୨⎯chapter fourteen, bad to worse.⎯୧
⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅
𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 eyes open the next morning and the first thing she felt was pain. her head was pounding and her whole body was aching. her eyes burned from the bright light that had blinded her vision as soon as she open her eyes, she wondered what time it was, the girl knew no one would let her sleep too late. madelyn blinked a few times and her vision cleared, then let out a small groan and turned over onto her side. her gaze was met by the sight of a sleeping boy, his blonde hair was messy and his lips were parted slightly as he breathed steadily. he looked so peaceful. his hand rested gently on the girl's waist, his legs tangled in the blanket. madelyn smiled slightly at the sight of the peaceful boy as she remembered what happened the night before, cringing slightly as she remembered her actions but at least she finally told him how she felt.
his eyelids began to slowly flutter open. "hey." he muttered with a slight morning voice. his lips twisted into a small smile as his eyes locked onto the girl's.
"hey sleepy head." madelyn teased him, letting out a small giggle as she began to sit up, stretching her arms out. she clutched onto her head as it began to hurt even more, the sound of the gladers speaking amongst themselves wanted to make her scream.
newt noticed the girl's pained expression. "hangover?" he questioned sympathetically as he sat up as well leaning his back against the wall, scratching an itch on the back of his neck as he groaned. newt started to stare at the girl in awe that he was sitting here with her right now.
madelyn nodded as she began to climb over his legs and stepped out of the bed wincing slightly, she walked slowly over to her closet still clutching her head. she began to look for some different clothes as she had slept in the shorts and tank top she wore yesterday, she pulled out her black hoodie and started to pull it over her head. she tugged her hair out from under the hoodie and grabbed her small hairbrush that was laid down on the desk before brushing all the tangles that had accumulated in her hair after the events of last night.
newts eyes were burning into the girl's back as he watched her actions intently, she always looked perfect to him even when she just woke up.
madelyn turned around after feeling his eyes on her burning into her body. "starings rude." she mocked his words from a few weeks back with a smug smirk. he rolled his eyes in return, a small smile tugging on his pink lips. "you getting up goldie? i don't want anyone to miss us too much."
"oh yeah, yeah." he mumbled as he jumped out of the girl's bed and scratched his neck awkwardly. "let's go." he placed his hand on her lower back and led her down the hallway out of the homestead in a comfortable silence. when they walked out into the morning breeze they spotted everyone sat down eating their breakfast a few mumbles of conversation.
madelyn trudged over to a table where minho and gally were sat down whilst newt went to get them some food. she plopped down into an empty seat and placed her head down in her arms wanting to be back in bed. the two boys broke out their conversation as soon as they saw the girl sit down, they began to break out into a fit of laughter.
"guess i look pretty bad, huh?" madelyn mumbled wincing at the sound of their loud laughs.
"you look like klunk on a stick." gally chuckled, minho finding that very amusing.
"thanks gally, your so sweet." she took a deep breath trying to get her mind to focus on anything but the throbbing feeling all over her body. "everything hurts." she groaned.
newt plopped down beside her with two plates of bacon and a glass of water, he shoved them in front of the girl. "maddy, drink this it'll make you feel better." he spoke gently, feeling sorry for the girl.
minho smirked at the boy and winked once he remembered what happened last night, causing newt to roll his eye in annoyance as he knew the boy would bully him for it. gally didn't acknowledge the boys presence, only glaring at him slightly.
madelyn began to take a few small gulps of the water, sighing in relief as her dry mouth started to disappear. "thanks, newt." she leaned her head on his shoulder as he began to eat his bacon. "i'm never drinking again."
the three boys chuckled at the girls' words. "we all know that won't be happening madelyn."
madelyn rolled her eyes and ignored minhos attempt to annoy her. "do you remember anything?" newt asked the girl hoping she remembered her confession and their conversation the night before.
"yeah." she smiled at him as she looked into his eyes, admiring him as she took in his features, he always looked perfect to her.
newt sighed in relief and a small smile tugged at his lips as he brushed his fingers through the girl's hair. "you might want to put this mop up, alby said you have to help me in the gardens today."
she groaned and rolled her head back off his shoulder. "really? you have to be joking with me."
newt shrugged and caught her head, bringing it back to its original position. "it needs to be done, not my choice. we've got to do some weeding and fix the grape vines, 's gonna be a long day for us maddy."
