They Don't Own Me

Chapter 1

"So, where are we?" the girl asked.

"Honestly, we have no idea," George replied.

"When I came up a month ago," Alby added, "there was nothing here. There were only trees, this small clearing, and the supplies that came up in that box when I did. Other than that, it was empty."

The girl's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Alby. She realized that he had been in this place for an entire month, alone, with no memory of who he was or how he had gotten there. She was extremely angry at whoever put them here for doing that to the boy.

"Then I came up about a week ago," George said. Alby nodded. "It seems kinda weird though that you came up only a week after me instead of a month after. Maybe that's how things work? One shank gets sent up, then a girl comes a week later?"

The girl and Alby looked at George with slight confusion.

"'Shank?'" the girl repeated, making George shrug.

"I don't know. It just kinda came out."

"Whatever you say, 'shank,'" Alby said, smiling at his friend.

The three laughed. When they calmed down, a thought came to the girl. She glanced down at her hands, noticing that her skin was a pale color. She wondered what the rest of her looked like.

"Hey guys?" she said, causing George and Alby to look at . "Would you mind telling me what I look like?"

"Of course," Alby said with a nod and a smile. "To start, you've got straight brown hair."

"And brown eyes," George added. "You also look like you're about thirteen? Maybe fourteen? I'm not really sure."

Alby nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys," she said. The boys smiled at her, happy to give her at least some useful information. She turned her head away, looking around her more. "It's a pretty glade," she commented.

"That's it!" George cried suddenly, making the girl almost fall over, even though she was sitting.

"What the shuck are you talking about?" Alby asked, confused.

"That's what we'll call this place! The Glade!"

Alby and the girl exchanged looks before turning to George.

"That's why you screamed?" Alby said.

"Sorry. I got excited."

"I like it," the girl said, smiling.

Alby nodded in agreement, making George grin.

"Well, then, welcome to the Glade!" he said. Alby rose to his feet, looking down at the other two. "Come on. We should unload the supplies from the box."

~

"What's WCKD?" The girl motioned to the label on one of the crates she had lifted up.

"Not a clue," Alby replied with a shrug. "I'm guessing though it's the people that sent us here, seeing that they keep sending us supplies."

Guess the name makes sense then, she thought. These people are wicked and cruel for sending kids here with no memories.

The girl picked up another crate and moved it away from the box. As she set it down, her gaze fell upon the large walls the surrounded the Glade.

"What's out there?" she asked, going back toward Alby and George.

"It's a maze," Alby told her. "Like an actual maze. My first week here, I went out there and looked around. I stayed close to the doors though because I didn't know how big it was. I still don't know how big it is."

"Do you think there's a way out through it?"

"If there is, who knows how long it would take to find a way. And you would probably need multiple people so you could cover more ground."

The girl thought for several moments, the gears in her head trying to work and analyze the information she was getting.

"What if," she started slowly, "all three of us tried to go out there?" She looked at the two boys. "You said that you don't know how big the maze is and it would take multiple people to look around. If we go out there, we might be able to find a way out. And if we needed to, we could stay out after the doors close, to give us more time to look around."

George looked at Alby, who appeared to be thinking.

"It's not a bad idea," he said. "But we don't know what's out there. We've heard shrieks out there during the night."

"So we pack equipment," George stated with a small smile. "We can bring weapons, food, water. We've got it all here in the Glade. Might as well use it."

Alby thought in silence for a moment before nodding.

"Alright. First thing tomorrow morning, we pack what we'll need. Everyone gets a backpack to carry with their own supplies. We'll search separately in the day. Once the doors close, we meet up and continue on together. But for now, let's worry about finishing today. Besides, we've still got to get our new arrival set up."