The Mistake

The First Day

All credits go to the amazing man who wrote the series, James Dashner. Everything belongs to him except for Joan :)

I hope you all enjoy it. I've been so obsessed with this series and I am on the second book right now. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! Also, don't tell me what happens in the other books. I want to know for myself!

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I wake to the grinding of metal. My heart is pumping and I'm gasping in a cold sweat. I sit up, my hair blowing around my face. Fear clutches at my heart and I look up from the dark cage to lights at the top. The metal box I'm in races to the top, the noise almost deafening and I fear we might crash into whatever gets in the way at this speed.

My brain feels heavy. I try to remember anything; trying to get a sense of anything. Nothing comes as the box reaches the top.

Bright sunlight blinds me as I try to look up. I can see several figures, commotion filling my ringing ears.

"It's a girl?"

"A girl?"

"Is she cute?"

"Let me see!"

"Move klunk-head!"

My eyes finally adjust and I'm looking at a large crowd of boys. Fear pitches in my throat and I scramble to the back of the cage, hitting a few boxes.

A boy hops down into the box, his palms facing cautiously towards me, as if I was a tiger ready to pounce on him. I felt like it was the other way around.

He was black, with almost black eyes and a thick upper body. He could only have been 17 or 18.

"Who are you?" The question croaks from my throat.

"I'm Alby. Who are you?"

"Joan." The name comes without question. So why couldn't I think of any other memories? Any old thoughts, anything about myself?

"Where am I?"

"You're in the Glade. Your new home." He extends out a rough hand to me. "Welcome home Greenie."

I give him a smirk, which seemed almost impossible to do in this bizarre situation. I really felt like crying, like exploding into a million questions. But I knew not to. "I guess I have no other choice."

Alby helps me out of the box, and a few boys yell out stuff at us.

"Alby's got a girlfriend!"

"I wanna touch her first!"

"No you won't, shank face!"

"I wanna see her!"

My face grows hot. Alby clamps a hand on my shoulder and gives a hard look at the crowd of men. I can already see that I'm the only girl in the sea of strangers, only causing dread and confusion to course through me. Why was I the only girl? Why was I surrounded by so many strange men?

"No one is going to touch her like that. Or you can spend a night in the Maze."

The crowd instantly goes silent, and I look at a smaller boy who stepped up to join Alby and I. A thought runs into my mind. A maze? What was he talking about? He had long blonde hair, was taller than Alby but skinnier and had a boyish face. I blush. He was cute.

"This is the new one?" He asks in an accent to Alby, "A girl?"

"Don't ask me." Alby raises his hands almost in defeat. "All I know is that she came just like the others and she's stuck here just like us."