Author stuff: I don't remember coming up with G Tri-Force and now I'm picturing these children in superhero costumes with some of the worst powers we've ever seen. But I remembered to blame Jeff.

This is the beginning of dumb!Archie. I love my boy, I do. But he's so dumb throughout this whole thing. He's precious. Please, love him as much as I do.


Chapter 12

In Which The G Tri-force (Damn it, Jeff) Get Jobs

Archie wasn't sure of what to expect of a Gathering. It was the first he had ever been to – that he could recall – and his expectations were… vague, at best. His mind drew a complete blank at any knowledge of a Gathering. Meetings, yeah sure that was easy to summon up an image. (Although, he couldn't actually remember actually being at one.)

A Gathering in the Glade? It was more like a court trial. He, Flossy, and Graham were the suspects, and the Keepers were all the witnesses and the jury and the executioners, with Nick as the acting judge. But it was mixed with a conference, of sorts.

They decided to do it in reverse alphabetical order or Greenies – at least, that's what Nick said. He wasn't sure how any of them had come up with that idea, but it must have taken some convincing on someone's part. He didn't doubt that Newt had a say in it.

"This is the first time we've had three Greenies come up at once," Nick said, "and it complicated a lot of matters, mostly in how you went about teaching them and introducing them to how the Glade works. But they've made it as easy for us as we have for them, considering the circumstances."

Archie saw a couple of eyes flit to Flossy, who scratched the bridge of her nose and looked at the ground. She hadn't been able to meet anyone's eyes that morning. He wondered what happened last night after she went to bed.

"We thank them for that and hope that things continue running smoothly in the future. Now, for the reason we're all here: To discuss their trials and place them where they would best be an asset to the Glade. Alright, the Greenbean first."

Archie half listened to what each Keeper had to say about Graham – there was some discourse over whether or not he was a half-decent worker – but it was Frypan who gave him the raving review. In the end, it didn't take long to decide where he'd be. He wasn't given much of a choice, either.

Flossy was a whole other matter. Everyone deemed her a diligent worker, however it was Gally who said she wasn't fit to be a Builder – something that came as a surprise to him. Didn't Gally praise her for her work on the trellises? Didn't he enjoy working with her? Was he already tired of being around her? No, that was impossible. He sat by her at breakfast, taking her sausage and trading for two pancakes. It had to be something else entirely.

She, however, seemed to accept his judgement with a nod of her head, still not meeting anyone's eyes. There was some arguing over whether she should be a Med-jack or a Track-hoe. She had the final say, however. Track-hoe, helping out with the Med-jacks when she was needed.

When they finally got to him it was almost lunch time. He was surprised when they didn't take a break, or that they didn't have someone bring in some food for them. They just kept going. It seemed that they wanted to power through this Gathering without any hesitations or stops. He supposed, since there were three of them, that this was going on longer than normal and that was the main reason why.

He wasn't surprised to hear some of the praises the Keepers sung of him, but he was surprised by Zart. Had he been that bad in the Gardens?

"You didn't see what he did to my tomatoes," Zart said, his eyes growing dark and his posture threatening. Winston and Clint, who sat on either side of him, scooted away. Apparently, one was not supposed to touch Zart's tomatoes without his permission. Or at all.

Honestly, it hadn't been that bad. Only a couple of them ended up… smooshed. Most of them got a little bruised, at best.

"Right," Nick said, tentatively, "moving on."

He was given the choice of Bagger, Slicer, or Builder. He decided to heed Gally's advice and went with Builder. It wouldn't be so bad.

He hoped.


After the Gathering, they rejoined everyone. They just made it to the tail end of lunch. Archie grabbed several sandwiches – peanut butter and homemade strawberry jam – and headed to his usual table. Everyone else sat down with them instead of breaking up into their normal groups.

"Alright," Nick said, "at dinner tonight, we'll announce what you three will be doing. Almost everyone will know before that, but we like to keep it formal when we can. For the rest of the day, we'll let you get acclimated to your job and to ask your Keeper any questions you might have that weren't covered during your trials, good that?"

All three of them agreed. Nick nodded and quickly polished off his lunch, practically inhaling four sandwiches at once. It was kind of gross, like watching a snake unhinge its jaw to eat a mouse. Archie thought it would haunt his dreams for a while – if he'd had any dreams, he couldn't quite recall.

When he thought back on it, that was the first time he ever saw Nick eat. And that was probably why.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gally reach for the untouched sandwich on Flossy's plate. She slapped at his hand, the tips of her fingers making a good smacking sound.

"Ah!" he said, shaking his hand out and looking thoroughly surprised. Most likely, it hadn't really hurt him. It was just for dramatics, to see if she'd eventually give in. She always did.

"I'm going to eat that," she said. She still didn't meet his eyes, Archie noted. Instead she looked at his ears or the top of his head – which Gally would reach up and feel for something when she wasn't looking. There was nothing there, of course.

