I spent the rest of the day in the medjack room, forced to stay inside by Newt. My head was incredibly woozy at first but the pounding headache was tapering off to a much more muted version. By some miracle Jeff had deduced that I wasn't concussed. I had mostly landed on my torso, so even though my ribs and chest ached my head remained perfectly intact. I was marked with a few small scratches but I was otherwise fine.

Chuck was all bugged out along with Newt, Sniffling when he helped me to the homestead. He still accompanied me in the medjack room with Newt. According to Chuck, Gally had shouted for help when I was unconscious and it finally came. Other than that I didn't know much else.

I hadn't seen Gally since I'd fell. And Newt, well he was acting odd. Instead of the long spirited lecture I expected to receive, he was quiet. Sitting in the corner, rubbing the back of his neck, not saying a word. It wasn't until he sent Chuck off to get me dinner that he spoke.

"What in the bloody hell was that you slinthead."

"My name's not slinthead it's-"

"Yeah yeah. Your name's y/n, that's all you've been saying." He suddenly looked at me with a stare so serious I lost any of my usual clever remarks. His jaw was clenched, lips tight, as he forced out these words. "Did You Jump?" My skin broke out in a sweat.

"What? Why would you ask that-" He cut me off.

"Did. You. Jump."

"No! No I wouldn't I- what?!" Newt's eyes
glazed over. "I fell." Putting more meaning into the words I said. "I fell. I swear." Newt's face was impossible to read.

"Good. I-" He licked his lips. "Just forget I asked okay."

"Oh, okay." What was wrong with him? He limped over to the door with his head down. His face cringing in pain as he rubbed his leg. Then he just...disappeared.

After dinner Chuck decided to stay behind and sleep on the floor. I watched him sleep for what seemed like hours until my eyes got tired of holding themselves up. I finally succumbed to sleep. Thoughts of Newt and his abnormal behavior and Gally's mysterious vanishing swirled around my head. Pulling my consciousness far, far away.

________________________________

(17 days till the next Greenie)

"I'm opening your eyes okay. I'm gonna see if you wake up or not." A finger forcefully lifted my eyelids open.

"Gahh! Chuck what are you doing!" I rasped. He fell backwards.

"Sorry! You weren't waking up and I was trying to make sure you weren't dead!" His curls bounced around as he tried to explain himself.

"Heard of a pulse?!" I threw my pillow at him. "Freak!" He dodged it.

"Sorry!"

"Ugh it's okay." I grumbled. "It's good you're a freak, that means I'm doing my job." Swinging my feet onto the wooden floor I stretched my arms out. "C'mon Freak. Let's go get some breakfast."

We walked over to breakfast with me holding Chuck in a chokehold while we laughed over whatever stupid thing we had found funny.

"Hey, y/n?" I turned to see Frypan, still holding onto Chuck.

"Oh hi Fry!"

"Nice to know you got your name." He beamed. "Oh! And that your okay from your fall yesterday. That was crazy girl!"

"Thanks! And yeah, the whole falling thing just proved how much of a badass I am." I joked.

"Here how about I give you some breakfast in exchange for your hostage."

"We'll breakfast does sound tempting..." I loosened my grip around Chuck's neck.

After Chuck and I ate I searched for Gally, finally finding him at the builder's table.

"Hey stranger."

"Hey." Gally replied, not even bothering to look at me.

"So uh I'm fine by the way." I tried to find any sort of emotion in his face to no avail. "In case you were wondering."

"Sounds great."

"That's it?" I laughed. "I could've literally died and you say that's great?"

"What." He said flatly. "If you want a welcome back party you should go see one of your boyfriends."

"What?" I shook my head at the utter nonsense Gally was saying. "What boyfriends? What are you even talking about?" Everyone else at the table seemed just as invested in our conversation.

"Don't play dumb, everybody saw you basically in Dave's lap the other day." He had stopped eating. "Oh and Victor's been sayin' things about you too."

"What?!" I wrung out my hands. "Okay first of all I hate Victor and you've seen him harass me so you know anything he says can't be true." My voice's volume got louder and louder. "And second of all why do you care what I do? You obviously didn't care when I fell out of a tree so why do you care what I do with anyone else?!

"I don't!"

"Then why are you so bothered?!"

"I couldn't care less about you! You're the one who's always chasing me around! You're the one who's so shucking annoying!" For some reason that really bothered me, what he had said. The words digging deep into my chest, nawing at me. Then...my temper came out.

