Authors Note: Hello again! So after watching the Maze Runner on dvd, I've decided to incorporate some things from the movie and some from the book. Combining both elements helps my story mold more. Sorry for switching POV's so much in this chapter. I am not a big fan of doing it but it gives the necessary background information.
My strength failed me though and I slammed into the side of the cliff. I screamed out in pain. My feet dug at side trying to get a hold, but the heels I was wearing gave me no grip. "Help!" I yelped and tried to dig my fingers into the dirt. The pain in my side was getting worse and worse. I searched desperately around the area in front of me. No one was there. I knew my only option though was to pull myself up. I took a few quick breaths before pulling up with all the strength I had. I screeched louder than I ever had before as it felt someone was setting my insides on fire. But I made it.
I pulled myself all the way up and flipped so I was on my back. There was a small crack as I put my shoulder down and the pain increased slightly. I groaned and put my hand on my side, trying to apply some pressure to slow the bleeding. I slowly lifted back up and turned to see what had cracked below me. A small glass vial laid on the ground cracked in half. There was a strange blue liquid seeping out of it. The back end of the vial had tails it. Then I recognized it was a dart. The Chancellor had shot me with a dart. I was not sure what the liquid was but I was sure happy I did not receive all of it. I looked back over my right shoulder to see the sharp needle still sticking out of my jacket. I took my hand off my side and carefully slid the jacket off, having to pull the needle out of my skin. I threw the needle over the edge of the cliff. I cringed at the sight of my jacket, the whole right side was becoming spotted with blood. I put my hand back down on my side and knew I would not have much time before I would pass out from blood loss. I swallowed and looked around. The runners would have to be coming though this area soon, but they usually just ran the passageway opposite of the cliff. I could not take the chance that they would miss me. I picked the dart up and put it in the inside pocket of my blazer. I did not want to have the boys question that yet, not before I really understood what it was myself. I sat the jacket in my lap and took one deep breath before I started to slide myself towards the corridor.
Many screams and tears later I had made it to the hall. I felt so tired and was struggling to keep my eyes open. The fire was still burning strong in my side, making time seem to move slower. I leaned back against the wall opposite of the cliff and waited, hoping I wasn't too late. Another minute passed, I closed my eyes completely trying to focus. I just listened and tried to steady my breath. I felt as though a cloud began to form in my head. It started small but gradually began to expand as the seconds ticked on. I thought it must have been from the pain. Finally I heard them.
"I swear you are getting slower and slower every day you Shank! Come on! I swear it came from over-" a voice called from my right. I opened my eyes and turned my head slightly. I could see Minho rounding the corner. He froze instantly, making eye contact with me. I lost my breath, I couldn't believe after all this time. I was actually face to face with a Glader. In person. I was not able to hide behind a screen now. I needed the Gladers.
"Help please." I whimpered hoping I was loud enough for him to hear. Ben rounded the corner next and almost ran straight into Minho.
"What is wrong with yo-"Ben started but stopped once he saw me. "No shuckin way..." Ben eyes got huge. Both boys approached me cautiously. Minho put one hand on a knife in the sheathed in the vest on his back. I smiled weakly.
"You know I couldn't hurt you right now even if I wanted to." I chuckled slightly but winced at the motion. "Not that I want to! Please I need your help. I am going to pass out soon if you don't and then it'll be too late. Please." I looked up between the two boys. They stopped a few feet away from me. Ben knelt down looking at my blood covered side.
"Come on we have to help her. She'll die. She's hurt real bad." Ben said looking back up at the Asian boy. Minho's face was even harsher in person.
"What if it's a trap? We can't take her back to the Glade. We could endanger everyone." Minho said crossing his arm stubbornly. I looked away from him, and looked towards Ben. A tear fell down my face.
"I promise I won't do anything. I won't hurt anyone, I swear. I came here to…. I came here….." I tried to speak but that cloud in my head prevented me from remembering. I tried to reach in my brain but the information was just gone. I started to hyperventilate again. "I can't remember!" I looked between Ben and Minho. Ben nodded at me.
"It's okay, it's always like that in the beginning. Your name will come to you later too." Ben tried to calm me down.
