So this bit is rewritten of the prologue
(There is a touchy subject in this. You have been warned. Then again you might already know if you've read the books.)
I had been in the Glade for almost 3 months now. I'd had plenty of time to adjust to the system and we've had decent progress for the past month straight.
We were awaiting the arrival of the box. It was coming up to a month and the constant buzz around the glade meant the gladers were antsy to meet the new greenie, fact was that he should be sent up any time this week. We like being prepared, so we'd set up a bed and a chair had been made and placed in the dining hall for who ever comes up. Usually, box comes up, Alby helps me with the doors, I hop down and introduce them, Alby gives the tour of the place we've learned to call home. It's what we're accustomed to.
Bouncing a blue plastic ball against the ground and catching it, my head leant on the table, I sat disastrously bored in the Med-jack shack. If you could call ten sticks and a blanket over it a shack. I huffed, earning a side - eyed glare from Jeff, who was wrapping a bandage around our regular Slicer, who in fairness had about four other fingers wrapped in white. He hissed through his teeth and ignored the rythmic bouncing.
Jeff heard it first. His head lifted immediately at the wailing of the siren. Kain next, when he noticed Jeff had become quite unfocused. Then me. My ball bounced off the ground, almost hitting me in the chin on it's rebound. I stood almost instantly. Finally, something good is happening.
I pushed passed the fabric door, not bothering to hold it open for the other two. As I got closer and closer, the louder the siren got and the more I needed to know who and what was arriving. I suppose some of the others were eager too, already gathered around the box, wanting to collect their designated supplies and get on with their assigned tasks. Or, on the other hand. Some were less excited. Dragging their feet to a lethargic rhythm, hoping they weren't the poor sod baby sitting the new guy for the next week and a half.
I met with Alby at the entrance of the box. His head followed me as I joined his side, no acknowledgement of my arrival other than a small grunt. He nodded his head to the other side of the box and I made my way around it, grasping the handle on the other side and heaving the lid to the shaft, the boys on the side taking hold of the doors for the better chance of getting a proper look.
Inside the box, like every other month that'd I'd been here, was a boy. He was barely noticeable at first, hidden behind the pig box. He dug his face into his knees, which were closed up to his chest, to shy away from the harsh light caused by the midday sun. His breath hitched, chest huffing and puffing like some thirsty dog. My brows furrowed at the sight of him, like a wounded animal feigning his death.
The boy looked no older than thirteen, his hair blonde and matted, the ears that stuck out underneath a bright pink that seemed to fade in colour the longer the heat hit his exposed body. His clothes were brief. His trousers barely reached his ankles and the shirt he was wearing was clean, but raised up his back slightly as he hunched over even further.
I sighed at the sound of snickering, rolling my eyes at the immaturity of the others, deciding they'd had their fun and there was no point in giving the guy you'll be staying with for who knows how long another reason to hate you.
"Alright, you miserable shanks, shows over," I chanced a glance at Alby, who halfed a smile and nodded. At the sight of none of the boys moving, I sucked my teeth. "I said Move it!" I barked, the boys jumped in unison, scurrying away from the entrance of the box. "Lads," I turned over my shoulder to a couple of young boys who'd started the chuckle-fest, who froze like deer in the head light. " you have jobs to do, I suggest you do them. And do them right first time." They've been slacking. I thought for a moment, crossing my arms as an idea initiated a punishment. "When we're good 'n gone, get everyone's stuff out and deliver it."
"But that'll take all day! We'll miss the-" the boy spoke up, before shutting his mouth at the sight of my concrete face.
They were talking about the Greenie party later on tonight. We started doing a celebration the night a new Greenie was brought up and every month since, the party expanded and more and more elements were added to where it was now an almost Grand Celebration. Where Stewie would cook up his best and Jake would create a glorious campfire for us to enjoy. In theory, a nice and enjoyable welcome for the new comer, especially after such an experience.
I watched Alby walk away, off to some garden to tend to or hut to dodgily put together.
Turning my focus back onto the crisis in the box, I sighed once again, slowly pacing round to the open area. I crouched down, placing a hand on the side as an achor, before landing with a rather loud Thud on the metal elevator. I suppose in hind sight that was a bad idea; the pig, who's box was shielding the boy from the outside, had reared up and squealed viciously, causing the wooden frame to shake vigorously and the boy, once calm with his knees to his chest and his arms covering his ears yelped, throwing his limbs around as he scurried to get away from the shrieking noise that made our ears bleed. I flinched at the sound, tumbling back as I pressed my body against the crate. To get it to stop I kicked the box firmly with my heel once, the noise emanating whimpered before it fell completely silent again.
