Noise. Screeching noise. It consumed my every thought, my every bone, as I felt the movement of the box jolt suddenly, moving upward as it gained speed by the second. I sighed, placing my head in my hands. Why me? Why did it have to be me? I thought to myself as I shook my head, refusing to let myself cry. I had to do as I was told. If not for WICKED, then for the credibility of the research. It all went towards creating an antidote, which went towards saving lives. Do it for the innocent lives being taken each day by the Flare. I told myself. I curled up in a ball, cowering in the corner of the all too familiar box as I assumed the facial expression of a terrified, confused little girl. I would know, I once had that face on for real. The first time I entered the Glade, well...my Glade that is, I was terrified. Although, the people I was about to meet were, I'm sure, even more terrified when they arrived. From what that woman was saying, they knew a lot less than Group B. I sighed, twiddling my thumbs as I waited for the Box to stop. It should only be a few minutes now. I figured, tapping my foot impatiently as I waited. Try to think of this on the upside. Maybe you can make some new friends. Have some new experiences. It's not like you were being tested, that woman said so herself. Maybe they'd go easy on you, Lilli. Maybe they won't see you as a threat at all. Maybe they'll even welcome you, just like they would do back in Group B. I thought to myself, trying to calm my breathing as the loud box finally screeching to a halt. Show time. I took a deep breath, only exhaling when the doors into the Glade opened above me, casting bright, incandescent light upon me as I squinted, blocking my eyes from the sun. I heard voices mumbling above me, before I felt the box jolt with the new weight of a grown person. Ah yes, the infamous "Greenie Welcome", I thought to myself as I heard gasps coming from all around me. I didn't just say that out loud did I? Thankfully, that wasn't what they were gasping at, because it was only after I removed my hand from my eyes as a sun shield, that I realized how odd just the nature of e being there truly was.
"I-Is that a bloody Girl, Gally?" I British voice echoed above me. It was most definitely a male voice. Wait a minute, why were they so shocked about my gender? I thought this place was supposed to be filled with girls! I mean, wasn't that the nature of these tests? That's when it occurred to me, what kind of scientist would test only one gender, and not the other. Only the work of an amateur, and WICKED, despite the fact that they were many, many things, was not an amateur...at anything.
"Yeah, mate. It's a shucking girl." A strong, deep voice came from directly above me. The boy who had jumped into the box. I looked up at him, taking in his features. He had brown eyes, short, dirty blonde hair, and crazy eyebrows that gave him the apparent look of constant astonishment. Although, I might be speaking from a fairly impartial moment, seeing as how he actually was in obvious astonishment. He was quite solid, muscular, and extremely tall, the fact that he was towering over me wasn't really helping the situation. He seemed to be taking my appearance in as well, before he blinked, looking away, almost as though in embarrassment. He extended a hand, which I took, but only after a moment of looking from him, back towards his hand. I had seen a lot of Greenies do this same thing when they would first enter our Maze, so I figured it would play along with the whole "I have no idea what the hell is going on" appearance. He lifted me up, setting me on the ground of the Maze. Climbing out after me and offering me a hand up. I took it, laying my small, delicate hand in his large, strong one.