"Dani." I said looking back towards the Cliff. "My names Dani." Ben stood back up and looked at Minho. I just stared at Minho. I tried to beg him with my eyes, but his dark eyes were unreadable. Finally, he sighed and pointed behind him.
"What happened to you? That does not look like an injury I have ever seen around here. How did you get here?" Minho raised his eyebrow at me.
"I….I was shot… By… a man…He had a gun and he told me not to move. I just…. I don't know I wanted to help." I struggled to reach into the cloud that covered my brain. I could just barely get glimpses of images. I looked over and saw the confusion on Ben's face. I then looked at Minho.
"Ben you go up ahead. Go straight to Alby, and then go grab the medjacks. Don't say a word to anyone else. I'll bring her right behind you. We will have to try and sneak her in." Minho ordered in a straight voice. His eyes never left mine as he talked. Ben took off running.
Chancellor's POV****
I shot the dart as Danielle pushed herself through the Grievers hole. A direct hit on her shoulder. I smiled and looked back at the man next to me. The Superior looked absolutely devastated. "Chancellor! What did you do! You just let her go! What did you shoot her with? What will we do now?" he sputtered out. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack. I just began to laugh at him. I walked back out of the Griever cavern and back into the main office. The man still was talking to me as he followed close behind. Most of the other scientist had left by now to gather some personal belongings before relocation. I went back to Danielle's desk and clicked on her screen to pull up a camera in the Maze. Danielle sat leaning against the wall opposite the Griever's hole. Two of the subjects had already found her. I looked back at the now erratic man.
"Subject A0 test series is now back on for Group A. We need to begin to fully track her brain activity in the Maze. I want to test her as well. Make sure she got the full dose of memory wiping medication." I turned back towards the man. His mouth was still gaping open. "I know this was not planned but what great results we will get from this!" I clapped my hands together. "We do not want to have to worry about her memory causing any further problems. Have some of your men test her right away, while she sleeps. See if she has flashes." I instructed. The man managed to nod this time. I smiled and began to head for the door again. "Also Superior, postpone the beginning of the end. I will tell Group B as well. Let Subject A1 and A2 study her in the trials as well. Thank you!" I added once more before walking through the door.
Dani's POV****
"Can you stand?" Minho stooped down next to me. I shrugged and held my hand out to him. He hesitates but grabs it and helps me up slowly. I grunt and grit my teeth, but manage to stay up. Minho puts his arm around me and looks up at my face, trying to read it. I nod and try to take a step forward, but the burning fire in my side has taken all of my strength. I began to collapse but Minho quickly caught me.
"I'm sorry." I shook my head, "Let me try again." I stood up once more only to fail at taking another step forward. I cried out in pain this time. Minho steadied me once more, looking carefully at my side. "I'll be fine. Just keep trying to walk." I gasped out between the pains shooting through my body. I looked down at my side too. Blood was now dripping down my leg. I whimpered and leaned into Minho more, resting on his side. "Oh shit," I mumbled, "I don't want to ruin your nice shirt." I grinned up at him. Minho actually smirked at the comment.
"Here let me help you out." Minho leaned me carefully against the wall. "Lets put your jacket back on." He eyes glanced down at my body quickly before he grabbed it from me. I bit my lip think about how ridiculous I looked to him, standing in a brand new dress and heels while he was dressed in a worn dirty light blue button up and dark pants. No wonder he is suspicious of me. I eyed how he handled my jacket as well. I didn't want him finding the dart. Minho carefully shifted me into my jacket. I looked around the Maze. The sky was beginning to darken. Minho seemed to notice too. He looked at his watch. "We have to go now. I'm going to carry you Dani, I'll be as careful as I can…" he looked from my wound to the blood dripping down my leg. "I need to get you back. Now." I nodded.
"Don't worry about me. Do what you have to do. Ignore me if I scream or say anything just run. I'm tough. I'll be fine." I reassured him. Minho nodded but wouldn't look up at my face. He only looked at all the blood. "Lets go." I managed to push myself up off the wall. Minho began to reach for me but hesitated before bringing his hands back to his side. I could tell he was indifferent, but I didn't know why. Was he worried about hurting me or was it because he had to carry me back, a girl when he hasn't seen little long touched a girl in years. I knew I had to reassure him. "Please I need you to save my life Minho." I whispered before reaching out for him. He finally looked up to my eyes, before he moved to pick me up. He placed an arm on my back and then behind my knees before lifting me up. I yelped and tried to breathe through the pain.