"Woah ok," I breathed out. Warily, I dragged my eyes over to the boy, who was sprawled out across the crate, breathing turned rapid and his gaze fixated on the pig box, as if it'd blow up again at any moment. I gathered myself up quickly and took one rather large step towards him, still crouched, before he jerked back. It dawned on me that he was still on high alert from the prior fiasco.
"Hey," I held a hand out to him gently, as if to say I won't come any closer but you're okay, "you're safe now, okay." His wide eyed expression was now glued to me.
"That's just a pig." Was my terrible attempt at an explanation, "it can't hurt you." I tapped the box twice with open fingers, as if to prove that the pig was harmless. He followed my hand with his head, waiting to see what would happen, the pig grunted, snorting out a response before it quietened down.
"And they're gone too, alright?" I threw my arm behind me. "It's just you," I pointed to him, the grip he'd had on the cage holes loosened, "and me." I pointed back at myself.
A few moments pass by, he didn't say anything. He would just look me up and down with his eyes, his brown eyes that were now out in the open. Vulnerable.
I felt myself inhale sharply, "Do you know your name?"
"Who are you?" He stumbled over his words, the first words he'd said to me.
I was gobshocked, to say the least. I suppose I just wasn't expecting it. I was expecting an answer, some shaky response to the common question. But no. That boy had this tone that set an atmosphere of general authority. Who was he? What happened to this thirteen year old so that he has this undermining tone towards a friendly figure? Well I'd like to think I was a friendly figure.
I shook my head. Clearing the plate and ridding the thoughts and questions that plagued my mind about this curious boy.
"Uh," I muttered raising my eyebrows, "My name is Alex. Or Al, if you'd like."
A moment passed; "how about you? Do you remember your name?"
I watched as his face fell. His eyes skipped around and a look of confusion set on his face, maybe even a hint of panic as he tumbled, spiralled into deep, wandering and dangerous thought.
"I can't remember..."
He muttered, dissatisfied with his answer evidently by the eyebrows, as they furrowed deeper and deeper.
"That's okay." I shrugged, "you'll re-"
"Why can't I remember anything?!" He hissed, tears of continuous frustration welled in his eyes.
"It's okay!" I overspoke him, he shot me a look, as if he was unsure of my intent, as if he was asking me to promise him that it was. I had to give him that hope, it was the least I could do.
"None of us remember anything, okay? Not from before this. All we get is basic human instinct, alright? What we need to survive on our own. We remember how to build, how to make clean drinking water, how to hunt, how to cook, how to plant and nuture seeds into growing these crops we can survive off. We get that, and we get our names." I sighed, shuffling uncomfortably at the fear of not knowing anything from before the maze except our names. "That's the only thing we get to keep and we're damn lucky 'cause it could've been a hell of a lot worse,"
The boy had been somewhat following along on what I was saying, and he seemed to understand. His head shifted, curious about how our situation was, in anyway, lucky.
"This box, we're sitting in, right here, every month brings up fresh food, supplies and a fresh face. This month, that's you. This means that someone out there is looking out for us. Keeping us alive. That's pretty damn lucky to me."
I glanced him over, he wasn't too sure he believed what I was saying. I inhaled sharply, before deciding we'd been in here way too long.
"Alright," I pushed myself up, extending my legs out as to stretch them from the uncomfortable position I'd spent too long on, I then grasped my hands and clicked my fingers, making sure to individually press each one back, "get up," I threw my hand in front of him, by the disgraced look on his face he was not impressed with the clicking. "Let's get you out of here. We've spent one minute too many in this man-hole and I think both you and I can agree we need some proper air."
The boy, hesitant to reach out for support, took the hand, to which he was hauled up onto his unstable feet, regaining his balance almost instantly.
Then, I climbed the boxes at the side of the cage one foot at a time and lifted myself out of the box. I then turned around, holding out a supporting hand, which he took, and guided him out of the maze of supplies.