"hey guys, hey what's up with you maddy? you look dead." chuck laughed at the sight of the hungover girl as he sat down next to her.
madelyn glared up at him and stuck her tongue out. "hey i have a question for you." chuck grabbed the girl's hair and pulled it so she was facing him.
"ow!" madelyn rubbed her head now it was in even more pain. "not now chuck, ask me when i'm sober enough to respond." she grumbled, not in the mood for any sort of conversation.
"well you just did." he sassed. "anyways how did you beat gally last night? it was the coolest thing i've seen in a long time, everyone's speaking about it." he ignored gally who was now glaring at him, he was irritated everyone saw the girl beat him.
"don't know." she shrugged. "i just did, guess it's from all gallys training." she smiled at the annoyed boy who's face lit up when the girl credited him, he admired her alot. gally was still confused on how he felt about their interaction the night before, something felt different in him when he was around the girl.
madelyn reached her heavy arm over to grab some bacon and ripped a piece off before shoving it in her mouth. she tuned out the rest of the conversations around her as she felt her stomach grumble in hunger, she shoved a few more pieces into her mouth before gulping down the rest of her water. she felt a little better now, but the ache and fatigue still remained. she didn't even know how much sleep she got, maybe three hours. but all she knew is she needed to suck it up as she had to be working all day.
"c'mon." newt nudged the girl's side. "we gotta get goin' or albys gonna yell at us. newbies workin' with us to."
madelyn groaned once more at the thought of having to listen to his questions all day. "so we now also have to deal with his questions?"
newt nodded and pursed his lips. "yeah, let's just go find him and bloody get it over with. please be nice to him though, don't tell him to bug off."
"i don't know what you're talking about, i'm always nice?" madelyn muttered as she followed newt out of the homestead and over to a picnic table where thomas was sat alone. he was fumbling with his fingers nervously and looking out at the east door which were now open, meaning most the runners had gone by now. newt and madelyn approached him, the girl walking a bit slower behind as she threw her hair up on top of her head.
"first day greenie." newt patted his shoulder. "you'll be workin' with us today. you ready to work your butt off?"
thomas pursed his lips and remained silent as he stood up, he sent the girl a weird look. she shoved her hand up in the air. "i know i look like shit, no need to rub it in my face. rough night okay."
he raised his eyebrows and followed newt, who chuckled and began to walk over to the fields. madelyn stared at the ground in silence as she walked behind them, already listening to thomas ask a few questions. newt answerd vaguely, making thomas turn to madelyn. she held her hand in front of his face again before he could even speak a single syllable.
she rubbed her sore eyes and sighed. "listen man, i have the worlds biggest headache right now, my legs hurt and i'm tired. if you ask me one question before i'm fully awake i will not hesitate to slap you round the face. got it?" madelyn asked him as newt let out a breathy laugh. thomas nodded and moved his gaze to the ground, finally shutting up.
the three of them arrived at the gardens where zart was already hard at work and wandered over to some weeds that were beginning to rise. madelyn dropped to her knees with a grunt and took a hold of a weed, pulling it out and setting it aside. "i wish i could have a different type of weed right now." she mumbled under her breath, newt shot her an unamused glare making her shut up again.
she worked in silence after that, listening to thomas ask newt continuous questions, things that she wondered on her first days to but never asked them. like where the food came from, what gatherings were, small stupid things like that she had to figure out herself. for the most part she kept to herself as a greenie.
when it was finally time for a break, madelyn told newt and thomas she was going to the kitchen, thomas asked to join the girl. she hesitantly said yes, newt told them to not get into any trouble so she led the newbie into frypans territory, carefully making sure no one saw them.
"alright, c'mon." the girl waved him through and pointed to a table, which he took a seat at. "what do you want, i can make a sandwich, there's some apples?"
"anything's fine." thomas told her quietly. madelyn nodded and quickly rinsed any dirt off her hands before she pulled out all the contents she needed to make a sandwich. she set them all out on the table and started to get to work making two sandwiches as he watched her.
"fry hates when we raid the fridge." madelyn smirked at him, she knew if frypan was here right now he'd throw a rag at her or something. thomas just looked up at her and nodded.
when she was finished, she handed him the sandwich. "thanks." thomas muttered. madelyn walked over to the cabinet and grabbed two cups, filling each one with water. she sat down across from him and slid the cup across the table.
"how do you not think this is all weird? like, do you not think it's crazy how someone sent us here? how are you so relaxed about it all?" he broke the silence.
