The keepers were seated in their chairs in a half circle, the rest of the Gladers all crammed into the room behind them. It was cramped and hot, which didn't help the smell. Newt had taken Alby's spot, temporarily as Leader, leaving the second in command chair empty. Alex had her honorary council chair beside Newt's old empty one. And Minho beside that one. She was sad she couldn't sit closer, but apparently there are traditions they just had to uphold or something ridiculous that Newt had said. He also grumbled under his breath "and to keep your bloody hands off each other!"

"I'm pretty sure Newtie Pattotie, you wanted this to happen." she had gestured to Minho and herself, "so don't get cold feet now!" Alex had sassed, Newt just rolled his eyes.

Newt stood up and the room went quiet. "I declare this gathering bloody started or something like that" he said waving his hand in the air and rolled his eyes. Apparently he really wasn't one for the formal stuff.

Gally stood up, and puffed his chest up, "Things are changing. No doubt about that! First Chris is stung, then Ben in broad Daylight and now Alby! And now this Greenie here thinks he can just run into the maze!" He was addressing the other Gladers as much as he was the keepers.

"Not true!" Alex said, crossing her arms.

"What?" He turned his head towards her. "What's not true?"

Alex stood up to face him. "He's not the Greenie anymore. The SheBean is-" she turned and frowned at Minho, "man that really is an awful name! You guys really suck with naming things!"

"Who cares if he's a greenie or not!" Gally challenged.

"I care, Gally. And I care because if you're going to accuse someone of something, then use facts, instead of your conspiracy theories." She was so sick of this kid's mood swings and aggressive attitude. The other Keepers nodded thoughtfully.

"Who cares! He went into the maze, which is a clear violation of our rules!" Gally shot back.

"I would have gone in, if I wasn't held back" she shot Frypan and Newt an angry look, and then glared into the crowd of Gladers at Matt. Who shrunk back. She rounded back at Gally, "and I'm a runner. Does that make me a rule breaker, Gally?"

"He also saved Alby's life!" Frypan put in.

"Did he?" Gally snapped.

"Yes, because he is still breathing and his heart is beating. I call that alive. If Minho had listened to you, he would have been ripped to pieces by a Griever. And that's quite selfish. So yes. Thomas did save THEM. Minho opted to stay with Alby, and Thomas put their lives above his own." Alex said sternly crossing her arms, she stood right in front of Gally, not backing down.

"For two years we have coexisted with those things! And the minute Alex gets here they come out in broad daylight and now Thomas has decided to kill one of them!" Gally roared, turning to the Keepers.

"Gally, you fall off a bloody shuckin' roof?" She yelled exasperated. "Coexisting! Something that chases you down, and tries to kill the weaker is NOT coexisting! That's predatory!"

Alex was trying very hard to keep her temper under control. Newt was sitting there, arms folded, a look of pride on his face, letting Alex handle this. Minho had his hands behind his head, amused with his signature smirk. A twinkle in his half moon eyes, watching the argument.

She was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Not many guys were brave enough to stand up to him, and here was the only girl, a full foot and a bit shorter than him, right up in his face ripping his ridiculous theories apart. He loved her. So shuckin much.

"Who knows what this could mean now! Now that Thomas killed one!" Gally roared

"Gally! Ya dumb Shank! Did you forget Minho, Ben and I almost did the exact same thing the other day? We just about killed a Griever! If the doors hadn't closed, we would have had to take it down... Thomas was smart enough to use a closing section of wall!"

Gally was livid now, Alex could see his body shaking.

Newt finally stood up and crossed his arms, and leaned on the wall, "what do you suggest we do Gally? You seem quite opinionated." He asked with a roll of his eyes, sounding board.

Gally threw a hand towards Thomas, 'This shank needs to be punished!"

Arguments broke out everywhere.

"Come on, really Gally? What is with you and punishing everyone?! You're quite the dictator." Alex said, "You want to punish him, for the same rule YOU shuckin broke!"

Gally took a step forward, his hands were trembling, the glare would have scared anyone else, but Alex wasn't like others. She stood toe to toe with him, glaring right back.

"Ya Gally, I know you stepped out into the maze your first month here, and you got stung." His arm twitched, Alex glanced down at his shaking hands, and smirked back up at him. "And what are you going to do, Gally? You going to punch me? I shuckin DARE YOU!" She hissed.

"ALL RIGHT SLIM IT!" Newt yelled, stepping in-between them, "Everyone sit the bloody shuck down. And don't say another bloody word unless I ask you too." Newt said with authority.

Gally slowly sat down glaring at Alex. Alex glaring right back. She wouldn't back down from a bully. Not on her first night in the Sand pit and not now in the Gathering Hall. Newt pushed her back to her chair, making her sit. She never took her eyes off the bully across the room. She noticed when Gally blinked and looked away, his body language changed, he looked different, he looked stiff and uncomfortable, his eyes lost the fire he had a second ago. Now they looked blank and vacant.

"Minho!" Barked Newt, pointing at him "you were there with Tommy. Explain."