"Name's Gally, Greenie. This here is Newt, and this is Alby. He's our leader here. Welcome, to the Glade." The boy who had helped me out of the box, Gally, said roughly. I shook slightly, trying to appear as helpless as possible. And then, I did something that so very many of our new Gladers did when they became scared and panicked. I figured it was probably pretty common here as well. Although, these were boys, so who knows. Either way, I took off running, sprinting as fast as my legs would carry me. My slight figure was an advantage towards running, however, my weak muscles were not. As soon as I was out of the crowd, I started looking around. Holy Crank...this was nothing like the Glade I was used to. It was an open field for God's sake! I noticed a shack here and there, crafted poorly from sticks and rope, but that was it. How were you suppose to conduct research in those hideous buildings! In the Glade I was used to, there were established, clean brick buildings, with proper research equipment and state of the art technology. Perfect for working tirelessly on serums, antidotes, every drug under the sun. Here, there were trees, and this seemingly endless field. However, it was only a moment before I spotted the walls. Ah yes, at least that was the same. The same dull shade of gray, the same eerie feeling that something bad was always on the verge of happening. I continued sprinting, looking back momentarily, only to see the large group of people standing completely still. I guess this was normal. And, just as I had suspected, they were all boys. Every single one of them. Oh God...WICKED is going to pay for this one when I get back. Whenever that is... I heard a few hoots and hollers, but I ignored them, continuing to sprint. I had covered post of the ground, I was only a few yards away from the entrance to the Maze now. Obviously, I wasn't going in, but I wanted to make them believe that I didn't know any better. I began to hear screams coming from the boys, they were yelling for me to stop. I did as told, but only after nearing the entrance. All too close for my taste. I backed up, turning 360 degrees as I pretended to take in the scenery. Most of the boys were catching up to me now. Man, they really underestimated me. If I hadn't stopped running, I could have easily made it out of the Maze before they caught me. They really needed to work on catching on faster. I had a look of fake confusion and fear plastered on my face, one that I had seen all too many times before in my Glade.
"Shuck, she's fast!" The British boy, who Gally had introduced as Newt, huffed as he finally caught up to me. Gally was right behind him, the other boys, along with their leader Alby, were right behind him.
"It's a damn good thing Greenie here stopped! Otherwise she woulda been Griever food!" One of the boys shouted, chuckling. I glanced over him. Wait a minute...Griever? Didn't he mean Crank?
"W-What is this place?" I questioned, fake fear lacing my voice. Newt sighed, stepping forward. He obviously had some sort of leadership here as well.
"Listen, we're not going to hurt you, ok? This place, is the Glade. We all came here the same way you did. Through that box. The only difference is, well, we were all boys. You're the first girl. Ever." I let my mouth hang open, pretending to absorb all of the information. First of all, the fact that he would start off by saying 'we're not going to hurt you' was just insulting. Even if they did want to hurt me, they aren't shucking fast enough to catch me! I thought to myself. After I allowed enough time to pass, I swallowed hard, nodding as I allowed them to take me away from the edge of the Glade.
"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?" This time it was Alby speaking. I glanced over at him, shaking my head, letting my eyes dart around as though in panic or confusion.
"J-just my name." I said slowly. He nodded.
"And what's your name, then sweetheart?" He was treating me like a kid, although, I must've come off childish, by appearing so frail and fearful. I cleared my throat, figuring that I could maybe lay off the fidgety little innocent look just a little.
"Lilli." I said confidently. Alby smiled a bit, nodding as they guided me over towards a building that looked to be filled with primitive hammocks and a few blankets here and there.
"This is the Homestead. It's where we all sleep at night. Here, why don't you get some rest, the rest of us, Council Meeting. Now." Alby said, he sounded serious. It's probably about me. All the boys left, leaving me alone with my thoughts. A smaller, chubby boy, probably no older than 12, with pale skin an dark, curly brown hair stayed behind, taking a fresh cloth and tying it between to free posts. He was making a hammock for me. He gave me a wide, toothy smile as he patted the cloth.
"You can sleep here, for now. Don't worry, I'm sure Alby will find something a bit more...private for you in a bit. Hope you don't mind, he told me to watch you. But don't worry, I promise you'll be safe with me." I couldn't help but smile, nodding as I sat down on the hammock.
"Thanks..."
"Chuck." He finished for me. I smiled.
"Thanks, Chuck." I said finally, flashing him a small smile before I laid down on the hammock. It was surprisingly more comfortable than I would have thought, but that may have been partially because my every muscle was soar from that made dash I had just made. I honestly think I pulled something.
