Slam

Jolt

Crash

I shot up out of my false sleep.

Jolt

Bang

Crash

Where was I? Why couldn't I remember anything? What was my name? Did I have a name? What was wrong with me?

Boom

"Help me! Someone help me!" I screamed. The dark crate I was in picked up speed and I was slammed into the floor. I hit my head against the hard metal and my vision went black. When it cleared I saw the ceiling.

"Oh no! Oh no this is bad! This is very bad!" I forced myself to stand though my head was ringing and my side was bruised. I grabbed the side of the box for support, and held onto the crate with both my hands, keeping my back pressed against it, bracing myself the best I could.

Screeeeeeeech

I winced and squeezed my eyes shut, while metal grated against metal and sparks flew everywhere. The box finally jolted to a stop and air and sunlight hissed into the box. I let go of the crate and covered my eyes against a blinding light.

Metal doors flew open I saw the outline of many people. One however, jumped inside the box. They landed with a thump and I wearily prepared myself for a fight, I took deep breaths, trying to control the panic that flooded my body.

"Hello? Hey, if you're listening my name is Jo, and I'm here to help you." A gentle feminine voice called from the shadows, her voice helped me calm down a bit and I stepped forward a bit. Not so much that she could fully see me, but enough that she knew where I was. Still she made no move towards me, probably trying to not frighten me. "I know that you probably don't remember anything, and that's normal. We've all been through this and I promise I can help you. Do you remember your name?" She asked. I made a small noise that meant 'yes'. She paused for a quick moment before continuing. "Do you want to step out?" I was still the slightest bit hesitant about it, but she seemed like she could help me so the least I could do was cooperate. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows that concealed me. She gasped quietly, and the shimmer behind her eyes grew stronger.

"Hi..." I whispered, trailing of.

"Your a girl..." She breathed so quietly I almost didn't hear, before shaking her head and continuing. "I'm Jo like I said before. Do you remember your name? If you don't it will come back to you soon." I nodded,

"My name is Simone... I think." Jo smiled,

"That's a pretty name Simone. Do you want to come out of the box with me?" I nodded slowly, still trying to collect my bearings.

"Sure." I noted that my voice was hoarse but I ignored it and climbed up out of the box behind Jo. We were instantly swarmed by boys, some shouting things like "Another girl Jo?" Other saying, "Welcome to the Glade greenie." And still others shouting, "I call dibs!" That last comment I heard seemed to make some of the boys really mad and suddenly everyone was yelling. 30 seconds later Jo had had enough and yelled at them to 'Slim it?' Slim it? What does that mean? Well, whatever it means I'm glad it worked. I thought wearily.

"Everyone slim it! She's just as scared and nervous as all of you were now go back to work!" She scolded firmly. Groaning, one by one the boys dispersed, leaving me and Jo alone once more. I sighed in relief. Jo was nice, I decided. Don't let panic take over, stay calm.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. They're probably just super curious, you being the second girl here." Only girls here? That can't be good

"We're the only girls here?" I asked uneasily, "How many boys?"

"Around thirty. But don't worry, you'll be fine. Everyone already knows the rules; you touch us? You get banished." She said confidently. I took a deep, uncertain breath. It wasn't that I didn't trust her... I just didn't fully believe her. Jo probably sensed my unease on the situation because she then promised that the leaders of this place would make sure that everyone knew not to touch me.

"Thanks." I repeated with a smile.

"Your welcome. So, why don't I give you the grand tour of this place and- Owwwwwwww... That was not there a second ago!" She complained with a small laugh, having just tripped over a rock. I laughed too and helped her up,

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. So what I was going to ask before that shuck rock so RUDLEY interrupted me, is that we can sit down here. I'll explain somethings and you can ask me your questions, then I give you a tour of this place. How does that sound Simone?"

"Sure thing."

"Great! Alright, so to start with, this place we're in? It's called the Glade. Here in the Glade we have 3 and only 3 rules. Number 1: Never leave the Glade. Unless you're a runner, you have to stay inside these walls. Number 2: Never hurt another Glader. If someone hurts you, you go to Nick, Alby or one of the keepers, who I'll introduce you to soon." She paused for a moment and I interrupted,

"What's a keeper?"

"A keeper is the person in charge of a group of people." She answered easily, and I nodded. "And finally rule number 3: Always do your part. No slacking off. If people did that, hitched on for a free ride this place wouldn't exist. You good with all the information so far?"

"Mhm."

"Ok, so now to the topic of keepers. We have a couple of jobs here in the Glade. Slicer- Tends to the livestock, cleans, and slaughters. Cooks- Make our food. Track-hoes- Gardeners basically. Med-jack- Doctors. Builders- Build stuff. Bricknicks- Fix stuff. Baggers- Keep watch and take care of bodies. Runner- Run the Maze, mapping it to find a way out. Sloppers- Clean." She took a breath, her wavy brown hair falling over her eyes. She brushed it of and waited for any questions that I had -I had none- and continued.

