Well, here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it! I'm dedicated to the story and hope to keep it going, just for fun! Don't forget to comment, follow, and like! I appreciate anything you have to say, especially critiques! Thanks to all the lovely people who are supporting this story!
InvisibleSoul4- Thank you for being the first person to comment! I'm glad you are enjoying this so far! Chuck/Annie will start in a few chapters...yay! I need a ship name...ideas?
Guest- Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
May A Chance- I was trying to do something different like this...especially because my OC is so young. Thank you for reviewing!
AwesomeGirl- Thanks! I'll be updating every week because of school, but I'll update every few days in the summer! I'm happy everyone recognizes the Chuck/OC. I wasn't sure how readers would respond... Thanks for reviewing! (And reading!)
Alby calls for me from the top of the box.
"Climb on up!" He calls. I grab onto the rope Alby climbed up on, my hands shaking slightly. My adrenaline has gone down, leaving me exhausted. I take ahold of the rope and pull myself up a little, struggling. My arms burning, I heave myself about halfway up the rope, trying not to slide down. I reach up to grab the rope again and slip. I fall about eight feet back onto the floor. I land hard on my butt, rolling back a little. My checks flush bright red. I can't even climb a stupid rope?! I have to be the most un-athletic person ever. I can hear Alby laughing at me from above. I use my elbow to wipe off the sweat. Alby peers over the edge along with another boy. They both are laughing at me. I clamber up, irritated. Not funny, at all. I'm not athletic apparently.
"Stop laughing at me and help me up!" I demand over the laughter. I put my hands on my hips and glare up at them.
"Fine. Just grab onto the rope and we can pull you up." The other boy says. Good. I grab onto the rope again. Slowly, they pull me up. I feel like my arms are being pulled out of their sockets from hanging on. My white shirt pulls up to show the waistband of my beige cargo pants. If only I knew what my face looked like. Alby grabs my wrists and pulls me over the edge. My stomach scrapes the edge of the metal, hurting it. I wince. I sit up on the edge of the elevator and roll back my aching shoulders. I squint rough the sun and see Alby and a boy with black hair and bad acne looking down at me.
"Alright there, Greenie?" The one with acne asks. I frown. Greenie?
"Um. Uh, my-my name isn't Greenie." I say, confused. He offers me his hand to help me get up. I refuse and push myself up. I'm not staying, so why get attached.
"That's what we call everyone who comes up in the Box." Alby clarifies. The Box? Real creative name. I blink at them rapidly.
"Any chance I can go back down?" I ask hopefully. Alby shakes his head.
"Oh." I say, my hope snuffing out like a candle. My head fuzzes up a little.
"I'm Winston." The acne boy says.
"Annie." I reply with a tight smile. I shield my eyes from the sun and look up. Or should I say the light. When I look up, there is no sun in the sky. I feel faint. While looking up, I notice the huge walls surrounding us. Huge. Trapping me in. Concrete walls, ten stories high, covered in ivy. I blink and stare. No. No, no, no. I take a shuddering breath. And another, and another. I feel faint and dizzy. Suddenly, I can't breathe. I'm hyperventilating. I put my hand on my chest. I take a dizzy step backwards. I can faintly hear Alby saying something. Winston grabs my shoulders and shakes me a little. My vision turning spotty, I yank myself away from him. I start to move away from them, trying to breathe. Oh no. I'm trapped. The word rings in my head. Alby grabs my arm to steady me. I look at him. He's trying to say something.
"No." I mumble. Sweating, my eyes start to droop as my chest clenches together. Tears run down my face. Suddenly, Im stumbling towards a poorly made building. Woods sticks out at all angles, forming a two story, crude house. Alby supports me as a few people run towards us to help. I collapse to my knees, trying to breathe slowly. My head pounds terribly as I sit in the lush grass, clutching my chest. Alby yanks me back to my feet, pulling me along. My breaths come so fast I can hardly breathe and black spots obscure my vision from lack of oxygen. I have to get control or I'll stop breathing completely. I attempt to breathe slower, but I'm panicking. My head throbs as I try to think about something-anything, other than being trapped. I feel people lifting me up, carrying me. My heart squeezes and I flail around, falling to the ground. Finally out of breath, I pass out.
Someone touches my arm and I shoot upright, gulping in air. I look around, my eyes adjusting automatically to the light filtering in from the window. My eyes focus on a very startled looking boy with light brown skin and a skinny frame. I sit up, breathing in the blessed air, recalling everything. We study each other for a second before I panic slightly. I have no idea where I am or who this person is. I tear the wool blanket off of myself, practically falling out of the bed, and jump up.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Greenie. It's okay. You passed out, remember? You were hyperventilating and couldn't get it under control, okay? I'm Jeff." He explains, gesturing to himself. "I'm a med-jack." He adds. My heart pounding, I scan the room. Med-jack? What the h*ll is that? I spot the window and quickly walk to it, peering out. Walls. I shut my eyes tight. Sh*t. I take a deep breath and run my hand over my hair. My two French braids have become rather loose, and I pull out the bands that hold them, letting my honey blonde hair fall in wave around my shoulders. I throw the bands on the floor, irritated. I turn back to Jeff.
"Where am I?" I ask, my voice cracking and my eyes filling with tears. I blink them back, knowing they could fall any second. Jeff walks towards me, his hands out in a reassuring gesture. I fold my arms across my chest and look up at him. He's much shorter than Alby, Newt, and Winston. I take a second to praise myself in remembering their names. He's still taller than me. I must be extremely short.
"Listen, Greenie. You stay here. I'll go get Alby to explain." He says slowly, like I'm a dumb five year old.
