Two boys woke up gasping for air. They coughed up gallons of water. They shuffled around, confused, scared. They were a box of metal. They were surrounded by crates. They were blinded by panel side lights. They felt their backs touch each other.
They screamed. They turned and saw each other. They screamed again. They shuffled back against opposite walls facing each other, breathing heavily.
The taller boy struggled to breath. "Who are you?"
"Who am I?!" the shorter one asked. "Who are you?" He heard an loud oink from inside a crate. "Ahh!" he screamed, jumping back. His heart was pounding. An animal was inside that box.
The taller boy was about to ask another question, when a ringing of clanking echoed in his ears. He realised they were in no ordinary box. They were in a lift. It was moving upwards. "What...what's happening?"
"What to mean what's happening?! What are we in?!" the shorter one snapped. He stared round and saw they were moving up a shaft. He looked down through the cage door and saw darkness behind them. "Why are we in a box?"
"Hello!" the older one called down.
"What'd you calling down there for?! You think someone's goanna hear us?!" the shorter one snapped gain.
But the taller one wouldn't stop. He was petrified, sick with paranoia. He called up to the ceiling. "Hey! Help me! Anybody help!"
"What about me? You're not the only one stuck in this lift!" the shorter one snapped. Looking up for a second, he suddenly saw flashes of red light. He sat down and covered his eyes. The lift suddenly vibrated and the taller boy was knocked off his feet, nearly landing on the shorter one who pushed him away from his private space.
Everything went red, then green, then black.
"Get your hand off my foot!" the shorter one snapped.
"Sorry," the taller one apologised. "Why's it so dark?"
A creaking sound rung their ears and above their heads. As they looked up, they saw light flashing through an widening gap. They covered their eyes with their hands. They prepared for the worst. The light receded slightly. Uncovering their eyes, they felt giant shadows looming over them. Above their heads through the caged ceiling, they saw dozens of boys prying down at them. Some laughed. Some sniggered. Some asked questions like, "Two Greenies?" or "Why are there two there?"
The taller one breathed heavily. The shorter one breathed calmly. He was the braver of the two.
The next thing they saw were the cage ceilings being pulled open. Then a stout boy with a tall face stepped down towards them. He leapt down, looking at them straight in the eyes.
"Mmm. Never been two Greenies before. Rise and shine!" Suddenly he grabbed both boys by their shirts and the next thing they knew they were being hoisted by dozens of hands and then dropped to the ground in a heap of dust.
They cackled. They laughed. They surrounded them. Still pinned to the ground by gravity, the boys stared at everyone towering over them. They heard them muttering. As if they were reading each other's minds, they suddenly bolted onto their feet and made a dash for the open.
"Hey! We got runners!" a voice called out behind them like he was cheering for them.
The pair had managed to get away a good distance. Just then the taller boy lost his footing and he face planted to the grass. The shorter boy didn't trip. He just kept on running. He suddenly spotted a huge gap between two stone walls.
An exit.
He turned to make a getaway, not giving a glance to the other boy who had fallen behind him. He had just about reached the entrance when he was suddenly pummelled to the side. He landed with a thud. Before he could even get up, he was whacked from behind in the head.
He fell unconscious.
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The taller boy lifted his head up. His forehead was screaming in pain. He looked around slightly and saw plains of grass surrounded by walls of giant stone. He wanted to move. He wanted to lift himself up and make a getaway..but his heavy muscles weighed him down. He dropped his head to the grass again.
Seconds later, he felt himself being lifted by four hefty boys. They wrapped their arms around his arm pits and ankles and they carried him away. He saw the blazing sun alight in the sky. He saw clouds. Twisting his weak head, he saw hunts of wood, trees of green...numbers of animals walking around. He wanted to speak but no words came out.
The only thing he was thinking about now was the pain that was tearing his head apart from that fall. His vision was beginning to get blurry. He took glances at the four boys who were carrying him. One of them at the far back had shaggy blonde hair and dark eyes. For some reason, he recognised him. But where? Before he could utter a word, his exhaustion took over his body. He fell asleep.
...............................................
The shorter boy woke up. He cringed, feeling a wave of pain emitting from the back of his skull. It hurt so bad. He woke up. He found himself lying down on his side. He began to suffocate seeing three walls of stone surrounding him. He looked behind him and saw a door, a cage door, made out of thin sticks, like bamboo, strapped together with rope. Locked.
