Author stuff: We're over half way through book 1, most of the way through part 2, and there's still a lot of secrets to uncover.
Chapter 36
In Which The New Girlie Gives Her Name. Sort Of.
She was in that white world again, the one that smelled of death and sterility. The one she knew she hated and didn't know why. Well, she did – mostly because there was no green or life to be seen – but there were other underlying reasons she couldn't place.
She was young, she knew that, and she was holding the hand of a tall, olive skinned man who felt familiar to her. She tucked herself behind him, hoping that he would protect her from whatever was out there.
"It's alright," he said, a laugh in his voice. It was warm and deep and it settled on her shoulders like a favorite blanket. "I think you'll like it out here."
"But what about the monsters?" she said, looking around frantically.
"The monsters can't get you here. This is a safe place."
"Are you sure?"
"Absotively, posilutely."
He opened the door, and she was overtaken by warm, white light.
She had been summoned by Nick in the middle of breakfast – on bedrest in the Med-hut, mind – to go with him and Alby to get any information from the new girl. If they could.
She didn't seem to like the boys too much.
Flossy quickly braided her hair as she trailed after Alby to the Slammer. She knew that Clint and Jeff had had quite the time trying to bandage the girl's head from where she'd been hit by the shovel. She wasn't quite sure what she was walking into.
The silence from the Slammer was… promising.
"You realize," Alby said, "that every single one of you Girlies have spent some time in the Slammer."
"At least my time was for visiting Newt," she said.
He looked back at her, frowning.
"What do you know?"
"Just what Newt tells me. I just want him to be happy."
"Do you think he's happy? With me? With… this?"
"No, he's not. That's why I think you two need to have a talk."
"And we're done."
"What?" she said. "Don't feel like having a heart to heart? Or are you missing something that would make that possible?"
"Watch it, Girlie." He halted and jabbed a finger in her face, tapping her nose.
"Come on, Alby," she said, gently lowering his hand. She knew full well that he actually wouldn't hurt her. "I know Newt means a lot to you. Just… sit and talk with him about it some time, yeah? It doesn't have to be any time soon, just eventually."
He shook his head and continued on to the Slammer, leaving her to catch up. When she finally reached his side, it was because he was glaring at the cell door with Nick.
"Think you can get close enough to talk to her?" Nick said, gesturing to where the new girl was hiding in shadows. She had a familiar sense of deja vu.
"Depends on how close she'll let me," she said. She took tentative steps forward, calling out to the girl before she reached the door. "Hey, you still in there? It's okay. My name's Flossy. Why don't you come a little closer so that we can talk?"
The girl didn't make any sound. She only gestured behind Flossy with her head, to the two boys.
"That's just Nick and Alby. Nick is the one in charge, and Alby is second-in-command. They're nice shanks."
She tilted her head, taking in the odd word.
"Can I ask you a question?"
The girl nodded and waited.
"What's your name?"
The girl pursed her lips and sighed, turning to look away.
Flossy sighed and looked back at Nick and Alby, shrugging.
"Nothing, huh? No sign language or anything like that?"
She continued to sit there, quietly, for quite a while. Flossy waited patiently for… something. She could feel Alby getting anxious behind her. She was feeding off his energy and was personally growing impatient. She had the girl try out a few other words, just for her to get the feel of her.
"Hey, can you tell me your name?"
The girl looked at her, pursing her lips. Flossy got a good look at her, through a thin veil of tangled hair. The girl's eyes were a deep brown – she swore they changed color when they got into the light – and were almond-shaped eyes. She had a small nose and plump lips, leading down to a rounded chin.
She was pretty. Unusual but pretty.
"Can I comb your hair?" she said.
The girl blinked slowly. After a moment, she nodded slowly and crawled closer to the cell door. She sat down on the closest step and waited.
Flossy used her fingers to comb out all of the knots and tangles of the girl's hair. She tried not to tug too hard, but the girl didn't seem to mind too much. After about twenty minutes, she had managed to undo most of the mess. It lied at awkward tufts and angles, but it was neater than it had been. That and all the sticks and leaves had been plucked out.
"There," she said, patting down some locks, "very pretty."
The girl gave her a questioning look. Pretty? She was pretty? At least, that was what Flossy understood from the look she was being given.
"Yes, pretty." She smiled at the girl and received a sincere one in return. "Can you tell me one thing?"
A tilt of the head, curious now.
"What's your name?"
She started to speak with her hands but stopped when she realized Flossy didn't understand what each individual gesture meant. The girl held up a finger and started to trace a word in the dirt by Flossy's feet.
VERENA, it read.
"Well, Verena, welcome to the Glade."
She'd been put in charge of Verena, who wasn't much help anywhere. But she liked working in the Gardens and refused to do anything else – much to the annoyance of Nick and the other Keepers. She didn't bother Zart much, appreciating his tomatoes in ways that most Gladers couldn't.
And no, he told Flossy, that wasn't an innuendo. Please take that dirty talk out of his Gardens, and he will give her over to the Kitchens for a month.
They all learned rather quickly that she could speak with her hands much easier than with her mouth. Flossy figured the blow to her head might have done something.
Communication was difficult, but she'd managed to make up signals – signs – for each individual Glader she wanted to speak to. And Flossy was able to recognize a few other words after being shown how to do them herself.
"What do you think happened to her?" Newt said, watching as Verena eyeballed the green beans and plucked the ones that were ready.
"Bad experiment?" she said, adding a peach to their bushel. She was happy to be let off bedrest early. Being kept in the now cramped Med-hut with Verena and Adne had been quite a feat. "Or maybe an experiment went wrong? I don't know. Adne was telling me about these plaques in the Maze with the word 'experiment' on them."
"World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Division. Yeah, I know the bloody plaques. How's Adne doing, if you don't mind me asking?"
"She's… living. Verena drives her insane, but I think she's honestly helping. She doesn't smile a whole lot, except when it's the three of us. Healing takes time."
"If anyone knows about healing," he said, taking a bite of a ripe peach, "it's me."
She snorted and threw a pebble at him. Before he could retaliate, the Greenie alarm sounded.
"Shall we?"
"We shall."
Verena was terrible at meals. If she hadn't seen half the shanks in the Glade eat, Flossy would have been appalled by her table manners. As things went, Verena wasn't the worst, and that was saying something.
That didn't stop her from staring in disgust as Verena scooped up mashed potatoes with dirt stained fingers and sucking them off.
She was more than glad when Nick pulled her away.
"I'm sorry if Verena is causing any trouble," she said as they moved out of the dining area. "She's… different. I've been trying to teach her some things, but —"
"You're actually handling her quite well, Flossy," Nick said. "You've actually been handling a lot of things quite well. I have been thinking for a while now, and I brought it up to all of the Keepers, but I have a… proposition for you. It'll need to be voted on, to make it official, but I'd really like you to think it over before accepting."
"Can I ask what it's about?"
"You are the first Girlie of the Glade, and you've taken charge of situations that the rest of us wouldn't have been able to understand. You show some leadership qualities that are needed here in the Glade. We'd all benefit from your assistance in some matters, and some insight you may have."
"Nick, what are you going on about?"
"Flossy, how would you like to be Keeper of the Girlies?"