INNOVATION -
CHAPTER THIRTY - FOUR
⚘ FLEEING PEACE ⚘
At once, the meeting erupted into chaos. Thomas stood firmly, not wavering in his procclaimation, despite how risky it sounded.
Newt rose up calmly and made his way over to Kalisa. He grabbed her hand and pulled her across the room towards Thomas. When they reached the boy, Newt snatched him by the arm and led them to the door.
"You're leaving, now." Newt said flatly as the Gladers continued arguing behind him.
"Leaving? Why?" Thomas frowned, seeming stunned.
"You've said enough for one meeting. We need to talk and decide what to do- without the two of you here." Newt explained, eyebrows furrowed in stress. "Wait for me by the Box, when we're done, we'll talk."
Newt gave Kalisa's hand a squeeze before dropping it and turning back towards the Gathering Room. To her surprise, Thomas reached out and stopped him from moving. "You gotta believe me, Newt. It's the only way out of here- we can do it, I swear. We're meant to."
Newt spoke in an angry rasp, looking venomous. "Yeah, I especially loved the bit where you volunteered to get yourself killed."
"I'm perfectly willing to do it." Thomas said plainly, looking determined. Yet it didn't take a genius to realize the boy was racked with guilt.
"Oh really? Mr. Noble himself aren't ya?" Newt spat, crossing his arms.
Kalisa watched unimpressed with the boys arguing as Thomas copied his actions, not backing down. "I have plenty of my own reasons. In some ways it's my fault we're here in the first place."
Kalisa frowned, "This isn't your fault Thomas. Even if you did help design the Maze, Wicked is the reason we're all here. You can't help what they forced you to do."
Thomas didn't say anything for a while, seeming conflicted in his thoughts. "I just... feel like I need to save everyone. To redeem myself."
Kalisa looked to Newt. He wasn't angry anymore, instead he seemed compassionate. They both knew Thomas was serious about making the sacrifice, and it didn't matter what they said to forgive him. He would always hold himself accountable for what he had done.
"You know what's funny Tommy?" Newt asked, stepping back.
"What?"
"I actually believe you. You just don't have an ounce of lying in those eyes of yours. And I can't bloody believe I'm about to say this, but I'm going back in there to convince those shanks we should go through the Griever Hole, just like you said. Might as well fight the Grievers rather than sit around and letting them pick us off one by one." Newt stated, causing Thomas's eyes to light up.
"But listen to me- I don't want another buggin' word about you dying and all that heroic Klunk. If we're gonna do this, we'll take our chances, all of us. You hear me?" Newt said sternly.
Thomas held his hands up, looking relieved. "Loud and clear. I was just trying to make the point that it's worth the risk. If someone's gonna die every night anyways, we might as well use it to our advantage."
"Well thats awfully cheerful." Kalisa muttered, gut twisting at the thought of loosing another friend.
Thomas just shook his head and started off for the Box, just as Newt had asked. Kalisa waited a second longer, sensing Newt had something on his mind. "You know, if it were any other Glader, I would think they were insane." She stated, watching the boy in blue took a seat on the bench next to the elevator.
"Not Tommy." Newt said simply. "He's dead serious about making the sacrifice. We can't let him Kali."
"I know." She sighed, closing her eyes as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her. "He's the only one who knows about what we're walking into. If we loose Thomas, we'll be blind."
"If I can convince those shanks, the best time to go would be at night. We can hope that a lot of the Grievers might be out and about in the Maze- not in that hole of theirs." Newt explained, seeming tense but determined nonetheless.
"Good that." Kalisa smiled in agreement, noticing the worry in his eyes didn't disappear. She wiped her sweaty hands on her pants and stepped closer to the taller boy, having to stand on her toes in order to lightly kiss his jaw. "They'll listen to you."
Newt momentarily was stunned before he blinked and stood taller, a light blush spreading over his cheeks. "I hope you're right, love."
Then he pulled away from the comfort of her presence and walked back to the Gathering Room, anticipation of what was to come building behind him.
Kalisa stayed by the Homestead door for several long minutes. She couldn't bring herself to walk away just yet, not when the most important decision of their lives were being made just beyond the Gathering Room door.
However, it didn't take long for someone to find her, dragging her out of her pit of worry.
"Kalisa, there you are!" Chuck lit up upon seeing her. "Henry's looking for you to help him polish the rust in the slaughter fridge, whatever that's supposed to mean."
