitchens. "Let's get to it then girly".

"So" Minho broke the silence as we walked to our plants, "You and Newt, huh?" I continued walking and punched Minho in the shoulder. "Come on" He exclaimed, "I'm just pointing out the obvious. You guys are always together, he's the one that carried you when you got hurt yesterday and the one you flung yourself at the first time we met".

This resulted in a harder punch on Minho's shoulder and he let out a small yelp. "Okay, the last one was a bit of a joke" He admitted as we reached the gardens. "But you have to admit that there is something there. Even Gally can see it and that boy can be blind towards feelings".

I sat down by the tomatoes and started searching for ripe ones. Minho's words echoed in my mind. You have to admit that there is something there. I looked up at Minho. He crouched down with a few tomatoes in hand. "You're young, you're in love and you're stuck in this place with no way out". He placed a small tomato between his fingers and squashed it. "So tragic, yet so romantic" He laughed as I playfully pushed him, making him lose his balance and fall on his butt.

"But what now? Our princess has decided to attack the narrator, how will we ever know if this story has a happy ending?" He joked. "What story?" Newt put down the baskets he had carried to us. "The story of princess Emily of course" Minho said and gestured towards me. I felt a small blush grow on my cheeks and turned to pick some tomatoes.

"Is it the story about how she became a tomato? I think I've heard that one" Newt laughed as I stuck out my tongue at him and placed a few tomatoes in the basket. "Frypan needed a lot of tomatoes, he talked about making a sauce out of it".

Once the baskets were filled, we took one each under our arms and walked to the kitchen. "Hey Frypan" Minho shouted as we approached, "Where do you want the tomatoes?". Frypan looked up from the stove. "Over there" He said and pointed to the far end of the counter. After the baskets had been delivered, we sat down on the benches.

"Crazy hot today" Minho said and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "I'll go take a shower" He said and waved to us before heading to get some new clothes. Newt turned to me. "I talked to Alby about the maze" He said. I leaned forward a bit to show him that I was listening. "We decided that not everyone will come, we need some to stay behind".

I knew where this was going. I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. Newt sensed my feelings and leaned back as well. "Frypan will need to stay, someone must have food ready for when we return", He pointed at Frypan who was currently rinsing the vegetables. "Clint and Jeff will be staying as well. If someone gets hurt, they're needed here". Newt gave it a second thought. "And to keep Frypan company" He nodded his head.

And what about me? I wrote on my board before tossing the chalk away, too tiny to use anymore. "Well, we thought about it" Newt said. "And we decided to let you come". I started to smile at him. "You would've come either way" He laughed at me, "Besides, second in command needs to lead as well, right?".

I smiled at Newt as the others began to reach the benches. "Get a load of this" Minho said as he shaked his head at us, making water go everywhere. "Minho, please" Gally shielded his face from the water. Frypan walked over to us with a smile. "Food just got ready". "Nice" Zart said and walked over to the kitchen to help carry the trays.

As dinner went on, the conversations shifted. I finished my plate rather quickly and sat listening to the others. How I wish I could talk, then I could carry the conversation. I could laugh and shout just like them. I decided to reach for my chalkboard to join in but remembered the chalk I had thrown away. "Where are you going?" Gally asked as I rose from my seat. I gestured writing with my hand and he nodded. "Fifth one this week" He laughed and shook his head at me.

The laughter became distant as I went over to the hammocks. My chalks lay in a small box by my bedside as I lost them so often. I had found two small pieces of chalk by the showers and I had no idea how they got there. As I reached my hammock and reached under it however, the box was gone.