Chapter 3: Ideas

AN: Hi, my gladers and readers! I'm back with Chapter 3! I waited to update this until I had my first final exam done, because I needed to be super focused for that. But I have a very good feeling and now I can reward me and you with the third chapter. Other chapters will not be uploaded before the 15th of October, which is the date of my oral exam and that one has to be perfect! But until then, here is Chapter 3. I hope you love it.

Once again, Ritara2083 has all the credits for this story, I'm just a humble translator about to become a CERTIFIED translator. :)

Enjoy!

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

The way into the maze!

Amazed and with my mouth hanging open, I stared out into the dark passageway. There, too, the walls rose steeply into the air. They were covered with vines and ivy. The entire passageway consisted of huge unyielding, coarse stone slabs. Further back, I could see that more passageways were branching off from the first. Here and there, some rays of sunshine penetrated through them and illuminated the dark stone.

Carefully I took a few steps towards the entrance. I was fascinated by the maze. My mind didn't want to believe that humans were able to create and build such a huge, complex construct. In my head I had a rough idea of the size of the maze, although I had neither been in it nor had any reference point. But my logical thinking forbade me to think of a maze that stretched over several square kilometers. How I knew that again, I didn't know either. Determined, I took two more steps forward and now stood directly at the spot where there was otherwise only stone. Curious, I looked to the left and right. And my stomach turned again.

Because now I realized how wide the stone door really was. I felt like I was suffocating. Again, I estimated a width of about 10 meters here. Once again that day I stumbled backwards and roughly slumped into the grass. Only now did I realize that I was on the verge of hyperventilation. I consciously inhaled through my nose and out through my mouth. Immediately I calmed down again, my heartbeat returned to normal and I was able to think clearly again.

Alby sat down beside me. I had an important question for Alby that had been on my mind all day.

"What do you do here all day, Alby? Not to sound mean or anything, but do you sit around as much as we do today or do you do other things?"

A slight grin came over the other's face. He nodded.

"Good question. When there were still three of us, we tried to build a kind of shelter for ourselves. Although it hardly ever rains, the sun can burn quite strongly. And since we also got goats and sheep and pigs sent up, we wanted to set up a breeding farm. But so far it hasn't come to that. And it doesn't make sense doing it on my own. Since Peter... You know... since then, I've actually been sitting around all day doing nothing."

I felt sorry for Alby. I could only begin to imagine what he had to go through. It had to be terrible to have to live alone in this vast glade, completely cut off and with no chance of contact with the outside world.

Then a thought came to me.

"But now you're not alone anymore. What do you think of trying to finish the hut? I saw that there are a lot of boards in the back. Maybe we can do it. What do you think?" I asked shyly.

I knew that I was definitely not in a position to make demands. But perhaps Alby agreed with my proposal. And lo and behold: He lifted his eyes, looked at me and nodded.

"You know what, Newt? That's a great idea. Now it makes sense again. And we have something to do. And while we're collecting ideas... I thought that we should also build a stable for the pigs, sheep and goats. I only haven't gotten around to it yet. Now would be the ideal time for this."

I nodded excitedly. Even though I had been here for just two hours, I had just gotten the feeling that it was possible to build up something like an existence here. If we managed to build a hut, what else could we build? Immediately, hundreds of ideas shot through my head. 'One thing at a time, Newt' I admonished myself. 'Now let's start with the hut.'

I jogged after Alby, towards the hut and the boards. Once there, he put his hands on his hips and looked at the sorry excuse of a hut. Once again, a thought crossed my mind.

„Hey, Alby. I just thought of something. You said that a new Greenie comes here every month, right? What do you say we finish building this hut so that about 5-6 people can sleep here? But without walls. We could sleep in hammocks attached to the foundation posts. That would be easier than nailing the entire outside of the hut shut and sleeping on the hard floor. And if more Greenies arrive, we can expand the hut as much as we like."

Alby looked at me excitedly. He seemed to be on fire. Without saying a word, he pulled me by the arm towards the boxes. He flipped up the lid of one of them. There were thick cloths and ropes in the box.

„Then we can build our own hammocks. Newt, you're a genius!" Alby exclaimed.