"you'll learn to accept it, now quit complaining and eat the sandwich." madelyn instructed whilst taking a bite out of her own.
he closed his mouth and peered out onto the glade, probably going through the questions in his mind that no one else would answer to ask to the girl. if he thought chuck would give him answers he was wrong, she knew more about the glade than the little boy, and had only been here a month.
"so what's up with you and newt?" thomas asked through a mouthful of food.
madelyn pointed at him sternly. "don't talk with your mouth open, and i don't actually know myself to be honest."
he shrugged and swallowed the remaining food before speaking out again. "he definitely likes you a lot, i knew it the second i saw you two together. maybe you two will get together?"
madelyn choked on her food in surprise. "i don't know about that, i don't even properly know how he feels about what i told him last night." she spoke frustrated she didn't even know what they were herself.
thomas raised his eyebrow at the girl and she sent him a glare. what even were her and newt? after last night she wasn't sure, it was no doubt she felt something for him, but when you're behind four big walls it seems there are a million more important things you could spend your time thinking about. plus, she didn't know how newt felt, maybe he just thought of her as a good friend and felt bad for her last night. besides, she wasn't just going to walk up to him and ask him how he feels about it, she had gained respect here and wasn't about to have that taken away.
"madelyn?" thomas spoke again, bringing her out of her thoughts. she hummed in response. he cleared his throat. "can you tell me about the runners?"
madelyn looked up at him through her eyelashes and leaned back in her chair crossing her arms over her chest. "you know thomas you sure ask a lot of questions." she paused before speaking again. "what about them, why are you asking?"
"just wondering."
"they are the best of the best, the fastest, the strongest. it takes a lot to be one." she responded as he raised his eyebrows.
"how do you become one?"
"gatherings elect the runners. but don't think about going and yappin' to everyone about how you want to be one, they'll laugh in your face." he needed to learn that he needed to earn respect here, just like she did.
he sighed. "look, i can't just sit here and pull weeds all day. i'll go nuts. are you telling me your not even a little bit curious about what's out there?"
"alright, listen here." madelyn muttered in a low voice, leaning forward onto the table feeling anger rise over her at the irritating boy. "you've got a lot of provin' to do before they even consider it okay? that's not how things work around here, you earn your respect. we don't need you screwin' up the way we do things because you don't want to pull some weeds. we are all here, stuck in the same shucking maze so don't think your any different from the rest of us, cause you're not. that'll only gain you enemies, do you hear me?" she sighed after her long rampage at the boy.
he looked into her eyes with a surprised expression and nodded, madelyn felt guilty for snapping at the boy but he needed to learn one way or another. she wiped her still droopy eyes, feeling the exhaustion all over her. she didn't want to go back to work, thomas didn't either, but they knew they had to otherwise newt would be furious if they ditched him. besides, they all had to play their part here and it wasn't fair to anyone if she didn't.
"break times up greenie, let's go." madelyn breathed as she stood up from her seat.
thomas sighed and followed the girl as they made their way back to where newt and zart were fixing some vines, sweat dripping on their foreheads. to be honest madelyn had no idea what they were doing it for but she just went along with what newt said.
"here ya go tommy." newt handed thomas a shovel. "start digging there."
thomas nodded and grabbed the small shovel from newts grip, who had taken off his white shirt and tied it around his waist. he was now only in his orange tank top and black trousers. whilst madelyn was in her black cargos with her green tank top that came up in the box with thomas, she had taken her hoodie off earlier when it got too hot in the gardens.
madelyn began to tie the strings of ivy back into the wooden poles the builders made a while ago as newt smiled at her observing her work proudly. the previous conversation with thomas kept running through madelyn's mind like a broken record. how thick could he be? she liked the boy but his questions and his non existent spacial awareness was very irritating. i mean did he honestly think alby would let him run off with minho and they'd find a way out of the maze the next day? he didn't seem to understand how the glade rules worked, madelyn loved these boys but some of the rules they created baffled her sometimes too.
thomas sighed deeply, stopping digging as he looked up from his position on the floor to look at newt who was tying a string around a vine with a concentrated expression. "has anyone ever tried climbing to the top?"
newt froze and turned to the girl, a wave of annoyance flashing over him. "tried it, the ivy doesn't go all the way to the top. and besides where are ya gonna go from there?"
