𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓻𝓾𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷 - [EDITING]

Chapter Three - Addy

Laughing and morning bustle coming from downstairs wake me. I peek my eyes open and stretch out of fetal position. I'm not sure what I expected, but when I remember the contents of yesterday, I'm immensely disappointed and still afraid of the unknown yet to come. No more crying, Addy. I tell myself. It's not doing any good.

I force myself to leave the warmth of the bed and slip on the army green utility jacket I came in. I attempt to rub the redness that I'm sure my tears have left around my eyes. I want to pull my hair up, but find that I don't have hair elastics. I do notice something around my neck as I search though.

I pull a simple strand of leather with a tiny silver capsule attached off of my neck. Curious, I screw the top off of the tiny canister and tip it over onto my golden beige hand. A rolled up paper drops onto my palm. Startled, I read,

Sonya
Harriet
Tommy
Newt
Chuck
Minho

Escape the Maze
Find the boys
WICKED is -

The last phrase ends in a streak of ink as if the pen was dropped mid sentence. I'm not sure how, but I recognize the chicken scratch as my own handwriting. Names, I think, they must be names. People I trust. Excited by the discovery, I abandon the attempt at hygiene and bolt out the door. Suddenly remembering that I hardly know anyone here, I pause at the stair way, hesitant to reveal the discovery to a bunch of strangers. One of the younger boys spots me from down stairs.

"Good morning, Greenie!" The pudgy boy's grin is friendly and genuine, but I look startled I guess, because he reassures me, "Don't worry, I don't bite. Name's Chuck! I was the greenie 'til you showed up, so I'll show you the ropes."

Chuck! My mind zips back to the notes on my arm and I cautiously decide to trust the younger boy. I make my way down the stairs, forcing a small smile

When he sees that I'm coming, his face breaks into a giant grin again. "Let's get you something to eat. You must be starving. What's your name, by the way?" He leads me to a counter, steps bouncing cheerfully, and collects two plates from a large boy, Frypan I think, while waiting for my answer.

I follow him and reply, "I'm Addy. Thanks." I nod to the plate as he hands it to me and sit with him in the grass, swiveling my head anxiously while taking it all in. Some boys watch us and whisper but none have approached us directly yet.

"Nice to formally meet you, Addy." Chuck grins between bites.

I take it as an invitation and dig in, realizing how hungry I am. While I eat, I finally relax and don't notice as another boy approaches us.

"Taken to the greenie, have you Chuck?" I recognize the British accent immediately. "Good that." He plops down across us and then addresses me, "Nice to see you haven't been scared out of an appetite, er, I didn't catch your name."

I swallow quickly and trip over the words as I say, "I'm Addy. Um, and your name?"

He grins and I study his face, cringing at the bruises and scrapes. "I suppose I didn't mention it did I. Sorry 'bout that. I'm Newt."

I gasp and almost choke when I hear his name. My surprise doesn't go unnoticed.

Newt smiles, a bit nervously, "Everything alright?"

"Yes, sorry, it's just-" I hesitate, glancing around, and look back up at Newt and Chuck. "I found something, a message to myself, I think, when I woke up." I lean closer to them, not fully trusting the others, and slip the paper out of my necklace so they can see the writing.

"What the bloody..." Newt trails off, dragging his hand over his chiseled jaw.

Chuck perks up excitedly and whispers, "This is a clue! A clue to our old lives! We knew each other!"

"We oughtta show Alby. He'll wanna know. I don't know of a Sonya, Harriet, or Tommy, but you've just missed Minho. He's already out on a Run." Newt thinks aloud.

"I don't know what it means," I say, shrugging timidly and replacing the paper safely around my neck, "but I know I can trust you. I'm not ready to show it to anyone else though." I say, nervous to reveal my one connection to my life with the intimidating leader, Alby.

Newt smiles and I admire the gentleness in it, feeling my nerves calm. Just like with Chuck, I feel an inexplicable trust towards the older boy. If only I could remember before. Maybe I did trust him before. Have I known this boy twenty seconds or twenty years? Well, not twenty years because I'm probably not twenty. Probably. I don't actually know. 

Newt is oblivious to my internal dialogue and says, "Sure, Greenie."

"Um," I interject. I may not know much about this place, but these two might. "What? Greenie? Sorry, I- I'm so confused. Would either of you care to explain something about what's going on?" I gesture vaguely at everything, not prepared to shrug off all that I've been thrown into just yet.

"Right, I forgot that it's your first day," Newt confesses. "So here's the Homestead, we've got the kitchen and sleeping quarters over here, as you know. There in the middle is the Box, that's where they send up supplies and Greenies like you. To the right is the Deadheads, forested area we use as a cemetery, but you don't need to worry 'bout that." My face reveals my longing to ask questions so Newt stops me before I get started. "Just a second, let me finish explaining first and then you can hit me with as many questions as I can answer. Now, to the left is the gardens. We grow most of our own food there. Lastly, we've got the Blood House. Pretty self explanatory. That's where we raise the animals and, ya know..." He makes a face and quickly moves on. "You follow so far?"

I nod. "I think so, but-"

"Hey, questions at the end, remember? You'll start off by trying out all the jobs to find what you're best at. Like Alby says, one of the rules of the Glade is that everyone does their part, no slackers, but we'll get into the rules next," Newt continues. "We've got Sloppers, Cooks, Bricknicks and Builders, Baggers, Track-hoes, Med-jacks, Slicers, and Runners." He pauses for a breath. "This is a lot all at once, innit Greenie? You keeping up?"

"I have so many questions. First off, Greenie? What does that mean? And yesterday, when I got here everyone kept saying other strange things like klunk, shank, shuckface..." My quiet, cautious demeanor is quickly replaced by curiosity.

"Ah, that's just what we call the newbies. Greenbeans. Greenie, for short. The rest of them are just slang. Insults," Chuck explains.

"And the rules of the Glade? What's with the walls? You didn't explain what the runners do," I question Newt.

"Rules are first, never go outside the Glade unless you're Runner. Second, never hurt another Glader. We gotta have trust. And lastly, everyone does their part. No slackers. The rules keep everything organized and running smooth." I see why past me trusted Newt. He's so patient and kind.

"The Runners and the Maze." Newt blows out a breath. "I'll explain that all tomorrow morning. For now, we've gotta find you a Keeper." Newt waves over a boy.

"Why all the secrecy?" I blurt.

Newt sighs. "It's just... a lot. Addy, meet Zart." The blond boy Newt waves over earlier approaches. "Zart's the Keeper of the Track-hoes. You'll be working with him for the day." Newt stands and takes our empty plates, leaving me and Chuck with Zart. Before leaving, he whispers something in Zart's ear, making him chuckle. As he walks off, the safety his presence gave begins to fade. I breathe deeply and follow Zart to what Newt referred to as the gardens and do my best envelope the new life here I never asked for. The only other things I can do are run or cry and I'm not about to do either.