Boxes [The Maze Runner ~ Newt] [BOOK 1]

Hell

CHAPTER TWO

She couldn't remember what suffocating felt like, but Marie was sure it felt like this. All the boys crowded around her and Nick, hardly giving Marie any personal space. She felt like she was drowning, the sensation of breathlessness was being relived. Marie wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and rip her hair out. She wanted to go home- to the home she couldn't even imagine but knew was out there waiting for her to return from this mind boggling hell.

Nick, who didn't seem to be the kindest fellow, noticed how uncomfortable she was. Her eyes caught his gaze, he watched how the young girl's eyes watered and how she trembled at all the loud voices. To Marie's surprise, he did something about it.

"Give the Greenbean room to breathe!" Nick shouted at everyone. "Just leave, all y'all got jobs to do."

The boys got their last look at her and finally walked away. A full minute had passed when everyone had left to do whatever it was they had to do. Marie had a clear view of her surroundings now. There were several acres of land and four towering cement walls that enclosed it all. I'm in another box, she thought.

The only other boys there were Alby and the blond boy. He stood near the edge of the pit with his arms crossed, examining Marie as if she wasn't looking at him.

"What's your name, Greenie?" Alby asked her.

"Marie," she muttered.

"Well, Marie, welcome to the Glade," he greeted her properly. "I'm Alby."

Marie's eyes darted to Nick who was already staring back at her.

"Why-?" Marie tried to ask before she was interrupted.

"I'm gonna take you on a tour," Nick cut her off, "until it's over, then you can ask questions. Got it, Greenbean?"

Marie nodded.

She didn't get the sense that he or this place would be very friendly.

Nick looked over to the blond boy. "Head back to Homestead, make sure no one's gettin' too wild over the fact that we have a girl with us," Nick ordered him. "And as for you Alby, just do your own job, ya shuck."

The boy nodded his head and walked off to a shabby building on the other side of the Glade while Alby gave Nick a glare then finally left. Marie felt more worried now that she was alone with Nick. All she knew about him was his name. Once the other boys were out of sounds reach, Nick finally spoke to Marie.

"You ready for the tour?" he asked. Marie nodded, honestly not ready for anything at the moment; she was still in shock. The only reason she agreed to this tour was so she could ask all the questions she wanted later.

"I always start off with the Box," Nick began as he turned his attention over to the pit. "Every week we get supplies from here, and every month we get a Greenbean like you. Well, not like you, we've never had a girl before."

Marie wondered why everyone kept calling her Greenbean and how she was the only girl in the Glade. She also wanted to know where the Box got the supplies and who put them in there, along with herself and everyone else in the Glade. Nick answered that immediately.

"None of us know much about the Box except that. We don't know where the Greenbeans and supplies come from, but we don't question it. The stuff that comes up helps a lot.

"Now that over there," Nick pointed to a field off in one corner of the Glade, "is the Gardens. That's where we grow crops and most of our food." He immediately looked over at a tall, poorly constructed building made of wood. "The place next to it is Homestead. We sleep there and it's also where we have our meals and treat patients."