"You never eat everything on your plate."

"Well, I'm hungry today."

"But you didn't do anything today."

"Neither did you."

She rolled her eyes and broke the sandwich in half, offering him the larger portion. He took the smaller one from her other hand, smirking at her as he took a victorious bite.

"You're full of klunk," she said, setting the other half down to finish the first sandwich.

Zart snorted into his own sandwich. He looked up at Archie and smiled. His eyes flicked between Gally and Flossy for just a moment before going back to him. He wiggled his eyebrows. Archie didn't fully understand what Zart was trying to suggest, but he rolled his own eyes in hopes it conveyed the right response.

Apparently, it did.

"Right, so," Billy said, "I'm off. Lots of work to do."

"You're just guarding the Maze entrances," Winston said, raising the volume of his voice as Billy got farther away. He shook his head when Billy waved back at them. "Slinthead."

"Like you're any better," Zart said, nudging him with his elbow.

"Don't make me mess with your tomatoes."

"Oi!"

"That's enough, children," Clint said.

"Yes, mom," Winston said, sniggering behind his hand. Clint smacked the back of his head, having to reach around Zart.

Archie found himself smiling at their antics. He could hear Flossy's soft giggling, and he swore he saw the corners of Graham's lips twitch in amusement. He was starting to feel at home here in the Glade.


"...and that's how our normal day goes," Gally said, leaning against a workbench inside the Builder's hut – it was a large building a bit of the ways South from the Blood House. One wall was omitted to allow them the space to bring things in and out with little maneuvering difficulties. Dust particles danced in the warm afternoon sun. The smell of wood shavings and iron permeated the air. It was comfortable, almost familiar.

"Sounds easy enough," he said.

"It's not always easy. A lot of what we do? The others depend on us for."

"Alright, think… I think I got it."

"Good that." Gally looked him up and down. He was impressed by the smart-alec comment, it seemed. "So, any questions?"

"Uh, not that I can think of? I mean, I got a good idea of what I've got to do during the trials, so… uh, yeah."

"I'm kind of surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"You strike me as someone who's always curious."

Archie shrugged, not really knowing how to respond. He didn't think of himself as the curious sort. Sure, he wanted to know some things – like if his real name was Archie, where they all came from, why they were in the Glade in the middle of a giant maze, who his parents were, what did he used to do for fun before coming up in the Box, who his friends were, if he had any siblings. But those were things they all wanted to know. Nothing out of the normal.

"Curiosity can get you killed," Gally said.

"What… what do you mean?"

"The first two weeks here in the Glade? They weren't exactly happy ones. None of us knew each other, none of us could remember our own names, none of us knew why we were here… It was bad. And then, when the Walls opened for the first time –"

"Wait, you mean they didn't open and close on your first day?"

"No. Guess the Creators wanted us to sort somethings out for ourselves first. Anyway, when the Walls opened for the first time, a few of us that didn't klunk our pants went out into the Maze. They wanted to know what was out there – I know I did. None of us got trapped out there the first night, but someone got stung."

"Stung? By what? What's out there, nocturnal killer bees or something?"

"We call them Grievers," Gally said. "They look like – Okay, picture a hairy slug mixed with a porcupine and a scorpion made of metal and you'll get close. They're… not a pretty picture."

"You've seen one," Archie said, frowning.

"Surprised no one's taken you to the viewing glass yet, it's been almost two weeks. But, yeah, I have. I was stung by one."

"You went out into the Maze?"

"I was in the first group that did, but I wasn't the first one stung, that was George. He was the eldest and Nick's friend. Every week we get sent up what we call Griever serum. It started coming up after the first week. George, he… I guess the Creators didn't make the serum quite right or maybe we got to him too late, but we lost George. None of us really knew what to do at the time, but… yeah."

"But you survived."

"I was the fifth person stung." He rolled up his sleeve, showing off a scar. It was raised – a small bump with squiggly lines spreading out of it, like a demented sort of sun. It was horrific. No wonder he didn't show it off to everyone. "The serum obviously worked by that point, but what I had to go through afterwards? I don't wish it on anyone else. It's hell."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"We'll be working together, and a Builder's bound to tell you anyway. You have every right to know."

"Thanks. I think."

"Good that. Now, any questions?"


Author stuff cont'd.: My work's haunted. I kind of accepted this a long time ago, but we have a ghost. Or ghosts. We heard footsteps when there's no one there. Our silverware, which is hidden from sight, will occasionally clink against the ceramic containers they're stored in. Sometimes, we feel like there's someone watching us. Occasionally, there is a voice that no one can explain.

So, I'm working on exorcising this building because I've been here too long to be dealing with a haunting.

What am listening to? Dark Air with Terry Carnation

Follow me on tumblr at forgottenyogurtgods for whatever it is I do on tumblr.