I woke to the slight sway of my hammock, and a chubby round face peering over me. Oh God it wasn't a dream. All of it...it was real.
"Wake up, Lilli. The Council Meeting is over, and the Council members wanna see you now!" Chuck said, almost in glee or delight. I smiled, nodding hesitantly as I climbed out of the hammock.
"Thanks for waking me Chuck." I said calmly. Chuck nodded, guiding me over towards a wooden building. I stepped inside.
"I'm not a council member, so I'll just wait outside for ya." Chuck said, smiling cheerfully as I nodded. He closed the door behind him, leaving me in a room with just a few boys, sitting in a semi-circle, staring at me intently. There was a chair facing all of them.
"Please, have a seat, Lilli." Alby said, gesturing towards the chair. I walked over towards the chair, sitting down and facing all of them. Most of the faces I didn't recognize, except for Alby, Newt, and Gally. The rest of the boys looked pretty unfamiliar.
"Alright, Lilli. Now, first I would officially like to welcome you to Glade." Alby said plainly. I nodded.
"Umm, is this the Glade then?" I asked, acting as clueless as possible. Alby, along with a few others, nodded.
"Yes. This is the Glade. Outside the Glade, well, you'll get more information on the tour. The point is, we don't go out there, ever. It's extremely dangerous, ok? That's why we were all so worried before. But don't worry, we're completely safe inside these walls. Those entrances that you saw? They close up at night. Anyway, moving on, I need you to be completely honest with us, Lilli. Do you remember anything. Anything at all, from before waking up in the box. It's normal if you don't, but we need to know if you do. You need to tell us." This was the moment that WICKED had been talking about. Trick them, or let all off the information go. I knew what I had to do, but it still felt wrong lying to these perfectly innocent people. Still, I shook my head.
"No. I don't remember a thing. Should I?" I asked, calmer now. Alby shook his head.
"No, like I said before, it's completely normal. None of us remembered anything either. We just thought you might. After all, you're different from any other Greenie we've ever gotten before." I furrowed my eyebrows, pretending to be confused.
"Greenie?" A couple of the boys smiled at my obvious naivety. If only they knew.
"Yeah, it's our special word for the new arrival. We get a new addition to our clan each month. Just like clockwork. And up until now, they've all been boys. Anyway, the point is, you're our new addition. We hope you fit in comfortably with our clan, and if any of these shucks are giving you a hard time, just let us know, alright?" I nodded, pretending to look slightly confused at the "new" vocabulary. I saw Gally smile out of the corner of my eye.
"Alright, Gally here will give you the official tour, so you can just follow him out. Then throughout the week, you can start trying out for different jobs that we have available, that way you can start working and earning your keep here just like the rest of us. But don't worry, you won't get assigned a job that you absolutely hate, are aren't comfortable with. We will take your opinion into consideration before making a final decision at the end of the week. Anyway, I think that's it for now! Welcome to the Glade, Greenie!" Alby said, smiling a bit as he stood from his seat in the semi-circle. Most of the boys filed out off the building after him, shaking my hand and waving good-bye before exiting the room. I chuckled a bit, when suddenly I realized that I wasn't alone.
"What do you think you're laughing at, Greenie?" Gally chuckled from behind me. I spun around to see him smirking, leaning against his chair in lenience. I shrugged, trying to hide the smile on my face.
"Nothing. And don't call me Greenie, alright? My name's Lilli." Gally smiled, his eyes flickering for just a moment. Recognition, maybe?
"Mhmm, well, I'll stop calling you Greenie when you stop being a Greenie, deal? So until next month rolls around, I'm afraid you're shuck out of luck." Gally chuckled lightly, making his way towards the doorway. I followed him.
"Alright, slinthead. How about for the next month I call you Princess." I murmured under my breath. I didn't mean for him to hear me, but he obviously did, spinning around on his heels as he looked at me in confusion.
"What did you just say?" I took a step back. Uh-oh. I had just used Glader language, hadn't I?
