A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chapter 60

Cally's pov

The next morning, I woke up from soft knocks on the door to my room. I growled as I peeked at my window and saw it was still dark outside. The knocks sounded again, "Come in." I growled, my voice still scratchy from sleeping. I didn't look up as the door opened, and someone walked inside. I didn't have to, as I recognized his voice and accent immediately.
     "Cals?" I only growled in response as I buried my face in my pillow. I heard the door close, his footsteps on the wooden floor, and a moment later, I felt my bed give in slightly under his weight as he sat down. "I know ya're awake."
     "No, I'm not," I said, my voice muffled by my pillow. I heard Newt chuckle before he continued, "Don't worry, I'll let you sleep soon. I'm just here to tell ya that you're supposed to work again today." And again, I growled, but this time because I had to go back to work.
     "And you're waking me up this early because?" I asked with my muffled voice.
     "Because I've got a Gatherin' to go to, and I had to let ya know before that. Besides, I couldn't tell ya last night." When he mentioned last night, I started to think about it. After I had walked away from the small group, Ezra had followed me. I was upset, but he knew how to calm me down. We talked for a while about everything that had happened and how scared it made me. Ezra tried to understand, but I knew he didn't fully. That was okay. It's a lot to take in, and I didn't fully understand it myself. Of course, I hadn't told him about what could happen. This was hard on all of us, and I didn't want him to worry about something that may or may not happen.
     I turned around in my bed and sat up against the wall. "About last night..." I started, voice soft. Newt re-positioned himself, so he was facing me. I cleared my throat in an attempt to get the sleepiness out of it before I spoke.
     "I'm sorry I snapped, I shouldn't have..."
     Newt smiled at me and took my hand in his, "That's okay. It all just became too much. Most of the Gladers who went through what you went through react way worse." I nodded that I understood as my eyes were staring at our hands. I knew we had been holding hands a lot lately. It felt nice, to have this kind of contact with him, but I still didn't know if it was because I needed a friend or because I wanted more from him.
     "You 'kay, Cals?" Newt asked while his thumb made small circles over the back of my hand. The small gesture stirring a somewhat familiar feeling in my stomach and suddenmy I felt a lot more awake than before.
     "Yeah," I answered, pulling my hand away from him and acted as if the back of my head was itchy. "Just um... did you just say there's gonna be a Gathering?" I changed the subject. Luckily, Newt didn't say anything about it and just nodded as  response on my question.
     "Why? What about?"
     "The Glade's bloody hero, of course." he answered, sounding slightly annoyed by something. Only I couldn't place what he thought was annoying. "The Slinthead broke our number one rule but did save two Shanks in the process. The other Gladers keep askin' what's gonna happen with the guy. So it's time we decide on that."
     My eyes grew wider as I remembered the last time someone broke a rule. "You're not Banishing him? Right?" I asked with fear creeping into my words.
     "Probably not, but it depends on what the others'll say."
     "Please, don't let him get Banished." I really didn't want Thomas to get pushed back inside that horrible place. He didn't deserve that.
     "I'll try. Believe it or not, I like the Shuck-face, don't want to lose another friend."

