004. BANISHMENT

EVELYN SITS CROSSED LEGGED on the dirty ground, looking down into the pit that Ben's been thrown in. He's cowering in the furthest and darkest corner, mumbling incoherent words to himself, occasionally letting out a loud shout for help while his body shakes with terror. Subconsciously, one of Evelyn's hands fiddles with one of her newly decorated knives as she digs the blade into the dirt next to her legs. Her eyes burn into Ben, barely blinking as she drowns in her mind.

"Eve," A voice calls as a hand clamps down on her shoulder and she's pulled from her thoughts instantly, looking over her shoulder at Alby, who looks down on her sympathetically, "Can I speak to you?" He questions, jerking his head in the direction of the council hall.

She nods simply, taking one last small glance at Ben before untucking her legs and following after Alby towards the meeting hut.

"What is this about, Al?" Evelyn's head tilts as she folds her arm across her chest and leans back against a beam supporting the straw ceiling.

"Ben," Alby replies, placing himself a few feet away from her in the centre of the room, "And his banishment."

Evelyn's heart sinks into her stomach at his words and she pushes away from the beam in horror, "You can't be serious," She gasps, "Alby, you— no."

"Eve," He sighs, having expected this response, hence why he brought her away from the homestead so less of the Gladers would be affected by her protest, "It has to happened. We did it to the rest."

"No, Alby," Her arms unfold as her tone sharpens and her eyes begin to fill up with rage, "This is Ben that we're talking about. We are not banishing him."

"We have no choice," Alby speaks softly in large contrast to Evelyn, "He's been stung. You've seen what the changing does to people. We can't keep him here. We can't help him anymore."

Evelyn's head shakes firmly, "We can wait. Maybe they'll send medicine for him, like they did for me. Surely if they did it for me, they'd do it for Ben! Why would they not do it for Ben?"

"We don't know why they sent help for you, but they haven't sent medicine every other time when a boy has been stung out there," Alby explains, "We have to banish him, Evelyn."

Her nostrils flare, "No! Can't we wait for a little bit? Wait for the medicine!"

"No, Eve. We can't," Alby shakes his head simply, "That'll endanger us all."

Alby always has such patience when it comes to any of the Gladers, but especially Evelyn. They were each others longest friends. He'd been present for all of her protests and fights. Every time he'd always be calm and soft with her to prevent any further outbursts.

"Why not?" Her head tilts as her voice raises to a yell, "You kept me in that med-jack hut for days until that medicine arrived! I was as good as dead on the first day, but you waited and kept me alive. With all the other boys who had no chance of a longer life due to injury, you'd just thrown them into the maze knowing we couldn't help them. But you waited and kept me there. Why did you do that for me, and not for Ben?"

Alby licks his lips, "This is different. Ben's been stung. You were not."

"In the daytime, maybe— maybe the people who shoved us here will be more likely to help him!" She argues. She's aware she's fighting a loosing battle, but she's only doing it with a small slither of hope that Ben might survive, "Like they did with me!"

"What happened to you, and what happened to Ben is completely different!" Alby's shouts, his voice finally raising in an attempt to get his point across.

Outside the council hall, Newt, Gally, Minho stand in a line outside the door, listening to the shouting inside as the voices shake the weak walls of the large hut. The three boys all wince in unison at the increased volume of Alby's voice.

"What's happening?" Thomas asks as he approaches, coming to a halt beside Minho.

"What does it sound like?" Minho mutters.

"I'm not letting you shove him out there!" Evelyn roars, stepping closer to Alby furiously, "You know that's the last thing Ben would ever want to happen to him!"

"She doesn't want Ben to be banished," Newt answers the greenie with his shoulders hung and his eyelids closed lightly as he winces at the yells.

Thomas' brows furrow, "Banished?"

"Ask questions later, greenie," Gally mumbles under his breath, "Let us listen."

"It's too late for thinking about what Ben would want! He's been stung, Evelyn! The old Ben is gone!" Alby shouts, also moving closer and leaving them a couple of feet apart.

"Is this not a breech of privacy?" Thomas' head tilts, "Didn't they go in there to avoid other people hearing?"

"Will you shut up, green bean?" Minho snaps, rotating his head to glare at the new boy, "We've been eavesdropping on Eve's and Alby's arguments since we first got here, okay? It's what we do. So either shut up and listen with us, or walk away and leave us to it, alright?" Minho rolls his eyes and turns his head back to face the wooden door.

"If a single drop of medicine gets brought up after you shove Ben away to his death, I swear to god, Alby, I will kill you!" Evelyn snaps harshly, before turning on her heel sharply and throwing the door open.

Opposite her stands a line of five boys, Thomas awkwardly positioned on the end beside Minho. She scowls at them all, rolling her eyes as she marches forward and shoves past them, knocking shoulders with Gally and Minho before she's walking away and towards the woods at the other side of the Glade.

Alby steps our a moment later, releasing an exasperated sigh as he drags his hands over his face.