"Nothing, Princess." I said cheekily, trying to cover up for my mistake.
"No, no. Not that. You said Slinthead, I heard you. Where did you pick up that word?" He interrogated. I shrugged, blowing it off.
"I heard one off you guys saying it earlier. I figured it was an insult. That's all." I said casually. Gally didn't look fully convinced, but he obliged, leading me out of the room and into the open air of daylight.
"Mhmm, alright, fine. Well, anyway, this is the Glade. It's not much, but it's our home." He said, almost as though he should be reading off of note cards that Alby had written for him.
"Let me guess, you don't do this all that often." I said plainly. Surprisingly, Gally just laughed. He shook his head.
"No, not really. It's not my job. I'm filling in for Newt, he's that skinny shank you saw earlier. He had to teach Thomas, that's the other Greenie by the way, the ropes of gardening. And since, according to Alby, gardening is more important than building, I have to give the Greenie the tour. Waste of time if you ask me." Gally said gruffly, taking long strides off towards one of the buildings, leaving me to trail behind him, trying to catch up as he continued to talk, in complete disregard as to whether I was actually listening or not. Finally, he stopped in the middle of the field.
"That's the kitchen over there. That's where the food is made, and where we eat. As if that wasn't self-explanatory enough. Next you'll see the gardens way over there, and that little shank talking to that other shank? Yeah, that's Newt. He's the Keeper of the Gardens. And that shuck-face he's talking to is Thomas. He just arrived a couple of days ago. Moving on..." Gally turned in the opposite direction, without actually going up close to anything. We just stayed perfectly stationary in the middle of the open field. Wow, such a productive, clear, and efficient way to give a tour...not.
"That forest bit over there is called the Deadheads. Now, Newt might sugarcoat this bit usually, but I don't see the point in sugar-coating stuff. It's just a waste of time. Now, when the Glade first got started, about 3 years ago, we had no order, no assignments or chores. There was chaos and rioting. Some people couldn't take it, and others lashed out. Casualties were buried out there, in the Deadheads. Got it?" I nodded, as we then turned again.
"That over there? That's the Mapping room. That's for Runner's only, so don't even bother going over there. You're obviously too weak to be a runner, so don't waste your time begging and pleading like Thomas did. It won't get you anywhere." I looked at him, this time in genuine confusion.
"Wait a minute, what do runner's do?" Gally looked at me, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Isn't it obvious? They run the maze. Look for a way out. That room is where they map their progress. Oh yeah, that reminds me. Beyond those walls? It's a giant maze, and we have yet to find a way out. Sorry if that was too 'straight-to-the-point' for you." This time the shock that was apparent on my face was completely genuine. Not because of the Maze, I was already aware of that of course. Why would you send people voluntarily into a Maze full of dangerous Cranks? It's not like they had any weapons to fight them! A thought of being dragged into the WICKED Headquarters suddenly flashed back through my mind. "You think she's going to make it with Group A?" "Not a chance. It's a completely different set of trials. Way more physically demanding. My bet is, she won't last the day." I gasped, stumbling backwards a bit as I realized that, despite the fact that they were both Mazes, they were completely different tests. I wouldn't be surprised if these people had massive supplies of weaponry, if they actually trained themselves to fight these god awful creatures. Alby even said, their doors close at night. The doors never closed in the Maze I was used to. I felt a strong hand on my shoulder, steadying me as I started shaking.
"Hey, Lilli? Are you ok?" I looked up to meet Gally's worried eyes. Maybe he wasn't completely self-centered and egotistical. Maybe.
"I-I'm fine. Yeah, sorry. I just, I was just thinking of something. T-the Maze. Yeah. I was just thinking about how it's a Maze." I said quietly. Again, Gally didn't look convinced, by any means. He nodded, however, letting go of me gently before continuing with his "tour".
"Ok. Now, as you can see over there we have the Med-Jacks..."