I shook my head, smiling.

"No, I'm not a genius. I just think quite logically. If it never rains, as you say, then we don't need walls. We can cover ourselves with blankets in the hammocks, then it is not so cold. But there's one more thing."

"What?" Alby looked at me irritated.

"Where did you put Peter when he felt so bad?"

"In the grass. I had no other choice at the time. Why, what do you want to get at?"

"If we are even more, we could build a closed hut that can fit about four beds. If any of us get injured or sick, they can be treated there."

The glow that now settled on Alby's face rivalled the sun considerably.

"You know what, Newt? I have to thank you. In fact, I had almost given up hope of ever being happy here again. But all these ideas you have: If we really manage to do all the things we've just set out to do, I think we can live here very well until we find a way out of this accursed maze."

I looked to the side, embarrassed. Of course I was happy that Alby liked my ideas so much, but on the other hand I didn't want to give him too much hope. Because I still had no idea either how to escape from this maze. Perhaps one could manage to climb up the walls. Or ride down again with the box? More and more new ideas crept into my brain and haunted it unstoppably.

"Hey Newt..."

A touch startled me. Alby had patted me on the back and looked at me questioningly. I looked back, just as dumbfounded.

"What?" I asked, not very brightly.

Alby grinned.

"If we want to carry out the ideas, then we should get started."

I hadn't even noticed that Alby had already picked up a board and was actually just waiting for me to take the other end. So I hurried and bent down to the wooden beams.

Just 2 hours later, the hut already looked much better. We had reinforced the ceiling with more beams. The beams stood in such a way that some hammocks could be comfortably placed and hung between them. Of course we were far from finished, but for tonight it would have to do. In the meantime, we had stretched out the sheets and stabilized and strengthened them with the ropes. Before we would lie down in them ourselves afterwards, we had resolved to test the stability once again in spite of everything. Since we both had no idea how heavy we were, we put some boards, stones and tools in the sheets. If they were still hanging afterwards, they would also carry our weight overnight.

Alby had put some broken boards aside.

"For the campfire afterwards," he had only grinned.

Nevertheless, we made a detour into the forest. If the fire was to burn a little longer afterwards, we needed more than 6 broken, thin boards. The search was much quicker with two people, but it was already getting slightly dusky when we stepped out of the forest again. The day had gone by much faster than I had thought and I had also had great fun working outdoors.

Without wasting much more time, we piled up some timbers into a heap and laid the rest down neatly at a sufficient distance. As a precaution, we built a circle of rough stones around the fireplace, then Alby pulled out a huge box of matches that was probably twice the size of his hand.

"Where did you get it from?" I asked suspiciously, surprised and curious at the same time.

Alby smiled, then nodded his head in the direction of the boxes.

"They were once in the supply crates when the Box came up again. Since then I've used one every now and then, because most of the time we were able to keep the fire going long enough. The longest was four days. Sometimes, when it was warm enough, we didn't light one either. But tonight I'd like to start one. In your honour. And because I am no longer alone. Wait a second."

Alby had already jumped up and ran straight to the boxes that stood alone in the clearing, casting long shadows in the dim light. He opened a small box, took something out and ran back to us. He had two bottles of water in his hand.

"Unfortunately there is nothing else here. But better this than nothing. So here's to you, you shank."

"Shank? Why are you calling me a shank?" I wanted to know, slightly piqued.

Alby laughed uproariously.

"Because you are so skinny, like a shank of leek. But I kind of like the word too. There's something teasing about it. We urgently need that here. A bit of fun, teasing and sarcasm. You can't stand it here any other way."

Still minimally miffed at being called "skinny", I toasted with Alby. But after a few seconds the incident was forgotten and I sank back into the grass. The fire crackled softly and sparks flew into the sky. I realized that I was happy. And hey... maybe it wasn't that bad here. After all, I already had a nickname. Everything else would surely be resolved in time.

END CHAPTER 3

EN: This concludes Chapter 3 of New(t's) Life. I hope you like it and leave a little comment. It supports me and Ritara very much. So… the next time we see each other, I'll have graduated and will be trying to fill all the time I will have on my hands.

Until then kisses and cake,

Yuna McHill