Minho smirks, "Went well then."

"Get lost, boys," Alby mumbles, waving his hand in the air as an attempt to dismiss his friends and give him a moment of peace after the previous events.

"I gotta say," Gally folds his arms over his chest with a sly smirk dancing on his lips, "I'm really surprised she didn't kick you in the balls."

"Or punch you across the face," Newt adds with a cocky smile.

"Or just exert any form of violence on you at all," Minho snorts before leaning forward and narrowing his eyes as he looks over Alby, "Damn. There seriously isn't a single mark on you."

"Will you all grow up?" Alby tuts, "I'd like to think we came to an appropriate understanding for once."

Minho throws his head back as he laughs, "You sure about that? She did threaten to kill you at the end. And I'd like to say she's joking, but I don't like lying."

Thomas watches form an outsiders position as the group of boys discuss Evelyn. All five of the other boys seem so close with her that they're able to openly joke about her, knowing that she would never bother to touch a hair on their head. Compared to all the other Gladers who seem like they wouldn't dare even spout a single joke about the only girl.

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   A LITTLE LATER ON in the day, Evelyn sits beside Chuck on a small cobble wall near the hammocks in the homestead. The pair are sat in a peaceful silence as Evelyn sharpens her knives and Chuck uses his tiny pen knife to carve a small figure out of a bit of wood.

"You gonna be okay during the banishment?" Surprisingly, Evelyn is the first to break the silence as she turns her head to look at the small boy sympathetically , "No one's expecting you to help with it. You don't even need to watch if you don't want. I know this isn't your first but Ben was your friend."

Chuck glances up, meeting her eyes as he shakes his head lightly, "I'll watch. It'll make it easier to forget him."

Evelyn's brown crease in empathy and she shuffles slightly closer to him. With her arm curling around his shoulder, she pulls him gently into her side in a form of a hug. He smiles at the contact and he glances around, wondering if anyone else is seeing the rare reveal of softness from the girl but there isn't a Glader in sight besides Alby and Thomas.

"I'm sorry, Curls," Evelyn pats his shoulder before gently pulling away as she was just as surprised by herself that she'd just hugged him, "Sorry that this is your life."

He looks up at her, "It's yours too."

"But, you're too brilliant and pure for this," She mumbles and her face pulls up into a frown as she watches Alby and Thomas make their way over.

Chuck notices her change in expression so he asks, "Did you two argue again?"

"God, please tell me you didn't hear," Evelyn sighs.

"No, I didn't," He reassures her, and she lets out a relieved breath, "Just heard Minho speaking about it."

Evelyn's eyes catch onto Thomas and Alby as they come to a stop in front of them before settling down on the wooden seat opposite, "Thought you'd bring him over to anger me even further today, did you?" She speaks to Alby, nodding her head towards Thomas as she speaks with a bitterness.

Thomas stares at her for a few moments, his heart taking a small hit of pain from her words. But as he watches her return her attention back to her knives, he decides to speak, "What happened to him?" He asks.

Evelyn looks at Chuck, rolling her eyes, "Another question." She whispers and Chuck laughs, shaking his head in slight annoyance at the new boy.

"It's called the Changing," Alby answers, rubbing his palms together anxiously, "It's what happens when someone gets stung."

Thomas' eyes widen and he opens his mouth to reply with another question but as soon as his eyes lock onto Evelyn, she tilts her head daringly, causing him to close his mouth again and he drops his gaze to the dirty ground.

"Listen. We haven't been able to get a clear word out of Ben since it happened," Alby explains.

Evelyn scoffs, "I'm surprised you've even tried. Thought you'd already written him off as dead."

"Eve," Alby sighs, "You know that it's only gonna get worse. He's dangerous. The infection is spreading," He glances between Evelyn and Thomas curiously, "What did he say to you two?"

Evelyn shakes her head, "Didn't say anything to me, but. . ."

"He spoke to me," Thomas finishes before swallowing thickly, "Uh, he said he saw me and that this is all my fault. How could this be my fault?" His voice cracks slightly as he looks at Alby in worry.

Having listened to his words, Alby's eyebrows furrow and he stares at the floor for a moment or two before snapping out of some sort of trance. He rubs his hands on his knees before raising from his seat, "Evelyn," He calls, "Come on."

She grunts in response before standing from the wall and sliding her knife back into her waistband. She stands still for a moment, taking a deep breath to prepare herself and run a shaky hand through her hair before she steps forward to follow Alby towards the maze doors.

"Alby?" Thomas calls after the leader, "What's gonna happen to him?"

"Banishment," Alby shouts back over his shoulder, "Right now."

Evelyn rolls her shoulders back as they near the doors and a wooden pole is handed to her with an additional stick positioned horizontally across the end to form a T shape. She glances back at Chuck, who's stood back beside Thomas. She sends him a nod, which he returns with a tight lipped smile.

All the Gladers have poles and the group is split into two lines either side of the doors.

