I feel like someone had been strangling the life out of me yet there is no one there, just an iron grill and the deafening hum and whirring of machinery. I blink, my eyes slowly adjusting to the dimly lit room. I feel the room begin to move faster as I lurch forwards, my stomach feeling like it had been thrown into my throat; my fingers curled around the iron grill on the floor so tightly that the knuckles turned white. Cold blue strobe lights speed by illuminating the small room for a few seconds at a time. I start to hyperventilate and I can feel beads of perspiration forming on my face. The stale air makes my breathing labored and loud, and I cover my nose with my shirt but that doesn't help much. I crawl over to the pile of crates and barrels with the letters W.C.K.D stamped onto the side. A loose board on one of the crates catches my eye. Maybe something in there can help me. I dig my fingernails under the top of the piece, prying it away from the rest of the crate. With an audible crack the board breaks and a assortment of tools and whatnot fall out. I rummage through the small pile until I find a small dagger with a rough wooden handle that has a yellow stripe running horizontally across it. I sit back and run my hands over my arms and legs looking for any injuries. When I ran my hand over my right leg I cried out because a flash of hot searing pain shoots through it and I felt something jutting out right under my kneecap. The burning sensation of bile appeared in the back of my throat but I forced it back down, gagging as I did. The room abruptly stopped; the force of it throwing forward into the wall. My scream of pain pierced the air and my leg felt like it was on fire. The room has stopped moving completely now, the only sound is the wailing of an alarm. I pushed myself up with weak arms that felt like they were about to snap in half. Then, a small silver line that leaked shining light into the room appeared over my head and it kept getting wider until bright white light blinds me. My eyes began to adjust and I start to see blurry shapes through it . The shapes shifted into the faces of multiple boys -well teenagers really, peering down at me with their brows knitted in confusion. The sounds of their excited voices and strange words reached my ears.
" Who's the new Greenie?"
"Someone get Alby!"
"What the shuck? It's a girl!" His voice is excited yet scared at the same time. "Hurry! Go get Alby!"
"There's so much blood." One boy says with more than just a hint of disgust.
Then a softer voice in almost a whisper squeaked, "Look at her leg."
A heavy silence overcame the boys. Only one who's standing near the front with a stocky build and a angry face with arched eyebrows moved. He jumped down into the room, causing it to shake and rattle which made the pain in my leg flare up again. I could feel fat, salty tears rolling down my cheeks from the aching, burning agony.
Multiple boys simultaneously holler, "CAREFUL!" at the one who jumped down into the room.
His eyes narrowed in annoyance but he continues towards me. He soon stood over me, his mouth pressed into a thin line. He sucked in a sharp breath after taking a glance at my leg and his face paled at the sight. He shook his head as if trying to wipe away the image of it before he turns his eyes back toward me and greeted me with a simple
"Day one Greenie."
I turn away and hunch over, the small knife clutched tightly in my hand. When he places a gentle hand on my shoulder I stiffen up but don't do much else. I feel too faint and dizzy to move. He swiftly scoops me up like a small child. I peek out from over his shoulder and that's when I notice the blood. It was smeared around the room as a tell-tale sign of where I had been. My arms and legs dripping with the crimson liquid as well and the right leg had the sharp edge of a creamy white bone jutting out beneath the knee. I gasp and bury my head back into his shoulder. I find it hard to believe that all of that blood could possibly be mine. I should've passed out by now from the look of it. The boy passes me up to one of the others who is much skinnier. Muffled voices, swarming lights, and scared thoughts dance inside of my head while the boys stare at me like I'm some kind of animal. Sharp pain makes my head throb and darkness swirls in the corner of my vision. I glance at the face of the boy holding me; his deep brown eyes look down into mine with a comforting look before everything goes black.
I sit up with a groan. Where am I? My body felt like it had just gotten hit by a truck and my swollen leg was in a very crude splint that had two long pieces of wood on either side of the knee and the top and bottom of the sticks were tied with a rag. There was multiple stitches under the kneecap where the fracture used to be. I looked around to see that I was in a small tent with the opening held up by wooden support beams.
The tent was filled with different shelves and containers that had medical supplies piled up inside of them. There was two small cots, with me in one and the other was empty. Then I realize that my dagger is gone. The boys must of taken it.
"Hello?" I called.