"Try and keep pressure on the wound with your hand." Minho took a more serious tone. Then he took off down the corridor.
The constant jostling and movement made the pain almost unbearable. Tears streaked my face again. I groaned and cried out every once in a while, making Minho glance down at me looking troubled. I gritted my teeth tried to keep quiet for his sake. Minho had been jogging for about five minutes when I lost the strength to keep my head up. I leaned against his chest staring up at the sky. Every breath I took felt like individual stabs to my lungs. The Glade's gates would be closing soon. I was not sure how I knew that but I did. 3 minutes later I began to lose my ability to keep my eyes open. My hand felt like it weighed twenty pounds and I could barely apply any force to my side. My body began to feel numb, sleep felt like the only answer. Minho glanced down at me. "Stay with me Dani, one more turn were almost there." he spoke between heavy breaths. I tried to stay awake. Whenever I opened my eyes everything spun like crazy. The cloud in my head was expanding though. I could feel it. It had almost consumed everything. I took one deep breath. My head dropped from Minho's chest to looking where we were going. I could see a large opening at the end of passageway. My eyelids got heavier. There was a warm glow coming from it. We got closer and closer. The silhouette of a body began to form in that glow. The person reached out for me. My hand slipped off my side. I fell into darkness.
Newts Pov****
I sat down on the ground playing with a knife, just waiting. Every once in a while I would glance up waiting to see Minho's shuck face running towards me. Alby came to me about ten minutes ago, taking me away from helping Zart in the garden. I was not happy about being pulled away from work but I could tell by the almost frantic tone in his voice he was serious. Alby has been here the longest and is the strongest out of anyone in the Glade. If he was panicky, he meant business. Alby called a council meeting at random. He said that he needed to keep everyone occupied talking about their progress and organization in the Glade. If anyone asked about the missing Gladers he was going to say that Ben injured his ankle in the maze so the medjacks, Minho and I were overseeing that. I really was supposed to wait until Minho came back by the doors and tell him to go to the Homestead. I'm not going to lie I am confused about why I need to meet Minho, he defiantly can handle himself. The whole Ben twisting his ankle was a weak lie that even the dumbest Shanks would probably see through. But I trust Alby and I would do anything for him.
Minho finally rounded the corner about ten minutes before the doors were to close. I stood up, putting my knife away and stretched out before smiling towards him, a sarcastic comment at the ready. However, my sarcastic comment and my stomach dropped once he got closer. He had something in his arms, it looked almost like a doll at first. It was a girl. A girl from the Maze. She was bleeding pretty badly. As Minho got closer I could see the blood stains on her bright white coat. Dried blood coated her leg. I saw Minho look down at the girl, saying something. Her hand dropped limply from her side causing Minho to speed up. "The homestead! Take her to the homestead!"I shouted and began to run that way as well. Minho did not hesitate and fell into pace next to me. I glanced down at the girl. Her dark haired head rolled as we moved. I thought we may be too late, she looked dead.
We bust through the door to the homestead. Ben was waiting by the stairs and jumped up once we came through. "Upstairs! The medjacks are waiting in Newt's room." Ben pointed us along. The three of us stormed up the stairs. I followed right behind Minho. Jeff and Clint were standing in my room, all of their medications and tools were spread out on my makeshift desk by the window.
"Is that a-" Jeff started but Minho cut him off.
"She's dying. She's lost a lot of blood. She was shot you need to help her." he gasped for air as he spoke. He tossed the girl down on my bed roughly but I actually heard the girl whimper a little. Her eyes flickered open for a few seconds. Jeff grabbed some thread and needle and began to sanitize. Minho went back and leaned against the wall with Ben, trying to catch his breath. I moved to stand by the head of the bed. Clint bent down next to the bed and was checking her pulse on her neck. The door opened causing us all to look. Alby swallowed hard in the doorway.
"Is she alive?" Alby looked down at the girl.
"Yes. But…her pulse is really weak." Clint stood. He moved awkwardly in place. "We need to look at her injury. To stop the bleeding. On her side." He slowly grabbed a pair of scissors off the desk before turning back to her. His cheeks started to get a red tint to them.
