𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐎𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 - TMR, Gally

020 - Gathering

Next thing I knew, was that Newt pushed me down on a chair in the Gathering Room.

At least ten other chairs were in front of me, two of them big compared to the others. Alby sat on one of them and Newt on the next one. Remaining were all the Keepers.

"Okay. Gathering starts." Alby got up from his seat.

Panic rose in my chest. "What? Why am I here? What's going on? Why-."

"Valerie, you're not allowed to speak or leave until we say so." The leader gave me a sharp glance before looking at the others. "This morning I got three Builders on—."

Shit.

"—my roof." He stated. "They accused Valerie from beatin' 'em up. I sent them to the Med-jacks. Clint can confirm that's true. Apparently, Peter's nose is broken, Hank's nose is bruised, and they all got some pretty bruises and scratches. There's definitely been a fight."

He paused and looked around, sharing looks with all the boys before continuing.

"Today we are here to discuss what happened. I will explain their story, Valerie will explain hers, and the Keepers will tell their opinions and ideas for punishments. Got that?"

Alby waited, receiving a few nods and mumbles.

"Nice. As I said, this morning those three came knockin' at my door. Peter, Hank, and Carl, to be exact. Explained how last night, just a while after midnight, they were walkin' around the Glade a bit, until Valerie approached them. Accordin' to them, she trapped them to go into the woods, just to get hit on the head, causing all three of 'em to faint."

Gally spoke, "No offense, but how is a small girl like Valerie supposed to knock out three guys at once?"

"They said it was unexpected. Out of nothing. Once they woke up, they found themselves tied by the wrists and feet. She accused them for certain things, called them stuff I'd rather not repeat, and beat 'em up. Explains the noses, ya know?"

I had a hard time not speaking up. Everything they said was a lie. I never did that! I would-

"Valerie." Newt looked at me. "You may speak now. Tell us your point of view on what happened. Do not defend yourself yet. Just explain."

I nodded fast. Explain, explain, explain. Not explode. "Last night, I was in the kitchen with Frypan, Ben, and Minho." I motioned at the two Keepers, and they nodded. "We were chatting and everything. A while after midnight, we were done and I was on my way to my hut. I couldn't even reach it before my head got hit by something and I blacked out."

Everyone was silent, so I could easily continue. Most faces were blank, unreadable.

"When I woke up, I found myself in the Deadheads, surrounded by Carl, Hank, and Peter. They..." Do not burst out. "They said some things. I got angry, told them to leave me alone and let me walk away, but they didn't let me. That's when I punched Peter in the nose. Hank jumped on top of me, but I elbowed him in the face too. I was defending myself and it soon ended into a fight, until I ran away."

Billy, the Keeper of the Baggers if I remembered it well enough, tilted his head. "One, you have a limp. How can you run? Two, 'they said some things' does not prove anything. Three, this is bullshit."

"Shut up, please." Newt mocked. Alby gave both Billy and Newt a warning glance.

"Valerie, okay. Thanks for explainin'. We will need some better context on what they said."

I swallowed, hard. "Oh."

My eyes met Gally's. His face was blank. I couldn't see anything behind his eyes or face. He just stared back, until at some point, I broke the contact.