I love that picture pure Dylmas
In the glade
He awoke gasping and spluttering, greedily gulping in air like his life depended on it. He coughed and panted, he stumbled to his feet looking around frantically to try and figure out where he was. The air was dank and musty, and he had the pressing feeling of claustrophobia, and he soon realized he was in some kind shaft. It was too dark to see to see anything clearly, all he knew was that he was in some sort of room, it was cold and damp and cramped.
Suddenly he heard the sound of metal groaning and screeching and the metal box starting moving rapidly upwards. He fell backward, his terror renewed as the box climbed the elevator shaft faster and faster.
He scrambled around helplessly, trying in vain to find a way out of the metal box. But the only thing he could feel was there were several wooden boxes around him, what they were filled with he had no idea. He curled up in a corner of the box as it continued to ascend, attempting to calm himself as he got more and more worked up.
It could've been minutes or hours, it was too hard to tell, before the box came to a startling halt. Panicking, he tried to burrow himself deeper within himself. Suddenly he heard the tell-tale sound of gears turning, and the sound of metal doors creaking and groaned. It wasn't long before light flooded the box, too bright for him to see clearly after being in the dark for so long.
The next thing he heard was laughter. It was cheery and derisive. The sound of several boys laughing, from what he could tell at him, was enough to make him even more scared. He lifted a shaky hand to try and block the sun from his eyes so he could get a look at the laughing boys. From what he could see, there were several boys all crowded around the metal box, looking down at him as if he were an ant under a magnifying glass.
One of the boys suddenly leaped down from where they were looking on, shaking the cage when he landed heavily. The other boy leaned down in his face and grabbed him around the shoulders, "Day one, Greenie. Rise and shine."
After the boy had hauled him out of the metal box, the other boys had converged on him, shouting strange things like "Greenie" and "Shank". Their laughter taunted him and their grabby hands scared him, it was all too much. He felt his breathing become even faster and his heart beat harshly against his chest, he needed to get out of here. This wasn't right, he needed to get out.
He burst through the wall of boys and sprinted into the open field that lay ahead of him. He ran as his legs could carry him, trying to get away from whatever the hell was going on. Whatever was happening wasn't safe, it all felt so wrong he wasn't sure of what to do. So he ran. The next thing he knew was that he was tripping over his own feet and he tumbled face first into the ground.
He let himself stay on the ground, trying to gather himself by breathing deeply and heavily, he could hear the boys laughing even harder in the distance. Shakily he rose to his feet. "Take it all in Greenie!" One of the boys shouted.
He was standing in the middle of a huge field, the entire thing surrounded by enormous thick concrete walls. In one corner was a small forest, in another a small cluster of huts and what looked like hammocks strung up between beams of wood. He turned absently in circles, numbly taking in his surroundings.
He was trapped. That much was for sure, the walls were massive and intimidating. His eyes wandered to the huge break in the walls, it looked like it lead somewhere, a way out maybe. So he hastily started to walk to it, but was stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't do that if I were you Greenie."
The boy, well he looked more like a man, was a little shorter than him and dark skinned. Behind him a few of the others were trailing, the other boys seemed to have lost most of their interest and gotten back to whatever they had been doing before.
"Why can't I go out there?" It's a way out isn't it? Why hadn't they all gone out there?
"Listen hear Greenie and listen good. We only have a few rules here in the Glade. One, do your part, we don't have time for freeloaders. Two, you never harm another Glader, none of this would work if we didn't have trust. And most importantly, you never go beyond those walls."
The man paused for a moment, "Do you remember anything? Your name? Where your from?"
He came to the realization that he remembered nothing, it felt like there were memories right there behind a wall, but he couldn't reach them. He replied shakily, "I can't remember anything."
"That's alright Greenbean, your name will come back to you in a few days. It's the one thing they let us keep."
The one thing they let us keep? Who was they? This was all so confusing, he didn't know what to do. Before he could freak out further the man said "My name's Alby," he turned to face the other boys who had followed him, he gestured to a tall, blonde, skinny looking boy, "This here is Newt, when I'm not around he's in charge." He turned to a young boy, no more than 11 or 12, he was short and plump, "This is Chuck, he's gonna show you around."
Chuck smiled widely, "Come on, I'll show you to your bunk."
That's how he found himself leaning against a thick post while Chuck strung up his hammock, listening to him mindlessly talk about the Glade, "You're doing better than I first did," he was saying, "I klunked my pants twice before they got me out of the Box."
"The Box? The thing I came up in?"
"Yeah, once a month it comes up with fresh supplies and a new Greenie. I was the new one last month, but now you're the Greenie." He said cheerfully.
He liked Chuck, he really did, but he didn't understand how could be so happy and carefree about this whole thing. They were trapped inside giant concrete walls and the kid was all smiled and laughs. Maybe it was just childish innocence, he thought, maybe he really didn't know the situation he was in. Speaking of giant concrete walls, he felt his eyes go back to the enormous break in them, it almost looked like a doorway. From the angle he was at he could almost see beyond the opening. He had to get closer.
Chuck's rambling became increasingly quiet as he walked toward the opening. He was almost near when he heard Chuck trying to catch up to him, "Don't go in there!"
He stopped short, "You people keep telling me not to go in there, but why? What's out there?
"No one knows," Chuck said, "No one but the Runners know what's out in the Maze."
He turned to face Chuck, "The Maze? What the hell is that? And what are Runners?" He didn't wait for an answer he knew he wouldn't get, and started walking back toward the opening.
"I'm serious, don't go in there." Chuck warned desperately.