Minho stood quickly, taking everyone off guard. He hooked his thumbs into his runners vest, "I was out there; I saw what this guy did- when I turned tail and ran...this dumb shank stayed behind to help Alby. Look, I don't know if he's brave or stupid. But whatever it is, we need more of it."

Minho took a dramatic pause, making Alex roll her eyes. He then said with a deadpan expression, "I nominate this shank to replace me as Keeper of the Runners!"

There was complete silence, everyone was shocked into stillness. And then chaos erupted. Some agreed with Minho, others not at all. She didn't ever think Minho would give up his leader position so easily, he was proud of it. When he sat down with an amused little smile and a wink at her, she knew he was playing them.

Why and what was the end game?

Newt was waving his arms and storming around the front, "SLIM IT YOU SHANKS! I've never seen so many shanks acting like a bunch of bloody babies. We may not look it, but around these parts we're adults. Act like it, or we'll disband this bloody Council and start from scratch." Newt was marching from one end of the room to the other glaring at everyone. Everyone slowly quieted and sat down.

"Now Minho! That's a huge klunk to bloody drop on us. Stand up and defend your bloody ridiculous idea!" Newt demanded.

Minho's amused expression turned to exhaustion, but he slowly stood up. Crossed his arms, with his head down. He took a slow deep breath. He looked around then, slowly.

"It's sure easy for you shanks to sit here and talk about something you're stupid on. I'm the Keeper of the Runners, and the only others here who have even been out in the Maze are Newt and Alex- and I'm not talking about the shuck peanut gallery behind me, my runners know. But you shanks, I'm talking about you shuckin Keepers who make the decisions. You don't get it"

Gally interjected: "Not if you count the time I—"

"I don't!" Minho shouted, rounding on him. "And believe me, you or nobody else has the slightest clue what it's like to be out there. The only reason you were stung is because you broke the same rule you're blaming Thomas for. That's called hypocrisy, you shuck-faced piece of—"

Alex stood up and laid a hand on his arm, "hey" she whispered, he stopped and took a breath. He nodded.

"I've never seen anything like it. He didn't panic. He didn't whine and cry, never seemed scared. Dude, he'd been here for just, what, three, four weeks? Think about what we were all like in the beginning. Huddling in corners, disoriented, crying every hour- well except Alex, she didn't cry- she was stronger than anyone here! Even me, ya I'll say it- She was and is stronger than me and you, Gally. I remember you came up crying like a shuck baby and didn't stop for a shuckin month! She only cried AFTER a human tried to eat and rape her!"

He froze, his chest heaving. His body shuddered while he closed his eyes for a moment . He took a breath, crossed his arms over his chest, making his biceps stand out. Alex blushed as she stared at him. She felt something warm in her chest.

"Anyways-"

He cleared his throat, "Ya, we didn't trust anybody, refusing to do anything. We were all like that, for weeks, months even, till we had no choice but to shuck it and live."

He took a pause again, the room was dead silent, no one had ever heard Minho talk like this. But it was all true, and they knew it.

"But that was just the beginning. After that, Thomas saw me give up on Alby, leave him for dead. And I was the veteran—the one with all the experience and knowledge. So when Thomas saw me give up, he shouldn't have questioned it. But he did. Think about the willpower and strength it took him to push Alby up that wall, inch by inch. It's psycho. It's freaking crazy. But that wasn't it. Then came the Grievers. I told Thomas we had to split up and I started the practiced evasive maneuvers, running in the patterns...Thomas, when he should've been wettin' his pants, took control, defied all laws of physics and gravity to get Alby up onto that wall, saved his life, diverted the Grievers away from him, beat one off, found—"

"We get the point," Gally snapped, his body still rigid and empty eyes, Alex was a little freaked out by it. "Thomas here is a lucky shank and your girlfriend is better than us."

Minho rounded on him again. "No, you worthless shuck, you don't get it! I've been here two years, and I've never seen anything like it- they don't get scared like we do!"

He gestured to Alex and Thomas, who both sat there stunted, with their mouths hanging open.

"They stand up and do what's right, even if it puts themselves in danger! Alex, took control the day those shuckin Grievers chased us down, and then went back into the maze the next day! She threw her body under a shucken wall that could have killed her too, all to save someone IN HER FIRST WEEK HERE! And after what Chris did to her she asked to be trained! She didn't sit in a corner and give up! She fought back! And when Ben was buggin from the changing, even after what Chris did to her, she stepped between him and someone who needed help. She told ME what to do and how to get around a Griever. She sliced it open and threw a shuckin knife hitting it bullseye in the forehead, and in its eye...ITS EYE! Thomas ran into the maze after everyone told him how dangerous it is, and what happens when the doors close, and he did it anyway just because he THOUGHT he MIGHT be able to help. He saw an opportunity, he thought outside the shuck box! He used the walls and killed it, squished it flat! For you to say anything about the two..." his frustration and anger making him trail off.

Gally's face was red, his chest was heaving, yet his face was empty of emotion, "you want to throw them a parade? Fine by me! Go right ahead! But if there is one thing I know about the Maze is that"-

Minho cut him off by getting right in his face, and said with a cold calmness that made his threat even more intimidating.

