The Maze Girl

Waking Up

I woke up to shaking. Wherever I was, I was moving. It was too dark to see. I felt lightheaded. I was missing something. What am I missing?

I stepped to move and my foot hit something. I reached down, momentarily ignoring the strange creaking of the area around me. I picked up a vest and pulled it on, my hands moving on their own to secure it. The lightness was gone soon, and I felt better.

My name, I thought. My name is Eliot. That was all I could remember... why can't I remember? What's going on?

The moving of the box suddenly stopped. Light streamed in and my hand immediately went to my hip, pulling out a blade. If I couldn't remember anything, at least my muscles and reflexes seemed to know what they were doing.

"Well damn. The shank's got a weapon," I heard someone call from above.

"Watch that point down there, Nick," another voice spoke.

"Do you want to pull the new Greenie out, shuck-face?" came the first voice again.

"I'm not going in the box again," said the second voice.

I finally got a look around. I was in a metal box. And above me... was a crowd of boys. Two that seemed to be the oldest were staring right at me. One had dark skin and a smile, compared to his comrade. The other one, with dark eyes and fair skin, jumped down into the box and started toward me. I quickly backed off, holding my blade between us.

He stopped and put his hands up slowly. "I ain't gonna hurt you," he said. This was the owner of the first voice. Nick, I assumed.

"On whose honor?" I said, surprised at my own hoarse voice.

"My own," he replied. "No one here has any more than their own honor."

I quickly glanced around. There was a box, a wooden one, that I could use to get out. I stepped toward it a ways, then put the blade away. I suddenly noticed, the vest did well at concealing my chest. Probably due to all the metal it held.

I looked at Nick again. "I assume you're in charge?"

"In a sense," he replied, with a step forward. I quickly lunged onto the box and started running, pushing past the boys. I was still in fight or flight, and the sudden movement had apparently activated the flight choice.

Within minutes, I was safely concealed in trees. I stopped for a minute and doubled over, panting. I need to not do that again, I thought. They might be friendly. I rested a moment, then turned to go back, figuring it was my best bet.

"Where ya going, Greenie?" a scratchy voice spoke. I looked up at the boy and stopped. I sized him up, taking in his black hair and fair skin. His eyes seemed hard and dark, but not menacingly so.

"My name ain't Greenie," I said.

"Would you rather shuck-face?" the boy replied.

"I'd rather Eliot," I said. "No chance I'm going without my name.

"Well, since we're introducing, apparently," he started, rolling his eyes, "mine's Gally."

"Nice to meet you, I guess," I replied.

"Likewise."

We stood there staring at each other for a moment. I tried to match his expression, not wanting to show the true fear behind my eyes.

"No need to act brave, Greenie," Gally said, crossing his arms and leaning against a tree. "If you ain't scared, you ain't human."

"Is that so?"

Gally made a sort of shrug. "It's that or you're a psycho."

"You find him yet?" came a voice, thick with an accent. Following the voice was another boy, with blond hair reaching to the middle of his neck.

"Yeah, I found the greenie," Gally replied, looking over his shoulder at the boy.

"Great," the new boy said, looking at me. "You get to give him the tour then."

"Don't tell me the other keepers are busy."

"Sorry, shank. You're the only one left." The boy chuckled and held out a hand to me. "The name's Newt."

I didn't take his hand. "Where am I?"

"Specifically, you're in the Deadheads," Gally said. Very reassuring.

"That's the forest," Newt piped in. "The area within the walls is called the glade."

"What walls?"

Gally laughed. "Shank, you must've been running fast not to notice the walls."

"C'mon," Newt said. "We'll show ya." He turned and walked off. Gally grabbed my arm and pulled me along as i grumbled about how my name isn't shank either.

We reached the edge of the forest, where Nick was waiting. "Great," he said. "You caught him."

I looked up as he spoke. They were right. There were walls. Giant walls, covered in vines. There was a single break in each one.

"Eh, greenie!" Nick's voice broke me from my focus. "You listenin' or not?"

"I'm listening," I said, meeting his eyes.

"Good that," he said, nodding. "No more running, you get me?"

I nodded and Gally released my arm.

"Alright. Quick tour, that forest is the Deadheads. East of that," he pointed, "is the Bloodhouse. That's where we get meat in our meals. Head north of there, you've got the Gardens. And the last corner is where the homestead is. That's where we sleep."

"What's beyond the walls?" I asked.

"A maze," he responded. "Not a good place to go." He stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "Look, Greenie-"

"My name isn't Greenie," I said, pushing his hand away. "It's Eliot."

He glared. "We have three rules here, Greenie. One: you do your part. Any slacking off earns you a night in the slammer, with no food. Two: never hurt another Glader."

"We're Gladers, I assume?" I spoke up.

"You assume right," he responded. "Now stop interrupting." I don't think I was supposed to notice Newt starting to walk away. "You hurt another Glader, likely you'll be banished. See, none of this works without trust. You get me?" He didn't give me a chance to answer. Not that I would've. Most of my attention was now on one of the openings in the wall. "Three: never leave the glade. Too dangerous, and we don't need more people dying out here."

"What about them?" I pointed at the door, where about three people were running in. They ran past us and to a small concrete building near where I had come out.

"Those are runners," Gally said. "Running the maze is their job. Based on your dash earlier, I'd say you might be fit to be one of them. Once you settle in, that is."

"That'll be me, Alby, and Minho's call," Nick said. He looked at me. "Don't get your hopes up, Greenie." With that, he left me with Gally.

"C'mon, Eliot," Gally said. "Let's get you set up for the night." He started toward the homestead and I followed.

"What about the walls?"

"What about 'em?"

"If it's dangerous out there, what keeps us-" I was cut off by the sound of stone against stone. The breaks in the walls were closing, spikes on one side fitting perfectly into gaps on the other.

"That answer your question, shank?" We kept walking.