The Monsters of the Maze

by Annie Gray

Echo woke up in the Box. She was terrified, alone, and unable to remember anything. When the box finally opens she is surrounded by a bunch of strange boys who have never seen a girl before. She has to work hard to win their trust and fit in with them as if this entire situation is normal, when in reality, it is far from normal.

2. The Glade

Alby and Newt help me out of the box and then Alby quickly leaves. Newt tells me that we usually do the tour of the Glade on the first full day for the Greenie, but since I seem to be handling everything pretty well, he could at least just show me where everything is. We start on the North East corner of the Glade and make our way around it as we go. All the while I am asking him questions.
"Who was that guy that was in the Box with me?"
"You mean the one you threatened to kill? That was Minho."
"He told Alby that he was gonna go into the Maze. What is the Maze?"
Newt motions to the massive walls that surround the Glade. "Outside of those walls is a maze. Its big enough that the Runners have been searching for the exit for at least three years and they still havent even found a clue to the exit."
"How could It possibly be that big?"
"I dont know. What makes finding an exit harder is the fact that every night when those doors close, the Maze changes. You can hear it. The walls moving and shifting. Making it nearly impossible for us to even have a chance at finding an exit, but we keep searching anyway."
"Who are the Runners?"
"They are the people who are chosen to run the maze. You have to be incredibly fast and have a great memory to be one."
"Why?"
"You gotta be fast so that you dont get stuck in the Maze over night and you gotta have a great memory cause you have to be able to memorize what you ran that day."
"Why cant you get stuck in the Maze over night?"
"No one has ever stayed the night in the Maze and lived."
"Why not?"
"The Greivers will get you."
"What are Greivers?"
"They are what we call these big half metal half living creature monsters that are in the Maze."
I shiver just thinking about them. As I look around the Glade I notice that a lot of the boys are staring at me. "Why do they all stare at me?"
"Because your a bloody female."
"So? Havent you guys seen a girl before."
"There's never been a girl in the Glade."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Why not?"
"We dont know, but your the first one.
"I wonder why." I mumble to myself. Then I see a shiny movement at the edge of the woods. "What's that?" I ask while pointing towards it.
"That's a beetle blade. The Creators use them to spy on us."
"Why?"
"I dont know."
"Do you guys know anything about the Creators?"
"No. We dont know much about anything outside of the Glade."
"Alright." I say as I think for more questions to ask him. He stops in front of a building.
"This is the Homestead. We all sleep here." He opens the door and ushers me inside. Then he leads me up some stairs and into a room. The room is a complete mess and it smells awful. I cringe at the smell and he leads me over to a bed in the far corner.
"This is where you will be sleeping Greenie."
"What's a Greenie?" I ask him.
"You really do ask a lot of questions." He says. "A Greenie is the newbie that shows up once a month along with some supplies. They always come up in that Box."
"Alright."
"Tomorrow you will start your training by hanging out with the different groups and trying out their jobs and after that, wherever you fit in the best is where you will work."
"Cool. I get to meet everyone?"
"Yes you do."
"Alright. Anything else?"
"One more thing. The Glade only has 3 rules.

Everyone does their part. No slackers.

Never hurt another Glader. You have to trust each other.

Never go outside the Glade, unless you're a Runner.

Understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Good that." He says and then walks out of the room, leaving me alone to think about everything that has happened.