"Hey! What's going on?!" I shout as I near the rest of the Gladers. I can see something flying through the air, the boys all covering their heads, but grunting and crying out in pain when they get struck.
Chuck's the first one to answer me, a wide grin on his face as he watches from a few feet away.
"Girls are awesome." He says with a laugh, pointing over at the scene. Thomas, Minho, Clint, and Jeff all join me as I look in confusion at the Watchtower, only now noticing that the flying objects are rocks. The girl must be chucking rocks at the Gladers below.
"No klunk." I reply with a smile, looking over at Thomas and Minho. Minho gives me a smile, but Thomas's gaze is fixated on the scene before him. "Stay here, Chuckie." I say, ruffling the kid's curls.
Minho nods his head towards the scene and we jog over to join the group. I notice that a few of the boys have used various objects to try to cover their heads from the rock. Frypan's holding a big metal bowl over his head. Winston's using the top to a wooden crate. A few other boys have baskets and metal lids covering their heads. The rest of the Gladers are left to fend for themselves, using their hands and arms to protect their heads.
Gally sprints over to the group, standing beside Newt.
"Hey!" He shouts up to the girl. "Throw one more of those things- OW!" He shouts, grabbing onto his head after a rock bounces off of it and onto the grass.
"Go away!" The girl shouts down, throwing more rocks at the boys below her.
"We come in peace!" Frypan cries out, the metal bowl he's holding being struck by a rock just as I duck under it with him. He lets out a high-pitched scream when the rock hits, nearly dropping the bowl. I can't help but break into a fit of laughter. The girl just woke up and she's already causing chaos. She's the definition of perfect.
"What happened?" Thomas asks, standing between Gally and I.
"Duck!" Winston cries out as another rock comes hurling at us.
"I don't think she likes us very much!" Newt says, a small chuckle escaping his mouth as he ducks underneath the wooden lid with Winston.
"What do you want from me?!" The Greenie cries, her voice drowned out by the various sounds of rock hitting metal, wood, and thumping off of people's heads.
"We just wanna talk!" Thomas replies, but the girl just continues throwing rocks at us.
"I'm warning you!" She calls down.
"Take cover, y'all!" Frypan shouts, ducking down further towards the ground.
"Fry! You can't leave me!" I shout as he stops trying to cover the both of us with the bowl.
"It's every man for himself, Venus! Sorry!"
"Sexist!" I shout.
"Go away! Leave me alone!" The new girl cries out, but her voice is much less confident this time. I hear a faint crack in it. She sounds scared. Fearful. And she has every right to be.
"Stop!" I shout loudly so that my voice can be heard above all the commotion. Everything goes quiet. "Everyone back away from the Watchtower!"
Most of the boys oblige, all taking a few steps back. Those who don't and continue standing rooted to their spot all look at me, eyebrows raised and annoyed expressions on their faces.
"You wanna stand there and keep getting hit by rocks? Be my fucking guest." I snap. They boys all grumble and groan, joining the rest of the Gladers.
I see the girl peek her head over the edge of the Watchtower and I give her a smile. I can't tell whether or not she returns it, but I'm sure she's grateful.
"She's right." Newt says, joining me at the front of the group. I nod at him, allowing him to take initiative of the situation. After all, for now, he's our Leader. "Go do your shuckin' jobs and leave the poor girl alone."
The Gladers grumble under their breaths, but listen to Newt and walk away, leaving Thomas, Newt, Gally, Frypan, Winston, Minho, and me all behind.
The girl peeks over the side again, dark hair falling into her face. She studies the small group, her eyes finally landing on Thomas and I.
"You're a girl?" I hear her question as she looks down at me.
"I hope so or else my parents have got some explainin' to do!" I call back.
"Look, we just wanna talk!" Thomas calls up to her. He cups his hands around his mouth so that she can hear him better. "It's Thomas!"
She goes quiet again, disappearing behind the edge of the Watchtower. Thomas looks over at me, a confused look on his face.
"Do I go up?" He whispers.
"I dunno. I'm not good at this."
"Well you've been here longer."
"I've never dealt with something like this before!" I whisper-shout, gesturing up at the Watchtower. The boys behind us are all snickering at our whisper argument, but I can feel a pair of eyes behind me staring at the back of my head. I don't need to look back to know that it's Gally.
"Well you're the girl!"
"You're the one she recognizes!" I fire back, rolling my eyes.
"You're no help." He mutters. He turns to Newt.
"Do I go up?" Thomas asks Newt. I see Newt staring at Thomas in a way I've never seen him look at anyone before. It's as if the rest of the world has disappeared and it's just him and Thomas. He's admiring the Runner.
He snaps out of his daze when I smack the back of his head. Newt rubs his hair, muttering a string of curse words at me before turning back to Thomas.
"I dunno, Tommy. Do what you think is best." He says with a shrug. Thomas nods.
"I'm coming up!" Thomas shouts up to the girl. He gets no reply, so he starts to make his way to the ladder. Gally attempts to follow.
"Just Thomas." I say, placing a hand on Gally's chest. The Builder looks over at me, his eyebrows furrowed in pain, but also confusion. He follows Thomas with his eyes as the Runner makes his way up the ladder. "Leave it, Gal." I mutter.
"Man, I love women." Minho says, a cheeky grin on his face. I look over at him and smack his bicep.
"Shut up, moron. She just woke up."
"Who said I was talkin' about her?" He asks, cocking an eyebrow and winking at me. I see Gally's face burn red with fury as he starts towards Minho. "Hey, hey, man. It was just a joke. Calm down." He says, holding his hands up in surrender.
Gally just sighs, shaking his head and looking back up towards the Watchtower.
"Any idea what they're talking about?" He asks.
"Nah, but don't bother trying to listen." Winston mutters, shaking his head. He runs a hand down his acne-covered face. "Not like you'll be able to hear shit from down here."
"Yeah, just leave it, Gally. He'll fill us in later." Fry agrees.
"I don't want him to tell me." Gally snaps, grimacing at the word. Frypan and WInston both exchange a look before shaking their heads and walking away. Minho follows, leaving just Gally, Newt, and me.
"Is she comin' down, Tommy?" Newt calls up, his hands on his hips. Thomas hesitates before answering, looking from us to the girl and back again.
Gally groans and sighs. I place my hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him down, but he just shrugs it off. No one seems to notice, though.
"Alright." Newt says, breaking the silence between the three of us. "Alright, c'mon."
He gestures for us to follow him as he walks away, but Gally stays back. He rubs his head before dropping his hand back to his hip.
"Gal, c'mon. Leave them alone for a bit. We'll figure everything out later, alright?" I suggest, lacing my fingers with his and tugging him away from his spot below the Watchtower. "Have some trust in him, okay?"
"Right." Gally mutters, letting me pull him away. "Trust..."