ASUNDER (I) : tmr newt

01: I'm Scared

I don't know what I look like.

"Girls, this is a load of klunk." I stare up to find a boy with a red, round face, glaring down with anger.

Another boy runs up, and I hear the echo of the cage as I slam my body against it, another boy appears above me, and I bump my way into the centre of the cage. The longer we are in here, the more chatter seems to be irrupting.

"Dibs on the blonde." One of them calls out. "What's your name sweetheart?"

"She'll bite your head off if you speak to her one more time." The ginger bites, and I immediately realise she is the angry voice.

"Feisty," another one calls out.

There are more voices. I can't tell if I can't hear them, or if they blur into one another. I can't think right now. I don't know where I am, or what is going on.

Another boy arrives, and as I move back I feel someone's arm catch my wrist. I spin to see the tiny girl, shaking her head at me. I wonder which voice she is.

The boy who arrives has darker skin, and seems to be older than most of the other boys. He moves next to the boy with the accent, staring down at me. The accented one kneels, looking at the three of us with not just curiosity and concern. When our eyes meet, he flinches back and I wonder if he is just as scared as I am.

"If anybody touches these girls, you're gonna spend the night sleepin' with the Grievers. Banished, no questions." The dark boy pauses. "Ain't nobody touching them."

"I take it you're the brains of the operation?" The angry ginger asks, moving forward and pulling herself out of the cage.

The boys back away as she moves around them. Avoiding her as if she is contagious.

The blonde follows her up next, quickly backing up the other girl.

"I take it you're the shank of the operation?" Their leader asks right back, and laughter erupts around the rest of them.

The smallest girl pulls me along as she moves towards the grass. Looking at me to get me to push her up, I stand frozen. There is no way I'm going up there, into a field surrounded by boys with hungry eyes and aching jaws.

Someone offers her a hand, which she takes and she disappears above the edge.

"Where are we?" Another girl asks, and I can't tell if it is the small girl or the blonde, but whoever it is is the light voice with the accent.

"That'll all be answered tomorrow." The darker boy, who must be their leader says. He stops addressing the flame as his voice gets louder. "They'll be in the shuckin' Slammer tonight, since we ain't got anywhere to put them. Newt you'll take care of that. We'll decide what to do with them in a Gathering when the Runners get back. Alright?"

Slammer? What's that? I can't tell where we are supposed to be going, and I don't plan on moving until I get some clarity.

"Why don't we just put them in the Homestead Alby?" The accented boy asks. "It's more welcoming. It's not fair to lock them up just because they are shuckin' girls."

The darker boy, Alby, looks up at the accented boy. He looks like he's about to argue but sighs. "Take them to the Homestead, then. Everyone else clear out, if any of you go near them I swear we will have a banishing tonight instead of a bonfire."

No one moves, still ogling at me in the cage. I'm all alone, trapped at the bottom as it seems.

"Don't just stand there," he booms again. "Move along."

I wait for the boys around us to dissipate, as I stand still. Letting their eyes linger for a few moment, they fade off into the background, until only the boy with the accent is left. Bending down into the cage, he still stares at me.