Silence

Chapter 12

I took back my hand confused. The box should be there. I sat down on my knees and leaned my head down on the ground. It was completely empty under my hammock. I rose again and looked around. Maybe the box was by another hammock? After five minutes, I had searched the entire sleeping area and found no trace of my chalks. Where could they be? I remembered Zart asking about the box not going to the homestead. Could it have been moved to the storage by mistake?

I walked over to the storage and opened the door. There was a lot of boxes, but no box as small as my box of chalks. More minutes passed and I could feel myself getting more frustrated. Were where my chalks? I know I had placed the box underneath my hammock.

I exited the storage and closed the door. My fist clenched as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I hadn't been angry in a while, but taking my chalks? Taking my only way of communicating with my friends, who would do that?

I walked back to the kitchen in a quick pace, feeling the anger being built up inside of me. The laughter grew louder as I got closer. "Em" Minho said with a smile that quickly died when he saw my angry face. "Take cover" He said and leaned back just as my fist collided with the table.

"What is going on?" Alby asked, cleary angry at my behaviour. "Em, what is the meaning of this?". I looked at him, unable to express myself. How could I explain that the chalks where gone without talking? I stared at Alby. He must have felt my anger, because he followed the rest of the boys and took a step back. I closed my eyes and felt my fist collide with the table again.

"Emily!" Alby yelled, he would never use my full name. I stood up straight, I didn't know how to do this. My hands went in front of my body, trying to do some sort of gesture to explain. Frustration took over my body and I screamed without sound. "Emily, you're scaring everyone" Gally said, holding his arms in front of Jeff and Zart.

I looked over at the greenies, they looked scared. My arms fell to my side and I sat down heavily on the floor. A hand holding my chalkboard appeared in front of me. "Write down what's wrong" Newt's voice said. I took the board and threw it away. "What did you do that for?" Newt rose and walked to get the board. I rose from the floor and pointed at the board. "Yes?" Minho said, walking closer to me. I gestured writing with one hand writing in the other. Then both of my hands went down to the level of my stomach and went out to either side of my body, the sign I usually made to signal that something was enough.

"I- I don't understand" Minho said. My frustration came back as I repeated the same two signs over and over, feeling my body shake. I never asked for this, never asked to be this useless. Minho and Newt backed away from me as my shaking became more intense. "I'm sorry Em, but I don't understand" Minho said and I could hear the fright in his voice.

"I get it!" Gally suddenly exclaimed and walked over to me. He took both of my hands in his, making my gestures and my shaking stop. He released my hands and looked at me, "I get it" He whispered. "Your chalks" Gally mirrored my gesture of writing, "Are gone" He followed with the gesture of enough. I could only nod at him, smiling and nodding I walked into his chest and embraced him.

"Your chalks? But they where by our hammocks" Alby said as Gally and I parted. I shook my head at him. Alby walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't understand you sooner". I smiled at him as he turned to the group.

"This is serious" He said with his high and clear voice. "Em's chalks have gone missing. Without them, she cannot communicate. Every Glader is to search the Glade for the box of chalks. No one is to sleep until it has been found". Groans could be heard from the back. "Now" Alby said, making the Gladers spread out inside the Glade.

"You okay Em?" Newt walked over to me. I shook my head at him and welcomed his embrace. "I know it's hard for you not to talk, I can't imagine how hard it must be for you when you can't even write to us, not even get us to understand your signing". His breath felt hot against my neck and his grip around me got tighter. "We'll find your voice" He withdrew from the hug just enough to face me. Looking me in the eyes, he leaned forwards and planted a kiss on my forehead. "I promise".

Hours passed as the box remained gone. "I don't understand" Minho said as he emptied the box filled with map supplies for the third time. "Every chalk seems to have disappeared". He groaned in frustration and shoved the supplies back. "I don't get it either" Gally took the box from Minho and put it back on the storage shelf. "They can't all just have.. disappeared" He waved with his hands into the air.

"They haven't" Alby's voice came from behind us and we turned around. He and Newt both had an arm each looped with George's arms, pulling him forward. "Tell her what you said" Newt said and pushed him forward. George looked up at me before turning his eyes down to the ground again. "I said, tell her" Newt grew impatient and pushed George in the back, making him snap. "You're not my leader!" He screamed. "But I am" Alby walked between the two to break up the rising fight.

Newt walked over to stand behind me as Alby turned George to me again. "Apparently, this slinthead found it a funny joke to see how you would react to not being able to talk to us" Alby said while nodding his head at George. "Why would you do that?" Winston asked, the rest of the boys had come over to us as the shouting had begun.

"It was just a harmless joke, I didn't think she would react like she did" George defended himself. "Let me take your voice then, see how you react" Gally said and started to walk towards George. Minho and Newt placed a hand each on Gally's shoulders and held him back. Gally kept trying to advance but after a while he gave in and shrugged of the other two.

"Let me make myself clear" Alby walked slowly in a circle, making sure that everyone heard him. "Rule number one in the Glade is as follows: Never hurt another Glader, we need to trust each other. By stealing chalks, you're also stealing Emily's voice". He stopped in front of George. "That is not following the first rule, and because of that you'll be spending the night in the Pit". Alby turned to the others again. "If I find out as much as another chalk missing from Emily, I will personally feed you slintheads to the creatures of the maze". With those words he and Gally grabbed a hand of George and brought him to the Slammer, everyone else going to bed.

"Cruel joke" Minho said from his hammock. "I've never seen Em looking so distressed. Well, apart from the discovery of the window" Newt said and shuddered at the memory of his first night in the Glade when I had discovered the window and the creature. "I'm sorry we didn't get you sooner" Minho and Newt both reached out a hand to me. I took their hands in mine, squeezing them. I let go and showed them my chalkboard in the dim light, I've told you, it's okay. Newt laughed at the message, it was the same thing i had written to him when he kept apologizing for freaking out at our first encounter. "You know I love you, right?"

My heart skipped a beat at those words. I lay silent for a moment before turning to Newt. He looked at me with his brown eyes. "You're an amazing friend". I smiled at Newt before turning to lay on my back, looking up at the stars. The smile died from my lips as You're an amazing friend played over and over in my head.