"okay, what about the box?" he started to list things he thought might get them out of here. "you know, next time it comes up you just-"
newt cut him off. "no, we've tried that." he continued to tie the string around the ivy. "the box won't go back down with someone in it."
madelyn furrowed her eyebrows listening in to their conversation, this was all new information to her as well as thomas, she had just never asked. she knew they had made several attempts to escape the glade, but they were still here so it obviously didn't work.
thomas hesitated before speaking again. "okay well what if we-"
"no, we've tried it, alright? twice. anything you can think of we've already tried." newt scoffed. "the only way out of here is through the maze."
madelyn rolled her eyes at the pair of boys as they began to bicker, she could tell they would be friends but right now all thomas needed to do is shut up and get on with his work. he really didn't seem to understand that they had nowhere to go.
"now look, you wanna be helpful?" newt asked thomas who gave him a small nod. newt threw a small woven basket at him, thomas fumbled with it for a few seconds before he caught it. it had reminded madelyn of the time she threw a bucket at that pig. "go dig us up some more fertiliser." newt continued.
madelyn turned around to face thomas who raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth but quickly realised it would be best to stay quiet, he began to walk away almost tripping over a stick on the ground. madelyn then realised he wouldn't know where the fertiliser is, the poor boy would be looking all day, so she sighed and turned back to newt.
"i'll go help him, he will be out there all day if i don't." the girl started to jog over to thomas who had just disappeared through the tree line of the forest.
"hey! thomas! wait up!" madelyn called after him. he stopped and turned to face her, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"figured i'd come help you, realised you wouldn't know where to find it." madelyn explained as she reached the boy's proximity.
thomas sighed in relief. "thanks, i didn't want to say anything more to annoy newt."
she chuckled. "don't worry about him, he'll come around, they all will." madelyn reassured him.
as they walked through the forest the light peeked through the trees, casting a weird greenish tint to the air. the dead leaves and sticks crunched beneath their feet as they walked deeper, the sound of the tools being used by the working boys soon became nothing but echoes in the distance.
madelyn wasn't sure what to say to the boy after their conversation this morning. "so, how do you like being a track hoe?" she asked breaking the awkward silence.
he grunted. "it's alright, i guess, but you guys need a new name for it. why not call it gardening or something?"
"ya i know, not sure why the boys picked that name. their minds work in ways i can't understand sometimes." madelyn let out a small giggle as she thought about how stupid the boys could be.
thomas chuckled under his breath. "i've never asked, what job do you do? i mean, i see you around doing stuff but never a specific job."
"im third-in-command, after alby and newt. i wasn't much good at any of the jobs and i was one of the only ones that the boys would listen to, so it all worked out well." madelyn explained as she glanced around her surroundings with interest.
thomas nodded but then stopped in his tracks, he murmured something the girl couldn't make out and dropped his basket to the floor. she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and glanced around the forest to see what he was looking at, it all looked the same as usual.
"thomas?" madelyn called in a slight whisper. "what are you doing?"
he didn't answer the girl and continued to walk over to a small stream of flowing water. madelyn picked up the basket he had previously dropped and began to follow him, she shook her head regretting her choice of coming to help the boy. thomas's gaze landed on the ground at his feet and he dragged himself to a stop. a large set of bones were buried into the dirt.
madelyn came to a stop behind him, she turned to look at him, noticing his panicked expression she couldn't help but chuckle. "calm down, they're just animal bones."
thomas nodded warily before kneeling down, sliding his finger gently across a small piece of wood that had george carved into it. the stick formation built around it made it clear that it was some sort of grave stone and thomas began to doubt that they were just animal bones.
suddenly the sound of a twig snapping caught the pairs attention, thomas slowly rose from his position on the ground and peered behind the girl.
"whoa.." thomas spoke in a shaky tone. "uh.. you're right?" as soon as madelyn heard the runner's name she spun her body round in relief to face him, but wasn't met with the usual happy face of ben. he was shaking. even from far away madelyn could see his eyes were dark they didn't hold their usual light and glimmer. instead they were dark and lifeless. his lips were a deep purple colour, he looked almost inhumane.
"i don't know if we ever.." thomas trailed off as the sound of ben's breaths became louder. madelyn stood still, her legs planted into the ground in fear as she stared at the boy, knowing what had happened to him but not knowing what to do.
"a-are you okay man?" thomas continued, beginning to look worried for the boy in front of him. before madelyn could warn thomas, ben let out a ear piercing scream and launched himself at the boy, pinning him down to the ground. "get the hell off me!"
the two fighting boys knocked harshly into madelyn. she fell backwards onto a large sharp stone, she could feel it create a large gash down her back. she let out a yelp of pain but was quickly distracted by ben's yells.
