INNOVATION -
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

⚘ GALLYS PROCLAIMATION ⚘

Kalisa awoke early that morning, despite her exahusion from the previous day. Today would either go very smoothly or very poorly.

    It was the Gathering day. The day that the Keepers would vote on how to handle Thomas and her revelation. She knew she didn't have much to worry about, especially since her note brought helpful information, yet she couldn't ignore the sinking suspicion that the Gladers wouldn't take too kindly to her.

    She decided to skip breakfast and head straight to the Gathering room within the Homestead, Thomas hot on her heels.

    They both walked in silence, too nervous to talk to one another. All night long Alby had been screaming. The sounds only grew louder each time the boy opened his mouth.

    Kalisa wondered what he was remembering. Could it have something to do with Wicked, or maybe the Right Arm? She longed for the boy to just wake up and answer their questions. Or even for the girl to snap out of her trance.

    When they entered the room they were greeted with the sight of all the Keepers sitting in their chairs at the front, looking down on the two of them. In the middle of the room were two wooden chairs placed directly next to each other.

    Last time she had been in this room was when she had been placed as a Slicer. It wasn't a very good memory.

    Thomas sat down first, running his eyes along all the boys cautiously. Kalisa however, only looked for Newt. When she found his gaze she relaxed, though only slightly, and joined Thomas in a seat.

    "In place of our leader sick in bed, I declare this Gathering begun." Newt said in a monotoned voice. He looked rather fed up and bored with the ordeal.

    "We'll start with our Greenbean Tommy here." Newt stated. "Now as you all may know the past few days have been bloody crazy, and quite a bit of it seems to be centered around Thomas here."

    "He's not the Greenie anymore. Now he's just a rule breaker." Gally spoke up causing Thomas's face to flush and for whispers to break out.

    Kalisa rolled her eyes in annoyance, not even a minute in and Gally was already running his mouth.

    "Gally," Newt started with an eyeroll. "Try to keep some buggin' order here. If you're gonna blabber your shuck mouth at everything I say, you can go ahead and leave, because I'm not in a very cheerful mood."

    Kalisa almost laughed.

    "Glad that we got that out of the way." Newt grunted while Gally leaned back in his chir and scowled. "Anyways, we need to decide what we're gonna do with him."

    Sensing that Gally was about to open his shuck mouth again Newt said, "You'll all get your turns eventually. And Tommy, no talkin' till we tell you too, good that?" Reluctantly Thomas nodded.

    "Good. We'll start with Zart the Fart."

    Zart, Keeper of the Track-Hoes stood and gazed down at Thomas, thinking hard. "I don't know. He broke one of our most important rules, we can't just let people think thats okay."

    A pause. "But then again he's... changed things. Now we now we can survive out there. That we can beat the Grievers." Kalisa saw Thomas looking relieved from the corner of her eye.

    "Oh give me a break." Gally burst. "I bet Minho's the one who actually got rid of the stupid things."

    Newt glared at him, clearly more than just annoyed at this point. "Gally shut your bloody hole! If I hear one more word out of you, I'll be arrangin' another Banishing for your sorry butt."

    Gally grunted but didn't say anything more. "Good. Frypan, you're up." Newt faced the Cook.

    Kalisa zoned out at that point, finding the whole ordeal rather pointless. There were multiple instances where she almost stood from her chair to cast in her opinion. Why were they talking about punishment when Thomas had done something good?

    Boys were weird.

    Minutes passed and Kalisa finally focused back in on the Gathering when Gally stood. "I think I've made my opinion pretty clear."

    "Good that, go on then Minho." Newt rolled his eyes again.

    "No!" Gally shouted, causing a few of the boys to jump. "I still wanna say something."

    "Just think about it, the slinthead comes up in the Box, acting all confused and scared. A few days later he's running around the Maze with Grievers actin' like he owns the place." Gally spat.

    "I think it's all an act. How could he have done what he did after just a few days? I ain't buyin' it." Gally hesitated, but stood straighter with confidence. "I think he's a spy for the people who put us in here."

    At once an uproar of protest and agreement rang through the room. Kalisa could only stare at the boy in shock, I mean seriously, was he demented? Why on earth would Thomas be a spy for Wicked? It was ridiculous. Gally had outdone himself.

    "We can't trust this shank." Gally said after Newt had managed to calm everyone down. "First Nick gets stung. Then the shankette arives. Then we get a child, then this slinthead shows up and decides to break all our rules, and right after he arrives a new girl shows up half dead."

    A few murmurs broke out at that, but Kalisa refused to be intimidated. "Well, nobody ever actually saw him do anything in the vines. How do we know it was the Greenie that tied Alby up in there?" Gally asked accusingly.

    Unable to hold back any longer Kalisa spoke, "Who do you think did it then Gally? The Beetle Blades?"

    "Shut up klunkface," Gally glared.

    But she wasn't done yet, "I mean seriously. Did one of your Builders hit you over the head with a hammer or something because you're talkin' crazy."

    "Newt, you wanna tell your girlfriend to shut up?" Gally turned to the boy in annoyance, only to find Newt looking rather amused.