Kalisa turned around slowly upon hearing his voice. "The slaughter fridge is where we keep- well, where we used to keep all the slaughtered animals for storage before handing them off to the Cooks." When she saw Chuck's disgusted face she laughed. "Sounds fun right? Wanna come?"
"Uh- pass." The kid shuddered. "How about we go caroling to cheer everyone up instead? I don't really know any songs, but I'm sure we can make some up!"
Despite her day, Kalisa burst out laughing. "I'm not sure they'd appreciate that kid,"
Chuck shrugged, "Who cares, I'm bored. Let's start with the Builders!"
༻✧༺
Chuck was only able to complete the first verse of what he called 'The Ballad of the Traumatized Adolescence', before the two were booed away from the Builders.
The kid didn't take it personally. He shrugged it off and ran away for the kitchens, claiming to have worked up the appetite for a sandwich. Chuck had offered to make Kalisa one as well, but she kindly refused, spotting the Keepers exiting the Homestead from a distance.
The Gathering was complete. A decision had been made.
For Chucks sake she kept her face neutral, yet she knew he wouldn't be left in the dark for much longer. The fact pained her. The Gladers suffering had only just begun, she was a fool to think otherwise.
Thomas's vague memories said enough: There was something waiting for them beyond all of this. A new monster, only these ones weren't made of metal and goo.
The trek across the field felt 10 times longer as she strode to hear the news. She easily spotted Newt speaking to Thomas and Teresa, his hands on his hips as he said something Kalisa couldn't quite make out.
Just as she reached earshot, Thomas stood up. "So they agreed to go?"
Her footing halted imminently.
Kalisa saw the back of Newt's head nod. "All of them. Wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. Those shanks've seen what happens at night when those bloody doors open. We can't get out of the stupid Maze, gotta try something."
"Now we just have to convince the Gladers."
That was a loaded statement. Kalisa knew getting the boys to agree on the journey would be difficult. She just hoped it wouldn't compromise their mission.
"You think they'll go for it?" Teresa asked, standing from the bench and noticing Kalisa behind the others.
"Not all of them." Kalisa finally stepped forward, a solemn look upon her face. "Some'll stay and take their chances."
Newt gave a grim nod, knowing she was right. Thomas frowned and looked between the two, "What about Alby?"
"Who knows." Newt shook his head. "I'm convinced the bugger really is more scared to go back home rather than stay here with the Grievers. But I'll get him to go with us, don't worry."
Thomas looked doubtful. "How're you going to convince him?"
Newt let out a dry laugh as he glanced around the Glade. All around them, Keepers were gathering up their respective workers to inform them of the plan. "I'll make up some Klunk. Tell him we'll all find a new life in another part of the world, live happily ever after."
Kalisa scuffed the dirt with her boot, hating his words yet knowing he was right. It was naive to think otherwise. Maybe they would be happy eventually, and live a life of peace and prosperity. But their fight would never end.
"Maybe we can." Thomas shrugged. "I mean, I promised Chuck I would get him home, or at least find him one."
"Yeah well, anywhere is better than here." Teresa muttered.
The group of 4 watched in silence as they observed the Gladers break into arguments about whether they should go or stay. The Keepers did their best to remain orderly, but some boys wouldn't have it. However it seemed that most of them were at least willing to listen, and that was good enough.
"So what's next?" Teresa finally asked.
Newt took a breath. "Figure out who's going, who's staying. Get ready. Food, weapons, all that. Then we go. Thomas, I'd put you in charge since it was your idea, but it's going to be hard enough to get people on our side without making the Greenie our leader- no offense. So just lay low, okay? We'll leave the Code business to you and Teresa- you can handle that from the background."
Thomas looked more than okay with that plan, but that didn't change the fact that all of them were scared shitless for what the night would bring. Eventually he said, "You sure make it sound easy."
"You'll be fine, both of you." Kalisa said, shooting Teresa a small smile. "But are you sure you can handle a couple hours out of the spotlight?"
Newt shook his head in amusement while Teresa snorted. Thomas crossed his arms, a bit of the stress that weighed him down clearly gone. "I'll be fine, thanks for the concern."
Newt hid a grin while he slapped Thomas on the back and threw an arm over Kalisa's shoulders. "Good that. Let's get to work."
༻✧༺
The next several hours passed by in a blur. The Keepers wasted no time throwing the Gladers to work, giving them tasks of gathering supplies, distributing food, passing out grief serums, filling bottles of water, and hyping themselves up to make the trip out into the unknown.