Thomas' eyes struggle to leave Evelyn, watching as she keeps her eyes burning into the small patch of dry dirt until Minho arrives. Minho drags Ben across the grass roughly, mumbling small words to the diseased boy.

The crowd parts which allows Minho and Ben to come closer to the doors, but the group closes up and forms a semi-circle around Minho so that Ben has no chance of fleeing. Minho grits his teeth, trying his hardest not to let Ben's begs and pleas effect him before he kneels the blonde boy down in front of the open doors. He keeps a firm grip on the back of Ben's neck, making sure that his eyes stay forward and he doesn't writhe around too much.

Minho holds out his hand towards Evelyn, waiting for her to place her knife in his open palm. She pauses for a moment, thinking about refusing as the last thing she wants is to be using her knives and constantly be reminded of Ben. But Minho shakes his hand desperately and she slides her knife out, placing it carefully on his hand as her jaw clenches. Minho proceeds to use the blade of the weapon to cut Ben's rope ties that kept his wrists bound before handing the weapon back to Evelyn. Ben collapses forward, gasping for air as if he's just been released from some sort of choke hold.

"No, no, no. Please— please don't do it!" Ben begs loudly, looking up at Minho with his jet black eyes, "Please, Minho."

Alby sends a single nod of approval towards Minho, who then sends a bag of supplies barrelling through the doors and into the maze. This causes Ben to roar louder, the small part of his brain coming to realise that it's getting closer to the end. Ben's been present for dozens of banishments. He knows how they go.

Evelyn tightens her grip on the wooden pole, wanting nothing more than to jump forward and pull Ben into a hug. He was the first boy in the Glade to hug her with pure positive intent. She hated it a first, but then he began to do it more, and she began to trust him.

The maze starts to rumble, and as the floor vibrates and the wind blows down the maze entrance, Ben cowers back in terror and whimpers at the sudden cool air blowing in his face.

Outside of the crowd of Gladers, Thomas peers through the gaps and moves to step forward curiously, but Chuck quickly grabs his wrist and pulls him to a stop.

"Poles!" Alby directs as soon as Ben scrambled up and begins to try escape from the semi-circle. Following the leader's orders, the Gladers lower their sticks, the flat edge pointing out at Ben and he scurries back in terror.

Chuck bites his lip at the sight, deciding he no longer wants to see anymore and he walks away, leaving Thomas by himself, who's too fascinated by the banishment that he doesn't even notice the small boy leave his side.

Ben wobbles around as Alby shouts another order, "Move in!" The group advance forward slightly, decreasing the space around Ben, edging him slowly towards the open maze doors.

"No, no, no! Please, please!" Ben begins to shout desperately again, trying his hardest to push against the sticks. His frantic terrified eyes land on Evelyn and she notices something flicker over his black pupils, "Eve! Please! I can get better! Please! Just listen to me!"

From afar, Thomas studies Evelyn carefully, watching sympathetically as she turns her head away and refuses to meet her old friend's eyes. The boy in front of her wasn't her Ben and she hates it. She hates every minute of it.

"Push him in!" Alby bellows, and the boys do as ordered but Evelyn takes a small step away, not wanting to be the one who shoves him over the line into the maze. The one who ends his life.

The doors begin to close and Ben has no choice to scramble backwards to avoid being squashed by the stone slabs. He cries and begs, smacking his head on the rough stone as he knows he can't get back through in time. The Gladers step away, leaving Evelyn directly in front of the doors with a perfect sight down the middle. Her lip quivers as she sees her last ever glimpse of her best friend before the doors slam shut, silencing his screams.

Everyone just freezes for a moment, staring sorrowfully at the floor. Evelyn drops her stick, causing it to clatter to the ground and the boys look up at her sympathetically as she walks away. As she passes him, Thomas manages to hear small curses pass her lips.

"He belongs to the maze now," Alby nods before stepping away too, causing the rest of the Gladers to follow, none of them speaking and their faces all hold one emotion — grief.

"Eve!" Minho shouts after his best friend, his hands cupping his mouth as he attempts to catch her attention, "Evelyn! Eve, don't—"

The girl whirls around once she comes to the tree line of the woods. She looks at him for a moment before shaking her head. She then disappears into the wood, her hand raising to cover her mouth and quieten her sobs.

Minho sighs, raising both of his hands and dragging over his face.

"What's wrong with her?" Thomas asks.

Minho scoffs, glaring at the greenie, "What the hell do you think, shank? Ben meant a lot to all us, but especially her. She's bound to be upset. She just hates for all the boys to see her upset."

Thomas's brow furrows, "You think she'll mind if I spoke to her?"

"Oh, she'll mind," Minho starts to walk, but continue to speak over his shoulder, "But, go ahead and try, greenie. We all have and none have succeeded," He spins on his heel so that he's walking backwards, "Sharing isn't her thing, man!"

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what's something you lot want me to add to these books??  (and don't say smut)

not proof read btw