"I'm not five!" I snap. The tears I was blinking back fall down my cheeks. I hastily wipe them away. Jeff looks at me with pity.
"I'll be right back. Don't move." He says, turning and quickly walking to the door. He opens it and sprints out, leaving me confused, upset, and dumbstruck.
"She's awake!" I hear him yelling loudly. I cringe. Does everyone know I'm awake? Without a second thought, I turn back to the window and open it. I swiftly climb out. Halfway through, I hear someone.
"What're you doing?" My heart jumps in my throat, like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I whip my head around and see a slightly chubby boy with curly redish-brown hair and blue eyes peering at me from around the corner of the door. He looks like he's around 13, but it's hard to tell through the layer of grime everyone is covered in. I glare at him and continue climbing through the window. He takes this as an invitation to come into the room.
"There's nowhere to go other than the Maze, you know that, right?" The boy asks, standing behind me. I freeze and turn around.
"Maze?"I ask nervously. The boy bites his lip and grins.
"Whoops. Shouldn't have told you that. Forget I said anything." He says with a wink. I roll my eyes. I don't have time to deal with this. Jeff will be back with Alby soon. I crawl out the window and let it shut in the boy's face. I'm now standing on a small platform that is about two feet wide. I clutch the window frame since I'm two stories up. I survay the place I'm in. Some gardens, a barn, animal pens, a large forest, wooden tables, fire pits, a sand pit, benches, a hut, and around 40 people working. In the corner of my mind, I wonder why there aren't any girls I can see. Not to mention the walls. Speaking of, I notice a large crack in the walls, splitting it all the way to the top. A way out. Hope blossoms in my chest and I look for a way to get down. There's another platform in a ten foot drop. I take a breath and sit on the ledge. I slide off it before I can react or chance my mind. Now I'm dangling closer to the platform. My arms still sore, I hang. I let go and drop onto the platform, barely catching myself. I've landed next to another window. I glance in and see a boy about 16 that looked a whole lot like Alby, just with a little more hair, shorter, and bigger. No to mention the bright green eyes. He must be the cook. After all, he is wearing an apron and holding a pot. He gapes at me and I grin, waving my fingers a little. With that, I jump the remaining three feet to the ground. I look around and strt walking purposely towards the hole in the walls. What did that kid say? Oh yeah. There's a Maze out there. Nobody gives me a second look as I approach the wall. Nobody even glances my way. I guess they just don't notice me. I'm pretty close to the opening now, maybe just thirty feet away when I hear the same boy's voice.
"Hey Greenie! Wait up! You can't go out there." I take a deep breath and turn around. Yep. Same curly haired boy from before. I continue walking towards the opening, a little faster now. The grass turns to gravel and dirt as I'm only about ten feet away. The kid grabs my arm from behind. I whirl around.
"What?" I ask. He seems a little surprised and lets go.
"You can't go out there. It's against the rules." He tells me. I roll my eyes.
"I've heard." I respond, walking closer still. He sounds extremely nervous as I touch the wall. I peer past the wall. A corridor branching into three others, all concrete and tall. What do ya know, it is a maze. The maze gives me the creeps. Ivy covers parts of it, and the sun is somewhat backed out. I shuffle towards it, entranced. My way out. All I have to do is only take right turns. That is always how you get out of a maze.
"Hey!" I hear Alby's voice yell. I flinch and turn around to see Alby, Jeff, and Newt all running towards us. Chuck takes a couple of steps back, nervously. I take a defiant step into the maze.
"I would come back if I were you, Greenie. You're going to be in trouble." Chuck tells me. I stare into the Maze. My feet shuffle, confused to if I want to stay or go. I hear them behind me, just a couple of feet away.
"Annie." Alby warns. I turn around as he uses my real name. They approach me cautiously, like I might start running any second. Which I'm considering. My way out. All I have to do it run. Something holds me back. Maybe it's the fact they all seem afraid of the giant maze.
"I need to leave." I inform them in a pleading voice. "I don't belong here." They all exchange looks, like they agree. I take another step backwards, into the maze.
"Listen shank, come back. You're gonna bloody die out there." Newt informs me, not unkindly. Shaking and on the verge of tears, I stumble farther back. They look exceedingly nervous now that I'm about twenty feet into the maze.
"What do you mean? What's out here? Why won't you let me leave?" I ask frantically, my voice on the edge of being hysterical. We've gathered quite a crowd now. About ten people stand watching this unfold. No girls. None. This makes me break and tears start sliding down my cheeks faster than I can wipe them away. Suddenly, I hear mechanical sounds.
Click, click, click
Whirrrrrrrrrrr
Click, click, click
Whirrrrrrrrrrr
I glance behind me and scream bloody murder. I'm not the only one. I hear the boys behind me run closer to the heart of the field we are in, yelling. I hear muttering from Alby. A large...thing is coming around the farthest corner away. It's a little bigger than a cow. It looks like green slime, which no distinct shape. It has a spider looking mouth and mechanical legs. Knifes, boils, bee stingers, weapons, shears, and more poke from the sliming body. It's a nasty picture of part animal, part machine. My heart squeezes with fear, freezing me into place. It lets out a roar and clicks towards me, very quickly.
"Run!" Newt yells at me. I need prodding, I turn on my heel and sprint as fast as I can back towards the opening. My long legs work overtime as I sob and shake, running away. When I finally get back in, I don't stop running. I run past everyone, until I run smack into someone. I topple over, barely able to see through my tears. I don't bother to see who it it, I just get right back up and try to start running again. I have to be as far away from that thing as possible.