Strange Atmosphere | Aris Jones [1]

1 || A New Life

Gasping, coughing, panting.

I was doing that when my eyes opened.

Once I finally stopped coughing and gasping for air, I looked around, realizing that I wasn't in a room. I was in an elevator.

What the hell was I doing inside an elevator?

I leaned back against the barrels that were behind me, trying to figure out where I was at. Of course, I couldn't come up with any answers. I lifted my hand up to my forehead and felt something wet. Whether it was water or sweat, I didn't care.

Piper. My name was Piper.

All of a sudden, the elevator began to move faster and faster, just like my heart. Flashes of light were going by me as I began to breathe heavily again.

"Help! Help me! Get me out of here!" I shouted, hoping that someone would hear me.

I looked up at the color red, then the elevator came to a sudden stop, making me fall back down on my back. The doors above me opened and the sunlight was now in my face. As I squinted my eyes, I noticed people gathering around as I tried to look up at them.

"Come on, Beth, let her out," I heard one girl say.

A group of girls opened the doors and another one jumped inside the elevator. She was tall and had long, brown hair and hazel eyes with fair skin.

"Rise and shine, Newbie," she said to me, pulling me out of the elevator.

I fell to the ground as all the other girls talked to each other and laughed at me.

"She looks like she's about to vomit."

"I've been waiting for the next stick to show up."

"Where's Harriet at?"

I got up from the ground and attempted to run, but the girl who pulled me out of the elevator grabbed my arm, causing me to spin around so that I was facing her. Once I was facing her, I immediately slapped her as hard as I could across the face.

The girls gasped in shock, whispering and talking among one another. The girl that I slapped, I was sure that Beth was her name, shot me a glare, her mouth wide open.

"The stick has some guts!" another girl shouted.

"What?" I questioned.

"Ladies!" I heard a shout from behind me, making everyone go quiet. I turned around to see a light-skinned girl walking towards me. "You must be the Newbie," she added.

"The stick just slapped Beth across the face," someone said.

"I-I didn't mean to slap her," I spoke up. "She grabbed me. It was just my first instinct--"

"It's okay," the light-skinned girl assured me. "Back to work, ladies!" she shouted at the girls behind me, then pointed at Beth. "Go find Sonya." She looked back at me. "Just relax. You're safe now. I'm Harriet."

I gulped. "I'm Piper," I replied.

Harriet smiled. "Nice to meet you, Piper. Do you remember anything else? Anything at all?"

I shook my head. "No, I can't. Just my name."

Harriet nodded her head. "Well, don't worry. We've all been through the same thing. At least you remember your name. It's the one thing they let us keep."

I nodded my head, looking at my surroundings. "What is this place?" I asked.

"Come on, I'll show you around," Harriet said, walking away from me. So I followed her. "We eat here, sleep here, grow our own food, and we build our own shelter. The Box provides us with whatever we need."

"The Box?" I questioned.

"It's what you just came out of that brought you here. Once a month, we get another Newbie, which is you this time. Once a week, we get clothes and supplies that we need."

"But who put us here?"

Harriet shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know."

I shot her a confused look. Who would send people up here? What was even worse was that no one could remember anything except their names. It was the one thing they let us keep, like Harriet said.

"How are you with heights?" Harriet asked as we walked towards a treehouse.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess we'll find out," I replied, following her.

The two of us climbed up to the very top. We were able to see everything from the top.

I leaned against the railing and sighed. "This is...wow. It's amazing."

Harriet cleared her throat. "We didn't have much when we first got here. We had to work hard to get all of this built. If you respect this place, then you and I will get along just fine.

"Now, there are three rules that you need to follow. One: Do your part. We don't have time for any freeloaders. Two: Never harm another Glenner. None of this works unless we have trust."

Well, I already broke that rule, remembering how I slapped Beth just a few minutes ago.

"And the final rule: Never go beyond the Walls," Harriet finished, pointing at the giant walls straight ahead of me.

I nodded my head. "Okay. What's beyond the Walls?"

"It's none of your concern," she stated. "Just don't go beyond them. You won't be safe if you do."

"Why?"

She shot me a serious look. "You don't want to find out."

We headed back down on the ground after Harriet was done explaining everything to me. I jumped off from the ladder, landing on both feet. I sighed once again, scratching the back of my head.

"So, you guys really built all of this?" I asked once again.

"Yeah, we did. Esther helped with all of it. She's the Keeper of the Builders," Harriet replied, pointing at a girl with brown hair that was by the Box. "She takes her job seriously, so don't mess with her."

"She looks scary," I said.

"She's not scary, trust me. She cares about the Glenners more than anyone else," Harriet responded. "Anyway, we've got a lot to do. We've got something special planned tonight."

"What is it?" I asked.

Harriet smirked at me. "You'll see." I raised my eyebrows at her. She chuckled. "Why do you look so worried?"

"I'm not worried," I lied.

"You don't have to worry about anything, I promise," she assured me. Before walking away from me, she gave me one last smirk and said, "Welcome to the Glen."

The Glen? It sounded more like hell to me.

A/N: Ayeee, here's chapter one!

So yeah, I'm pumped for this story. I can't wait to get back on it!

What do you think of everyone so far? I know there isn't a lot going on in this chapter, but there will be more, I promise!

Also, please don't hate on Group B's slang. I know it'll be similar to Group A's, mostly the job names, but this is my interpretation of Group B. Thanks.

Song above is Opening by Nicholas Hooper.

Comment, vote, happy reading!

-A