When no one answered I hobbled over to the opening of the tent. It's pathetic, having to be disabled like this. What if I had gotten attacked when I got out of the elevator? I'd be dead, or worse. I stepped out into a large field that was surrounded on all sides by towering stone walls with a narrow opening in the center of each that had dark green ivy sprouting from different cracks. In one corner there was a thick clump of trees and other foliage that formed a small forest. The corner to the east of that had multiple pens filled with different animals such as rabbits and goats. The northwest corner had a cluster of smaller huts packed together with a hole behind them that had a door made out of pieces of cane tied together. The final corner had another larger building with smoke coming out of the top and a large older looking tree that had two levels with a small floor on each that were connected with a rickety ladder. There were other things like gardens that were full of healthy bright vegetables where I could see blurry figures moving about within, a few more small shacks and what not where more figures appeared to be building something, and a large abandoned fire pit. In the center of it all was the elevator that I had come up in. I continue towards the woods since I'd rather not have to talk to anyone and I can't leave this little town that the boys made because the walls. I wonder if there are any other girls here. I didn't see any. Maybe they'd be easier to talk to. I sit down under a large tree once I've gone deep enough into the woods and shut my eyes. Why in the world can't I remember anything about myself? There's an empty feeling inside of me that is only comparable to when you lose something close to you. A numb emptiness of some sort. A woman's voice inside my head keeps repeating the same phrase over and over,
Wicked is good.
It makes me curl up into a small ball and plug my ears. She just won't shut up. I snap my eyes open which quiets the voice to an echo that eventually dissolves into a peaceful silence. I stay curled up and just listen to the sounds of the woods. The sunlight that filters through the leaves dances across the forest floor in beautiful patterns and swirls. I wiggle my toes with a small giggle and suck in a deep breath. The comforting scent of fresh soil and leaves fills the air. For being stuck in a place with boys I don't know, having no memory of my past life, and having a busted leg this is pretty relaxing. I start to drift off but a loud yell jolts me awake. I scramble to my feet and hobble as fast as I can to the edge of the woods. From behind a tree I can see boys from all over the field running towards the tent where I had woken up. The ones who were already there were frantically searching for something, most likely me while two other boys were talking to a bald dark skinned boy who had his arms crossed and was shaking his head. I've got to find somewhere to hide. They may have fixed my leg but I still don't trust them. I try to walk as quietly as someone with a stupid splint on their leg could toward the edge of the forest where the least amount of boys were. I see a decent sized tree with a large hole by the base that could probably fit a larger dog. I crawl inside and push myself back as far away from the opening as I could. Grabbing handfuls of leaves and sticks I cover my skin that was showing and use my sweatshirt that was luckily brown, to cover the rest of me only leaving a small hole that I could just barely see out of. I can hear the boys yelling the word Greenie which I assumed is what they were going to call me since they didn't know my name either. But I stayed still. They soon started searching the woods; I peer out from under the jacket to see a boy with an apron made of tattered pieces of leather sewn together looking back and forth a couple feet away. He bends over and looks under the root of a tree that rose slightly off the ground, leaving a small space underneath. Like I'd be under there. It's way to obvious because my feet would've stuck out. He starts creeping towards my hiding place like he expected a rabid animal to jump out and attack him. I stiffen up and hold my breath as he nears me. He stands right in front of the opening before he slowly crouches down and looks in. It felt like time had stopped while I waited.
Please just get up and go. Please.
I squeeze my eyes shut and don't open them until I hear him leave. I don't see or hear anyone for what seems like forever and I almost got up but at that moment I heard leaves and sticks crunching beneath someones feet. The boy with brown eyes and honey blond hair walks over to where the one with the apron had been standing before.
"Greenie! I'm not here to hurt ya. It's only me right now so you can come out. I understand you're scared, I was too on my first day here but you need to come out. You're hurt and it's quite obvious you need to let it heal." He explains in voice with a thick accent.
I guess he makes a good point but I still want to be alone and that's not going to happen if they find me. The blond boy is joined by the one with funny eyebrows who carried me out of the elevator. He seems quite furious.
"Newt we gotta just give up. She'll come out on her own when she gets hungry and we shouldn't waste our time like this. Minho, Jeff, Ben, and Zart are guarding the doors. We know she's not going anywhere."
"Fine Gally. I still want people keeping an eye out for her. Let's go tell Alby."
The blond boy- Newt, walks away with Gally. The only sounds are their receding footsteps. A relieved breath escapes my lips once I'm absolutely sure that they're gone. I don't move from my spot still, mostly because I'm fairly comfortable like this. The air under the jacket is getting hard to breathe in so I make the hole a bit larger. Before I knew it the sun had drowned in the horizon, the sky a bright array of pinks, oranges and yellows. The pale moon soon began to peek out from behind the dim clouds and shining stars. I laid there in silence admiring the sky before I let the heaviness of sleep overtake me.