I watched him squint at the fresh sunlight, hitting his face and bouncing off his blonde, shaggy hair. Strange, I'd never met someone so thin and spindly. The way his clothes barely fit him, even when standing and the shoes they had to tie him into were breaking at the seams.
The boy looked at the high walls, shellshocked. All colour he'd just gained had left him again. It seemed he didnt estimate his unlikely predicament. The walls that closed us in, way higher than him or I, cloaked in a thick layer of ivy, seemed to make us feel safe.
"This is the glade." I stated, "this is our home." I noticed he had a fixation on the gaps at each face of the wall. Currently he was eyeing the North wall, bare and out in the open.
"Why can't we leave?" He questioned quickly, snapping his head over to me. I scoffed, as I let the curious puppy wander too far away.
"Because," linking my arm with his before he got away too quickly, I then pulled him back. He stumbled abit, catching himself as he fell inline by my side. "Outside those walls," I pointed to the break in the walls, "is a maze. We" I gestured between us, "don't go out there, it's not safe."
He slowly moved his head towards me, realising the seriousness of the situation. "Why isn't it safe?" He asked reluctantly, I felt his arm stiffen as I begun to talk about the walls and it's outskirts again.
"When night falls, those doors shut, okay? They close up and they do not open again until the sun rises again the next day. If you get stuck out there, you're good as gone by the time the doors open up."
He gulped, a new fear unlocked behind his eyes and I could feel him trembling on my arm.
"Alex!" An authoritative voice boomed out from behind us, successfully gaining both our attention. My heart skipped a beat as I spun around, the kid seemed to shuffle behind me, unsure of the new unit added to the equation. I smiled to myself at his actions.
"Alby! Are you trying to scare him off already? He's only just got out of the box."
I scolded his brash actions, not that he had much to say about them.
"Me scare him? Who's the one telling him about the maze, huh?" Well that was locked and loaded.
"Yeah whatever." I sighed, leaning back slightly to whisper something to the kid.
"This is Alby. He wasn't supposed to show up until later. But he's harmless, wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Hey, don't think I won't try." He pointed a stern finger at me, before his face softened. I chuckled, he held his hand out, which I took and went in for a one-armed bro-hug. ( I never know how to describe bro hugs lol)
Alby then tried to catch the eye of the tall, blonde kid he'd first seen on the floor of the cage, who was still seeking a sort of protection behind me. Taking my own glance back, I caught his eyes. Taking in the layers of brown in his them, the dips and caverns that made up those honey coloured eyes. I shook my head to rid that awkward moment. He took a step from behind me, finally coming face to face with Alby.
"I'll take it from here, Al." Alby informed, giving me a nod and a half smile. "Get back to work, shank."
I grimaced, dismissing him with a gesture as I found myself walking away. I heard Alby chuckle, before started a conversation with the Greenie.
With a finalising sigh, I made my solemn way back to the med jack canopy, pushing the fabric aside with alot less haste than I had done before.
I nodded to Jeff, who nodded back civilly, before going through to one of the back rooms. I flopped onto the bed, letting out a long, tired sigh then shutting my eyes. It made me realise how much sleep I'd actually lost within the past week and a half.
***
Every month, on the day the new Greenie arrives, a late night party is held to celebrate another addition to our Glade. At the moment, we've only got supplies for a log fire, but our cook is bringing out foods for us to eat around it. So it wasn't too bad.
"Cheers mate." I said, taking the bowl of soup and cup of water off of Stewie and taking a glance around the spritely place. The sun had gone down and the light emitted from the campfire gave the Glade a gorgeous orange hue. This was probably my favourite day of the month. The atmosphere, the distant, collective chatter and smell of burning wood. You couldnt beat it.
"Hey Greenie." I said, walking up next to him.
Glancing up at me, he smiled.
"How's it going?" I asked, perching myself on the log facing the fire.
"I remembered my name. It's Newt." He said looking quite exhausted.
"Good for you, Newt." I replied, putting his new name to use. "You look exhausted."
He smiled smally at me. It was getting quite late and a few of the Gladers had already headed to bed.
"I suppose." He answered.
"Here," I offered him my hand so he could stand up.
"I'll show you to the sleeping area."
And that I did.
He took my hand and got up.
We slowly trudged to our sleeping area, which were just a bunch of hammocks.
I had also decided to go to bed considering tomorrow I had to help out in the farm. I seemingly helped with everything to get things done.
That was gonna be fun.