I gasp for air as though I was drowning.
...But I thought I was...? It was probably a dream.
Where am I?
I look around to see that I'm trapped inside some sort of box. My head was pounding making me hear awful screeching and such. Soon enough, I figure out the alarming screeching noises aren't from my head. I'm in some sort of room-- or should I say elevator-- was made out of metal, and was moving up. Quick.
I look up towards the nearing ceiling and look around for ideas frantically. I'm not sure what could possibly stop a metal box from accelerating into a roof-- or whatever it is above me, but I needed to think of something. And fast.
After looking around the box, I couldn't find anything to help.
How surprising.
I'm not going to make it in time. I'm a couple hundred feet from the top. At this rate, I'm smushed in less than a minute. I figure my best bet is to ask for some sort of help. Hopefully whoever put me in here isn't long gone by now.
"HEY! HELP! SOMEONE HELP! HELLO?"
No response.
"HEY! SOMEONE, PLEASE! STOP THE LIFT!"
It's over. I'm about to be crushed in seconds.
3...
I huddle myself into a corner and tuck my face in between my knees.
2...
I squint my eyes
1...
......
1...?
I remove my face from my tucked knees and looked above. The blaring red lights that were flashing switched to steady green ones. With a sigh of relief, I look around trying to gather some information as of where I am.
Is that a...pig? A pig? What the fu-
I jump back abruptly after hearing a loud alarm go off, which sort of sounds like a low buzzing noise. I freeze for a moment before quickly going back to the corner I was huddled in, behind crates that were labeled all sorts of things.
Food, weapons, clothes- Weapons! Aha!
I slowly lift up the crate lid and pull out what I thought was going to be some sort of dagger, but ended up having a much longer blade. I'm pretty sure it's a machete of some sort. I admire it for a second, but then hear muffled hustling above me, which no longer became muffled after a set of doors open above me.
In a matter of seconds, my ears were being filled with at least 30 different voices.
"Where's the greenie?"
"Oi, Gally! The greenie is hiding!"
I hear a few people laugh as I try to figure out what's so funny.
'Greenie?' What am I, a vegetable?
Suddenly, I feel something fall into the elevator. Well, now that I'm thinking about it it was probably just someone jumping in-
Someone jumped in.
I grip the machete with both hands while pointing it to the exposed part of my hiding spot.
"Here greenie, greenie."
More people erupt in laughter.
I scrunch my nose and furrow my eyebrows in confusion, wondering why everyone thought that was so funny. I could hear him nearing. I hold my breath and wait for him to turn the corner.
As he does his eyes widen. He keeps looking back and forth between the machete that's only a few inches away from his face, and my face.
I put a finger over my mouth, "Don't move, don't say a word."
"You're...a girl," he slightly whispers, with a questioning yet disgusted tone.
"What did I just say," I whisper yell back.
"Gally? Is everything okay back there?"
We hear one of his friends (or so I assumed) question him. I raise my eyebrows at him as he rubs his face annoyed, and what looks like very concerned. Thankfully, he doesn't respond. I release the breath I forgot I was holding.
Now what.
I think and look around for a few seconds before saying something to the tall person, who presumably goes by the name 'Gally.' I hold the machete up against the side of his throat.
"Follow my lead and don't try anything. Understand?"
He's still staring at me in disbelief, so I decide just to go for it. I grab his forearm and walk out of the hiding spot and into the blaring sun. I use the arm with the weapon to shield my eyes, while still holding the machete to his throat.
I hear everyone gasp, a few whispering to each other. A tall, lanky, boy with blonde hair and a British accent, frantically runs towards the elevator I was in.
"Woah, woah, woah. Whats going on? Gally?"
Gally looks straight at him with his eyes wide and eyebrows raised- unusually high? Is that...normal?
anyway
I remove my arm from my face to I could get a better look at the blond boy's face.
"Listen, you have one min-"
The whole mound of people gasp and yell out all sorts of things.
"Holy shuck! It's a girl?!" The blond kid seems to be astonished, but also worried.
The rest of the people who didn't see me exploded into questions and hoots and hollers.
"A girl....?"
"Did they make a mistake?"
"Why would they send up a girl?"
"Just a useless Greenie."
"Dibs!"
The man who said that got smacked in the back of the head by someone who was passing by him. The same person quickly came through the crowd and approached me slowly.
"Whoa, okay. No need for the knife." The man was tall, slightly older than the others who were surrounding. His eyes seemed kind; I trusted him for some reason. I kept the knife on Gally's throat.