"Well what are you bloody waiting for?" I said before sitting down on a rickety chair next to the head of the bed. The girl looked like she was becoming pastier at the second. "She's so pale." I added looking down at her pretty face.
"Aw does Newt have a crush?" Ben laughed and crossed his arms. I glared up at him.
"This is no time for jokes you stupid Shucks, or decency, save her life. Do what you have to do. Apologize later. I am sure she will understand." Alby ordered before looking away towards the window. Clint nodded and got to work. He shifted her coat off of her carefully and threw it to me. I caught it only grabbing at the parts that remained white and sat it down one the back of the chair. Clint began cutting away at her dress. He started awkwardly at the bottom, going all the way up. He was careful not to touch the girl or her…undergarments…. His ears were as red as his face when he stood back up to let Jeff begin to stitch her side.
"I don't know if you can hear me girl, but we don't have time for numbing gel. I'm sorry if this hurts. A lot." Jeff told her as he wiped the wound on her side. "Good news is that the bullet just seemed to skim her side, so we don't have to remove it." He tried to joke. The girl was silent, eyes remaining closed, so he began to stitch. The rest of us glanced around the room awkwardly, not sure where to look. Well except for Ben. His eyes ran up and down the girl's body, he smirked. I gritted my teeth, resisting walking over to him and punching that stupid smile off his face. Alby must have noticed too though.
"Ben, go to the map room. Write anything you and Minho managed to get done today. Take extra care to details. Something has to be different. Don't tell anyone anything." Alby stood in front of the girl blocking her view. Ben scowled at him but stood up from the wall and left the room without a word. Not even his dumb ass would speak out against Alby.
Jeff finished and stood holding up his now blood covered hands. "Well she clearly lost a lot of blood, put her pulse is gaining strength. She will just need to rest a while, take it easy until that heals." I let out a breath I did not realize I was even holding.
"Wait." Minho said walking over to the girl. "Check her shoulder. I noticed it had some blood specks on it when I put it back on her." Minho pointed to the jacket. Clint rolled the girl over on her side a little and examined it.
"Well it looks like a small… stab wound maybe… I don't know." Clint looked back at Jeff. "Hand me a towel." Jeff through it at him and Clint began to wipe the small cut gently at first, but then began to apply more pressure. "It's tinted blue. I can't get the color to go away. I have never seen that before." He set the girl back down. "It should heal on its own though. It does not look infected." Clint stood up and joined Jeff by the table and began to pack up.
"Thank you Clint and Jeff." Alby put his hands on their shoulders. "Promise you two won't say anything." The two boys nodded and left the room. Alby sighs hard before walking over to the window.
"What do you think this means?" Minho asked. Alby shook his head.
"I have no clue." Alby turned back towards us. "I have been here for years and there has never been a girl. Ever. Or at least not that we knew of…" he trailed off.
"You don't think they have been sending girls out in the Maze this whole time and she's just the first one we have found do you?" I asked in shock.
"There's no way. I would have noticed something. Or we would have at least heard them before the Grievers got to them." Minho reassured. I believed him. Things were not adding up.
"I don't know, maybe it's the way she's dressed, how well groomed and taken care of she is despite her new injuries, or the fact that she is a girl. She doesn't belong here. Something must be wrong. Or things are going to change soon." Alby's strong voice waivered a bit. He walked over once more to the sleeping girl. "Minho you and Ben take the day off tomorrow. I will cover for you and say I need your help. Have some of the runners split up and cover for you. She will want a familiar face when and if she wakes up. Go get your dinner and get some rest." Minho nodded and headed to the door but stopped. He turned back around.
"Something is different about her Alby. She remembered her name right away. Dani. She did not even have to think about it. She told us like it was already stored information. The rest of us had to regain that information. She said she came here, but couldn't remember why. None of us 'came' here we were sent, and we couldn't even remember that." Minho explained. He then took a step closer before lowering his voice. "She also… She said my name. Called me Minho…. And I am pretty sure she had not heard Ben say it. It's like she already knew that too…" Minho struggled to find the words. "She told save my life Minho. She was terrified." Minho whispered to us. Alby looked up at me. For once his strength and control seemed to leave him. He seemed scared, something I had never seen from Alby before.
