The Maze Changer (A Maze Runner Fanfiction)

Part 1 - New Arrival

It felt like hours, days even that she had been stuck in the lonely black cage, ceaselessly moving upwards with constant clanking noises. It had been so long that she'd even had time to calm herself from her initial panic and was even becoming bored. She sat cross-legged on the cold metal floor and absentmindedly stared at her hands folded in her lap. Her mind raced, searching and searching for any memory that could explain where she was or how she'd gotten there. There was nothing, though. She had no answers. All she had was a name. Her name: Beth.

 Suddenly, she was thrown onto her back with a grunt as the thing jolted to a stop. She could hear the faint patterned blares of alarm somewhere outside of the walls. She began to panic again. It wasn't long until a pair of doors above her opened, and a harsh daylight streamed in. It hurt her eyes. They instantly began to water and she shielded them with her hand. When she'd grown used to it, she discovered a large group of boys staring down at her. Her panic grew even more as she heard them mumbling, mostly things about her being a girl. She stumbled back into a crate behind her. One boy, possibly the oldest, hopped down into the box with her and she climbed up onto the crate to get farther away from him.

"Calm down," the boy said kindly. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." Another boy jumped down into her space.

"My name's Alby," the first boy said. "This here's Newt. We're in charge here." Though she was scared, she had to admit to herself that neither of them seemed like a threat. The one called Newt seemed to sympathize with her alarm and slowly moved toward her, holding out his hand. He stood like that for a moment until she decided to take it. He helped her off the crate.

"What's your name, love?" Newt asked with a heavy accent. She glanced around at all the boys.

"Beth," she answered timidly.

"Welcome to the Glade, Beth," Alby said.

It wasn't long before Beth got a nickname from the Gladers. Within her first hour there she was dubbed Queenie: Queen of the Glade. She'd come off a bit strong, she supposed. Though, the Gladers didn't seem to mind all that much. Rather, they seemed to find it humorous. As soon as her feet touched the grass, she spoke her first demand. "I need some water. Please." Soon after, many of the Gladers had brought her cups of the refreshment, crowding around, making her become increasingly more uncomfortable. She felt a hand on her back and turned swiftly, swinging her arm into the boy to whom the hand belonged. The water in his cup flew outward, soaking the boys behind him and he fell to the ground. Many of the other boys snickered.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" The rest of the boys backed away from her, slightly put off at trying to be friendly. Newt and Alby had rushed over, both frowning angrily at the boy on the ground.

"Ben, you dumb shank!" Alby barked. Ben still sat on the ground where he'd landed, slightly shocked and now embarrassed.

Newt turned to Beth. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she responded very quietly. "Just find me a place away from these guys, please."

"Good idea. Newt, why don't you--"

"On it, Alby. Come on, Beth." Newt turned and headed for their homestead and Beth slowly followed him. Alby was still glaring at Ben, who'd begun to pick himself off the ground.

"Off with his head, Alby!" one of the boys sneered. The others laughed.

"Shucking Queenie," Beth heard Ben huff sourly as he brushed himself off. "What's she think? She's Queen of the Glade?"

"How bout a tour, Beth?" Newt asked after he'd shown her the Homestead. She didn't respond. She got the feeling she could trust Newt and probably Alby too, but she was still wary of the whole situation and she certainly didn't feel like carrying on a cheery conversation.