The Little Shit

Chapter 4

Once again, I hear the familiar sound of the box going up. I snap open my eyes. As soon as Thomas injected the needle, the guards came in and put me in the box. I don't freak out this time, considering that I know where I'm headed. The only thing I don't know is who's gonna be there, but I'll get to know them.

~

About what I'm guessing to be ten minutes later, the box finally comes to a stop. My vision is quickly blinded as the doors of the box open and I'm forced to use my arm to cover my eyes. After I adjust to the light, I see figures of people up above. They're all staring down, looking for me. "What do you see, Sonya?" I hear a female voice ask. Somebody jumps in the box with me. "Just another girl," another female voice answers, this one being from the girl in the box with me, who I'm guessing is named Sonya.

"Hey, look we're not gonna harm you in any way," Sonya puts out a hand for me to take. Instead of running like last time, I take her hand and she helps me out of the box. The first thing I notice is just how cold it seems to be here. Same gigantic stone walls surrounding the area, same maze I bet, just different temperatures. Out of instinct, my arms cross in an attempt to keep myself a little warmer. "Yeah, it gets a little chilly here" a girl with a darker skin tone jokes, motioning to the snow, as she places a jacket over my shoulders.

I nod my head to her as a way of saying thanks. "I'm Harriet," she puts out her hand for me to shake. "Aurora," I answered, shaking her hand. "Wow, that was fast. Usually takes days for newbies to remember their names. That's the only thing you'll be able to remember," she explains information to me that I already knew. "Back to work!" she yells, and the group of girls disperse back to their workplaces. "Let me give you the tour, newbie," she smiles at me.

~

"This place is what we like to call the Spring or the Heart. Either one works. We call ourselves the Icers, based on the snow, you probably know why," Harriet explains as we walk around. "Who put us here?" I ask, which would probably be one of my first questions if I didn't already know the answer. "Not sure. Nobody knows. Like I said, the only memory we get is our names, you know," she looks over at me.

I nod my head in understanding. "What's out there?" I ask, nodding my head to the maze doors. "Hell," Harriet laughs, "it's a maze. It's the exit out of this place. We haven't found one yet, but we hope to. Some of us go out there and map it," she answers. Once again, I nod in understanding.

"Hi!" a little voice comes out of nowhere. "Ahh!" Harriet and I both jump back. "Jeez, you scared us half to death, Lucy," Harriet explains with a chuckle. "Sorry," the little girl named Lucy apologizes. She looked awfully young. Only 12 or 13 I world guess. "Lucy, this is Aurora. Aurora, this is Lucy," Harriet introduces us. "Hi," Lucy holds out her hand. "Hi," I say as I take her hand and shake it. "Lucy, why don't you take the newbie to where she'll be sleeping. I gotta go talk to Sonya real quick. I'll be right back" Harriet says as she walks away.

~

"And that is why you should never, ever go into the kitchen without Lily's permission," Lucy explains her story as she sets up my hammock, making me laugh. "There is no way she actually threw rotten tomatoes at you!" I deny in between laughs. "Way," Lucy says slyly as she finishes up on the hammock, coming over and sitting next to me on the log I was sitting on. "Well, there's where you'll be sleeping," Lucy motions to the hammock. I nod my head. "So, is there anything else I should know about this place?" I ask, realizing nobody has told me about the monsters in the maze yet. Might as well be told about them before I accidentally bring them up.

"Well, there's the memory thing, maze thing, shadow thing," she counts off her fingers. "The shadow thing?" I question. "Oh, well they're the monsters that roam the maze. It's one of the reasons why it's so hard to escape this place," she explains. "Oh," is all I respond with. "Don't worry, they only come out at night. If they didn't exist, we would probably be able to map the maze at night. Get more done," she looks over at me. "Yeah," I shake my head. "So, is there any way that I could map the maze?" I ask her. She looks at me for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. "Were you there five seconds ago? Trust me, you don't wanna go out there," she answers in between laughs. "Ye-yeah I do," I tell her, straightening my posture.

She looks at me again. "Why?" she asks. "Because, I wanna find a way out of here. Lucy, I don't want to spend the rest of my life trapped in this place," I explained to her. "Well, good luck. Harriet and Sonya," she motions over to the two girls talking not so far away, "will never let you step a foot out there," she tells me. "I still have to try," I say, looking over at her. "You sure?" she asks. I nod my head. "It's your funeral," she sighs and stands up.

I watch her as she walks up to Harriet and Sonya. She says a few things that I can't hear and then points in my direction. Sonya and Harriets heads snap over and look at me. I give an awkward smile before looking at the ground. Not even a minute later, someone walks over and sits next to me. I look over, expecting Lucy, but being met by Sonya. "Look, you're new and curious, but the maze? Why?" she asks, looking over to meet my gaze. "I just don't want to be trapped in here for the rest of my life. If I don't help you guys get out I'll just feel useless or in the way. Please, you guys have to give me a chance," I beg. She hesitates but let's out a sigh. "Alright, I'll put in a good word for you," she smiles. "Thank you," I smile back.

With that, she gets up and goes to Harriet. Lucy walks back over. "Well?" she asks, sitting down next to me. "It's a possibility," I tell her, smiling. "It's official, you're insane," she says with a slight smile.