"The Keepers are the leaders of the groups, so basically Winston is the leader of the Slicers. Frypan's the Keeper of the cooks. Zart is the Keeper of the Track-hoes. Clint's the keeper of the Med-jacks. Gally is the Keeper of the Builders. Brandon is the Keeper of the Bricknicks. Billy's Keeper of the Baggers. Newt's the Keeper of the Runners. Lee is the Keeper of the Sloppers and finally the leaders of the Glade- Nick and Alby are first and second in command."

"What are you?" I had a feeling where she might be but I wanted to make sure.

"I'm a Med-jack." Knew it.

"I thought so." I grinned. A smile played at her lips,

"What gave it away?" I tilted my head, still smiling.

"Nothing really, just a lucky guess, I guess." She gave a full smile.

"I guess. Come on, time for the tour!" In a graceful motion she was on her feet and I followed her lead.

I felt curiosity build up in my chest and I asked, "Where are we going first?"

Still smiling she called over her shoulder, "To Homestead." Homestead? I jogged to catch up with her.

"What's Homestead?"

"Homestead is basically the main building we have. Some of our bedrooms are in there, the kitchen is there, the Gathering room, the Med-jack hut is right next to it and behind it is the Slammer. That's where you go if you hurt another Glader."

"Ok." I agreed. After a quick tour of Homestead, Jo showed me the Gardens, The Bloodhouse, -Which I found creepy- The Deadheads, -Also creepy- the Showers, ours and the boys and the Watch tower. Finally after all of that we stopped by the kitchens for lunch, where Frypan -Frypan?- and the other cooks were preparing lunch.

"Hey Fry. Lunch ready yet?"

"Almost done Jo. New greenie come in?"

"Yep and guess what! We got another girl!" She beamed. All eyes turned to me and I waved shyly.

"Thats me! Um... Hi."

"Wow Jo! Next thing you know, this place'll be all girls and us boys'll be outnumbered." He exclaimed and Jo laughed warmly,

"I don't think so Fry, but at least I have another girl around here now!" Fry joined in the laughter before turning to me.

"Don't worry sista. You're in good hands with Jo here."

"Thanks." I replied with a small smile. Within the next 5 minutes, lunch was ready. I was served mashed potatoes and biscuits before Jo led me to the tables. I dug into my food and hummed in satisfaction.

"Frypan this is great!" He laughed and he thanked me. Jo continued explaining life in the glade, while I listened, to hungry to respond. She mostly explained about the Maze, stuff about Grievers, runners and how it was our only way out. I listened attentively the entire while, if I was going to be a runner -Which I was planning on doing- I was going to need to know all that stuff. Midway through lunch when Jo was done explaining -We were just chatting- two boys jogged into the room. Jo's face immediately lit up and she waved them down. The blond boy grinned and kissed her. I quickly averted my eyes, and seeing this the Asian boy laughed.

"You better get used to that greenie." I looked up and smiled, but the asian froze. "Another one?" Oh. Right. Forgot, only two girls here.

"Um yep... thats me... second girl here." He still looked shocked and elbowed the blonde boy who stopped kissing Jo.

"Alright alright Minho, I bloody get it. No kissing in front of the newbies."

"Clearly Newt. You have not yet seen the shucking greenie." I caught Jo discreetly rolling her eyes and a smile tugged at my lips.

"Its just a bloody greenie whats so sp-" He froze mid-sentence when he saw me. I grimaced, This again?

"Why is everyone so surprised to see me? It's not like I'm the first girl here! Jo is this how you felt when you first came up?" I huffed.

"A little. It was a bit annoying because some of the boys kept calling be 'babe' and whatnot, so prepare yourself for that." She said with a wry smile. Newt shook himself of,

"Sorry greenie. Was just surprised and all. Jo show you around?"

I nodded, "Yep."

"How're ya settling in?"

"Fine I guess... I guess." Minho laughed.

"Remember your name?"

"Simone."

"Don't talk much huh Simone?" I smirked.

"I talk. Just don't feel like talkin now."

"Oooooh, this one's got sass."

"And you don't?" I asked with raised eyebrows and a smile.

"Oh greenie. I think we're going to get along just fine."

"Ahem. Minho. Simone. If you're both done sassing each other around, I still need to help you unload your things."

"Ok, we're done now." He smirked, and I rolled my eyes.

"What things?" I asked Jo.

"The creators send us up some stuff to help us out. Different clothes, shampoos, conditioners, brushes, shoes, and pills." Pills? Why would they send up pills specifically for us- Oh. OH.

"You know that took me a second, but remind me to thank the creators when we get out of here." Jo laughed.

"I felt like that to, but don't get to exited. You're going to bleed every third month." My face fell.