"Gally, you're nothing but a sissy who has never, not once, asked to be a Runner or tried out for it. You don't have the right to talk about things you don't understand. So shut your mouth."

Gally stood there frozen, unmoving, unblinking, it was very uncharacteristic of the hot headed Glader. By now he would have taken a swing or two.

"Say one more thing like that and I'll break your neck, right here in front of everybody." Gally said, spit flew from his mouth as he spoke, but it was robotic and deadpanned. He wasn't looking Minho in the eye, he was staring straight ahead, at the back wall.

Minho wiped the spit from his face and with the palm of his hand he shoved Gally in the face, "I swear, Gally," Minho said with a sneer, as Gally sprawled onto the floor, "don't ever threaten me again. Don't ever speak to me. Ever. If you do, I'll break your shuck neck, right after I'm done with your arms and legs."

Gally scrambled to his feet, he tried to charge Minho, but Newt, Fry and Winston held him back and slammed him back into a chair.

The room went into chaos. Again.

Alex looked at Thomas. He was sitting in the chair at the front of the room, his face a mixture of shock, and fear. She probably had the same type of look because Minho had grabbed and pulled her hand so she flopped down beside him.

"Don't worry about that ugly shank, he exploded like that on another kid once at a gathering and he was fine. The Shank eventually cooled off. He's got mood swings like a shuck girl!"

Alex gave him a withering look. "Excuse me? I'm a shuck girl Minho. And I'm pretty sure I have never once flipped out like that... sure I punched a stone wall when my heart broke last night...but never flipped on a human...okay maybe I shot a deranged human with a bow and arrow..." Minho was smirking at her with his eyebrow raised.

"Oh shut up, you know what I mean!"

"Sure Sunshine. Sure." He chuckled at her flustered attempt to argue with him.

"But did you see his face, his eyes look empty, he wasn't even looking at you. And his body looks stiff and robotic...it's weird, not like his normal self." Minho shrugged, obviously not worried about it.

"SLIM IT YOU SLINT HEADS!" Newt screamed. The room slowly settled down, tempers were high, the tension in the room higher.

"OKAY! Well...that was bloody dramatic, don't you think?" Newt asked Minho pointedly. Minho shrugged, and leaned back on his chair legs. Gally didn't say anything, just crossed his arm, and clenched his jaw, staring at the wall.

"We still need to decide what to do with the Shank. Gally you want punishment. Banishment is NOT on the table."

Gally huffed, he finally looked at Thomas, murder in his eyes, he pointed at him, "You see what he's trying to do, right? First he breaks our rules." Gally flung another accusatory finger at Alex, "Then BOTH of them try to convince us to abandon them totally. The rules are the only thing that have ever held us together. Why now are we questioning that? If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me. This shank needs to be punished. And something needs to be done about HER!"

He glared at Alex. What had she ever done to Gally? Newt was quiet for a moment, running a hand over his chin and bottom lip.

"You're right. Thomas broke the rules. One night in the pit, and no food."

"Come on, Newt! One night in the pit?" Gally yelled, jumping to his feet, "Do you think that's gonna stop him from breaking the rules again and going into the maze?"

"That's more punishment than YOU got for breaking the same rule! And, No. We can't just have non-runners, running into the maze whenever they feel like it. So let's just make this official." Newt turned to Thomas for the first time and addressed him. "Starting from tomorrow, you're a runner."

Everyone started talking over each other again. "HEY! I'M NOT DONE!" Newt yelled over top of the voices. "SIT DOWN!" He stormed up and down the room again. "Alright. Onto the next order of business. Alex."

She froze.

Me? What did I do?

She lost a little colour in her face, but looked up at Newt, he was trying to suppress a grin, he had a hint of mischief in his eyes.

What is he planning?

Newt addressed everyone, throwing his arms out wide, "Everyone here- except Gally, clearly,- respects Alex. Ya?"

There were nods of agreement. Gally just rolled his eyes and sneered.

"OKay, Good that! She is already on the council, she clearly can handle her self with you bloody shanks, she can clearly think, Minho saw potential in her as a runner, she can save a bloody life" -

-"LITERALLY! She saved my bloody life! Get it? Cuz I was covered in blood?" Matt yelled from the crowd.

Alex snorted, trying to hide her laugh. Most of the Keepers tried to hide smiles or chuckles as well. Newt rolled his eyes.

"With Alby..." he cleared his throat, "out of bloody commission for a while, I step in as Leader. Now I need a second in command. I appoint Alex for my second."

Alex sat dumbfounded, her mouth open. Minho laughed, throwing his head back and slapped his knee. Frypan stood up and clapped.

Gally got up "WOW Newt." And stormed out. Fry tried to stop him

"NO FRY! NO." 

"So that's a bloody yes?" Newt asked the Keepes. It was almost unanimous. Gally obviously didn't agree.

"Great. This bloody gathering is finally over!"

From the door, Bark woofed in agreement.