"Thank you for telling us Minho. You made some great observations." I smiled at him. Minho shot Dani a glance before leaving the room. Dani. That name did not really seem to fit her, I thought. I put my hand on Alby's shoulder. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. This girl is nothing that we can't handle." I smiled at him, but Alby still stared at the girl. "You know we have to tell the rest of the Gladers. Soon. They will not be happy when they find out we have been keeping a secret from them. And we can't exactly hide a person from them." I tried to change the subject a little. Alby just sighed again.
"I will. Tomorrow night. She will hopefully just sleep through the day. We need to ease the information on the boys. We don't want a frenzy around her." Alby looked out towards the window as he spoke. "Are you okay to sleep in here tonight? I need someone to keep an eye on her. And it will seem suspicious if you don't stay in your room. I'll give you the morning off tomorrow too. Clint and Jeff will probably come back then as well." Alby asked me. I just nodded. "Thanks Newt… I just really need to sleep this off or something. Don't let anyone else in but the medjacks, Minho or I." he added before leaving the room as well.
I turned back to the girl, now alone with her. I ran my fingers through my hair and blew some air out. I walked to Dani, still clad in only her undergarments. I knew I could not just leave her like that. I grabbed and extra blanket from the end of the bed and pulled it up for her. She seemed so small in the bed. Her dark hair had completely fallen out of the updo she had it in, making it spill out all around her. She looked comfortable and at rest. I turned the lamp down on the table across the room. I didn't extinguish it in fear that she would panic if she woke up in the dark. I sat down in the chair and leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes. My head was reeling, I was unable to calm it down. I was thinking about everything, when would she wake up, how the Gladers would react, how this poor girl would react, would things really change? I tried to shake all the thoughts from my head. I opened my eyes and looked at Dani in the dim light. She looked so innocent and pretty. How could something so delicate survive in the Maze?
I awoke to the gates opening at sunrise, just like every morning. I stretched stiff from sleeping in the chair all night. I looked over at Dani, who still seemed to be sleeping peacefully. The blanket was still pulled up tightly around her, so she probably had not moved much last night. I rubbed my face and stood up and moved towards the window. The glade was just beginning to buzz with activity. Some boys were moving to get breakfast from Frypan. Others were already heading out to their jobs. I spotted Minho and Jeff approaching the homestead. I also saw Gally staring them down from across the Glade. He was probably suspicious, and I really could not blame him. I had to convince Alby to tell everyone as soon as he can.
The girl groaned, making me shoot around to face her. Her eyes were still closed but she had a pained look on her face. "T….Thomas…Tommy…" she mumbled out. I moved closer and kneeled by her bed, waiting for her to speak out again. Minho and Jeff opened the door and began to file in but I held my hand up, silencing them. We all paused, quiet for a minute before I shook my head giving up. "She groaned and said something. Right before you came in. I swear!" I turned back towards the boys. The medjacks made their way over to Dani and began checking her vitals.
"Could you make out what she said?" Minho asked. I glanced at the medjack before shaking my head. Minho raised his eyebrow at me but said nothing. I looked back at Jeff. Jeff was carefully slipping the girl into a button up shirt.
"I thought she would at least want to wake up with some dignity." Minho nodded his head towards Dani. Minho's shirt was ginormous on her and engulfed her quickly.
"She seems fine. Her injury looks clean." Jeff said as he got her arm through the hole. "Plus if she was talking, she should probably be waking up soon." He added before beginning to button her shirt from the bottom. His hands paused by her bra. "Wait a minute… What is this?" He began to reach into the shirt.
"Jeff-"I started to advise against whatever he was doing but the girls eyes shot open.
Dani's Pov****
I was stuck in darkness. It was lonely and cold. I was scared. I was afraid that I would never be able to get out. Then I heard him. Thomas was crying out. Saying my name. I turned around to find him standing there. "Thomas?" I whispered feeling a wave of relief rush over me. I tried to run to him but then the Chancellor revealed herself from behind him. I froze on the spot.
"How could you Dani?" Thomas said with a look of disgust on his face. I opened my mouth but was unable to find words.