"Really?"

"Its for your health." The entire conversation, Minho and Newt had a disgusted look on their face,

"What? Just cause we're trapped here doesn't mean that mensural cycles cease to exist." I smirked

"We didn't even say anything," Minho whined.

"But you were thinking it." I finished. We all shared a good laugh before Jo took me to the box. We found a powder blue duffel bag, next to a pink one and I immediately knew that it was mine. I opened the box and found 2 full-sleeve crop tops, 2 half-sleeve crop-tops, some black leggings, a black sweatshirt, 2 pairs of shoes, and a few pairs of undergarments. I also found a hair brush and some ties, a hand held mirror, and as Jo said, a box of pills. I was still grinning like an idiot when I read the label. Along with that, I also found something she hadn't mentioned. A dagger. The hilt was shaped like a hummingbird in flight, its outstretched wings serving as the guard, and it's beak seemed to be the blade. I unsheathed it and touched the tip of the blade. Mistake. It sliced through my skin as if it was a feather. I hissed and yanked my hand back, Jo looked at me oddly.

"What's that?" I re-sheathed it and held it out to her.

"A dagger. Found it in my bag." A look of realization dawned on her,

"Ah, I get it. The creators must have sent up for self defense. You see, when I first came here, some of the boys... had less then honorable thoughts. Only 2 of them acted on those thoughts however. But it was still 2. After the first incident the boys, Newt, Minho, Gally and Ben, gave me a machete for self defense. Now, I always wear it on me." Ah, that made sense. But something about the dagger still seemed... different. Oh well. I would just waste time thinking about it. I strapped the dagger to my waist and zipped up my bag.

"Come on then Simone. We can go to the bathrooms and you can take a shower and change before we get you all unpacked." Jo called, carrying her own pink bag. I nodded and stood. Newt helped her out of the box -She was too short to get up herself- and then offered me a hand, but I just tossed my bag up before easily scaling the small wall of the crate myself, when I reached the top I smiled.

"Thanks but no thanks." I told Newt. Minho who stood behind him smirked,

"Shuck Jo. Seems as if you got yourself one hell of a greenie."

"And now what's that supposed to mean?" I challenged.

"Nothin' sweetheart." He said innocently. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, but still smirked in good humor.

"Are you two done yet?"

"Yes Jo we're done."

"Good. Now come on." Minho tossed me my bag -as it had landed near his feet- I nodded my thanks and took of after Jo.

I tucked the last strand of my dark-black hair into the fish tail I had braided, then tied the end of with a rubber band.

"Are you done?" Jo called, emerging from a stall. I nodded,

"Yep. Thanks for waiting Jo."

"No problem! I like what you did with your hair."

"Thank you! I like what you did too." I said genuinely. She had pulled her wavy brown hair into a messy side braid, but had wisps framing her face.

"Your welcome! Do you want to go out again? We should probably set up a sleeping arrangement for you."

"Oh... right... Yeah lets go do that." We wandered around the glade, looking for Nick, occasionally stopping when some of the boys wanted to talk to me. Ok maybe not occasionally. Maybe it was every 10 steps, but WHO cares? Certainly not me. No. I'm all good about it. Like who would find it frustrating when you're trying to get somewhere and then you have to stop every TEN STEPS to talk to somebody or the other. By the time we actually found Nick, I was so fed up and just purely pissed of, that I was just inches away from screaming. And he could tell.

"You alright kid?" I let the slightest bit of frustration out through a sigh and responded.

"Yeah. I'm just sorta pissed of right now." He laughed,

"Those gladers stop you every few steps?" A smile pulled at my lips and I nodded,

"How'd ya know?"

"Same thing happened to Jo here. Poor shanks."

"I agree. Poor us." He laughed more at my little self pity and I smiled. I liked making people laugh.

"So, what brings you here kid? Well I suppose it's kidS now isn't it?"

"That it is." Jo agreed. "We were wondering Nick, where's she supposed to sleep? After what happened with Stan, I don't think it's a good idea for her to be on her own." Nick remained silent for a moment, probably thinking.

"Your right Jo. I suppose we could have her in a room and have Gally build a lock. Or, do you want to sleep outside greenie?" He asked me. I shrugged,

"Sure." Anything was fine with me, and I didn't really want to be a bother.

"Ok then, we can do that, that way your with the other shanks so no one will try anything. Jo'll show ya where your hammock goes." I nodded.

"Ok." It took some time, but we finally got my hammock up and my stuff all set up. Jo had chosen a spot near Minho for me, just as a little safety insurance. To be honest, I was still a little worried about being here with all these boys, but I kept that to myself. I really didn't want to bother anyone with my problems. Beside, Jo had been here longer then me and she was safe right? I would be too. Hopefully. Oh don't think like that Simone. You'll be fine. And you have your dagger. No one will try anything. I would be fine. Hopefully.