Another month had passed and Jesse and Alby had made good progress. They'd planned for the next person, set them up a hammock and prepared them a welcoming sandwich. Jesse still hadn't gone through the doors yet. She didn't know what was back there and didn't like the thought of being separated from Alby. She'd taken a liking to cooking while she was there. She began to experiment with the different vegetables and even eggs from the chickens. As Alby and Jesse were waiting by the box, the clanging began again. "That's it!" Jesse shouted. "Oh my god you were right!" She continued. As the doors were opened Jesse saw someone around her age. "Hello?" Jesse asked as she jumped down, causing the newbie to flinch slightly. "Hey, it's okay. My names Jesse, you're okay," the ginger girl smiled. "I-I'm. Uh- why don't I remember?" They said, beginning to get worked up again. "It's alright, you'll remember your name soon," she said, taking the kid's hands in hers. "Come with me I'm sure you're so confused and hungry," Jesse said as she helped them out of the box. They had black hair that was pulled into a ponytail, brown eyes and they were quite a bit taller than Jesse. Alby was just sort of staring at them, which was making Jesse frustrated. "Oi, stop it. I'm sure they're nervous enough," she huffed, elbowing the older boy in the ribs. He snapped from his daze and smiled, sticking out his hand. "I'm Alby, First in Command," he said, sounding quite pleased with himself. "First in command? Really?" Jesse said. "Yes. I was first so I'm in charge. I am Glade President," he said. Jesse looked to the newest glader and rolled her eyes, making the newbie laugh. As they took Alby's hand and met his brown eyes, they felt a feeling of warmth and familiarity wash over them. "Carter. I'm Carter," she said happily, remembering her name. "Lovely to meet you Carter. Welcome to The Glade," Alby smiled.
Jesse and Carter spent the whole day talking. Carter asked a lot of questions that Jesse was pleased to answer. Nothing made her happier than making sure Carter felt comfortable and safe. "So, are you and Alby like-," Carter trailed off. "Wha- oh god no! He's like an older brother," Jesse smiled as she grabbed her favourite pastime in the glade- a deck of cards. "What are those doors?" Carter asked, making Jesse turn her head to the big stone doors. "We don't know. But they open and close at the same time every day," Jesse said, shuffling the cards. In that moment, Jesse came up with the first rule of the Glade. "Never. Enter. Those. Doors," the ginger warned. "What's insi-,"
"Don't go in there, okay?" Jesse asked. Carter nodded, understanding that this was most likely for the best, Jesse hadn't steered them wrong so far. "Okay," they said softly. "So, what do you guys do here?" Carter questioned, not really understanding what was going on. Jesse noticed this glader was far more reserved than herself and Alby. "We typically just get around, doing anything we can do stay busy. Alby is working on a shelter type thing over there so we can tie our hammocks to that instead of the trees. As you can imagine, the nights when it rains are not pleasant," Jesse chuckled, trying to lighten the situation for Carter in any way. She remembers how confused she was, and if she can put one person at ease in any way, it would make this transition a lot easier for them. "We've been thinking that, as long as people keep coming up, we'll continue to grow and work some more. But for now, we're just doing as much as we can," Jesse sighed, sounding defeated that they hadn't gotten any further. "Jobs," Carter said. "We could all have specific jobs," she continued. By this point, Alby had made his way over and sat down. "We'll need gardeners and cooks you know?" Alby said. "Ohh," Jesse hummed. "Well, we'll see how it goes in the future with the others, for now, eat your sandwich," Alby smiled, standing up and winking at Carter before walking off back to his construction.
"They should just send a whole group up, we'd be able to start working faster if they did that," Jesse muttered, grabbing her plate and walking over to the kitchen to wash it. "So it's only been 2 months?" Carter asked sadly, feeling bad for the two kids who had been stuck alone by themselves. "It's not so bad, we've got each other and that's enough for now. Welcome to the Glade Carter. Now come help me lift these crates out of the box," Jesse said, clapping the girl on the back happily, even though she knew she had no idea what was to come.