"She left you Thomas. Left Teresa. Left us all. You know what this means now don't you?" The Chancellor asked him. Thomas head fell. "You will be punished." The Chancellor pulled out a small gun.
"No! Thomas! Please Thomas!" I screamed tears coming to my eyes. I tried to run to him but I wasn't getting anywhere. "Tommy please. No!" I reached for him but it was too late. The gun shot rang out and Thomas fell to the floor. My eyes shot open.
Panic. I was in self-defense mode. Fight or flight. I looked over to see and young African American boy reaching for my chest. I grabbed his hand and twisted it, threatening to break it. The boy howled out. I swung my leg from the bed and managed to kick the boy away. He fell to the floor as I stood up. I glance around the room. Two more boys stood in my way of the door. The dark haired boy reached for me with one hand. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to my right and behind me, knocking him off balance. As he fell towards the bed I noticed a knife holstered on his vest. I grabbed it quickly and turned back to the last boy. "Woah! Woah! Hold on Love, we won't hurt you!" the blonde raised his arms up. I took a step towards him and the dark haired boy behind me, now standing again made a move for his knife. I evaded his attempt and held the knife hard to his throat. If he moved a centimeter it would slice him.
"No one move!" I said, my voice was hoarse.
"We won't! We won't. Okay? Just talk to us. Please. We won't hurt you." The blonde slowly moved his hands down. "We have been trying to help you. The boy you just knocked unconscious over there," he pointed to the African American boy but I didn't look away, "He's like a doctor. He's been helping you get better. You were hurt really badly. Why don't you just put the knife down and we can talk about this okay?" the blonde sounded so calm. I looked directly into his dark chocolate colored eyes cocking my head to the side, before I looked back to the Dark haired boy. The Asian was glaring at me, hands in fists. I looked him once up and down before turning back to the blonde.
"Fine." I said and smiled at him. I saw the boy relax a little. I then dropped the knife hilt down, hitting the dark haired boy directly on the foot.
"Ow that shank!" he cried out making the blonde eyes leave me for a second, but that second was all I needed. I ran at the blonde, giving him a swift knee in the gut before running out the door.
Kneeing the boy had caused a sharp pain in my side but I paid no attention to it. I needed to get out now. I entered a small hallway and ran down the stairs. No one was in the room below to stop me. I kicked off the stupid heels I was wearing and sprinted out the door. I was running through a clearing, full of soft grass. I looked around to see a few trees and small groups of boys. The whole area was surrounded by giant walls that had small breaks in them. I knew those would be my best bet for escaping. I ran towards the closest exit. I began to hear yelling from all around me as the rest of people must have noticed my escape attempt. I ignored their words and kept going. Someone had caught up with me though.
"Hey! Stop now! I don't want to have to hurt you. "He called to me before grabbing my arm. I turned and grabbed back onto his arm and used my momentum to flip the boy over me. The large boy landed roughly on the ground in front of me. I quickly stepped on his face, pushing his nose in the earth, and twisted the arm I had grabbed at an odd angle. The boy yelped in pain, but I didn't stop. I noticed a small crowd had gathered around us by then. "Is that a girl?" someone cried out. "She's kicking the klunk out of Gally!" another yelled. "I call dibs!" a boy laughed. "Where did she come from?" a voice questioned. I ignored them all and pushed down harder on the blonde boys face, getting close to breaking his nose.
"Dani! Stop!" a strong voice rang out from behind me. I looked back to see an older African American boy walking towards me. He had the blonde and the Asian boy behind him. "You do not want to hurt him." he continued. "Please Dani stop, your just hurting yourself more. You already have ripped open your stitches. You're bleeding again." I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down at myself. My side had begun to bleed, staining the men's button shirt I was wearing. My eyes got huge as I popped back into reality. I remembered Minho and Ben. I remembered them saving me. I remembered the Griever hole, the Maze and the Glade. I remembered wanting to help the Gladers… I remembered Thomas. I looked back up at the dark skinned boy. I now recognized him as Alby, the leader of the Gladers. I glanced around the small circle recognizing all of the boys faces. I began to blush, looking down at myself in my bra and underwear with an oversized men's shirt. Great way to make an entrance. Newt, the blonde boy beside Alby reached out for me.
