"Hey.. hey it's ok. Just breathe. You're alright."
"...who are you... what do you want..."
"I'm Alby. I just want you to relax for now or you're gonna hurt yourself."
"wha.. ?"
She had come up in the box in the middle of the night. The gladers were alarmed to say the very least. The sound of the sirens had jolted them all awake and sent them running with dimly lit torches. The girl lay unconscious and injured.
It was morning when she awoke, gasping from pain and shock. She was so disoriented that she felt sick. She didn't know where she was. It was the usual deal except she didn't know it yet.
Her vision came into focus slowly and she could make out a kind of room. The walls made out of branches that had light seeping through in repeated strips on the ground. She was lying on a lumpy hard surface that seemed to be a bed of some sort. She looked around to find the source of the voice that had been speaking to her and saw two teenage boys; one was well-built, had a gentle dark face but authority in his eyes, and the other was tall and rather scrawny with blonde hair falling into his eyes. He was frowning deeply as he observed her behind the other boy.
"You ok, Greenie? You gave us quite a scare."
"Who are you?" she asked again
Right then, two more boys entered the room.
"Clint, Jeff, right on time. Can you check her?"
They approached her and immediately she shot up in a sitting position, scrambling away.
"Woah woah woah. Come on, girl, don't panic. We're just trynna help."
"Help? How? Why? Where am I?"
"Ah, now you're asking the usual questions." The first voice had belonged to the first boy, Alby. "You're in the glade. We are here to help you because you came to us in the box last night."
She understood none of it. Her heart pounded even faster.
"Can you remember anything? Your name, for instance?" The blonde boy approached her slowly. She looked at him as she opened her mouth to answer only to realize she couldn't.
"I'm... I can't remember. Why can't I remember anything? Why don't I know my name!?"
She looked down at her hands shaking and she felt her vision blur with tears filling up her eyes in fear. Her breaths became shallow and she felt bile coming up her throat. She couldn't hear anything anymore and she attempted to get out of bed but fell right to the floor as she realized her left leg was pulsating in pain. It wouldn't support her weight. She was on the ground clutching at it, her face scrunched up in agony as she gasped, her tears escaping.
Hands gently came on her shoulders and she immediately retreated from them.
"Don't surround her guys! It'll make it worse. Step back, all of you." It was the boy again, Alby. His voice was commanding and stern, then softer when he turned to speak to her,
"Listen to me, Greenie. I know you're scared but you have to trust us for now. Let Clint check on you quickly so that we know you're alright and we will answer everything we can." Alby looked at her with sympathy.
She tried to calm herself. It looked like her options were limited in her condition.
That was her beginning; her first day in the glade.
No-one knew why she had come up in the middle of the night before the usual box day. No-one knew why she had a deep gash on her leg, freshly bleeding and bruised.
She came in and out of consciousness during that first day and every time she woke she faced a new boy. Each one was careful and nervous around her as they did their best to calm her down and keep her still as she panicked and fought, unable to figure out why she was there.
The next day, she woke again, clear-headed and calmer.
"Feelin' better Greenie? Have a drink. You need it." It was that blonde boy. She realized she never caught his name or his distinct way of talking until now.
"What happened..."
"Yesterday? Well... you were in and out, panicking a lot but that's understandable. Heard you were sick a few times too... but it seems it's been a while since you've last eaten so you didn't really have much in you to make too much of a mess. Let's start first with a drink, shall we?" He was frowning again as he handed her a rather large chunky wooden cup.
She looked deep into his large brown eyes, warily taking the cup out of his hands and hesitating for a moment.
He must have noticed, since he responded with a small smirk, lightly chuckling, "don't worry, we haven't poisoned it or anything. Here," he gently took the cup back from her and swiftly took a small gulp. "See? Just water." He offered it back to her.
She took it again while looking up at him and drank slowly. He didn't say anything until she emptied it.
Once she did, he took a deep breath and said with a more serious expression. "Do you think you can walk?"
She looked down at her bandaged leg and forced it over the side of the bed. She attempted to push herself up and was momentarily successful before she saw black spots appear in front of her. Newt prevented her readily from toppling to the ground as he quickly caught her shoulders with both hands and sat her back down on the bed.
"You're ok... That's alright. Take it slow, Greenie. Let me just see if I can get you some food so you can eat here, yeah?"
"Why do you keep calling me Greenie?"
"Oh... well... do you remember your name?"
She was reminded of the fact that she didn't know her own name. The boy gave her a small smile and a slight nod.
"It's alrigh' it happens to us all. I'm Newt by the way. Your name will come to you soon. Till then you're our new Greenie."
"Oh she's awake again! You ok, Greenie?" The boy called Jeff had come into the room.
She nodded timidly, eyeing the new visitor. Jeff smiled at her and came over to observe her leg.
"She's having trouble standing," Newt said to him.
"Yeah, she might need another day or so. Cut isn't too deep luckily and the bone doesn't seem broken. We patched it up alright so you're probably just very low on energy, Greenie."
"Yeah, imma go get her some food from the kitchen. Watch her for a bit?"
Jeff nodded at Newt as he proceeded to walk out the door.
The girl sighed, too exhausted to feel afraid. Jeff was busy roaming around the room, bustling about with odd vials and containers. He looked towards her and gave her an awkward grin.
"Glad to see you not panicking, Greenie. We had quite a rough night trying to keep you from hurting yourself."
"...we?"
"Yeah, Clint and Alby... Newt and me. We took turns watching you since you came up. Mainly to see if you were getting a fever. We didn't want that cut getting infected... and for when you woke up of course."
"I... I'm... is it just you four in this place?"
"In the glade? No no, a lot of others... around twenty or so."
"Twenty?! What are you all doing here?"
"Well... none of us know exactly. We've just been put here like you. A new greenie every month who can't remember anything. Except... you're the only one who came up in the middle of the night, out cold and bleedin'. You're also the only girl."
"What?"
Seeing how shocked she looked, Jeff quickly added, "Yeah... uh.. don't worry about that for now. I know that might freak you out a bit but we're doing our best too."
She couldn't stop her mind racing. She felt light-headed again with confusion and found herself raising herself up from where she sat. She had to see where she was. She needed to know what was going on.
"Ok ok, Greenie. Just sit down for now. Newt is on his way to get some food for you. We will show you around and give you a tour after you get some strength back in your system. Come on, Greenie!"
She ignored his protests and fought through her dizziness, limping towards the door. She clutched onto things along the way, knocking off various objects and plants on the rickety tables and finally reaching the entrance.
She was about to escape when she almost collided into someone.
"Woah Greenie! Easy there." A tall dark-haired boy looked down at her, his hands open and ready for anything.
"Good to see you walking, though I heard you couldn't yet?" His eyes peered down at her suspiciously but also with concern.
"Nick!"