Maze Runner: Irregular

Chapter 2 The Questions

That's when I started to panic. what did he mean, hell? I told myself to take deep breaths again, but my stupid body won't even listen to my brain. I shot straight out of bed, and jumped to the floor. It creaked with my weight, and I wobbled a little.

The reddish blond boy held my elbow, trying to steady me. I jerked it back, not trusting him after what dirt head had told me about entering hell.

RB said to dirt head, "Shut your hole, slinthead. She doesn't need to be freaked out." Then to me he said, "Don't ya worry, sweetheart. You're not in the nether."

"Then where am I. Tell me." I said immediately.

The boy looked taken back a little. He stuttered, "Well, I don't... the glade."

Obviously I had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe these two had kidnapped me, given me amnesia, and are planning to chop me up and feed me to ducks.

"That means nothing to me. Where. Am. I." It was mostly a command, not a question.

Dirt head spoke up with his cracked voice, "Told ya already, Greenie. Now shut it and just listen." He then stepped out in the hall and yelled, "Alby! Minho! She's awake!" Then he turned back to me and said, "I'm Rob. That slinthead over there is Jack."

This boy was getting on my nerves, acting all bossy. I just mumbled, "why would I need to know that?" This obviously made him mad, but there was nothing he could do about it. Ha.

Jack was a little nicer and smiled. But it instantly disappeared when three older boys walked into the room. One was a little asian, with almond shaped eyes. He had black hair that was shaped to look like a buzz cut.

The second person who walked into the room was an African American who had a large bottom lip. His eyebrows blended into his skin, so it gave him the appearance of scowling all the time.

The third boy, who was really lean, had blonde hair that fell into his deep deep brown eyes. His eyebrows knitted together when he saw me, and his mouth moved a little to the left. He had the longest limbs I'd ever seen on a human. Well, not that I remembered a lot of humans. Weird how forgetting things takes away your memories, but not the things that make you sane. Like how I know how to tie a shoe, but not what my eye color is.

The African looking boy was walking toward me, with the other two behind him like a posse of teenage girls. Again, don't ask me how I know that.

The blonde boy spoke first, "Alby, take it easy on 'er. She was thrown round a little in the box and got a bloody concussion."

At this the boy named Alby spin around and glared at blondie, "Poor girl. I wonder if a concussion hurts more than getting your faced punched." It was a half hearted attempt at an insult, but it shut up blondie quickly.

Alby turned back to face me, and he raised his right eyebrow, like waiting for an explanation which I don't have. When about 15 seconds passed, he finally asked a question.

"What's your name?"

This is the question I hoped he wouldn't ask, because it was the most personal. I mean, how could you not know your own name?

I bit my lip, and looked down at my hands. Like in that room, they had scars all over them, mostly around the knuckles and finger tips. The skin was dark, but not as dark as Alby. It was a little more Mexican glow. My eyes traced the vanes up my arm, and up to the sleeve of my thin shirt. I studied the hem, thinking about what I should say to Alby. I finally found something to say, "I don't know." awesome right. I looked back up to the group of boys,and saw a different emotion on each face. The Asian one had one of boredom, like he'd done this a lot before. Alby looked angry, like it's my fault. Blondie looked sad and cautious at the same time. Jack was smiling, like all this was funny. I called him a bad name in my head. Rob was annoyed.

The blonde boy spoke again, and I noticed something. He was british. It was hidden a little, but definitely there.

"Alby, no one has ever not remembered."

"Don't you think I know that, Shank?"

The Asian boy spoke up next.

"Slim it dude. She's scared."

He wasn't lying. I was terrified. Terrified about being in some kind of murder. Terrified that I'd never understand what was happening. I must have been plainly splayed across my face, because his tone softened a little when he spoke again.

"Concentrate. It might take a little while to remember. That hit to the head probably didn't help."

I nodded, and tried to think about what letter my name could start with. Several letters showed up in my mind, but none of them seemed right. I tried thinking of common names like Amy, Lisa, Katherine. Nothing. I streightened my back, and looked Alby in the eye.

"I don't have one."

He shrugged, but the two behind him smiled. "Fine. We'll just call you Greenie. But we were going to do that anyway. This is your new home. It's called the glade. And there are a few rules you have to know for your first night. 1: know your place and pull your own weight."

I interrupted him by saying, "Isn't that two?"

Mistake. He took a step forward. And flicked me in the nose.

I was surprised. I hadn't imagined he would do that, mostly because of how childish it was. He continued like nothing happened.

"Number TWO; never harm another grader. There are only about 50 of us, and we need as many as we can. Number 3; Never enter the maE unless you're a runner. No questions until tomorrow."

"How can I not ask questions? None of that made any sense!"

Blondie spoke, "That was a question."

Everyone except me smiled, like it was some inside joke. Maybe all of this was a joke. But why would someone want to play a joke that takes so much time and planning.