you gasp a breath of air and the mustiness of this dark metal box stings your nose
your cough inflicts pain in your chest.
"hello?" you weakly speak into the darkness.
the box opens to the top with a number of boys peering down
"it's a girl!"
"is she hot?"
"quick, get alby!"
a boy with sandy hair and a tight jaw steps down. he seems terrified and fascinated by you.
"im newt, second in command. what's your name?"
what is your name? it seems like it's at the tip of your tongue but you cant seem to remember it.
"i dont remember my name. oh my god, i dont reme-"
"dont stress," he interrupts, "a lot of our boys that came up tend to forget their names at first. it'll come to you, trust me." he flashes a slight smile and helps you up.
you look around. greenery and blue skies surround you, but the peaceful scenery is interrupted by stern gray walls surrounding this place.
you look at newt, puzzled
"that's the maze. rule number one: nobody goes into the maze except for the runners. NOBODY."
"well, what's a runner?"
"a runner is someone with guts and stamina. you need to map out the maze, see how it changed every night. the maze is a complicated thing. the runners' jobs are to solve it. minho, the keeper, keeps them all in check."
this job seemed to interest you.
"well what do you need to do if you want to be one?" you asked.
he chuckled. "darling, nobody wants to be one."
he continues to walk you around. you learn that each person is assigned to a different group: the medjacks, trackhoes, runners, cooks, so many different jobs it was impossible to count. he walked you to a small hut. it was made of rough straw, but seemed cozy.
"here's your room. normally you'd share with someone else, but we just made this really quickly so you could adjust and have your own space. feel free to get settled in, join us for dinner though."
he smiled and shut the door behind him.
you sighed as you touched the rough linen of your bed. you were so curious about everything happening around you. hopefully the answers would come soon.
