Hey! So, this can be taken a couple of ways:
A) A one-shot
B) A prequel to a later story that I may or may not publish, depending on the opinions I get about this
C) A stand alone story, like a Maze Runner prequel, where I essentially play with the characters that James Dashner has created. I could add on stories about Indigo interacting with the boys and pretty much whatever. This version would just be me messing around with the idea of a girl in the midst of all those Gladers and how it would change the dynamics of the Glade and stuff. As this is the most likely path that the story will take, I am open to suggestions and prompts about ideas for Indi and the boys.
I think that's about it. So, read on!
I was the first one.
They talk about how someone had to spend a month alone in the Glade. It wasn't Alby, though that's who the boys think it was. It was me. Alby came up one month after I got there. I'd never seen a boy so scared of anything… or, at least, I don't think so.
My first month alone was terrifying. I spent the first two days huddled in the metal box that had brought me here. It was only until I was sick from hunger that I finally ventured out. I was in the middle of a grassy area, almost like a field. In front of me, maybe half a mile from where the box was stationed, were thick woods. The trees were tall, but didn't necessarily look too old. They formed a sort of semicircle around half of the field. Beyond them was a wall. Squinting in the sunlight, I realized that the wall was more than twenty times my own height, and even without my memory, I knew that I was short. The wall stretched for about a mile one way, and then there were corners on either end, where the walls stretched for another mile, before joining the last segment, which was also about a mile in length. It was a square, concrete prison. It terrified me. On every side, there was an opening through the wall. It let into a concrete passageway, that I didn't dare investigate any closer. I figured out that the openings were sealed on my third evening. My first night outside the box.
The first time the doors closed, they made an awful, grating sound, that scared me to death. I tried to return to the box, but found it gone. On either side of a hole, were huge metal doors that I managed to close, by pulling with all of my strength to lift them and then letting them fall down over the hole. I spent the night in a tree, not sleeping, but just watching. Waiting to see if the doors would open again. All through the night, I heard loud shrieks coming from behind the walls. I heard the whirring of metal, and I found myself hoping that the doors would not open. I begged in my mind that I would wake up. That this would just be a terrible nightmare.
The doors opened in the morning.
The box returned five days later with some supplies. There was food and water, but not enough to last me for long. I also found a small knife, two changes of clothes, and some flint and steel to start a fire.
The box returned every seven days, which amounted to once a week.
The fourth time it returned, it carried something new.
Another person.
I was happy, but also timid. It took a lot of bravery for me to peer over the edge, and when I met the dark eyes of a boy, I almost jumped back in fright. I saw, though, that he was just as scared as I was, if not more so. He looked to be about sixteen.
So, I helped him out of the box, and tried to answer his questions as best as I could. We built a haven that night. We hoisted enormous leaves up over branches, and tied great wooden planks together. It didn't last, but it worked for a while. He remembered his name only hours after his arrival.
"Alby," the dark-skinned boy said quietly.
"What do you mean?" I questioned him, confused.
He looked at me with something akin to happiness in his eyes. "My name is Alby," he pronounced with more surety. Then he grinned widely. "I remembered my name."
I almost smiled then. Boys were very strange. "Yes, and that's likely the last thing that you'll remember. Now, let's keep moving if we want somewhere to sleep."
That was three years ago. I know that I was thirteen, but I don't know how. I just knew.
A month after Alby, another boy arrived. His name was Klaus. He was very tall, with dark hair and tan skin. I liked him very much. His downfall, however, was his curiosity. He questioned the walls and how they moved, and what was beyond them. One day, he ventured out past the walls.
He didn't return.
I nearly wept as I carved the name 'Klaus' into the stone doors the next night. I struck a line through his name with a small knife. It would serve as a reminder for me.
"Never again," said Alby. "If there are any more, we have to make sure that they stay out of there."
I nodded mutely.
Alby and I decided that we would call the grassy area the Glade, because that seemed to suit it better than anything else I could come up with.
As we listened to the howls of the monsters beyond the walls, I named them, too.
"They sound almost sad," Alby noted. "Like they're mourning a great loss."
"Like they're grieving," I murmured. "Grievers."
And so it stuck.
We learned to expect the box to arrive every week. About once every four times, sometimes five, the box contained another person. All of them were boys.
The box has returned 164 times since it brought me here. If it comes once a week, then that means that it's been just over three years.
The fourth person to enter the Glade was Newt. He wasn't scared at all when he saw me. I envied him a little for that. To be without fear was an unknown concept to me.
Alby was tentative about this new boy, who was probably about fourteen years old at the time.
"Who are you?" Alby asked. Demanded.
"Don't know. Who are you?" the boy raised an eyebrow.
"Name's Alby."
"What about her?" Newt pointed at me.
I timidly took a step back. I couldn't do it. Not after Klaus.
Alby shrugged. "Don't know. She hasn't told me yet. But she was here first, so if she says something, you listen. Got it?"
The boy smiled a little. "Got it."
As much as I tried to avoid it, Newt did end up becoming my friend. He seemed to make it his job to find out my name, which I still had not shared with anyone yet. He accepted that we did not enter leave the Glade, and thus we accepted him. In between his arrival and the next, Alby, Newt, and I became very close. We had a sort of family dynamic: Alby was the protective, serious one, Newt would not give up a chance to try and make me smile, even though he had not yet succeeded, and I was their sister, in a sense. Though, they didn't know my name, they were content with calling me "girl."
As other boys arrived, I drew back from the group, disappearing into the forest for extended periods of time. Alby and Newt would take me aside and scold me for leaving when I returned, but they were never harsh. They seemed to realize that I had spent a month alone here, so I knew it better than they did. This in contrast to any of the other boys wandering off for a night. That warranted a night in the Pit, which Newt and Alby had originally built to store food, but was changed to the Pit after they and the other boys built the homestead, which included a sort of kitchen.
I permanently seceded after the arrival of Minho. Some of the other boys had taken notice of me, and as a girl, they realized what that meant. Scared, I told Alby I was leaving. He tried to get me to stay, even threatened to lock me in the Pit, but after a somewhat-loud argument, of which Newt was involved, I managed to convince them that I would be fine. I would live by the small stream, located near the middle of the heavily wooded area. Reluctantly, they agreed to let me go, on three conditions. The first was that I had to visit, which I half-heartedly agreed to. The second, was that if I ever needed help, I would come to them. I had never seen Newt's face more serious than when he and Alby made me promise this, which I did. The last one, was that I had to tell them my name. At first, I declined, thinking that they were joking, but I saw then that they weren't. So, finally caving, I told them my name:
Indigo. Which Newt immediately shortened to Indi.
"I'm serious. I'm calling you Indi. Indigo's too formal."
I shook my head.
Alby knelt to my eye level and put a hand on my shoulder. "Remember the conditions, Indigo. Please."
Newt stood against the wall with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face. "Relax, Alby. She'll remember. If she doesn't, we can lock her in the Pit."
Alby didn't even glance at Newt. "Remember."
I leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I will."
And that was my beginning here.
Remember, please review and keep in mind that I am open to suggestions and prompts for Indi!
Thanks for reading!
TMG4899