As Alby and I walk through the Glade, boys begin to stare and say things to each other. I don't think any of them really knew I was here, since I showed up in a grave, and since then was in the Gathering.

I hear a few statements here and there;

"Is that a girl?"

"She's hot"

"We got a girl Greenie?"

"Dude, I call dibs"

I feel my pace pick up, trying to get away from all the comments of the Gladers. Alby seemed to notice how uncomfortable I was, stopped and turned towards all the Gladers.

"Right, all you shanks gather round!" He shouts across the Glade.

As the boys get closer, they point, laugh, whisper and talk about me. I even hear a few people wolf whistles; I can't help but gag slightly at the thought of what may be running through their minds.

Once all the boys of the Glade are surrounding us, Alby straightens up and crosses his arms against his chest. He seems to do that a lot. Anyway, once the boys are there, Alby begins to speak.

"Alright shanks, listen carefully. If any of you touch the girl" he pauses to gesture to me. Is there another girl here? "I can promise you'll be spendin' the night in the Maze with the Grievers. Banishment. No question about it. Nobody" he stops to turn around in a circle, looking at as many of the boys as possible. "Nobody, touches the girl!"

All the boys stand in silence, waiting to see if there's more to hear. Alby says nothing, just gestures for me to follow him. We make our way towards the Homestead, and Alby leads me around the side, to where they have built the Slammer.

The Slammer is a concrete, cube shaped building. It has a barred window and a wooden door with a rusted lock.

"So you're in charge here?" I ask quietly.

"I'm mainly leading the Glade, but Newt and I kind of hold this place together." Who's Newt?

"So, what? You guys are like the glue holding this place together?" I raise my eyebrows the slightest.

Once we reach the door, he opens it and holds out his hand, silently telling me to walk in. I walk forward and duck into the room. It is a dark, plain area, which only consists of one old, rickety chair in the corner.

Once I step into the room, I run my hand through my hair and sigh. "Look, Alby, why am I in here? I didn't do anything."

"Look Greenie, we took a vote and that's what it came out as. Plus you left the Glade, and if you hadn't passed out, you would've kept goin'. If I don't put you in there for at least one night, those other shanks will start to think us Keepers are playin' favorites. You understand?" Alby explains to me.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I promise you though, I'm not trying to start any trouble here."

"Sorry, Lori, that's the way it is" he shrugs as he shuts the door and locks it. He walks away and leaves me in the quiet room. I just stand pacing around the room and look down at my feet. I only just realize, that I have no idea what I am wearing.

I glance down to see I am wearing black boots, pants, a dark shirt, and a jacket.

At least they give you comfortable clothing for this Glade, prison thing.

////////////////

I didn't really sleep that night. Too many thoughts. I couldn't help but think about that voice. WICKED is good. It was a woman's voice. At first it was almost kind, but by the end, when she was screaming, they sounded so frustrated and maniacal.

Finally, the sun began to rise, and a loud clanging, dragging sound echoed throughout the Glade. I went up to the window and grabbed the bars, leaning out as far as possible so I could see outside. The doors. The doors are opening. The doors of the wall are opening.

"Morning Greenie" I jump at the sound of a person speaking, scaring me because I was so lost in my thoughts. I accidentally trip on a rock and fall down, yelping as I hit the ground.

"Didn't realize you scared so bloody easily Greenie" I instantly recognized the voice, and looked up to see the blonde - the cute blonde. But he is. - from the Gathering standing outside the Slammer door.

"That might be because you don't actually know me" I say as I stand up and dust myself off. "And why do you keep calling me Greenie?"

"Because that's what we call the new shanks, Greenbean" he laughs.

"No, I realized that. I mean, you know my name is Lori, so why do you feel the need to call me that?" I say, cocking my head slightly to the side.

He smiles and shrugs, "I don't know. It's just what we do here. But if it bothers you so much, Lori, I'll stop."

I smile and nod a thanks. We stand in silence or a minute, before I finally speak, "So, what are you doin' here guy-whose-name-I-do-not-know?"

The blonde gives a small chuckle before replying, "Name's Newt, Greeni- ah, Lori" he corrects. "I've been sent to let you out, and take you to Frypan's for some food."

So this is the Newt, that Alby was talking about.

