Nick led me into the Medtent. Newt and Gally followed us, dragging Alex through the flaps of the tent. At Nicks direction, I took a seat on one of the cots. Gally shoved Alex down next to me. Instantly, I moved away from him to the opposite end. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Explain, Alex." Nick barked at him. "Now."

Alex looked down, then glanced over at me. He was nervous. Sick bastard.

"Well I was...I was getting wood, you know. We both were...and then we were talking...and...and out of nowhere she just jumps me! And at first I'm like...you know...but then I start responding-for-for her benefit...and then right when I do she pushes me off and runs away yelling bloody murder! Wh-what am I supposed to do with that?" Alex finished. I was furious.

Throughout his speech I felt more and more anger building up. That lying bastard! What kind of sick fuck would believe that story? How am I supposed to counter that without even being able to-

"Your turn, Greenie. You ready?" Nick said. His voice was softer, which didn't help. He didn't mean it, but it seemed condescending and at this point I was nearly ready to explode.

That's not what happened! It's not my fault, you have to underst-

"Stop! Stop." Gally grabbed my wrists. I froze. "What are you doing with your hands?" He demanded.

What do you-

My hands jerked. Gally let go of my wrists and looked at me, crossing his arms. I looked down. I had been moving my hands while I was talking. But it wasn't like gesturing, it was like...I couldn't remember the right words, but...

"Do you know the...the hand thing-signing-can you do that?" Newt asked. "The signing language?" I frowned. Now that he'd mentioned it, I felt like I could. I just hadn't considered it before. Did I have a way of...could I talk to them? Well, it wouldn't really be talking, but...

"It doesn't matter what she can do if we can't understand her. She'll be just as useless as before." Gally argued. "Sign something."

Alright, you can do this. Think of the words. See the words. Come on. Just say something.

"Something." I signed. Creative. Newt stared at me. He looked like he was about to say something, but then Gally spoke up before he could get a word in.

"Well, what the hell does that mean? You see? Useless, just like I told you." He remarked. Nick frowned.

"Screw you."

Gally rolled his eyes.

"Oh, that wasn't very nice." Newt managed. Gally, Nick, and I stared at him. Alex just looked panicked.

"What do you mean?" Nick questioned him. "What did she say?"

"Oh, I'm not repeating it." Newt chuckled. "It wasn't very polite."

"All I got was you." Gally said.

"Same here. But you can understand all of the...gesturing...thing?" Nick clarified. I watched Newt, who blinked, surprised.

"What, can't you?" He asked. They shook their heads. He looked back at me.

"I mean, that first word was...something." Newt made the sign with his hands as he said the word. "You're just bloody sarcastic, aren't you?" I stared at him.

"Looks like it's your lucky day, Greenie. You've got yourself a translator." Nick said, glancing at Alex. "So, you two...what exactly did he do?"

I told him, still getting used to it and stumbling over some of the words. By the end Alex looked like he was suffering a heart attack. I don't think he understood, but he wasn't looking at me. Newt looked ready to murder him.

Newt moved Nick and Gally to the side and away from Alex as he quietly repeated what I'd explained to them. I watched them apprehensively. Alex was fidgeting. He kept turning to glare at me, then quickly looking away when he saw one of them look back at us. I tried to edge farther away from him. Finally the three of them moved back towards us, turning on Alex.

"I have my way and you'll be sleeping with the Grievers by sundown." Newt finished. angrily. "Nick?"

Nick looked at Newt, then Alex, then me. I held my breath, unsure of what I wanted his decision to be.

"Sundown." Nick said solemnly. "Gally...put him in the Slammer." Gally stepped forward just as Alex turned and ran. Well, he tried. He managed about two feet before Gally grabbed his arm and yanked him back. I watched them cautiously.

"Move it, slinthead." He dragged him out. Nick looked between the two of us, then settled on me.

"Some shuck tries to pull something like that again, you scream as loud as you can and you run to one of us. Me, Alby, Newt, even Gally. Understand?" He said firmly. I nodded. He looked at Newt.

"Newt, you're in charge of Sam." He announced. "Make sure she's okay. I've got to talk to Alby. I'll see you two at the Doors."

Nick left the tent. I bit my lip, worried.

"Sleep with the Grievers?" I signed. Newt's face hardened.

"It means a Banishing."

It didn't take a genius to figure out where Alex would be banished to. I couldn't say I agreed with the concept but I didn't want to find out what would happen if everyone else thought they could...but I didn't want to think about it. We left the tent. I was about to head upstairs to my room when Newt stopped me.

"Wait!" He called. "You're sure you'll be alright?" He checked. I bit my lip.

"I'm fine."

"I know that's not true. But I doubt I'll be getting anything else." He turned to walk away. I turned and started to go to the room.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He grabbed my arm. I jumped, surprised.

"I'm sorry." He frowned and let go, but didn't move back. "I meant to just...how do you spell your name? Like, with the letters."

"S-a-m"

"And mine?" Newt grinned.

"You know the words." I gave him a pointed look.

"That might be true, but what if I don't know the alphabet?" He defended.

"That seems unlikely."

"But..." He encouraged, leaning closer. I sighed.

"N-e-w-t."

"There we go. Why don't we get some dinner?" He suggested. "Take your mind off things." I shook my head. Newt frowned.

"If you're sure. Are you sure you're alri-no. No, of course you're not. Do you feel...better than earlier?" He tried. I looked at my hands. I shrugged.

"It won't happen again." He promised. "I'll make sure of it."

"Thank you."

"Are you sure you don't...I don't know, need anything, or-"

I hugged him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He seemed surprised, then he wrapped his arms around my waist. After a moment I composed myself and let go, embarrassed.

"Sorry." I apologized. He shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. You've had to deal with a lot today." He said kindly. "I'm going for dinner, are you coming?" I shook my head.

"If you're sure. Good night, Sam."

"Goodnight."