"it's your fault! i saw you! you did this!" ben yelled, causing thomas to let out a gut-wrenching scream.
"maddy!" he choked, ben was now holding both his hands tightly over thomas' windpipe, preventing him from breathing.
madelyn quickly jumped up from her pained position on the ground, her eyes scanned her surroundings until she noticed a large bone on the floor, she launched towards it and grabbed it. "i'm sorry ben." she muttered before hitting the bone around his head, causing him to collapse off thomas.
thomas took the small space of time to scramble up, grabbing onto madelyn's arm he broke off in a run, dragging the girl with him.
"GO! GO! GO!" madelyn screamed to the boy who kept looking behind them. they both screamed for help, knowing ben was close behind them. thomas and madelyn skidded to a stop seeing a steep hill below them, but it was a stupid mistake as ben crashed into both of them sending the three of them tumbling down the hill. madelyn groaned in pain and stood up again quickly as she gripped onto thomas' shirt pulling him up with her as he tried to regain his balance.
it felt like they were running for their lives as they dashed through the woods, weaving in and out of trees as they screamed out to no one in particular, hoping someone would come help them. they tore through the tree line once again, finally stepping back into the glade as they ran as fast as they could. but it was no match for the experienced runner.
ben lept forward and grasped both their ankles, sending them toppling down to the hard ground.
madelyn flipped herself over and saw ben was straddling her body, his strong hands immediately grasping her windpipe roughly. as he placed his cold hands on her throat, his eyes were almost empty, like he had nothing left in him. his grip tightened onto her neck, his fingers digging deeply into her skin.
below him, madelyn could hear the other gladers run over as they yelled with worry. but, madelyn just continued to stare up at ben whist her shaking hands wrapped around his wrists. she began to choke, letting out short coughs, but she couldn't drag her eyes from his distorted face. her heart fell in on itself.
madelyn shook her head rapidly. "please, ben, please." she begged as she gasped for air, but he refused to listen, continuing to snap and snarl at her while he squeezed more life out of her.
fighting tears, madelyn let out a small whimper as the pain fueled her adrenaline. it was like something washed over her, all the things gally had trained her to do flooded into her mind as they needed to be put to use. this is what gally had trained her for. she jerked her knee up, hitting him straight in the balls, ben immediately fell to the side in pain releasing her neck. madelyn rolled over him and began to straddle him, grasping his flailing arms and pinning them to either side of his head in an attempt to keep him still.
the glader's began to surround madelyn as they still shouted in shock and horror, but she couldn't speak or reply, she felt as if her throat was closing in on her. she couldn't function properly as ben writhed under her grip desperately. he snapped his jaw at her like a hungry animal, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldnt get free.
to the side, thomas rolled over and watched in slight surprise as madelyn effortlessly held down a boy miles taller than her. her muscles flexed and her knuckles were white due to how hard she was clutching ben, but neither of his arms could move a single inch towards her.
"ben, stop." madelyn pleaded, not wanting to accept her friend's situation. "stop."
gally's hand landed on her shoulder, madelyn drew her eyes away from her infected friend and met gally's gaze. his eyes held nothing but sympathy and worry as he motioned for her to climb off. with shaking breaths and a thumping heart she slowly slid herself off ben, letting the surrounding boys hold him down instead. newt kneeled down beside madelyn, his hand resting gently on her shoulder as she stayed slumped on the floor.
"yo, what the hell happened?" frypan questioned loudly as his eyes darted between thomas and ben.
"he just attacked us!" thomas exclaimed, his eyes filled with panic.
alby harshly pushed through everyone to stand over ben, who was now begging through sobs. "lift his shirt."
newt reached down, lifting the boy's white shirt to reveal his stomach. a loud gasp rushed through the crowd as bens sting was exposed. there were dark blue and purple veins growing under the boy's skin, flourishing from a small hole. a dark black liquid poured from his wound, staining his skin further.
"he's been stung." gally spoke as he looked up to alby with wide eyes. "in the middle of the day?"
"please! please! just help me!" the distressed boy whimpered, desperately squirming under a few of the glader's grip. madelyn had to turn her head away, not being able to look at her friend any longer.
"put him in the pit." alby ordered firmly as a few of the boys began to lift the squirming boy.
"no! no! listen to me!" ben cried out as he began to get dragged away, his pleas soon becoming distant echoes as he was dragged further.
taking a deep breath and swallowing her tears, madelyn raised herself from the dirt. she began to run her hands though her hair in stress as she paced back and forward in front of the crowd of teenage boys. once she noticed the large amount of concerned eyes on her, an immense pain began to creep up her back.
