The Garden of Heathen

The More the Scarier

Gally followed Georgia to the house, wondering if he could go in or at least get an update on the situation. He trailed in behind her as she excitedly marched into the living room.

"How's our Newbie?" She asked them.

Aussie's eyes landed on Gally lingering by the door and gave him a smile.

"We fed her, and we've been explaining some things to her," Gertie said from beside her on the couch. "We have some things to tell her still."

That was a surprisingly subtle hint from Gertie. Maybe she saved all her brutal bluntness for Gally only.

"I'm feeling kind of tired, can we pick this up later?" The new girl asked.

"Absolutely," Aussie nodded. "The first day is the worst, shaking off what they did to you."

"Come on, I'll take you to a room where you can rest," Gertie said nodding for her to follow.

Aussie got up as well and came toward Gally, nodding to the door. He opened it and went out with Aussie, Joan, and Georgia. Everyone seemed to be wearing different expressions. Georgia was curious and practically vibrating with anticipation, Joan seemed annoyed, and Aussie looked quite pleased indeed.

"Somebody say something before I explode!" Georgia finally demanded.

"Let's get a little farther from the house so she won't overhear us," Aussie said as she led them away.

They all sat at a table under the big tree and Aussie started talking.

"She's doing amazingly well," Aussie beamed while Joan still looked vaguely disgruntled. "She doesn't seem afraid, she just accepts things."

"She accepts whatever you tell her," Joan clarified.

Gally sat up straighter, feeling himself go on the defensive. He didn't know what Joan was getting at but he wouldn't let her turn on Aussie now.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked her, his brows furrowing as a warning to choose her words carefully.

"Oh, calm down," she rolled her eyes. "It's like I said before, the newbies won't listen to anyone but Aussie. It's really annoying."

Aussie seemed distressed by this.
"I'm sorry, it must just be the fact I have a lot of practice with the newbies," Aussie offered. "I must have learned how to get them to trust me quickly."

"Honestly Joan," Georgia rolled her eyes with a sigh. "You have the bed side manner of a gargoyle, and Aussie is the patron saint of puppy breath and butterflies. Of course they're gonna gravitate toward her. Stop moaning. Aussie, continue. How much does she know?"

"Um, well," Aussie glanced at Joan nervously before going on. "She knows about the walls and the maze, just that it's dangerous, we haven't talked grievers yet. I told her how long I've been here and that we get regular supplies and a new girl every month- oh and Gally of course. I think she'll be able to handle the rest of the story, I just want to be very careful how we tell it to her. It's a terrible story that will likely- very likely, traumatize her, and I just don't want to add to it by telling it to her wrong, you know?"

Georgia and Gally nodded.

"How do we do that, then?" Joan asked her.

"Well, let's give her some space to breathe and see what she asks us. Whoever's asking the questions is in control, so let's let her be in control, choose what she's ready to hear about," Aussie suggested. "If she freaks out about the grievers we gotta give her time to accept it before we dump 'you're supposed to lead us out of here' on her or it may not work out in our favor."