Newt - A.K.A cute blonde. Fine. - pulls a key out of his pocket and unlocks the rusty lock with a screeching click.

I run my hand through my hair once more. I really need to stop talking to myself. I need to focus on whatever WICKED is, I can't make attachments; I need to escape this place as soon as possible.

I drop my hand to my side and duck out the door of the Slammer, nodding a thank you to Newt.

As we walk, Newt starts to make conversation, "So, are you enjoying your time in the Glade so far?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. You know, waking up in some guy's grave, passing out after nearly being crushed by giant stone doors, being threatened to have been left to be crushed by giant stone doors, and spending the night in a place called the Slammer" I say this with as much sarcasm as humanly possible, and by this time, I have stopped to look at him. "I am having the time of my freaking life Newt!" I laugh nervously.

"Okay, okay calm the bloody hell down" he grins. "Look, I'm sorry for what's happened, but to be fair, you got yourself put in the Slammer." I raise my eyebrows at him, and he sighs "You tried to leave the buggin' Glade, Lori. That's against the rules and-"

I step closer and hold up my hand, gesturing for him to stop talking. "First of all, I didn't know the rules when I got here. And secondly, what the hell is out there?" I hiss.

He rubs the back of his neck "I can't really just tell you that, usually Alby's the one doing the intros 'round here"

"Well Alby's not here, is he Newt. And aren't you also in charge here or something?"

"Second. Alby's in charge." All I do is put my hands on my hips, waiting for him to continue. "Alright, sit down" he says as he walks over and sits on a log close by. After joining him, he continues to talk.

"Out there" he points to the walls, "Out there is the Maze. No one is allowed out there, as you happened to learn yesterday."

"Why is no one allowed out in the Maze?"

"Well, we call them Grievers; they live out in the Maze. No one has ever spent a night out in the Maze, and if you encounter a Griever, you're rarely going to escape without a scratch. Okay? That's why we have rules; to make sure no dumb shanks die out in the Maze."

"So I'm a dumb shank?"

"Okay, that's not what I bloody well meant. I meant that-"

I cut him off once more and stand up, "Can we just go get food? Please?"

He nods and starts walking towards where I assume Frypan and the kitchen are.

Well, now look what you've done? I thought you were going to make at least a few friends to help you out around here? Well that's good, cos when you leave, he definitely wont miss you when you're gone. Really? If that's what you want to tell yourself.

////////////////

"I sit around a table with Minho seated beside me, Newt opposite of me, and Alby next to Newt. We all sit, eating a cereal of some sort, whose contents are highly questionable. I lift the spoon out of the bowl, carrying chunks of oat or wheat, green seeds and the milk is a cloudy color. I feel a frown fall upon my face.

"What is in this?" I ask no one in particular.

"That, Greenbean, is what no one but Frypan and the cooks know; and we all feel safer for it" Minho replies, shoving a spoonful of food into his mouth.

I nod my head and lift the spoon to my lips, slowly taking a sip. I cock my head slightly, surprised that the taste actually isn't to bad. I begin to shovel spoonfuls in, realizing how hungry I actually was.

"Musn't be too bad, you're eatin' it like that's the last bowl of food on the bloody planet" Newt says, looking down at his bowl. I can't help but smile at the way he talks, how different and interesting it is compared to the others. How familiar. But, then I think about how he was looking down at his bowl, and how rude I was to him before.

I fall into silence and mentally hit myself. Just because I don't want to be their friend, doesn't mean I have to be mean to them.

I finally finish my breakfast, and just sit, waiting for the others because I have no idea where to go or what to do.

"So, what do you guys do around here?"

"Well, Greenie, today you'll start training with the Keepers, and then you'll see the rest over the next few days." Alby says, finishing up his meal.

"So what am I doing first?"

"Well, before lunch you can work with Zart and the Track-hoes, after lunch you can work with Clint and the Med-Jacks, and before dinner, you'll be with Frypan and the cooks. You'll see the other jobs throughout the week."

"Sounds like fun" I smile, attempting to be kind.

"Great. Well, after he's done, Newt can take you down to Zart to get started. I would, but I have to check in with a few of the other Keepers." Alby says as he stands and walks away, everyone shouting good byes and such.

After a few minutes, Newt stands and holds out his hand. "Let's go Greenie."

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