I grabbed one of the glasses of water on the table and threw it on him. Water splashed all over his face, wetting his shirt.

"Fuck you!"

"According to Victor he already played that game with you!" My skin burned and sweat pricked my back.

"You're a little Bitch Boy and I hope your mouth gets stapled close you Whore!"

I stormed off, suppressing my urge to let my built up scream out. Blinded by anger I didn't even realize that I had made it to the deadheads. As if on a mission I went deeper and deeper into the woods.

"He thinks he's just so...Ugh!" I sank my fist into a tree. I'm sure it would've hurt if I hadn't been so distracted. "You know what y/n he's just stupid!" I started talking to myself, not bothering to say things under my breath.

"He's just jealous. Yeah he's just jealous cuz we're cool and he's a total loser. He's lime green jello and he can't even admit it." I huffed sliding down to the ground. "He is just so infuriating. Who does he think he is?!"

I sprawled myself out onto the ground, about to continue ranting when I felt something different on my arm. Fresh dirt. Dug up and relaid dirt. I slowly regained my footing and realized exactly where I was.

Graveyard. I was in a fucking graveyard. Sloppily nailed up posts leered at me, almost as if they were trying to ward me away from their owners. Yet trailing along the graves I felt strangely comfortable.

All of the boys here were forever young. Preserved by death. They couldn't hurt me or be rude or spread rumors about me. One grave was different from the others. Instead of covered up with a patch of dirt it was topped with a clear sheet of grimy glass. Kneeling down wiping it, uncovered something I should've found horrifying.

Half of a boy lay in the grave. Eyes clouded and foggy, decomposing, arms folded over, cheeks hollowed and gaunt, the insides of him sucking the thin layer of skin inwards. It was funny, if he had been alive he probably would've been handsome. His marker held no name but etched across the glass was this.

"Let this half-shank be a warning to all:
You can't escape through the Box Hole."

I ran my finger over the scratched in message, gazing at the boy.

"You seem like your name would be Miller." I paused as if he could actually hear me. "Yeah it's probably cuz of your eyes. They look like they used to be a pretty dark brown before well y'know." I shrugged toward his lower half.

"I'm sorry Miller. I don't mean to be rude but I mean you did get chopped man." Staring at his face which had the same slack jawed expression. I laid next to him propping myself up on one of my elbows. "I fell out of a tree yesterday. Just thought you should know that. If it gives you any consolation if I'd landed a little differently I'd be one of your roommates here."

I started drawing shapes on the dirty glass, scrawling out tiny hearts, smiley faces,and butterflies. "Thanks for listening by the way, not a lot of people do that these days." A thought floated over to me. "Hey maybe tomorrow I can bring you some flowers! Make this grave look a little prettier?

"Are you talkin to yourself Shuckface?" I whipped my head around to see Minho leaning with his arms crossed against a tree.

"No. I'm talking to Miller." I answered, as if talking to a dead body was a completely normal thing to do. Minho came and sat crosslegged next to me.

"His name wasn't Miller. It was George or some klunk like that."

"That's a nice name." I paused. "George. It suits him."

"Oh yeah it's a real..." Minho had dropped his sarcasm as he looked back on what was left of the kids face. "Yeah, it's pretty." He grumbled.

"Why are you here?" I asked. He should be out running.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Well I'm summoning the dead and using their bodies for my very own army. I thought that would be obvious."

"Oh of course how stupid of me." His sarcasm seemed like it was back."I have the day off today. Believe it or not it happens once in a blue moon." His gaze fell to my hand. "What happened there?" I looked down to find my knuckles, all scraped and bloodied up. Shit, I must've hit the tree a little harder than I thought.

"Got into a fight with a tree." I said nonchalantly. "The tree won, at least this round."

"Well you should really get that wrapped up. How about we get you out of the deadheads cuz people are gonna think you're shucked in the head talking to dead people." He started to stand up when I asked.

"Minho what did Victor say about me?" What Gally had said still stuck with me, like a stupid leech. Minho seemed hesitant.

"Well I don't talk to that shank." I rolled my eyes.

"What did he say."

"He said." Minho couldn't seem to look at me while he told me. "He said you and him shucked in the deadheads."

"Hmmm okay." My mind turning at every word he said. "Do you believe it?"

"No, no way. There's no way you'd sleep with that slinthead. Right?"

"I'm going to make him admit that he's a lying little bitch."

"What are you gonna-"

"Let's go Minho." I interrupted. I got up after brushing myself off and stalked off towards the homestead.