Left Behind -Gally-

Chapter 31

After last night, after they kissed again, Emma thought things would be better. That Gally would relax a bit, but he looked worse than before. He seemed angry with her, and she had no idea why.

"Okay," she said once she was close enough. "Do you want to tell me-"

"I thought you said you would stay away from them?"

Emma immediately raised an eyebrow at him. "You asked me to stay away from Thomas-"

"And the girl." She knew he hadn't specified Teresa.

"Teresa. Her name is Teresa-"

"Whatever." Gally didn't care what her name was. "You said you would stay away from them when I asked."

"I said I would try-"

"You don't look like you're trying very hard."

Emma closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Gally-"

"She's just as bad as him."

"If you don't let me finish a sentence, I'm going to hit you upside the head with a bucket. Repeatedly."

Gally's scowl softened for a moment. A smile tugged at the corner of his lip, but he quickly concealed it. "That's a little dramatic. Don't you think?" He turned his face toward the sun, squinting slightly.

Emma smiled faintly at him. "So is thinking that Teresa and Thomas are dangerous." Gally opened his mouth to argue, but she raised her hand. "I'll try with Thomas. I said I would, but Newt's assigned Teresa to be by my side until we figure out what's going on and how to fix it. So, I'm stuck with her right now." Emma wasn't upset about the arrangement. Having another girl in the Glade was something she had always wanted. It made her feel less alone—less of an outsider.

"I don't like it," he muttered. There was a familiar pinch in his eyebrows. "I don't like it. I don't trust her. Either of them."

"You thought the same thing about me once."

"That was different." Gally waved his hand dismissively. "You were different."

Emma stared up at him curiously. "I was? How?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter." She wanted to argue that it mattered to her but didn't want to push him. Gally hadn't been acting like himself since Thomas arrived. At least she had been able to get him to relax right now. Any anger he had seemed to be fading. "And why did Newt assign you with her anyway? Don't you have a job to do?"

She sighed. Emma leaned against the table, eyes scanning the blueprints in front of her. "What are you working on?" It was a change in conversation.

"Uh, trellis's for the Gardens and some raised garden beds."

She tilted her head to the side. "Why?"

"Well, if the box isn't going back down, we're going to need to grow more food to get by."

It wasn't something Emma had given much thought. Since Teresa arrived, the box hadn't gone back down. "You really think the box won't bring anything else?"

"I think," Gally began. "We need to be prepared for whatever happens." That was the best option, but Emma had always been a hopeful person.

She rubbed her arms, blinking a few times. Realistically, she knew that the box provided half of their food each month. Without it, they would never get by. They couldn't grow enough food to feed the number of Gladers they had in the Glade. Growing food would take weeks, which wouldn't guarantee anything. It wouldn't be enough.

They needed the box to bring more supplies, or they needed a way out of the Glade. "We won't survive without the box."

Gally pursed his lips, shaking his head. "We'll be fine."