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Elisabeth woke up several times during the night. Well, she wasn't exactly sleeping either. She was sort of asleep, but partially aware of what was going on around her. It was like half of her brain was awake.
She was awoken by someone knocking on the door. She got up and quickly slipped on her shoes and opened the door to see Newt standing there with his arms crossed and wearing a glum early morning look.
"Come on, Greenie," He said. "I'm supposed to show ya somethin' before the wake-up."
Newt seemed trustworthy but Elisabeth was still a bit weary of following him.
"Yeah, alright." Elisabeth said ready to follow.
They crept down the hall toward the stairwell trying not to make the floor creak. Newt unbolted the front door of the Homestead and they stepped into the cold, grey dawn.
They snuck their way through the pack of sleeping bodies. Elisabeth had to watch her footing carefully as she tried not to step on someone.
Once thay had left the lawn area and stepped onto the stone courtyard floor, Newt broke into a run. Elisabeth wondered why they needed to run but she quickly followed.
As they ran she noticed that Newt had a limp.
She stopped when Newt did, right in front of the West Wall. Newt stepped forward and dug his hands into the thick ivy, spreading the vines apart to reveal a dust-frosted window. It was about two feet wide. She could barely see out of it as it was smudged with dirt.
A minute passed as Newt patiently stood there, staring into darkness. Elisabeth yawned leaning against the wall wondering why they were standing there, at this time, staring into nothing but darkness, when she could've been peacefully sleeping in the Homestead.
"Out there's the Maze," Newt said. "Every buggin' second of every buggin' day we spend in honor of the Maze, tryin' to solve somethin' we don't even know has a bloody solution. And I'm supposed to show ya why you should never find yourself out there. Show ya why the bloody Doors close shut every night."
Several minutes passed. Then it changed. The window no longer looked like it was painted black. An eerie light shone through the glass; it was casting a wavering spectrum of colours on their face and body as if they were hit by a ray of purest sunshine.
Elisabeth tried to make out what was on the other side of the now glimmering window. Then she heard the sound of metal scraping against stone like it was being dragged. Then came a loud clicking and whirring.
Newt stepped back, gesturing for her to take his place and look through the window.
Elisabeth stepped forwards, spreading a few vines, savage dust particles pricked at her fingers. She leaned forwards, her nose almost touching the grimy glass. Her eyebrows knitted togeather as she squinted through the window.
Then she saw it.
An icy terror blossomed in her chest. Her heart drowned with dread, sinking even lower in her chest. It was like a brick had dropped into her stomach.
It was a large, bulbous creature, bigger than a cow. It had no distinct shape. Odd lights flashed out from an unknown source, revealing blurs of silver spikes and glistening, moist flesh. It seemed to be at least six feet long, four feet thick. Wicked instruments and weapons sliced out of it's body. The giant slug-like monster curled into a ball and rolled towards the window.
Elisabeth stood paralysed with fear. It was as if the working switch of her feet had turned off.
The creature was a horrific mix of animal and machine. It looked like an experiment gone terribly wrong. It was like something out of a horror movie.
The horrible monster leaped at the thick-glassed window with a loud thump. Elisabeth jerked away. She couldn't stop the little shriek that escaped her lips.
She straightened up and turned her back to the window to face Newt.
"What is that thing?" She asked hoping her voice wasn't as shaky as she felt.
"Grievers, we call 'em," Newt answered. "Just be thankful for these walls. The nasty buggers only come out at night." He looked at the window, eyes wide as if in a trance. "Our whole life, Greenie, revolves around the Maze. Everything we do." Everything he was saying, sounded kind of memorised as if he'd explained all these to a lot of people before.
"We'll be expectin' ya to help us do what we've been tryin' to do for two years. We'll be expectin' ya to survive."
"And what have you been trying to do for two years?"
"Find our way out, Greenie. Solve the buggin' Maze and find our way home."
*
"The Tour begins now, Greenie." Alby said. "Ain't no questions till the end you get me?" He added holding up a finger.
Elisabeth nodded. Her mind kept waltzing back to the Griever. The image of the horrible monster was burned into her mind.
Alby led her to the Box. It was closed at the moment. The metal doors that closed off the dark hole, lying flat on the ground. The double doors were covered in white paint, faded and cracked.
"This here's the Box." Alby said pointing down at it. "Once a month, we get a Newbie. Once a week, we get supplies, food and some clothes. We grow most of the food in the Glade. We got all the electricity we need."
"We don't know jack about the Box. Where it comes from, how it gets here, who's in charge. Nothing. Tried to send a Slinthead Greenie back in the Box one time. Thing wouldn't move till we took him out."
Elisabeth wondered what the boy did that made Alby want to send him back down the Box.
"The Glade has four sections. Gardens, Blood House, Homestead and Dead Heads," He continued. "You'll spend the next two weeks working one day apiece for our different job Keepers. One job a day. After that we'll give you the job you're best at. You'll work alongside the Keeper permanently. Somethin'll stick, always does. I'll show you to your first job trial after the Tour is over." He then explained what each of the jobs did.
Definitely not a Slopper. Elisabeth thought. Or Runner. Anything but Slopper and Runner.
Alby gave her a quick Tour around the Gardens, Kitchens and Dead Heads. Elisabeth wondered why they needed a graveyard in a place full of teenagers. Not a lot of people could be killed by the Grievers because they only come out at night. And the Walls shut close every night.
People can't die that often, can they?
"The Slicers work back there." Alby pointed at the back corner towards a barn as they passed the Blood House. "If you like blood, you will be good as a Slicer. If you're squeamish stay away."
They walked over to the South Door; the two walls towering above them like a skyscraper. The thick slabs of gray stone were cracked covered with a thick curtain of ivy, shadows draping the floors like carpets.
Elisabeth noticed small red lights flashing behind the thick curtain of ivy, moving about, stopping, turning on and off.
"Out there's the Maze. Two years, I've been here. Ain't none been here longer. The few before me are already dead." That disturbed Elisabeth more way than it should have. "We've been trying to solve this thing, for two years, no luck. Two years, and we ain't found no way out. No clues, no exit, nothin'. The shuckin' walls move every night. Mappin' it out ain't easy. But the Runners do it." He nodded toward a concreate-blocked building which she learned was called the Map Room.
"Greenie, we have three rules in here." Alby said, holding up three fingers. "One: Never hurt another Glader. Two: Do your part. We ain't tolerating slackers. Everyone has to pitch in. Three: Never enter the Maze unless you're a Runner. The only rule you'll never be forgiven for breaking. Ain't nobody allowed in the Maze except Runners.
Break any of these rules, you'll end up in the Slammer with bread and water or worse: Banished."
Alby gestured for her to walk forward and stand in front of the South Wall. He handed her a knife and nodded his head at the thick slab of gray stone. Names were carved all over it. But she noticed some of them were crossed. The reason could be guessed.
Some of the crossed names were:
Nick
George
Stephen
"It wasn't always this way." Alby said. "We've had dark days. Lost a lot of boys to fear to panic. We've come far since then. Established order. Made peace."
He then told her to carve her own name with all the others into the gray stone. With the sharp knife she carved:
Elisabeth