A/n: picture is an ai generated image of our girl waking up in the maze
~
The first thing I heard was the rustle of... something beneath me as a small breeze brushed by.
I groaned, my head pounding as I braced my hands beneath me. I peeled my eyes open, hissing slightly as the blinding light hit them. As my sight adjusted, I realized that I was laying on a thin layer of leaves and vines, an odd grey flooring lying underneath it. Panic suddenly rose in my chest.
Where am I?
I managed to get myself up, spinning in a slow circle as I examined my surroundings.
What is this place?
I was in what appeared to be a long corridor, tall grey walls surrounded me covered in vines. My eyes took purchase on the end of the corridor, showing two different ways I could turn. I took two steps forward before stumbling, a tingling sensation buzzing beneath my skin one moment and disappearing in the next. I winced at the feeling.
What was that?
Grunting, I took a few more struggling steps forward before my body seemed to remember how to function again. I brushed a piece of dark brown hair away from my face-
Wait, how long is my hair? What do I look like?
I panicked further when the answer didn't come to me, eyeing the hair that hung just past my chest. At least I knew the color of my hair. I made it to the end of the corridor, eyeing both directions before I noticed large letters on the wall to the left. I jogged over to it, brushing the few vines that hung in my way away and took in the letters. W.C.K.D.
"What is W.C.K.D..." I muttered, frowning when I realized I had no clue. I continued down the corridor anyways, making turns based on what felt right and just hoping that I'd find a way out of here. I had come to realize quickly it was a maze, and surely if I had somehow managed to get myself into this maze, then there would have to be an exit as well, right? I sighed,
Why am I even here?
~
Ava Paige watched the screen in front of her with a keen eye, eyeing subject A0's chemical responses and waiting for any sign of a magical response.
Mary Cooper stood next to her, hoping against hope that Mav would show no signs of magic. If she did, and Ava Paige murdered her, she would kill the blonde herself.
After a few moments, Doctor Paige nodded satisfactorily. "Her chip has passed the tests of induced panic, disorientation, and memory loss. Congratulations Doctor Cooper, your invention is a success. Janson, have your crew in the safety guidance control room direct subject A0 to the center of the Maze."
"It'd be my pleasure."
Mary stiffened, hearing the man standing uncomfortably close behind her.
"Doctor Cooper, do you wish to observe A0's progress with me? You're the best equipped to ensure that her magic reflecting chip is working properly, after all." He said, laying a hand on the small of her back.
Mary gritted her teeth as she saw the amused glance Doctor Paige sent between them. Knowing she couldn't say no, she nodded. "Of course, let's go." She said stiffly, leading the way and quickly leaving the room- and his grasp.
Janson quickly caught up with her, walking close enough to brush his arm against hers. She internally gagged. Janson was a creep, commonly referred to as "rat man" by herself and a few close colleagues. She had tried to gently turn him down without outright saying it, but the man couldn't seem to take a hint.
She sighed inaudibly in relief as they made it to the control room, further relieved to see two people that she trusted. "Vince, Charlotte!" She greeted with a tense smile. They both looked up, smiles tensing when they saw who hovered next to her. Vince quickly stood and walked over to them, "I'm sure you're here to watch Ma- uh, A0's progress? Here, let me show you." He said, taking her elbow and leading her over to where they were sitting.
Mary untensed instantly, calmed by the man's presence. "Thanks," she murmured, glancing quickly at Jansons darkening face and back again as he pulled out a seat for her. "For this and what you just did." She said quietly, sparring him a small smile. He smiled at her warmly, "No problem."
Charlotte cleared her throat, her face stern but eyes twinkling in amusement as the two stared at each other. Ignoring their slightly flustered expressions she pointed to her screen, "Let's watch over A0, shall we?"
~
Left, Left, Right, Left.
I took turn after turn in the maze, feeling more hopeless as not a single sign of an exit appeared before me. I was starting to think that my plan of just following my gut with the way I turned was a bad one. By now I was running, my panic dulling slightly as the adrenaline coursing through my body had a place to go.
Adrenaline? Really? I know what adrenaline is but not my own name? Whatever.
I huffed, my brain telling me that I'd turn right at the next turn. Why? I couldn't tell you. It just felt right. I had been running for what felt like hours, and judging by how bright it was around me, I think I was right. I had yet to see the sun, or any clouds, or any sign of life for that matter. I was starting to think this place wasn't real when I turned right and suddenly heard a smattering of panicked male voices.
I stumbled to a stop, freezing as I tried to listen over my labored breathing to where the voices were coming from. I began sprinting, hearing the voices to the left. "HEY!" I yelled, turning the corner and squinting as a bright expanse of land greeted me. I saw a group of about fifteen to twenty people all turn my way, their own panicked voices halting as I finally left the stone walls.
The first thing I noticed as I got closer was that they were all boys. Not a single female in sight. The second thing I noticed was that even though they had all stopped talking, their facial expressions did the talking for them. Many still had tears on their faces, expressions of anguish and confusion marring their faces.
I slowed as I got closer, breathing heavily from my sudden sprint. "Where... where are we?" I questioned, hunching over for a moment before standing tall. "And who are all of you?"
The boys all looked at each other in confusion before a tall boy with blonde hair stepped forward, "We don't know, we just got here through the box... Who are you?"
