Left Behind -Gally-

Chapter 36

"Connor." A boy with dirty-blond hair stood up. "Evelyn. Justin." With each name called, someone stood up. "Peter. Allison. Squiggy." A few people laughed at the name. "Okay, calm down. Franklin and Abigal." He dropped the clipboard, causing a wave of sighs and displeased murmurs. "Don't be discouraged. If I could take more, I would. There is always tomorrow. Your time will come. Finish eating everyone." As Janson walked out of the room, the group followed. All of them were smiling, seemingly happy that their name had been called.

"Where are they going," Minho asked David and Riley.

"Far away from here. They're lucky."

Riley spun back around. "A farm. Some place safe, but they can only take a few people at a time."

"What the hell?" Thomas stood up abruptly. Emma watched as he walked toward the window. Walking on the other side with two doctors was Teresa. "Teresa, hey." As he approached the door, a man stopped him. He was too far away to hear, but Emma assumed Thomas was arguing with the man based on his body language.

"You okay?"

Emma glanced at Newt, who had ducked his head to talk to her without drawing the attention of the others. She shrugged, playing with the food on her tray. Eating would be smart, but the idea of it made her nauseous. "I'm really tired." She hadn't slept yet. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she slept. It had been a while.

"I know." They were all tired. "We'll get some rest soon. I'm sure of it. We're safe now. Everything's going to be okay."

Emma sighed. If only it were that easy. She wasn't sure anything would be okay again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay," the man said. "This is where you'll be sleeping." He pushed open the door.

Emma walked in first, arms crossed as she studied the room. She could hear the others around her as they picked their beds. The sound of the door slamming shut caused her to flinch. It locked behind them, which wasn't surprising. The people here seemed to be very cautious.

Rolling her shoulders, she walked to the first open bed and sat down. It had been a tough couple of days. Since the night Jordan cornered her, everything began to spiral. Nothing had been easy the last week. Each day bringing harder challenges.

All she wanted to do was sleep, but Emma knew sleep wouldn't be kind to her. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Gally. She could see his motionless body on the floor. It would haunt her forever.

"Hey." A voice startled Emma from her thoughts. She looked up to see Minho staring down at her. "Can I sit?"

"Yeah, sure." She didn't have to move. Emma was curled into herself in the corner of the bed.

He was nervous. That was the first thing Emma realized. Minho was nervous. It was obvious in his body language. The fidgeting and how he wasn't facing her, not entirely. He messed with a loose strand on his maroon shirt, a color that suited him well. "How are you doing with," his words trailed off. The dark-haired body cleared his throat. "With everything?"

"With this place or with Gally?" Emma knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to ask about Gally without upsetting her. It was considerate, given the situation. Minho didn't respond. He just stared. "I'm fine, really. It's fine."

"Okay." He clearly didn't believe her but was willing to let it go for the moment. "Are we okay?"

Emma stared at him curiously, head tilted to the side. That wasn't something she expected to hear. "What do you mean?"

Minho sighed, rubbing the back of his neck apprehensively. That only confused her more. "I mean, are we okay? Are we good? Or do you hate me for," once again, his words trailed off.

Finally, Emma understood. Her heart raced with dread, regret, and guilt when she realized why. Minho thought she hated him for what he did. For killing Gally. "Oh, no, Minho. No, I don't hate you," she assured him. "I thought that maybe," Emma licked her bottom lip, words coming out in a stuttered mess. "I thought you blamed me."

"What?" Minho's expression twisted. He was stunned. "Blamed you? For what?" In his mind, Emma hadn't done anything.

The girl sighed, leaning against the cold wall. "I think Gally followed us because of me. If I had tried harder to convince him to come with or stayed behind, then none of it would have happened." It was her fault. "They would both be alive. You wouldn't have had to stop him. Everything would be fine. Everything would be better."

Minho gaped at her, blinking in shock. "You're such a stupid Shank, Emma." With that, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his embrace. Emma went willingly, mostly because she wasn't expecting it. She rested against his chest, breathing deeply as he held onto her. "It wasn't your fault, you hear me? You did what you could, but you couldn't have stayed there. Gally made his own choices. They had nothing to do with you." Emma felt her eyes burn with tears. She relaxed in his arms, wrapping hers around his stomach. "And I'm so sorry."

She sniffled. "Don't be. You did nothing wrong. You did what you had to do."

Minho nodded, his grip tightening as if he needed to hear those words from her. In a way, he did. He needed to know he made the right choice, and hearing it from Emma, the person who cared about Gally the most, made him feel less guilty.

"I'm still sorry."

"Yeah," she whispered. "Me too." Minho's warmth was comforting. Blinking a few times, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. Sleep was no longer something she could fight. In the silence, she finally let herself relax. She let herself sleep in the arms of her friend, who needed the comfort as much as she did.