    "Kalisa you'll get your chance to talk in a minute, but for now; how about having a bloody point Gally?" Newt hid his smile and focused back on the Builder.

    "I think we should throw him in the Slammer for a month, then have another review." Gally stated, crossing his arms like he had just solved world hunger.

    Newt groaned and wrote something down on his pad, shaking his head while he did. At least she wasn't the only one who thought Gally was off his rocker.

    "Finished Captain Gally?" Newt looked up from the paper.

    Gally flushed, "Yeah. And I'm right."

    "Great, last but not least, go ahead Minho." Newt turned his attention to the Keeper of the Runners.

    Minho stood quickly, taking everybody by surprise. "I was out there. I saw what this guy did- he stayed strong while I turned into a panty wearin' chicken. No blabbin on and on like Gally. I wanna say my recommendation and be done with it."

    "Good that. Tell us then." Newt sat straighter.

    The room seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for the words to leave his mouth. Kalisa wasn't sure what to expect from Minho, he was a rather unconsistant boy, she just hoped whatever he said would be good.

    "I nominate this shank to replace me as Keeper of the Runners."

    Complete silence.

    Then, "Thats ridiculous! He should be off the council for recommending something so stupid!" Gally exploded. Frypan started clapping to drown out the boys complaints.

    Kalisa looked to Thomas and saw his face had turned pale as snow. His dark eyes darted up and down, pining from Keeper to Keeper worriedly. Nobody had expected that recommendation. Not even Thomas.

    Once Newt had gotten everybody to shut up he looked to Minho, "Thats some pretty serious klunk brother. Sorry, but you'll need to talk it up to move it forward."

    Minho sighed but began defending his proposal. "I'm sure its real easy for you shanks to sit here and talk about something you're all stupid on. I'm the only Runner in the group, and the only other person who's been out in the Maze is Newt"-

    "Not if you count the time I,"- Gally didn't finish before he was cut off by Minho saying, "I don't."

    He took a breath and continued. "Anyway, I've never seen anything like it. He didn't panic, didn't whine or cry. He didn't even seem scared."

    "Just think about how we all were when we first arrived here; crying every moment of the day, huddlin' in corners until we were forced to shuck it up and live." Kalisa agreeed at that, what Thomas had done was brave, and it was certainly something she never would have done in her first week.

    "Just a few days after he shows up he runs out into the Maze to help two random shanks he hardly knows. All this klunk about him breaking rules is pointless, he saved our lives!"

    "When we were out in the Maze, I was the veteran, the more expirienced one, yet I was the first to give up and run. Meanwhile this shank stayed behind to help Alby. He litteraly defied the laws of gravity to get him up that wall, think about how insane that it." Minho took a breath.

    "Alright we get it, Thomas here is a lucky shank." Gally snapped.

    Minho faced him abruptly, "No you worthless shank. You don't get it. I've never seen anything like it before."

    By now Thomas was bright red with his jaw hanging open. Hearing from Minho about what he had done out in the Maze caused a newfound respect to form in her blood.

    "Gally you are nothing but a sissy hypocrite. You have never once expirienced what its like to be a Runner. You have no right to talk about things you don't understand. So shut your mouth." Minho sneered.

    Gally stood suddenly, "Say one more thing like that and I'll break your neck, right here in front of everybody."

    From the look in his eyes Kalisa could tell he wasn't joking.

    Apparently Minho didn't care. He raised his fist and slammed it into Gally's face, knocking the boy out of his chair and onto the floor.

    "I swear Gally, don't ever threaten me again. Don't ever speak to me again. If you do then I'll break your shuck neck, right after I'm done with your arms and legs." Minho stamped on Gallys back with his foot to keep him down.

    When he finally removed his foot Gally lept to his feet, face a mask of pure undeniable rage. "Things are different now. You should not have done that Minho."

    Gally shifted his gaze to Newt, "I know you hate me, that you've always hated me. You should be Banished for your embarrasing inability to lead this group. You're shameful, and anyone of you who stays here is no better. Things are going to change." Gally seethed before exiting the room and slamming the door behind him.

    Kalisa only watched in shock as Newt's face of hurt slowly morphed back into his stone cold leader persona.

The other Keepers remained silent, just watching the door Gally had left from as if he would re enter and finish them all off. But the door never moved.

"He's finally whacked for good." Minho muttered.

"Well you're not the bloody saint in the room," Newt rounded on the Runner. "What were you thinking!"

"Dude he threated to break my neck. He's mentally whacked. He's dangerous." Minho stated.

They pondered this for only a minute before someone new spoke up. "Maybe he has a point." All eyes snapped to the voice.

"I mean, he has been through the Changing. That means he has memories. And he said the Greenie looks familiar. Why would he make that up?" Winston continued much to her dismay.

"Winston did you see what just happened? Gallys psycho, you put too much stock in his rambling madness." Frypan shook his head.

"Can I say something now?" Thomas questioned. "I'm sick of you guys talking about me like I'm not here."

"Go ahead," Newt groaned, seemingly having given up on keeping order.

"I don't know why Gally hates me and I don't care. As for who I really am you all know as much as me." Thomas paused. "But if I remember correctlly we're here about what I did in the Maze, not because some psycho thinks I'm evil."

