FEAR OF HER.
[ chapter four ]
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
ALBY TAKES A SEAT NEXT TO EVE, while she sharpens her knives some more, even though they don't need it. Chuck sits silently beside her, using his tiny pen knife to carve a small figure.
"Why did it have to happen to Ben?" Evelyn grumbles, flicking her wrist and causing a few sparks to fly off.
Alby shrugs sadly, sighing in defeat when Thomas stops in front of all three of them before squeezing into the gap between Eve and the leader.
Evelyn glares at him before shuffling slightly closer to Chuck, ensuring that she's not touching either of the boys.
"So, what happened to him??" Thomas asks Alby, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
"It's called the Changing." Alby says quietly, "It's what happens when someone gets stung."
Thomas' eyes widen and he opens his mouth to reply with another question, but nothing comes out and his gaze moves to the floor when Alby repositions himself.
"Listen. We haven't been able to get a clear word out of Ben since it happened." Alby looks at Eve then back at the new boy, "You know, he's not making any sense. And it's only gonna get worse."
Evelyn nods, humming in agreement, causing the three boys to look at him, "The infection is spreading. He's dangerous. I wish he wasn't, but he is and there is nothing we can do about it."
"What- what did he say to you?" Alby questions the girl and the boy, lowering his head to get a better view of their faces.
Evelyn licks her lips, shaking her head, "He didn't say anything to me, but..."
"He spoke to me." Thomas finishing off her sentence before swallowing, "Uh, he said he saw me and that this is all my fault... How could this be my fault?" His voice breaks slightly as he snap as his head to Alby in worry.
Alby's eyebrows furrow and he stares down at the floor for a second before snapping out of some sort of trance, "Urm, alright. Eve, come on." He stands up, patting Thomas' back and Evelyn's head as he passes.
"Alby?" The dark haired boy says, raising his voice so he can be properly heard, "What's gonna happen to him?"
"Banishment." Evelyn raises off the stone wall and tucks her knives away before trudging off towards the doors, "Right now."
Thomas shoots up and Chuck does the same, both of them going either side of the girl as they approach the large crowd of Gladers.
Evelyn takes a large pole, with a stick tied across the top to form a T shape, from Newt before leaving Chuck to pull Thomas back, not wanting him to interfere.
Thomas' eyes stay on Evelyn as they all stand in a row, their heads turned as they watch Minho lead Ben across the Glade.
Minho grits his teeth, trying his best not to let Ben's pleas effect him before he kneels the boy down in front of the open doors, keeping a firm grip on the back of his neck while some of the Gladers around them lower their spears, pushing in and creating a small circle around the pair so Ben can't escape.
Minho holds his hand out towards Eve, staring at her as she passes him a knife out of her waist band. He proceeds to use the small weapon to cut Ben's ties that kept his wrists bound together, causing the boy to fall forward and gasp for air.
"No, no, no. Please, please don't do it." Ben begs, looking up at Minho with his jet black eyes, "Please, Minho."
Alby gives a nod of approval and the asian throws the small bag of supplies and food into the maze, causing Ben to yell louder, realising that it's all coming to an end.
Evelyn wanted nothing more than to go forward and hug her friend, but everything about him put her against it.
The maze starts to rumble and the wind begins to blow down the maze entrance, causing Ben to cower back and whimper at the sudden coolness.
Thomas steps forward in curiosity but Chuck grabs his wrist, stopping him from going any further.
"Poles!" Alby shouts as soon as Ben starts to try to escape. The rest of the Gladers, lower their sticks, the flat edge pointing out at Ben and he scurries back, terrified of them all.
Chuck bites his lip before walking away, his feet kicking through the long green grass. Thomas doesn't even batter an eyelid at the young boys absence and keeps his attention trained on the banishment.
Ben lazily pushes himself up off the floor and starts to wobble around, not being able to create enough balance to stay still.
"Move in." Alby instructs and Eve's fingers tighten around the pole as they all step forward, making the space around Ben smaller and smaller.
"No, no, no! Please, please!" Ben starts to yell, trying his best to push against the sticks.
His frantic eyes land on Evelyn and Thomas watches carefully as she turns her head away, not being able to meet the zombies eyes. The boy in front of her wasn't her Ben and she hated it.
"No! I can get better! Please! Just listen to me!" More and more cries left his mouth but earns no responses and he's just shoved and shoved, edging him nearer to the maze doors that would soon be closed.
"Push him in!" Alby bellows and the boys do as ordered but Evelyn steps back a little, not wanting to be the one who kills her best friend.
The doors start to close and he stops struggling against the sticks and instead smashes his hands on the stone walls. Evelyn's lip quivers as she sees the last of Ben's face before the doors shut, hiding him away and quieting his screams.
Everyone just stops, staring sadly down at the floor, while Evelyn drops her stick angrily, causing all of the boys surrounding to look up at her, Thomas being the only one surprised by the action. She barges past him and he hears small cusses escaping her lips.
"He belongs to the maze now." Alby nods before leaving as well, the boys following but none of them speaking and their faces only show one emotion: sorrow.
"Evelyn!" Minho shouts, his hands cupping his mouth while he tries to catch the girls attention, "Eve, don't—"
The girl whirls round but continues to walk backwards towards the forest. She doesn't say one word, only looks at him before sprinting off into the trees.
"What's wrong with her?" Thomas asks, glancing over at Minho.
The boy raises an eyebrow, "What do you think, shuckface? Ben was one of her closest friends. She's bound to be upset - she just hates to show people her emotions."
