This is the final part of the introduction, presenting to you one of the two OC characters that will be present on the story and setting up the plot for, finally, the first chapter. Please give me your oppinion and critiques on how am I going on my first attempt on the fanfiction world! :D


While Alby and Gally stayed behind to help Newt, the other boys gave up discovering anything more and went back to work as screams started to echo out from the inside of the sick bay. All around the Glade, however, the dark and thick mood that seemed to have installed itself over the sickbay the moment Minho snapped out of his shock in there and shouted the words neither of them wanted to hear was settling in quickly on the outside too. Even Ernie, who had been there amongst them only a month now, could clearly sense it; and without a doubt feel it clearly inside him as well.

When he woke up on that box thirty days ago, the first person he had met on that cursed place had been Newt. The boy had at first confused him to no end with his calm attitude and friendliness, which didn't match at all his bulky frame but he soon discovered. Newt was a pillar of hope and comfort for all of them, with his easy-going temper and comforting words; even to Alby, who had known him the longest out of any one in there, had always looked for him for support during tough times.

"Hey, Ernie?" Winston's voice broke him out of his distraction, the tall guy patting his shoulder. "You ok?"

"Y-Yeah," he said, his voice breaking up as usual. Stupid stuttering… Why did he have to be the only Glader with a disability?

Winston obviously saw right through him, but decided to keep quiet. One thing few noticed about the Head of the Slicers was how empathic he actually was with all around him despite his gruesome job.

"Come on, let's go. The box should be up soon, can you help me with the cages?" He said, nodding to the grating on the center of the Glade.

"Su-Su-Sure." He then said, sighing heavily.

They both walked in silence until the place, where a few other boys joined them after a few moments waiting for the supplies to arrive. He didn't know most of them yet, but he could recognize Frypan, the cook, and Niels, a tall and skinny dark haired boy who worked with Zart in the Gardens. He usually sat near him on the lunch hours, but unlike those times, his expression and Fry's were both distant and vacant, like most boys he could see from there all around them through the Glade. The usually busy and chatty sound that echoed through that place was gone, and replaced with only the rare sound of the few animals they took care of on the Slaughter House. That didn't really help him take his mind off things.

"W-W-Will he b-be o-ok…?" He mumbled to Winston beside him and frowned sorrowfully, unable to keep the devastation from his tone. Part of his sorrow was slightly turned into annoyance though, as his stuttering was charged into an almost unintelligible level thanks to his bubbling emotions.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, leave it to Alby ok? Everything will be alright." He said noticing that same change on his usually broken speech, although Ernie could see in his expression that he didn't believe all that much on that.

There was also a sad guilt on his voice, but as always, he managed his emotions very well into something that was barely noticeable; if he had not spent that whole month beside the guy every day, Ernie would definitely not be able to notice. That made Ernie regret starting the topic right away. If he was feeling bas about it after just spending one month with them all, how was Winston, who had been there for nearly a year now?

He then sighed heavily. "Listen to me. We all have a breaking point. In the end we keep forgetting, but we are all just kids… And I suppose Newt knows that a lot better than all of us, so he manages to hide it better for our sake." Winston answered matter-of-factedly. "All we can do now for him is hope for the best, and be there for him for once. Got it? It's our turn to help him now, and also do our best for all the new guys who are coming up from the Box to this hellhole."

"Y-Yeah, you're r-right," Ernie nodded, and as the others listened to their conversation in silence that seemed to have had them thinking about it as well. He then smiled faintly, doing his best to put that effort into action. "Thanks."

Winston patted him on the head with a small smile too, messing his hair up. Right on cue though, the bell buzzed loudly through the Glade from the ground beneath them, announcing the Box was coming up. They all straightened up. A few more boys ran from their tasks to where they were as fast as they could, but not as many as it always was; at least, definitely not as many as Ernie himself had seen when he had first went up from that same creepy elevator.

"Oh, here comes! Big moment for you, huh Greenie? Finally going to be someone's senior. Congratulations!" Frypan suddenly popped up beside him, yelling above the buzzing and loud gearing sounds coming from bellow the Box's doors.

As the cook put his arm around his shoulder and shook him excitedly Ernie couldn't help but crack a smile, feeling his cheeks match his bright ginger hair. Some of the other boys also patted him on his back and his hair, speaking congratulations and small laughs through the loud noise that was louder by the second. Apparently, Winston's speech had reached out to them more than he expected, and he could see the relief on the Slicer's face as he peeked at him.

A loud thud then announced the arrival of the box, along with a slight tremor on the floor below them. Neils and Winston stepped forward to open up the doors, and Ernie was pushed forward by all the other boys that leaned over to try and get a peek of whoever was inside.


The team usually worked in silence, but on that moment, the heaviness of it was overwhelming while all it could be heard on the control room were the agonizing screams coming from the monitor. They all stared at their own monitors and typed in without looking at each other or the image displaying the crude treatment of the boys to their friend.

Janson had not left the main room ever since Subject A5 decided to jump off the ivy. Despite all the odds they had already faced in there, even if the boy survived his injuries his attempt on his life could show a great threat for Group A's future and to all the current data they had been gathering. All data currently being displayed all through the room showed that clearly; his role inside the Glade's fragile society had been way too crucial so far, and although he was already expected to be among the losses they would sustain through the process since he was a non-immune, they had never anticipated it coming so soon.

His fist went hard against the panel before he realized, the sound echoing through the room above the noise coming from the painful scene inside the maze followed by the thundering echo of hurried footsteps.

"Janson!" a woman's voice came urgently from the hall, breaking him out of his thoughts. With his mind still on the task at hand he was about to shush them away until he noticed the bright red shade from the enunciator. It was Dr. Milligan.

"What's wrong?" He inquired promptly, approaching. The clear panic on her expression made him feel the blood rush out of his face the same instant.

"She's gone."

Before he could ask anything else though, suddenly the speakers behind him melted the dead silence of the room with a scream completely different than the ones that were there before.