    "Good that. Now Tommy, you can defend yourself now, and afterwards we'll take a vote on what to do with you." Newt stated.

    Thomas wiped his sweaty palms on his pants before speaking. "I didn't do anything wrong. I just saw two boys struggling to get through these walls, and to ignore that just because of a few rules seemed cowardly, selfish, and honestly pretty stupid."

    "If you want to throw me in jail for trying to save someone's life then fine. Go ahead. Next time I promise I'll point at them and laugh then go eat some of Frypans dinner." Thomas finished. Kalisa wished she could applaud.

    After a beat Newt stood. "Here's my recommendation; you broke our number one rule, so one day in the pit is your punishment. I also recommend we elect you as a Runner, effective immedently."

    Newt looked to Minho, "And as for being the Keeper, forget it. Gally was right on that count- stupid idea."

    One by one the boys spoke out, agreeing with Newts recommendation, Winston being the only one to deny the proclamation.

    "Good that." Newt said once everyone had taken their vote. "Now we have something else to talk about. Kalisa- will you give me your necklace?"

    He asked it softly, but it didn't lessen the blow of the dozens of eyes digging into her form.

    Kalisa chewed her lip and reluctantly removed her necklace, handing it off to Newt. She trusted him with it, but she wasn't so sure about the others.

    "Now the other night Kalisa here, found a note inside of her necklace." Newt unscrewed the cylinder and pulled the paper out much to everyone's dismay.

    He cleared his throat and began to read. By now Kalisa had looked at the note too many times to count, and was able to recite it mentally.

    When Newt finished you could hear a pin drop.

    "This is the first idea we have of life outside the Maze. We might not have our memories but we've seen the letters WCKD before." Newt stated.

    "They're all over the walls. In the Maze." Minho leaned forward, interested.

    "And they were on the Beetle Blades." Thomas added.

    "I think we have reasonable suspicion to believe that whoever WCKD is... they had something to do with us being here. The Creators." Newt addressed all the Keepers.

    "Why would she have the note though? Whats so special about her?" One of the Keepers questioned snidely.

    Newt nodded at her to speak, and so she did. "I obviously don't remember anything, just like you guys. But I think I wrote that note. And from what I can tell- I worked against whoever put us here. With the Right Arm."

    Kalisa took a breath, "Because of this note we now know that this- this isn't a punishment. It's an experiment. A trial. They kidnapped us and are using us to get information."

"Information about what though?" Winston asked.

"I don't know." Kalisa huffed. "I wrote that they were rounding up immunes. Maybe thats what we are."

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves yet." Newt said calmly. "Let's just stick to what we do know. That these are a test for us. That WCKD put us in here against our will. Thats more than we could've ever asked to know."

"So now what?" Winston sighed, leaning forward. "Are we just expected to blindly listen to what she wrote? How do we know it's true?"

"Why wouldn't it be true?" Kalisa snapped, feeling defensive of her past self. "Look the truth is we can't be sure of anything. But if this is true... then I think it could really help us, especially when we break out of here. That way we'll at least know what we're walking into."

"I'm just saying it seems off. How can we trust her?" Winston frowned, glancing at her coldly.

Kalisa stood suddenly, "Oh like you're any better. You talk about trust and truth yet you're the one with secrets! I know what you did to Henry."

Winston went pale. The Keepers let out low gasps as if dangerous territory had just been used.

"And I'm willing to look beyond that. We all are." Kalisa calmed down only slightly. "I believe you're good Winston. Don't make me the villain because I can change my mind about you at any point in time."

She sat back down, heartbeat racing, palms sweaty, yet satisfied. Newt and the others looked shocked, yet he moved on quickly, "Uh- with that being said, all in favor to believe the note?"

Everyone's hands rose. Even Winston's.

"Brilliant. I hereby disclose this Gathering." Newt called.

At once the Keepers stood, muttering about all that had just happened. Most left in a hurry but a few of her friends like Frypan hung back to congratulate her.

Kalisa waited until everyone was gone before standing. Now it was just herself, Thomas, Minho, and Newt.

"That was a risky move. He's definitely got it out for you now." Newt almost laughed, walking towards her and handing back the necklace.

"I don't care. I'm tired of staying quiet, if he hates me, then so be it." Kalisa frowned, clipping back on the necklace.

"Good that," Minho punched her in the arm. Hard. "Poor Winston didn't know what hit him."

All of a sudden Chuck arrived. "Med-Jacks sent me." He announced, looking frightened.

"Whats wrong?" Newt asked, alarm lacing his tone.

"I guess Alby's thrashin' around, acting all crazy and saying he needs to talk to someone." Chuck panted.

Newt instantly set off for the door but was stopped by the kid. "Uh- he doesn't want you."

Newt almost looked hurt. "What do you mean?"

Chuck pointed at Thomas, "He keeps asking for him."

I really hope people get notifications for this chapter since the last one didn't work. Anyways I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far, I got a snow day today so that's been fun, but sadly I have to go back to school tomorrow, ugh. Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are the best! Happy reading!

1/16/24

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