I frowned, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "I don't know... I don't know my name. You said you came from a- a box? Where?"
The boys all parted at my question, revealing an empty hole in the ground lined with steel. It appeared to be some sort of elevator, although I wasn't sure how I knew that.
"None of us know our names or why we're here." The boy from before said as I turned to face him. A few boys behind me shut the metal doors over the hole. "Where did you come from? You obviously weren't in the box with us."
"Probably a good thing." One of the boys joked, shooting me a playful wink as I glanced his way. Out of all the boys, he was one of the few who looked the least distraught. I wrinkled my nose at him as he ran his hand through his dark hair, his already squinty eyes squinting further in amusement.
"I came from the Maze."
Upon seeing the confused faces I quickly explained. "The walls surrounding us? It's all a giant maze- or at least, all the parts that I went through were laid out like a maze. I woke up in one of its corridors, and somehow found my way here..." I sighed, "This place is like a peaceful little glade compared to the stone walls in there."
"What are the odds that you found your way here?" Someone chuckled incredulously, I turned and made eye contact with a boy with blonde hair. "That's bloody insane, how did you do it?"
I wondered at his accent as I chuckled awkwardly, "I don't know... I just trusted my gut?"
"Some gut. Do you have any ideas on how to get out of here? You've been in the maze, does it seem to lead somewhere?"
I frowned at the boy who first spoke to me, "Surely it must... it led me here, didn't it? There has to be some sort of pattern to it..." I shook my head, "But even if there is a way out, there's no way we'll be able to find it today. I was running in there for hours, the maze must surround this, uh, this spot."
"The Glade."
I turned to the boy who winked at me earlier, "What?"
"Let's call this spot the Glade, like you called it earlier. If the maze out there is really as bad as you say it is, then calling this spot a glade seems right. My gut says so." He said with a smirk.
My eye twitched but I nodded, "Sure. The Glade."
Ignoring the boy's victorious expression, I turned to the boy who I mentally dubbed as the leader. "We should find a way to make a shelter-"
We all flinched as a loud blaring noise filled the area, a few of the younger boys screaming. Me and the leader shared a frown and made our way to the box as a sudden shuddering noise emitted from it. It was clear that the siren was warning us that something was coming up from the box, and as the siren stopped me and the leader boy shared another look. The noise from the box soon halted and we stepped forward and pulled the doors open and gaped at the sight.
Inside were multiple crates and boxes, the floor littered with a few different tools: hammers, crowbars, and more just sitting there as if telling us to use them to open the boxes.
Hesitantly, I hopped down into the box. The boys screamed above me, crowding around the opening. "Don't do that you- you- slinthead!" I snorted, "Slinthead? Really?" "I stand by what I said." The squinty boy, who I mentally named Sassy, said grumpily. The blonde one swore when the leader jumped down next to me, calling down a "be careful" as we eyed the boxes. "We should try to get these out of here before we open them." He said.
I nodded, picking up a crowbar with a raised brow. "Yeah, looks like whoever sent us here wants us to open them." I looked around the box, taking in all of the red lights until my eyes landed on one that blinked. I glowered.
A camera.
"Whoever you are, wherever you are, we will get out of here. And you will suffer for putting us out here." I scowled. Leader looked over at me, seeing the same thing I did and glared. "Yeah, just watch out. When we get out of here, you're gonna pay."
We both flipped off the camera in sync, and the blinking red light turned off. I smirked, "Looks like we managed to piss off whoever put us here."
He chuckled and agreed, and we began instructing the boys above us on how to help us get the crates out of the box.
A little while later we had all of the crates out and opened, a mix of things in each one. One crate had building supplies, another food, another a mix of clothes. Me and the Leader took the time to equally distribute the supplies, creating temporary groups of construction before helping whatever groups needed an extra hand at the time. It had started to get dark in the Glade by the time we finished setting up a smattering of hammocks amongst the trees, and we all scrambled to get a fire going when we realized that it was getting colder. There was a shifty building that seemed to be a kitchen, and inside we found a few lighters and a few containers of oil.
Some of the boys played pretend sword fighting with the leftover sticks near the makeshift fire pit, causing us to chuckle when we walked back. We dunked some of the smaller branches that had been collected in the oil and stuck them beneath the large pile of wood, starting a small fire quickly. We shared a grin right as one of the boys behind us backed up too far and accidentally hit Leader with full force on the head.
I gaped, everyone around us stopping as a loud thump filled the air. Leader fell over immediately, and I rushed to his side.
"Hey! Hey leader, you alright? Shit-"
"Nick!"
I blinked, "... What?"
"My name! It's Nick!" He laughed before groaning slightly and holding his head.
Upon seeing that he was, miraculously, not bleeding I grinned. "His name is Nick!" I cheered, the boys all joining around me with hoots and hollers and "Hey Nicks!" being thrown around. The fire pit suddenly blazed brightly behind us, lighting up the Glade in an orange glow.
I looked up and shared a grin with the blonde with an accent, before looking back to Nick. "If you can get your name back, then surely we all can too. And if we can get our names back, then maybe we can find out who put us here."
He nodded, watching as a dark-skinned boy with a scruff made his way around, passing out food. "We'll find a way out of here." He promised, "For them."
I nodded in agreement, my eyes trailing over the boys as they chatted and ate. "That we will, Nick. That we will."