Thomas nods, completely understanding how she feels, "Do you think she would mind if I spoke to her?"
Minho chuckles, starting to walk away but continues to speak, "Oh, she'll definitely mind but go ahead, try - we all have and none of us have succeeded, even me and we're best friends. Sharing isn't her thing!"
Thomas furrows his eyebrows at the girls supposed best friend, who has given up so easily on her. He turns his head to the floor, thinking to himself, contemplating whether or not to go find Eve, but after a few seconds his legs start to carry him to the trees.
Best to try. He thinks, his eyes searching up and down every tree in case she's hidden away in one of them.
"What are you doing?"
His head snaps over to the bottom of a trunk, his gaze resting on Eve, who's desperately trying her best to get rid of all the evidence showing that she was previously crying.
"Looking for you." He states, slowly taking steps towards her, and not wanting to seem pushy.
She sniffs, clenching her jaw in annoyance at herself when she can't get rid of her tears, "Why?"
"To make sure you're okay." He smiles gently, lowering himself to the floor beside her but making sure to be a few feet away, respecting her personal space.
"I don't like you." She deadpans after the short silence, turning her head to him, making it easier for him to see her soaked cheeks and puffed eyes, "But I don't know why. I remember you from before."
"Before?" Thomas raises an eyebrow, speaking gently to keep her from snapping at him.
"Before all this." She lifts up a finger to point around them at the maze walls, "Before the maze. I've seen you in my dreams."
He bites his lip, trying to stop the bright smile from spreading across his lips. The truth is, that Thomas had a dream last night with Evelyn in it. He wanted to speak to her about it, but wasn't sure how to approach her.
"What are you smiling for?" She questions, trying her best not to sound snarky while resting her head back on the tree and her eyes still focused on the dark haired boy next to her.
"I've seen you too." He says quietly, almost as a whisper, "It was all a bit fuzzy, and your face was the only clear thing."
Evelyn rolls her eyes, pushing her plans against the dirty floor to reposition herself, "You're making it seem like we're in love."
He shrugs, pursing his lips while setting his head against the trunk as well, "We could've been, you never know."
She turns her head fully to him, tilting it slightly as if she was calling him crazy, "How come I hate you then?"
"You hate me?" He jokingly moves one of his hands up to his chest.
She chuckles gently, "Don't worry. I hate a lot of people. But, on the scale, you're second and Minho's first."
"Really? Minho said you were best friends." Thomas smirks at her and the same expression appears on her face at his words.
"Did he really say that?" She clicks her tongue, already preparing how to tease Minho later for admitting that they were best friends, "Thanks for informing me of that, Thomas." She jumps up, wiping her cheeks once again, this time no more tears rolling down.
He stands up as well, almost confused as to why she was acting so happy, even though a few minutes ago he found her sobbing, "Don't you wanna talk about it?"
She whirls round to him, shaking her head and biting the inside of her cheek, "No. I've lost too many of my friends to talk about them all. It's just something I have to live with."
"But, you shouldn't have to live with it." Thomas replies, watching her as she stares up at him, almost in surprise that he was trying to comfort her, "Evelyn, you're not okay, I can tell. Just let me help."
She licks her lips, shaking her head once again, "I'm fine. I've already survived three years in this shit hole, I'm sure I'll be able to survive the rest."
"Surviving and being happy are two different things." He steps forward, expecting her to back away but she remains still, "Don't you wanna be happy?"
She scoffs, "Of course I do. What type of person doesn't want to be happy? But, I physically can't be. Not when I have seen so many of my close friends die and be banished. Thomas, you'll soon understand what it feels like to loose the people who helped you become who you are."
"Evelyn," He moves closer again, this time near enough to take her hands in his, "You can't give up on yourself."
Her nose flares and she pulls away from his grip, leaning forward to get closer to his face, "I already have." And with that, she turns on her heels and leaves him by himself, the dark of night quickly covering him.
He huffs, kicking a pile of leaves in defeat, sending them all flying into the air and in random directions, before he decides to head back to the homestead for some sleep.
All he wants to do is help, Eve. The girl scowls at herself while she trudges to her hammock, Just let someone help for once. It's not hard.
"Where did you go?" Chuck asks as he watches the girl fall back into her hammock, letting it swing her around before slowly going still.
"Nowhere, Curls. Just get some sleep, okay?" She tries her best to smile at him before slipping her shoes off and throwing them to the side.
Thomas walks in a little later and her eyes go everywhere but towards him. Evelyn wasn't used to receiving comfort or help, and she doesn't like unusual things.
Pyjamas aren't a thing in the Glade, so all of the kids are forced to sleep in their day clothes, even though it makes them stink and extremely uncomfortable, it's better than sleeping fully nude in front of 53 other kids.
The clicking of Gally's knife against the maze wall fills the Glade while he scratches out Ben's name, officially pronouncing him as gone.
Thomas sits on his hammock, his back to Evelyn as he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and watching Gally, "Do you think he might make it?"
"Ben?" Chuck raises an eyebrow, already knowing the answer, "No. No one survives a night in the maze."
Evelyn turns over in her hammock, facing away from the two boys as soon as those words leave Chuck's mouth. She barely survived a night in the maze and it's something she never wants to experience again.
"You just gotta forget about him." The young boy shrugs, resting his hands in his lap to fall asleep.
Forgetting isn't easy. Evelyn thinks to herself.
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not proof read