~.~.~

Alby was driving me crazy! Not just me, almost everyone that was within hearing range. But especially me since I had to stay with him. All. The. Time.
     Clint was in the Med-room this morning, we had to decide on my new schedule. When and for how long I'd be able to be 'on duty'. I'm supposed to work as much as possible now we've got a commatised girl and Alby going through the Changing. Well, Alby was going through the Changing. He woke up about an hour ago, I tried to talk to him, but he only wants to talk with Thomas. For the past hour he's been asking for Thomas, barely taking a break to breath.
     "Alby, for the last time, Thomas is in the Gathering," I said, clearly done with how our leader was behaving. "I'll get him up here the moment they're done."
     "I need to talk to Thomas!" Alby said, for about the hundredth time in the last hour. I sighed in annoyance, burying my face in my hands for a short moment. Alby was lying in his own room instead of the Med-room, and because Jeff had to be in the M.R., I had to deal with him.
     "I know, Alby. It probably won't take long before they're done, and Tho-" I got interrupted by the door almost getting kicked out of it's handles, followed by Gally storming into the room. "See?" I started, "Gally's here, so they're don-HEY!" Gally didn't even look at Alby before he grabbed my arm and ruffly pushed me out of the room.
     "We need to talk," he only said as he pulled me down the stairs.
     "Gally, wait!" I tried to pull my arm free while I barely was able to stay on my feet. Gally didn't react, he only looked in front of him, dragging me along, not caring that I almost fell multiple times while I stumbled down the stairs.
     "Gally! Let go! I need to stay with Alby!" He didn't listen, he just jerked me after him as I tried to free myself once more. This time, I couldn't keep balance. I tripped and fell further down the stairs, forcing Gally to let go of me. I tried to stop myself from falling, but it didn't work. Resulting in me tumbling down the stairs until I hit the ground.
     "What are you doing?" Gally bit at me as he forcefully put me back on my feet. I groaned from the pain, and Gally's reaction wasn't helping.
     "What am I doing? What are you doing?" I bit back, poking him in his chest.
     "We need to talk," he said again, this time through grinding teeth.
     "And 'hey Cally, got a minute?' Wasn't good enough? You just had to drag me out of that room and throw me down the stairs?"
     Gally sighed heavily, "Just forget it!" He said and started to storm off. I had the thought to just leave him and go back upstairs, but I decided to follow Gally, he didn't look all that great.
     "Gally!" I called as I jogged up to him, catching up just outside the Homestead. "What's going on? Are you okay?" Gally didn't react, he just kept walking at a quick pace. I struggled to keep up with him since he was way longer than I. "Gally, stop," I said calmly as I stood still in front of him. This time, he did stop.
     "What?"
     My eyes searched his face for a moment, trying to see what was going on with him. But of course, that didn't work, so I had to ask. "What's going on? Why do you need to talk to me?"
     "You need to convince Newt." he growled, but I didn't understand.
     "Convince Newt of what?"
     "That the shuck Greenie can't be trusted!" Gally almost yelled at me.
     "What makes you think Tho-"
     "Because I saw it! During the Changing! He is one of them! Come on, Cally! You must've seen it, too."
     I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm while Gally was yelling at me. "Gally, I didn't see Thomas during the Changing. And I don't think he is a thread."
     Gally almost exploded after I said that. "But he is! He is a threat! He's dangerous! Why doesn't anyone believe me!" At this point, Gally was just straight up scaring me. I carefully lay my hands on his shoulders,  making him look into my eyes. His eyes were filled with a mix of rage and desperation, somehow he reminded me of a mad man.
     Again, I took a deep breath before speaking as calm and clear as possible, "You need to calm down, this way, no one is going to listen to you." My words didn't help, they only seem to make things worse. Gally pushed past me, making me fall on my but as he stormed off. Annoyed, I got up, wiped away the dust from my clothes, and made my way back to the Homestead.
     The moment I started to walk up the stairs, the door of the Gathering room opened. Everyone, except for Newt, Minho, and Thomas walked out of the room. Assuming they were done, I stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. The three didn't even notice I was standing there, way to caught up in their own things.
     "Well, that was good times." I heard Newt mumble. He was sitting on his chair, scribbling notes down.
     Minho walked over to Thomas, playfully punching him on the arm, "it's all this Shank's fault."
     Thomas punched him back, "Keeper? You want me to be Keeper? You're nuttier than Gally by a long shot."
     I couldn't help but laugh at his words, "Thomas a Keeper? Well, Pretty boy, I think you've banged your head one too many times against those walls." The three looked behind them when they heard me laugh, they smiled at me, but Minho's smile changed to annoyance the moment I finished my sentence.
     "Slim it, you Shuckface. And for the record, it worked. Aim high, hit low. Our little Thomas is a Runner now. Thank me later." Minho's last words were directed to Thomas, who seemed impressed by Minho.
     "Ow, so you do know how to use that brain." I commented.
     Minho just shot me a glare, "Better than you, apparently. Shouldn't you be with Alby right now?"
     The smile on my face disappeared, and Newt immediately noticed my change of mood. "What's wrong?" He asked with worry, assuming there was something wrong with Alby.
     "Alby woke up about an hour ago. He keeps demanding to talk to somebody." Of course, Newt stood up and walked to the door, but I blocked his way. "Um... sorry, Newt, but he doesn't want to talk to you." I glanced up at him to see confusion on his face.
     "What do you mean?"
     I looked past Newt, locking eyes with Thomas before I nodded at him. "He keeps asking for Thomas."
     It was quiet for some time before Newt spoke up, addressing Thomas as he took his arm. "Well, come on. No way I'm not going with ya."
     "Didn't expect anything else," I said before walking to Alby's room. Minho didn't follow, which wasn't a surprise since he had to go running in the Maze.
     As we reached the door, I knocked on it lightly. When I heard a moan as a reply, I carefully opened the door, signing the others to come in. Alby was lying in his bed, eyes closed.
     "Great, so now he's sleeping." I whispered sarcastically. Annoyed that I had to deal with him when he was complaining for an hour, but he was asleep the moment Thomas got here.  Newt lay a hand on my shoulder for a moment before he sat down in a wooden chair next to the bed.
     "Alby?" He whispered, "Alby. Cals said you wanted to talk to Tommy."
     Now, Alby's bloodshot eyes opened. He looked at Newt, then at me, and then his eyes landed on Thomas. He groaned as he pushed himself up so he was sitting against the headboard.
     "Yeah," he muttered, voice scratchy.
     "What's wrong? You still sick?" Newt asked.
     Alby's response scared me, he was talking as if every word hurt him. "Everything's.... gonna change.... the girl..... Thomas...... I saw them...." Alby closed his eyes, sank until he was laying flat on his back, and opened them again. "Don't feel so good."
     "What do you mean, you saw -" Newt began, but got interrupted by Alby yelling. A sudden energy came off of him that I didn't think possible at this point.
      "I wanted Thomas! I didn't ask for you, Newt! Thomas! I asked for freaking Thomas!"
     I saw Newt and Thomas exchange questioning looks before Newt spoke up again, "Fine, ya grouchy shuck. He's right here. Talk to him."
     "Leave," Alby commanded with closed eyes and heavy breathing.
     "No way. I wanne hear-" Again, Alby interrupted Newt's sentence.
     "Newt. Cally. Leave. Now. The both of you."
     "But-" Newt tried to protest one last time, but Alby wouldn't have it.
     "Out!" He yelled with a cracking voice. I crimped in slightly at the sound of it, and Newt was clearly hurt by Alby's actions. There was a tense moment of silence before he stood up. He took me gently by the arm and opened the door. "Don't expect me to kiss your but when you come sayin' sorry." Newt said before stepping into the hallway, me close after him.
     "Close the door!" Alby shouted after us. I wanted to take the handle, but Newt slammed it shut before I could.

~.~.~