He stood up and looked through. He saw giant stone walls in the far distance, the same ones he observed when he ran away from that lift. He saw boys walking around. He saw animals.
Suddenly a pair of legs appeared into view. The boy jumped back in fright. The owner of the legs kneeled down revealing an older bald-head teenager who looked African. "Hey there Greenbean," he sounded kind but the look in the eyes made the boy shudder a little. "You're not goanna run again. Okay?" this time he sounded serious.
The boy nodded.
"Okay," the teenager opened the pin door.
The moment he did, the prisoner inside burst out into a charade of questions. "Who are you? What is this place? Why did you throw me in here?!" he demanded.
"Just calm down," the older boy gently ushered. "We've all been through this. Now can you remember anything about who you are, where you came from?"
The boy tired to think. He squinted his eyes, trying to dig deep inside for a memory. Nothing. "I can't remember anything," he answered.
"It's okay. We can't remember anything except our name. Your name will come back to you in a day or two,"
The boy remained petrified. "Who are you?"
"My name's Alby, Greenbean,"
"Why are you calling me that?"
"It's the name we give to new arrivals,"
Confusion creased the boy's eyebrows. "Arrivals?"
"Yeah. You and that taller boy who face planted aren't the only ones to arrive here. We all arrived here just like you did. Now..." Alby. offered a hand. "Will you let me show you around?"
The shorter boy didn't know what to do. His heart was already thumping with fright enough as it was. But the kindness he saw in Alby's eyes made his nerves soften. He took it. He was pulled out into the open.
...............................................
The taller boy felt his eyes flickering. His forehead felt cold. He twisted a little. He turned a little. He felt himself lying down on a soft mattress, much better than the metal surface he had woken up in inside that awful box. He heard muttering voices. Feeling his head again, he felt ice packed in cloth dapped over his forehead. He lifted it off. The cold feeling didn't leave his head but the pain was still soothing. His conscious grew stronger with every inch that he sat up. He rubbed his head, soothing the pain.
"Ahh!" a voice spoke up. It sounded British. "See you're up quite quickly,"
Quick as a whip, the boy sprung out of bed, grabbing a nearby knife from a wooden table. He pointed it at the British speaker and two boys standing right behind.
"Woah! Woah!" they shouted out, surprised by their patient's reaction.
"Put that down!" one shouted.
"No need to attack us!" another shouted.
The British speaker who the taller boy was looking was the boy who he had focused his sight on when he was being carried away before falling unconscious. "Just calm down. Alright?"
"Where am I?" the taller boy demanded. "Who are you all? Why are you keeping me here?!"
"Will you please just calm down?" the blonde-haired boy ushered with his hands, quite desperately.
"Not until you start giving me answers!"
The boy paused for a second. "Okay. Just calm down for a second. You're clearly in shock. We were all in shock as well,"
He allowed the taller boy to relax a little, to allow his nerves to soften.
"Who are you?" the taller boy asked.
"I'm Newt. Can you remember your name?"
The taller boy digged deep into his head. Nothing. "No,"
"You'll get your name back in a day or two. It's the one they let us keep,"
"Who are they?" the taller boy was scared.
"The ones who put us here. You're not the only one who arrived here in that lift," Newt gently pushed a hand forward and pressed the blade down slightly. "Okay. You've nothing to worry about Greenie,"
The taller boy calmed down but his heart remained thumping in his chest like thunder. He allowed Newt to take it away.
"Now," Newt started up again. "Let's take you to Alby. He'll be wanting to see you. He made a move to take the tallest new arrival away but he staggered back.
"Alby? Who's Alby?" The boy's empty brain was now filling up with questions.
"Our leader. Now come on. He'll want to meet you. He's probably already started giving the shorter Greenie a tour?"
Once again another question popped into the taller boy's head. "Greenie?"
Newt playfully rolled his eyes. "Just come on and Alby will explain everything," he grabbed his hand and pulled him outside. The taller boy's head began to fill with more and more questions every second. But some reasons, this British boy that he was looking at...he sound familiar.
That's chapter One done. Please send reviews and let me know what you all thought.