Alby had been alone for an entire month. Well, what he knew as a month based on the tally marks he'd been leaving on the rock wall. He didn't know what to do, he was only 16 and he couldn't remember anything. It was like his entire memory had been wiped. He remembered that his name was Alby after his first day and since then, he'd expected the rest of his memories to follow, but nothing. As he was walking the perimeter of the glade on his 30th day, a loud, mechanic clanging noise sounded throughout the entirety of the small, yet scarily large glade. Alby remembered this noise. This was the first noise he could ever remember. The box. He sprinted, faster than his legs could carry him towards the box he came up in, only to hear the noises becoming louder. As he got there, he looked down. As he opened the big cage doors he was face to face with a very scared looking 14 year old girl. Her hair was red and her eyes a piercing blue. "Hello?" She said, her voice failing her. "Hi- I'm Alby, are you okay?" The boy rambled, not entirely sure what to do. "I- I think so- where are we?" She asked as the older boy helped her out of the box and stood her up on her feet. She was dressed in a dark green tank top, tan cargo pants and boots. "I- I don't know. Some kind of clearing, or glade," Alby said, looking around. "What's your name?" He asked as he looked at her, unsure whether she would remember or not. "Jesse. My names Jesse," she said, sounding unsure of herself. "How long have you been here?" She asked. "A month exactly. It looks like they sent up new supplies with you, that's good I was running out of food," Alby laughed. "Are we the only ones here?" Jesse asked. "Yes. I have tried to make a bed but it keeps getting destroyed with the winds and storms," Alby said, frustrated as he gestured to the poorly stacked crates he had been sleeping on. "Maybe I can help?" She asked. "That would be nice, it's been pretty lonely," Alby sighed, walking her over to the stack of food he had, presuming the small girl must be hungry. "Please, eat something," he said as he began to make her a sandwich. "Thank you," she smiled. She wasn't nearly as scared as Alby was when he first got here, in face he found her calmness and composure quite odd.
"So what have you been doing for a month?" Jesse asked. "Nothing really, there is one thing though," Alby said as he looked over to the giant open stone doors. Jesse felt herself shiver as she looked at them. She was curious about them as soon as she saw them. "Those doors? They open, same time every morning and close, same time every night. I've been timing them for a month and they're never one second off," Alby said. "Have you gone in there?" Jesse asked. "God no! Would you?" Alby chuckled, Jesse just nodded. "Really?" Alby asked. "Yes really! You get dumped in the middle of an empty glade and those doors open and close at the same time every day? I would have definitely gone in there by now!" Jesse chuckled. "Be my guest tomorrow, but they should be closing in ten minutes so don't go in there today," Alby hummed as he made his own sandwich.
"Alby, what do those letters mean?" Jesse asked, referring to the 'WCKD' that was stamped on all of their boxes and supplies. "I have no idea. But it's on everything," Alby answered. Jesse stood. She took a look around and noticed all the supply boxes had barely been opened and there was a farm over to the left. "Animals?" She asked. "I think for meat, but I could never bring myself to kill them," Alby said. Jesse nodded, understanding. If she were alone for a month she wouldn't have killed the only other living things she could find either. "Do you think there are more?" She asked. "Well if they brought you up exactly a month after me, maybe there'll be someone next month, and the month after that. It brought up new supplies as well so I'm guessing it's a regular thing?" He said, unsure of himself. "Hm," she said, trying to take everything in.
As the sun began to go down, Jesse had tied two sheets to the trees and they were going to use hammocks instead of crate beds. "Alby?" She asked as they both lied in bed. "Yeah Jesse?" He responded. "I think I should go through the doors," she hummed. "What?" Alby asked. "Nothing, never mind. Goodnight Alby," she said. "Goodnight Jesse," he responded, leaving the girl alone to her thoughts.
