𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦, thomas (tmr)

Chapter Two

Clara strained her neck to stare down the side of the Box, trying to catch a glimpse of what may be at the bottom of it. Of course, like the last ten times she had looked, there was nothing.

She had been up since before the sun. For a while, she just sat in the outskirts of the forest, slumped against a tree and trying to make sense of the whole situation. She nearly drove herself to tears trying to remember a single thing about herself.

And then, when light finally came, the doors to the Maze opened up. They emitted the same rumbling as the night before as they parted, revealing a long stony corridor which looked as dull as the walls she had been staring at. She took a few steps out there but ultimately decided not to explore it - getting lost inside whilst everyone was asleep was not on her agenda.

She then moved swiftly onto the Box, trying to figure out if there was a way to get back down it. She figured that there'd be no way of them getting the Box itself to go down, so was there a way around it?

"What are you thinking about?" 

Nick's voice behind her nearly caused her to fall down inside the Box, and she whirled around to glare at him. He ignored her piercing eyes, joining her side, and looking down in the darkness himself. Choosing to change the subject, she informed the boy that,

"The doors opened up at dawn."

They both turned to the open wall, a brief moment of silence in which they could hear the waking chatter of boys back from the wooden shack. If Clara knew anything, it's that the place was going to be utter chaos for the entire day.

"Have you been awake since dawn?"

From his tone, I feel like he's not going to be happy with the answer.

"Today, we need to figure out how to get down this Box. It must lead out of this place."

Nick stifled a laugh and Clara found herself glaring due to the cheekiness of the boy. He forced his expression to become calm again as she raised a passive-aggressive eyebrow.

"Don't you think it's a bit counter productive to spend all of everyone's time doing that one thing?"

I hate to admit that he's right.

But the triumphant smile on his lips meant that she didn't have to admit it. He knew that she was thinking it from her glowing red cheeks and thoughtful expression.

"What do you think we should do?" She asked defeatedly, and Nick stretched his arms out in a yawn before folding them over his chest, as if he had been anticipating the question.

"We'll have a few of us out in the Maze again - the same ones as yesterday since we're all pretty fast and we already know the place a bit - a few of us can check out this Box to see if there's a way down, and a few of us need to start on food and setting up a place for us."

He let out a sigh and Clara felt her chest tighten. Although neither of them wanted to admit it, if the Maze and the Box were both dead ends, they'd be forced to live here. And so, they had to get started on making it more homely.

"That's a good idea." She said, stepping away from the Box and peering over to the shack, seeing through the open entrance that a few boys were already waking up. "We should get back and talk to everyone."

As they re-entered the wooden shack, which was now filled with scattered sleeping bags and pillows, enough boys were awake for Nick and Clara to think it productive to wake up the few still snoring away. Whilst the boy was polite in getting people up and ready, the girl chose instead to kick at their feet, impatience gnawing away at her.