Surviving the Glade (Maze Runner)

Chapter One... The Glade

My mind was fuzzy as I awoke, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air. I shivered, forcing my eyes to adjust to my surroundings while a ragged cough escaped my lips.

Metal ground against metal; and a lurching shudder shook the floor beneath me. I fell to the side at the sudden movement, my arm hitting the ground hard preventing my face from hitting it. With a jolt, the room, as I had decided it must be, jerked upward like an old lift in a mine shaft.

Harsh sounds of chains and pulleys, like the workings of an ancient steel factory, echoed around me, bouncing off the walls with a hollow, tinny whine. I could hear the shuffling of something nearby and I twitched nervously, hoping it wasn't something that was going to eat me. I felt unsettled here, there was nothing to do but wait and think.

My name was the first thing I thought about...Florence was the only part of it I could capture. It was like whisps of smoke, I knew it was there, but only the feint thought of my name came to me. My mind seemed to be working just fine. I could calculate my surroundings and plan what to do once this thing stopped, if it ever stopped. I could remember how snow looked against fallen leaves, how it felt to run over twigs and around trees. I recalled the sounds of the city and its ever-moving people. Yet, I couldn't think of where I'd come from, how I'd gotten myself into this dark lift or who my family was. I couldn't even say if I had any other name than Florence. Shapes with smeared faces, voices speaking over another, twisted whisps of smoke that brushed past my mental grasp continued until I felt mad. I couldn't think of my past anymore, it clearly causes more harm than help.

The room continued its assent, with me as its prisoner, swaying all the while. I knew a long time had passed; I couldn't place how long but it didn't seem like it had been longer than an hour. It seemed strange, even though I was stuck in here I wasn't scared, just curious. Had someone put me in here, wherever here might be, or had I done this to myself? Where this will end, and where I will find myself continued to fill my thoughts.

As though it could feel my doubt of it ever stopping with a loud groan and then a clonk, the rising room finally stopped. I heard a thud not far from me and I flinched. Was something, or someone else in here with me? Yet, everything was silent. One moment, then two. Then a groan, it sounded inhuman, like a call of death. I tensed, getting ready, I could try and take this. I was sure of it.

"Someone... Help...Me!" I flinched at the scream, startled by its volume and desperation.

"It's okay," I began softly, my tone betraying my surprise. "You're not alone here." I moved closer to the panicked breathing, reaching out a hand slowly as my senses sent out a warning that something was close by. A hand met mine and I sighed. I had been worried it might have been a trick as I threaded my fingers with his.

"Who are you?" He asked. I couldn't help the slight smile that found its way onto my face.

"The names Florence. What about you? What's your-" A loud clank rang out above us, and I tensed once again. A straight line of light appeared across the ceiling. I watched; posture tight as it began to expand. A heavy grating sound revealed double sliding doors being forced open. After so long in the dark, the light stabbed viciously into my eyes, forcing me to squint and look away.

"Look at that Shank."

"Wait! There's two."

"Looks like a Klunk hiding behind a Twig."

"You're the Klunk, Shuck-face."

"Hope you enjoyed the one-way trip, Greenie."

"Which ones the Greenie?"

All the voices were odd as they chatted amongst themselves, some of the words they were using were completely foreign. I squinted through the light, forcing myself to see these people. Shadows at first, then people bending over the hole in the ceiling, pointing.