"uh, maddy.." thomas's voice trailed off as he stood behind her, observing her now blood soaked shirt.
"shit maddy!" newt exclaimed as his attention was drawn to the girl's back. with wide eyes, he rushed over to her and gently grabbed her arms. "alright maddy, we need to get you to the med-jacks, okay?" he said, his voice laced with panic. "alright, everyone out the way!"
"what's going to happen to ben?" madelyn asked, her voice trembling. she was shaking, all the adrenaline pumping through her body had distracted her from the pain. but now, her back stung and her whole body ached for the second time today. madelyn could usually handle pain but this was all too much.
thomas, who by now had recovered, and newt carefully wrapped her arms around their shoulders and began to lead her in the direction of the med hut. "he's in the slammer, don't worry about it okay we need to get you patched up."
they finally arrived at the med hut and the two boys hurriedly placed the girl down on the bed carefully.
jeff and clint turned around once they heard the commotion behind them. "whoa, what happened?" clint rushed over to madelyn his eyes wide, and jeff to thomas who was now sat on the other bed.
"i don't know, just help maddy, look at her back." newt breathed, stress written all over his face.
"alright newt, calm down." clint spoke as he rushed over to the girl whose face was scrunched up in agony. "can i?" he asked as he placed his hand gently on her back.
as madelyn nodded, newt clenched his jaw as he stood beside her, wanting to monitor the boy's actions. clint slowly lifted the bottom of the girl's blood soaked tank top so he could get a good look at the cut. he winced as soon as he got a glance at it. "this is going to sting a little."
"just do it." madelyn muttered, resting her head in her hands. suddenly she felt a cloth being pushed against her cut. she hissed in pain and arched her back. "shit."
"sorry." clint apologised. he pressed a cloth against her injury once more before applying a cold gel-like substance down the centre of it. the girl tightend her grip on her knees and scrunched her face up, biting her lip slightly at the stinging sensation. "okay, i'm going to wrap a bandage around it now. can you help me with that? it's going to go around your stomach."
madelyn nodded and took the white bandage from him, pulling the front of her shirt up and holding it between her teeth, aware there was a group of teenage boys around her. she held the end of the bandage to her abs and clint gently wrapped the rest of it around her cut that stopped at the middle of her back. she heard a rip from behind her and felt the bandage tighten slightly, clint sighed and moved back around to the girls front, nodding.
"thanks." madelyn muttered, dropping her shirt.
𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐓 next to each other, processing the situation that just happened as newt and alby spoke about ben a few feet away. madelyn couldn't hear them but guessed they were suggesting a gathering. eventually alby sent newt to find the rest of the keepers and tell them about the meeting.
madelyn lifted her head when she heard alby sigh and sit down beside them. "you guys okay?"
thomas nodded, but madelyn sat still in silence. the vision of ben crazed eyes staring down at her as he strangled her was all too traumatising. she clenched her jaw and felt tears start to form in her eyes, but blinked them away. she wasn't going to be seen as weak over a small injury, that's not who she wanted to be. she didn't want to be some sorry little girl that the boys would feel sorry for. she wanted to be strong and tough just like them.
"its alot to take in." alby spoke softly. "especially on your first week." he turned to thomas. madelyn sighed and began to stand up wobbling slightly, she just wanted to be alone. albys hand began to lift to stop the girl but shook his head and placed it back down by his sides when he realised she wouldn't listen to him anyways.
madelyn walked out into the glade again, clutching her back. before the bright light could even hit her she was slammed into someone's body, their arms wrapped around her. she grunted in surprise and looked up to see gallys concerned face staring back down at her.
"hey gal." madelyn let out in just above a whisper as she tried to push her lips into a weak smile.
"hey, you okay?" his worried eyes scanned the girl's face.
"im fine, was all a bit crazy though." she nodded.
"you scared the shit out of me mads, he could've killed you." gally locked his eyes with hers, sending a wave of chills down his spine.
madelyn clenched her jaw and dropped her gaze back to the ground. she couldn't possibly imagine what would've happened if she tripped one more time, or if she didn't get ben off her.
"but i didn't." madelyn looked up at him again through her lashes. "i'm still here, and that's because of your training." she pointed her finger into his chest. a small smile curled up on gally's lips, even if he didn't show it sometimes, he was proud of the girl. she was stronger than many of them.
⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅
authors note
sorry for the long chapter !!
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