"Where am I? Why can't I remember anything? Who are you?!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down, Gree-"
"Stop calling me greenie. I'm a human, not some fucking vegetable," I said with a scowl and a slightly shaky voice. The man sighs and slowly lowers down into the lift. He lifts his eyebrows a bit as if he's asking permission. I don't respond, but I slightly turn to the side he lowered himself into. I quickly glance at the top of the lift, trying to figure out a way out of here without having to deal with anyone. The 50 people surrounding it was going to make it difficult, but I was going to have to try.
I shove Gally into the man who was trying to calm me down. While he falls onto him I put the machete in my left hand and climbed out of the box, flailing the knife around. Most people moved out of the way, some laughed, others tried tripping me and grabbing my arms. I stumbled a couple times before running steadily across a field of grass. I look around aimlessly for somewhere to run, or even hide. I see a small shack over by some trees and decide to run toward it.
"Newt! Go get her!"
I look behind me to see the blond boy running after me
Newt.
I turn back around to see that I've already reached the hut. I stop myself before I run into a heavy, wooden, door. I quickly open it and push my body weight up against it. I release a small sigh, and start breathing heavily because of how far I ran. At the time it didn't seem so far, because it felt like I was running for my life. I face the opposite way of the door and slide down, until I hit the ground. I drop my head down to catch my breath.
"Hello? Who's there?"
Oh shit.
Someone else was with me.
The person in the hut walks over to the door slowly, the wood creaking underneath his bulky boots. He turns the corner and looks at you with wide eyes.
"Woah."
I hold up the knife and he holds his hands up.
"Hey, hey its okay. I'm not here to hurt you; actually I do the opposite."
He laughs at his own joke but then snaps out of it when he remembers the situation we're in right now.
"Listen, I just-" he paused.
"We," he corrected himself. "-just haven't seen a girl since we could remember."
"What?" I reply with the shaky voice from earlier.
"Sorry, Alby can explain that to you...I'm Jeff"
He holds his hand out, waiting for me to shake it. I look at him with a skeptical expression, and he returns it with a drowsy smile. I slowly lower the machete and shake his hand.
"Where am I?" I ask him. No one else seems to answer questions right away, but I needed answers.
"Well, right now you just bursted into the Med-Jack hut," he says, in a 'matter-of-factly' kind of tone.
"Med-Jack?"
"Yeah, we take care of the shanks who get hurt."
"Shanks?" What was he talking about? It's like they speak a whole different language here.
"Sorry, you're a Greenie, I shouldn't be using all the Glader slang yet." He sounded genuine, so I forgave him by nodding. I didn't know what that meant either, so I just assumed it meant like the slang they use at this place or something.
"I know I'm in the Med-Jack hut, but-"
"'But where are you?' Yeah, yeah I know what you mean. This is the glade. Can I take this?"
He motioned at the machete I set down by my left shoe. I nod and he reaches over and sets it on a bed near him.
"It was probably part of the new stock anyway, so thanks for helping us unload!" He laughs at another one of his jokes. I flash him a small smile before he turns back towards me.
"How did you get this knife?"
There was a loud knock on the door.
"Errr...self defense?" You gave him a nervous smile.
I mean it wasn't a lie.
He grabs your arm and pulls you up next to him before you got hit by the door.
"Newt? Winston? What's wrong?" He questions them with a concerned look on his face, while still gripping onto my arm.
"Greenie here made a run for it," Newt replied, panting.
"Yeah, I saw Newt chasing after some psycho chic with a knife so I figured he might need some help."
"Excuse me? It's not my fault! Maybe you shouldn't have sent some 8 foot dude to man handle me out of that elevator thing!" I said, facing the two boys.
"Hey! T'wasn't me! I was doing my job!" Winston put his hands up defensively.
I roll my eyes and rub my face out of stress.
"Gally!" Newt calls out for the guy I threatened in the lift.
He comes into the hut and helps Newt grab my arms.
"Whoa! Hey! Let go of me!" I kick and thrash as hard as I could but their grip just got tighter.
"What the hell is wrong with you two! Jeff is normal why can't everyone be like Jeff?"
Winston looks over at Jeff and laughs a bit, while he returns it.
"It's not funny! Let go of me you're hurting me!"
They drag me outside and Gally open some sort of cell looking thing while Newt holds my hands behind my back.
"Hurry up, shank. She's kicking my shin- Ouch! Hey!"
Gally picks up the pace while untying the rope that keeps it shut.
"Okay, got it."
They drop me in and I land on my feet, assuring not to fall, or lose my balance. Newt tied up the door and Gally walked away.
"You will stay in the Pit until Alby has decided you've calmed down enough." He follows behind Gally, leaving you in the Pit, alone.
"Screw you!" I poke out my hand out and flip them off.
I realized my throat is actually really sore, so I decided to stop yelling so much and maybe take a nap. I groan in defeat and plop down in the corner of the Pit. I fell asleep faster than I thought I would, and stayed asleep longer than I would have liked.
{word count: 2008}