"Come on Dani, let's get you all fixed up again. We won't hurt you. I promise you're safe." Newt beckoned for me to join him. I slowly released the large boy from my grasp. He rolled over on the ground before cupping his now bleeding nose.
"I'm sorry." I said and held my hand out to help him up. The boy just glared at me.
"What is going on Alby? How do you know her? How'd she get here?" The boy spat at him from the ground.
"I'm calling a meeting. We will have it as soon as the runners get back tonight. I will explain everything then. Until that time comes, everyone get back to work. Now." Alby commanded. Some of the boys mumbled, clearly unhappy. But then the larger boy stood up and got in Alby's face.
"Alby, she harmed another glader. She is in the Glade she has to follow our rules. She needs to be punished." He demanded shot daggers with his eyes at me. I backed away from him and stood between Newt and Minho.
"Oh Gally just suck it up. You're just mad that a girl could beat you up." I recognized Ben's voice from the circle. Some of the boys chuckled making Gally even angrier.
"Sorry Gally but no one has told her the rules yet. She can't get punished for something she didn't bloody know." Newt shrugged before shooting a small smile at me. I smiled back and looked at the ground.
"Are you kidding me? She is clearly a threat! She needs to be thrown in the slammer! Probably tied up and guarded!" Gally started to rant.
"Slim it Gally. Dani did not know the rules yet, so she technically can't be punished. She just woke up, she was scared, trapped in the Glade with a bunch of strange people. I can't blame her for her reactions." Alby voice rung out strongly. He was defiantly a natural leader.
"What do you mean she just woke up?" A tan dark haired boy asked from around the circle. I had a sudden flash of images of the boy walking to the animal's barn and sharpening his knives. I flinched remembering his job at the glade.
"We will discuss this all later Winston. Now everyone go along, get to work." Alby demanded. The boys were silent this time and quickly disbanded the circle. Gally was the last to leave, staring me down before he went. I stared as hard as I could right back. I wanted to let him know I was not someone to be messed with. Now only Alby, Newt, Minho, and Ben remained.
"Well girly, first official day in the Glade and you already have beaten up Gally. I think you'll fit in nicely." Ben laughed at me.
"I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean to hurt him. I just was defending myself. I hope I didn't hurt anyone else. I feel so bad!" I rambled quietly.
"It's fine Dani. Really it's about time someone set Gally straight." Alby actually managed to grin. "Minho and Ben please come with me. We have some things to discuss. Newt, take Dani back to the homestead. Where's Jeff? I sent him to take care of her this morning?" Alby asked. I opened my mouth and glanced at Newt.
"Oh he's up in Newt's room probably still unconscious. I think Dani broke his hand as well." Minho spoke sarcastically. I bit my lip while the rest of the boys chuckled.
"Alright then, I'll send Clint over to take care of him and Dani." Alby said and nodded to Ben and Minho to follow him. The boys started to head towards a very wooded area in the Glade. I turned back to Newt who had a hand up covering the smile on his face.
"I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" I asked putting my hand on is shoulder. He just chuckled at me and shook his head.
"Oh and Newt!" Alby called out to him from a few feet away. "I think you were wrong when you said we could handle her easily." He shouted causing everyone else to laugh. I just blushed and looked at my bare feet again.
"Don't worry Love, were just joking with you. Come on, get you re-stitched. At least you're not bleeding a ton this time." Newt pointed to my side. The shirt was beginning to stick to my side now but I did not feel woozy yet. The pain was beginning to worsen though. I nodded and followed Newt back to the homestead, but the pain caused me to limp a little as I walked. Newt glanced back at me "You know I know I am pretty charming but that doesn't mean you have to start walking like me Dani." He spoke staring straight ahead. My eyes got bigger as I saw he did have a slight limp to his walk.
"Oh Newt I'm sorry it just hurts some so I was just trying to walk and-" I started apologizing but Newt stopped walking making me bump into him. I winced and grabbed my side.
"Really Dani I'm kidding. You have to take a joke." He had turned back towards me. He looked down at my side again. "Come on don't want you passing out again." He motioned for me to walk with him again. "You know actually," Newt said and put his arm around me to help me walk, "I think you look pretty cute with a little limp." He laughed. I blushed and refused to look up at him. Was he kidding or did he really think that?