in another life; the maze runner

☆two ☆

As soon as the new mysterious greenie was tucked away safely in the Homestead, a meeting was called to address the elephant in the room. Or, rather, the girl. The restless boys filed into the room and turned to Alby and Newt.

"Everyone calm down. We have to be logical about this. She's just a new Greenie, the creators must have decided it was time we had a girl around here." Alby, the leader of the Glade announced.

This prompted more outrage and shouting.

"Maybe they want us to repopulate the Glade!"

"Girls don't belong here."

"I was the one who asked for a girl!"

"Why was she talking about Wicked?"

"Can you shanks just shut up and let him talk?" Newt's voice was very easy to recognize, a Brit in a sea of raggedy Americans. Soon the shouting ceased and everyone settled down yet again.

"She will be treated normally, just like every other Greenie when she wakes up, and you shuckfaces will keep your dirty hands off her." Alby declared. "She'll have a job just as well. For now, we let her rest,"

Although not everyone was in agreement, that was the end of the discussion. The Gladers attempted to return to their usual day, rumors and whispers floating around. This was the first time they had ever bore witness to a girl, it was only normal to be curious.

Meanwhile, Mae had been sleeping through the day, the only thing that identified she was alive was the slow flutter of her chest as she breathed. The two med jacks, Clint and Jeff waited patiently for her to wake up. They were prepared with water and food and anything she might need, but it was no use. She lay silent for almost 2 days, and many boys were getting hurt on purpose just to catch a glimpse of her still figure.

She heard what was going on around her, but she couldn't respond. It made her so extremely frustrated, like she was stuck in a cage at the zoo, and all the Gladers were tourists, pointing and talking about her knowing she could do nothing about it.

In her mind, she faded in and out of faint memories, all she could remember from them was a girl. Mae knew this girl, it seemed like she had known her her whole life. She had dark hair, much like herself, and bright blue eyes. But once again she couldn't put her finger on who she was. Often times she also heard a boy whisper things to her, but she had no recollection of what he looked like. Always a bright white room, and the insistent chanting.

Wicked is good.

-

"Any luck?" Newt stopped in about twice a day, eager for her to wake up. It was his job to get the greenies familiar with the Glade, to help them fit in. And he was so excited to be able to show the new girl around. But it seemed like that would never happen in the state that she was in.

There was another boy that visited Mae frequently. His name was Thomas, and he had yet to pick a solid job so far. Although he had recently been pining to be a runner.

In Thomas's mind, the girl was someone he knew. But the most frustrating thing was that he had no idea how. Just something about her was all too familiar. The words she said. He had been hearing them in his dreams. Whoever this girl was, he knew he had to know her. After he did his circuit of jobs, he always came to see her, hoping to figure out who she was.

And so the excitement was unbearable when finally, the mysterious new greenie woke.

It was a normal sunny morning, and Newt had just dropped in to ask Clint a question about Mae's physical state when a frail little gasp sounded from the cot in the middle of the room.

"Was that?"

Both of them rushed over to the girls bed, studying her.

"Hey Green-bean? Wakey wakey," Newt cooed.

Her eyelids fluttered open revealing her forest green eyes, sprinkled with flecks of gold. Newt was hovering above her, Clint had hurried off to alert Alby so it was just them in the empty room.

"Where am I?" She stuttered, taking in the space around her. When she realized that she was lying on a sick bed, she sat up quickly. Newt chuckled at her disarray and waved in an attempt to get her to notice that he was there.

"No worries. That's how we all felt when we first got here," He explained.

"We? I don't even- what is this place?" she spoke quickly, the words pouring out of her mouth in a hard to understand fashion. She had hear bits and pieces while she was sleeping, words like 'The Glade' and 'Maze', but she had no idea what they really meant.

Alby burst into the room, followed by the Med-jacks and Thomas. No one really understood where Thomas fit into that equation, but he assured them that he HAD to be there when she woke up.

They crowded around her bed, overwhelming the poor confused girl. Thomas admired her features now that he could actually see them. She had long brown hair, so dark it was almost black, that curled softly, and clear tanned skin. Not to mention her adorable rounded nose.

"What's your name Greenie, can you remember?" Alby asked. His voice snapped Thomas out of his thoughts and Newt leaned forward to hear her answer.

"Mae, My name is Mae." She spat, clearly tired of not receiving the answers she felt she deserved. Her eyes darted between all the boys crowding her, taking in the ability to finally speak.

"Mae. That's a pretty name, Greenie." Newt smiled and crossed his arms, and Alby shot him an irritated look.

"It's ok Mae, we Gladers stick together. You'll understand soon enough." The oldest boy explained, trying his best to calm the restless girl. She narrowed her eyes and looked each person crowding her up and down. They didn't seem threatening, but she was still on edge.

"I'm Alby, that's Newt, Those two are Clint and Jeff, and that guy over there," Alby gestured to the other side of the end where Thomas stood. "is Thomas. He's just about as new as you."

Thomas smiled, his eyes glued to her face in fascination. Mae a noticed his interest and fixated her gaze on him. He was so recognizable, and his name sounded familiar. Perhaps the only thing that she recognized about this place.

"Alby, Newt, Clint, Jeff and Thomas..." She repeated under her breath, registering their names in her mind so she wouldn't forget.

"Well I think it's 'bout time she got the tour, right Greenie?"

__

Jeff and Clint made the others leave so they could evaluate Mae's health before she got the infamous tour. They were very kind to her, helping her to feel more at ease despite the utter confusion and anxiousness she felt. The one named Jeff offered her water, and Clint gave her a little bit more of a background of where she was.

When she was finally ready, they fetched Alby, (who she had learned was their leader) and Newt to begin showing her around the Glade.