"I won't I'm just gonna get a look." He came feet away from the opening, it lead to a huge hallway looking thing that split off in two directions. Vines swung between the walls and ivy crawled up the surface of each of them, nearly reaching the top.
He ignored Chuck's pleading and took another step forward, before his foot touched the ground he was thrown to the side by a harsh force. He landed flat on his back, scrambling to his feet, angrily looking for whoever tossed him.
It was the same boy who had hauled him from the Box not hours before. He had his hands out in a sign of peace, saying "Calm, calm," over and over again. Some of the other boys, including Alby and Newt had gathered around them.
He turned to them, throwing his hands up in disbelief, "What the hell is wrong with you guys? Why won't you tell me what's out there?"
Just then a strong wind gushed out of the opening, he turned to face it not even bothering to shield his face from the wind. A great and powerful groaning was heard throughout the Glade, the tell-tale sound of gears turning followed. The concrete doors slowly and steadily slid shut, creating a solid boom when the doorway sealed.
"Next time, I'm gonna let you leave." The boy who had pushed him said harshly before stalking back to the camp.
---
It was later the same night he found himself sitting next to Newt, the two of them leaning against a fallen log while the other boys had their fun not far behind them. The other's were cheering and laughing as they danced around the fire, drinking and hollering like idiots. Others were cheering on a wrestling match, the same boy had pushed him down earlier facing off with another Glader.
"Hell of a first day Greenie," Newt said, "Here have a sip of this, put some hair on your chest," offering a him a jar filled with what he assumed was alcohol.
He hesitantly took a sip, immediately spitting it out, coughing and spluttering as he tried to get rid of what tasted like burning gasoline. "Oh my god, what is that?"
Newt chuckled, "I don't even know," he leaned back and gestured to the boy who had pushed him, "Gally's secret recipe."
So the kid's name was Gally, good to know, "Yeah well he's still an asshole."
"He saved your life today. Trust me, the Maze is a dangerous place." Newt took another sip of his drink.
He thought for a moment, rethinking all of the things that had happened to him the mere hours he had been in the Glade, "We're trapped here aren't we?"
Newt nodded solemnly, "For the moment, yes," he turned around again to point at a group of guys surrounding an Asian boy, "But, you see those guys there? Those are the Runners, that guy in the middle there, Minho, is the Keeper of the Runners. Every morning when those doors open, they run the Maze, mapping it, memorizing it, looking for a way out."
"How long have they been looking?"
"Three years."
"And they haven't found anything?
Newt smiled slyly, "It's not easier said than done. Listen," he heard what sounded like groaning and shifting coming from deep inside the Maze, "It's the Maze changing. Changes every night.
The Runners are the fastest, the strongest, the smartest, of all of us. And good this too because if they don't make it back before those door close, they're stuck there for the night. And no one has ever survived a night in the Maze."
"What happens to them?"
"They're called Grievers. Of course no one has ever seen one and lived to tell about it. But they're out there."
With the more information he gathered, the more he realized just how screwed he was. He was about to ask Newt another question when a glint of metal caught his eye. He looked closer, it looked like a large metal bug, there might have been some kind of writing on the side but he couldn't tell in the darkness, there looked to be a small camera lense sticking out where it's face should be. "What is that thing?"
"Oh, we call 'em Beetle Blades. They're harmless really, they just kind of scuttle around." Newt said nonchalantly.
He had a weird sense that someone was watching him on the other side of that camera, and he didn't like it.
Newt wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "Well that's enough questions for one night. Come on, let's go join the fun, you're supposed to be the guest of honor. Let me show you around."
Newt led him around the camp, giving names to faces and explaining the different jobs people had, Builders, Slicers, Medjacks. None of them sounded particularly great, "What if I wanna be a runner?"
Newt practically scoffed, "Have you heard any of what I just said, no one wants to be a Runner. It's not something you sign up for, you get chosen."
"Chosen by who-" before he could finish he was once again knocked to the ground from behind.
He quickly got to his feet, only to face Gally, "What do you say Greenie? Wanna see what you're made of?"
A chant of "Greenie, greenie," began to sound, and cheers erupted as he stepped inside the circle. He and Gally circled each other, "Rules are simple. I try to push you out of the circle, you try to last longer than five seconds. Ready?"
He took a deep breath before nodding curtly. He had no time to react when Gally came at him full force and shoved him out of the circle, a few others boys catching him and throwing him back in, only for Gally to push him face first into the sand.
"Come on, Greenie. We're not done yet." They were laughing and cheering, knowing there was no way a Greenie could get the best of Gally. That made him angry, he wanted to prove to them he was better. So he got to his feet and charged, but Gally quickly had him by the arms and tossed him back onto the ground like it was nothing.
The laughter only increased, and Gally was there soaking up the praise and pride, so cocky and sure of himself, it only made him angrier. He charged again, catching Gally by his midsection, Gally pushing him across the sand toward the edge of the circle. But just before he could tossed out again, he shifted his weight and pushed and Gally was the one who had a face full of sand. The crowd erupted in a cheer, clearly surprised the Greenie had managed to defeat Gally.
"Not bad for a Greenie, huh?" He said cockily. Unfortunately, his victory was short lived and Gally swiped his legs clean out from under him, his head his the ground with a sickening thunk. He barely registered the pain or the sound of sympathetic "Oo's" from the boys, "Thomas," he said numbly, "I remember my name! I'm Thomas!"
Alby pointed straight at him, a huge smile displayed across his face, "Thomas!" The other Gladers joined in his cheer, crowding around him, patting him on the back and congratulating him.
---
"Why the hell does he think his name is Thomas?!" Lydia shrieked.
Chapter two I hope you guys liked it. Word count 2517.
Please vote and comment it would mean a lot.