Kalisa worked herself until there were quite litteraly no more tasks to be done. The work kept her from thinking, which she couldn't afford to do right now. She needed a clear head for what was to come.
Now that the jobs were done she was left to her own devices. The girl decided to try and get some shut eye, as she doubted they would be getting any rest for a while. However once she was back in her old room, Kalisa found that she was the furthest thing from tired. Her stomach churned at the thought of battling the Grievers in just hours, her skin crawled at the distant cries of her deceased friends, and boys who would possibly join them soon. Herself included.
This could be the end of it all. Or the start. Depended how she looked at it.
A knock sounded from her door, cutting Kalisa away from her thoughts. She sighed and pushed her dark hark back, standing from her mattress and opening the door.
Newt stood on the other side, his arms crossed casually while he waited for her to answer. "There you are." He smiled upon seeing her.
"Here I am." Kalisa nodded with a half grin, opening her door wider for the boy to enter. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine." Newt reassured her, plopping down on her bed. "I just wanted to check on you- we never got to speak after the Gathering, y'know?"
"Yeah," Kalisa sighed and sat next to him, soaking in is familiarity. "Thomas sure knows how to cause an uproar. I just hope he's right about all of this."
"Me too. But that's not what I meant." He looked down at her knowingly. "He saw you."
The very thing Kalisa had been avoiding thinking about spilled from the blondes lips. The girl sighed and sat straighter, knowing she would have to talk about it at some point. "I guess he did."
Newt waited patiently, but when she didn't continue he nudged her leg with his. "Well?"
Kalisa frowned, thinking hard. "I don't know. It just confused me more. Before all of this- when I first got here- the only thing I had was my name, my necklace, and my weird handprint. I obviously was some sort of spy for the Right Arm, and apparently I infiltrated Wicked to try and save you guys. But then I asked Thomas to send me up here. How is that helping anything? What difference do I make up here when I could be down there?" Words tumbled from her mouth before she could process them. Kalisa rested her head on her knees, mind reeling with all the new enlightenments.
"Maybe you came up here because you wanted to be closer to us. To try and help." Newt offered.
"Yeah, maybe." Kalisa sighed, defeated. "But it doesn't matter. I can't remember what my job was anyways."
"Your job was to save us, and it seems to me like you're doing a pretty good job so far." Newt pulled her into his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head.
Tears prickled behind her eyes as she inhaled his scent of pine and soap. "I couldn't save Tyler. Or Gally, or Zart, or Sam, or any of the other boys who were taken."
"None of us could, Kali. We tried." Newt whispered. "But now we have a shot of getting out of here. Their deaths don't have to be in vain... don't look back, right?"
Kalisa lifted her head from his chest and turned to meet his gaze. "Don't look back." She whispered, closing the gap between them in finality.
Newt returned the action almost instantly, igniting a fire from within herself. The kiss was slow and sweet, almost familiar by now. She found comfort in his arms, moving her hands up his neck and into his hair where they rested within his blonde waves. He smiled against her lips and hummed, sending vibrations through her body as he cupped her face and pulled her closer so that Kalisa was practically on his lap.
This wasn't like any of the other times they had kissed. This was so much different. Full of desperate affection and hesitant maturity. Kalisa had never felt anything like it before. She didn't know how she'd lived so long without this feeling. But as Newt kissed her like a starved man, she knew that she would now forever crave it.
Their lips danced an aggressive battle while they occasionally pulled away to catch their breath, but never for long. It was an escape from what they were enduring and what was soon to come. In each other they found peace, and so much more.
"You're so beautiful." Newt murmured as they slowly pulled away, both flushed from the heat of the moment. The boy tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, as he leaned in and pressed a much softer kiss to her raw lips.
Kalisa never had time to think about things like that. Not here in the Glade when survival was the only thing she concerned herself with. But hearing the words from Newt was bliss like no other.
And the crazy part was, she believed him.
Hey guys, sorry for the long awaited update, also happy late Easter to those who celebrate! I have horrible WiFi right now so I'm really hoping this all saves. I only have a couple more chapters to write for Innovation, and then I'll start with the sequel, or Iced Out, I haven't really decided yet. (Let me know if anyone has a preference pls!) Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you thought! Happy reading! (P.S. Happy April Fools day!)
4/1/24
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