learned and witnessed firsthand, it called to him as much as hunger or thirst.
A movement up on the left wall of the South Door caught his attention. Startled, he reacted quickly, looking just in time to see a flash of silver. A patch of ivy shook as the thing disappeared into it.
Thomas pointed up at the wall. “What was that?” he asked before he could be shut down again.
Alby didn’t bother looking. “No questions till the end, shank. How many times I gotta tell ya?” He paused, then let out a sigh. “Beetle blades-it’s how the Creators watch us. You better not-”
He was cut off by a booming, ringing alarm that sounded from all directions. Thomas clamped his hands to his ears, looking around as the siren blared, his heart about to thump its way out of his chest. But when he focused back on Alby, he stopped.
Alby wasn’t acting scared-he appeared… confused. Surprised. The alarm clanged through the air.
“What’s going on?” Thomas asked. Relief flooded his chest that his tour guide didn’t seem to think the world was about to end-but even so, Thomas was getting tired of being hit by waves of panic.
“That’s weird” was all Alby said as he scanned the Glade, squinting. Thomas noticed people in the Blood House pens glancing around, apparently just as confused. One shouted to Alby, a short, skinny kid drenched in mud.
“What’s up with that?” the boy asked, looking to Thomas for some reason.
“I don’t know,” Alby murmured back in a distant voice.
But Thomas couldn’t stand it anymore. “Alby! What’s going on?”
“The Box, shuck-face, the Box!” was all Alby said before he set off for the middle of the Glade at a brisk pace that almost looked to Thomas like panic.
“What about it?” Thomas demanded, hurrying to catch up. Talk to me! he wanted to scream at him.
But Alby didn’t answer or slow down, and as they got closer to the box Thomas could see that dozens of kids were running around the courtyard. He spotted Newt and called to him, trying to suppress his rising fear, telling himself things would be okay, that there had to be a reasonable explanation.
“Newt, what’s going on!” he yelled.
Newt glanced over at him, then nodded and walked over, strangely calm in the middle of the chaos. He swatted Thomas on the back. “Means a bloody Newbie’s comin’ up in the Box.” He paused as if expecting Thomas to be impressed. “Right now.”
“So?” As Thomas looked more closely at Newt, he realized that what he’d mistaken for calm was actually disbelief-maybe even excitement.
“So?” Newt replied, his jaw dropping slightly. “Greenie, we’ve never had two Newbies show up in the same month, much less two days in a row.”
And with that, he ran off toward the Homestead.
CHAPTER 8
The alarm finally stopped after blaring for a full two minutes. A crowd was gathered in the middle of the courtyard around the steel doors through which Thomas was startled to realize he’d arrived just yesterday. Yesterday? he thought. Was that really just yesterday?
Someone tapped him on the elbow; he looked over to see Chuck by his side again.
“How goes it, Greenbean?” Chuck asked.
“Fine,” he replied, even though nothing could’ve been further from the truth. He pointed toward the doors of the Box. “Why is everyone freaking out? Isn’t this how you all got here?”
Chuck shrugged. “I don’t know-guess it’s always been real regular-like. One a month, every month, same day. Maybe whoever’s in charge realized you were nothing but a big mistake, sent someone to replace you.” He giggled as he elbowed Thomas in the ribs, a high-pitched snicker that inexplicably made Thomas like him more.
Thomas shot his new friend a fake glare. “You’re annoying. Seriously.”
“Yeah, but we’re buddies, now, right?” Chuck fully laughed this time, a squeaky sort of snort.
“Looks like you’re not giving me much choice on that one.” But truth was, he needed a friend, and Chuck would do just fine.
The kid folded his arms, looking very satisfied. “Glad that’s settled, Greenie. Everyone needs a buddy in this place.”
Thomas grabbed Chuck by the collar, joking around. “Okay, buddy, then call me by my name. Thomas. Or I’ll throw you down the hole after the Box leaves.” That triggered a thought in his head as he released Chuck. “Wait a minute, have you guys ever-”
“Tried it,” Chuck interrupted before Thomas could finish.
“Tried what?”
“Going down in the Box after it makes a delivery,” Chuck answered. “It won’t do it. Won’t go down until it’s completely empty.”
Thomas remembered Alby telling him that very thing. “I already knew that, but what about-”
“Tried it.”
Thomas had to suppress a groan-this was getting irritating. “Man you’re hard to talk to. Tried what?”
“Going through the hole after the Box goes down. Can’t. Doors will open, but there’s just emptiness, blackness, nothing. No ropes, nada. Can’t do it.”
How could that be possible? “Did you-”
“Tried it.”
Thomas did groan this time. “Okay, what?”
“We threw some things into the hole. Never heard them land. It goes on for a long time.”
Thomas paused before he replied, not wanting to be cut off again. “What are you, a mind reader or something?” He threw as much sarcasm as he could into the comment.
“Just brilliant, that’s all.” Chuck winked.
“Chuck, never wink at me again.” Thomas said it with a smile. Chuck was a little annoying, but there was something about him that made things seem less terrible. Thomas took a deep breath and looked back toward the crowd around the hole. “So, how long until the delivery gets here?”
“Usually takes about half an hour after the alarm.”
Thomas thought for a second. There had to be something they hadn’t tried. “You’re sure about the hole? Have you ever…” He paused, waiting for the interruption, but none came. “Have you ever tried making a rope?”
“Yeah, they did. With the ivy. Longest one they could possibly make. Let’s just say that little experiment didn’t go so well.”
“What do you mean?” What now? Thomas thought.
“I wasn’t here, but I heard the kid who volunteered to do it had only gone down about ten feet when something swooshed through the air and cut him clean in half.”
“What?” Thomas laughed. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Oh, yeah, smart guy? I’ve seen the sucker’s bones. Cut in half like a knife through whipped cream. They keep him in a box to remind future kids not to be so stupid.”
Thomas waited for Chuck to laugh or smile, thinking it had to be a joke-who ever heard of someone being cut in half? But it never came. “You’re serious?”
Chuck just stared back at him. “I don’t lie, Gree-uh, Thomas. Come on, let’s go over and see who’s coming up. I can’t believe you only have to be the Greenbean for one day. Klunkhead.”
As they walked over, Thomas asked the one question he hadn’t posed yet. “How do you know it’s not just supplies or whatever?”
“The alarm doesn’t go off when that happens,” Chuck answered, simply. “The supplies come up at the same time every week. Hey, look.” Chuck stopped and pointed to someone in the crowd. It was Gally, staring dead at them.
“Shuck it,” Chuck said. “He does not like you, man.”
“Yeah,” Thomas muttered. “Figured that out already.” And the feeling was mutual.
