She was so scared when she woke up in the box. She didn't remember a thing. She wanted to get out, but she couldn't. She couldn't even try. Or could she? It was all blurred, nothing made sense anymore. Who were those people? Why was she the only gir...
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She looked up, her eyes red. A blonde boy stood there, looking at the girl with concern. He had dark circles under his eyes, like he was tired. He was slender and skinny, yet strong. "C'mon, it's starting to get cold." He said offering his hand to the H/C girl. She hesitantly accepted, quickly drying her cheeks with the sleeve of her white t shirt. The boy pulled her up firmly, with a slight grin. "I see you've got a temper." He was panting with his hands on his knees. "I'm Newt, second-in-command, only for when Alby's not 'round. Did you remember your name already?" The boy introduced himself, shaking the girl's hand, he had a very strong British accent she found very attractive. "No." "That's normal. Some of us only remember after a week or so." He looked at her bleeding hand and grimaced. "Ooh, that needs to be checked out." She nodded, indifferent, it didn't even hurt that much, and they started walking to the homestead. Again with the stares. She noticed that the boy had a limp, so she slowed down to keep up with him as they chatted. "So, how do you live around here?! Why don't you try to get out?" Asked the girl, trying to make small talk. "Ah, that's a job for the runners. They go beyond the walls to try and find a way out. They memorize the way and map it. Takes guts." 'Memorize what?' She wondered. She thought about it. It wouldn't be bad to be useful. "What about the ones that are not runners?" "Well, not all the gladers are runners, but they all have a job. Each of us works with what we do best. We have the Builders, they make the projects and just try to improve the Glade. You see, they're strong, but not that... bright. Then we have the Slicers, the Track-hoes, the Med-jacks, the Sloppers. Everyone here does something. We just have to follow three simple rules: Never hurt another Glader. We have to trust each other. Never go outside the Glade, unless you are a Runner. And do your part, we don't accept any freeloaders." "Maybe you should remind that boy about the rules before he chokes someone again." She said, hand moving to her neck, it was starting to bruise. "Ah, you mean Gally?! He is... difficult . But you did hit him with a shovel." He answered with a smirk. She shakes her head in agreement. They were walking into the household, towards the place she had been taken to before, the nursing room. "This is where our med-jacks work. Clint and Jeff will take care of any hurt glader." He said while getting a little first aid kit from a shelf. She sat down in the stretcher, letting the blonde examine her hand for a bit. The skin was really sensitive, and the cuts were still bleeding. "This is gonna sting." He said while pouring rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball, and cleaning her wounds. She let out a hiss of pain. "Sorry." Newt replied, now wrapping the girl's hand with gauze, and securing it with sticking plaster. He wasn't very delicate with the job, so it came out a bit sloppy. "All done, love." He said, staring into the girls eyes. "Thank you." She said, trying to hide the blush that tinted her cheeks. "Are you okay?" Just the question made tears brim her eyes. "I... I don't know. How can you just be here? Do you know who brought you guys here? Do you even know what's out there?" "Look, we're not supposed to know. Only the runners have seen what's on the maze, and it's never a good story." "Maze?..." she gets confused at the word, it hadn't been used before. "Uh... damn it. Okay, those walls, they guard the maze, and it is really dangerous." That explained the whole mapping thing. "Why? What is out there?" The boy sighed before answering. "We call them grievers. They're cold blooded creatures that live in the maze. When a Griever stings someone, they go through what we call the changing. And there's no getting back from that." She scoffed. "Can't you kill them?" "Huh... no one has ever killed a griever. No one has even bloody seen one and lived to tell the tale." "But then what if..." Greenie started but the blonde cut her off. "You ask a lot of questions you know that?!" He says with a smile, making the girl blush and look down with embarrassment. "Sorry. I just... I don't know what to do now. It's not like I'm going to actually do something helpful. I'm useless and I'm weak and I'm scared." She said looking down, tears now streaming down her cheeks. "Hey. Look at me, love." He asked, gently pulling her chin up, so that she was looking right at those shiny brown eyes. "You'll be alright. We'll find something. That curiosity is just what you need to survive here. And everyone saw how fast you were. Maybe you could even be a runner, who knows?!" He said trying to cheer her up. She scoffed in disbelief. Making him smile, his dark eyes shining. "And maybe you'll find living in the glade really fun." "Yeah, I love to run from monsters and go on deadly mazes on my free time." He laughed and everything felt okay for a moment. "You're funny, Greenie." "Good that!" She answered with a mocking English accent, to which he fake gasped and laughed even harder. And then he remembered something. "Hey, uh, there's going to be a bonfire tonight, you should come. There is always one when a new greenie arrives, it'll be great for you to know some of the guys and, I don't know, loosen up a bit. I mean, I understand if you don't want to." She thought about for a second. "I'll think about it."
