"Get up, quickly!"
"Thomas?"
"We don't have long."
He rapidly begins tugging at my arms as I shoot up from my bed. Frazzled at the sudden outburst, I continue my line of questioning, "Why...wha...what happened?" Thomas starts jerking his head from one side to the other, as if checking the doors for something, and begins his explanation, "There's not many of us left now, I think your next, WICKED need a new test subject."
I blankly stare at him, as if not quite processing what he just said. "How do you know it's not you, or Deedee?" Looking down, he whispers in a subtle tone, "I'm sorry... I had no choice. They said if I helped, they'd let us live. I'm sorry."
Before I can fully grasp what he said, several fully armed men march through the door, and begin dragging me down the hallway. "I'm so sorry." His words continue to echo throughout my mind as everything begins to fade.
"Alby, is that you?"
A crack of light seeps through the open window, revealing his face. "Yes Tanya, now gets out of bed, we got a long day ahead of us." Muttering complaints under my breath, I whip off my excuse for a blanket and leap out of bed.
The cold morning air blows throughout the room prickling my skin as I reach for my work overalls, "So do you wake up all the gladers or just me?"
Alby proceeds opening the wooden shafts, immediately lighting up the room, "Neither, but today's a special day for you. After what happened to Clint, Jeff couldn't handle being a med-jack on his own. Ordinarily, you would try each occupation, but, as we need a new med-jack, that's where you're bein' transferred. Of course, Jeff will be showing you the ropes, but that shouldn't be too difficult. Think you're up for it, Greenbean?"
My express excitement is soon stumped at the thought of what happened to Clint. He was the glader they found when I arrived. Never-the-less I can't pass up an opportunity like this, it sure beats gardening or cooking, "Really? That's it? No big interview or keeper meeting or something?"
He continues towards the door, turning back to look at me, "No, just don't be late. When you're ready, head over to the med center, Clint will show you what to do."
As he leaves, I start to remember my dream. Who that was? Did that happen, or was it nothing more than a mere dream? The booming sound of the gates crashing open quickly interrupts my train of thought. I better get to work.
I can't stop thinking about that dream, if only I could remember more.
"Are you gonna eat that, or just stare at it for the next ten minutes?"
Glancing up from my plate, I see another glader, he can't be more than sixteen. Although toned, his slight appearance makes him seem rather thin as compared with some of the others. Hazel brown eyes give his face a rather gentle look, filled with excitement.
I look back down at my plate of...food, I think, it's hard to tell with Frypan. "Well, it's this or starve to death so..." With eager anticipation, he whips the chair next to mine and swiftly sits himself down.
"I'm Jeff, you probably have already heard, I'll be training you! Not that there's a lot to learn, it's sort of trial by error more than anything around here. Think you're ready to start?" His cheesy grin and overenthusiastic tone would make anyone question his sanity, "Yes?"
Before I can say anything more, Jeff hastily rushes off his seat, making his way over to Alby, who is sitting at another table perpendicular to mine, "Sorry Greenie, gotta dash, come over to the med-bay when you're ready! Cya!" Where even is the med-bay?
"So Greenie, this is where you'll be most of the time. Over here we have the..." Jeff's voice starts to disappear into nothing more than noise in the back of my mind.
The med-bay itself is located right outside the homestead, north of the deadheads. From the outside, it seems to be nothing more than a wooden shack. Inside, however, beds line the majority of interior walls.
Light shines in through three well-positioned windows, one on each wall, bar the exception of the door. On a table at the far side of the room, lies vials of a colourless substance, encircled with bandages and a bottle of some kind of alcohol.
I glance over the room again, finally taking it in, before resuming back to paying attention.
"It's quite basic procedure for emergencies, like applying pressure to deep wounds, or chest compressions, which are pretty rare, well, it's never actually happened. Most of what you'll be learning is stitching a cut, applying bandages, etc."
"Are there that many injuries?" I remark, simultaneously fiddling with a bandage.
Jeff proceeds tidying the table, "No, no, not always. Maybe the odd building accident or cut with a gardening tool. Usually, I check to see if someone's sick, especially the runners. That's pretty much all you'll be doing, that and giving over-dramatic gladers a fake injection or something to put their mind at ease..."
In an instant, the door flings open and Zart bursts through, his face pale like he's seen a ghost, "It was him...he was there...I saw him..." Jeff rushes over and lays Zart down on one of the beds, "What happened? Zart?" He mutters something under his breath, "You have to believe me! It was him...had to...be..."