The Girl In The Glade

Part Six: Day One

You woke up in a cold sweat and you were breathing heavily. You don't know what happened but you had a dream that you couldn't even remember. You looked over to where Chuck slept but he was gone. You were alone.
You got up from your hammock and stretched out your stiff muscles. You were surprised to find that you weren't soar from the Fight Circle. You looked around to see all the boys already at work and it made you feel bad for not helping. You thought someone would wake you up or something.
You made your way through the grass plains and saw some of the boys who worked in the animal house wave to you. You waved in return as you continued walking. You didn't know where you were going, you just went where your feet took you.
"Mornin Greenie!" A familiar voice called out and you looked over and saw Gally working with some other boys to fix the roof of the homestead.
"Morning!" You called back and Gally nodded, getting back to work. You kept walking and spotted Chuck carrying some heavy items over to Gally and the others. You walked over to him.
"Oh hey (y/n)! Good to see you awake!" He said and you nodded with a soft smile.
"Yeah, um, did you need help with that?" You asked as you noticed Chuck having trouble with all the tools he was carrying.
"What? Oh, no no, all good over here! Just doin my job!" Chuck said as he ran off.
"Okay, well, um, bye then!" You called out but he didn't hear you.
You felt helpless at this point. All these boys were doing their parts in keeping the Galde functioning and here you are, staring blankly in the middle of a field.
There was nothing else you could do so you kept walking. You passed the gardens and was about to keep walking when you heard your name being called.
"(Y/n)!" You knew that British accent from anywhere. You turned and saw Newt run up to you with a shovel in hand. He must have been a gardener. But you could have sworn he was second in command. Maybe he was both.
"Hey!" You said with a wide smile and more enthusiastic than you meant for it to be.
"Where you headin?" Newt asked and you looked around the Glade but shrugged.
"At this point, anywhere." You said and that made Newt laugh. You enjoyed his laugh.
"Well how about you go get some food from Frypan? He may still have some breakfast for you." Newt said and you felt your stomach growl from hunger. You could definitely eat.
"Well, I kinda forgot where to go—" you began but someone behind you cut you off.
"That won't be a problem. I'll show you." You turned to see Alby there smiling at you. Your heart leapt because you thought you could be in trouble. "I needed to talk to you anyway."

Oh klunck, what the shuck did I do now?

Alby walked you through the plains and brought you to Frypan's kitchen. The boy smiled when he saw you and brought over a plate of eggs and bacon. You smiled and felt your mouth water.
"Thought you'd sleep in so I saved you a plate." He said and I nodded my head in thanks. He smiled wider in return and made his way back into his kitchen. You were about to sit on a log where the bonfire was but Alby stopped you.
"Follow me." The boy said and you did as told, following the boy as he led you through the plains once more. All you wanted to do was eat.
Eventually, he brought you to a tall wooden tower, obviously man made by the boys. It was jagged and messy but it was sturdy. Alby began climbing. At first you were skeptical but you shook it off and began climbing one handed. When Alby reached the top, he grabbed your plate of food so you have two hands available.
The two of you sat there in silence, dangling your feet over the edge while you ate. Alby surveyed the land while you finished your food quickly. You then pushed your plate to the side.
"Look out, what do you see?" Alby asked and you did as he did, you surveyed the land and only two words came to mind.
"Hard work." You said and Alby nodded, obviously happy with your answer.
"Exactly, hard work. This civilisation, it took hard work and trust." Alby said and then looked down and then to you. "It wasn't always like this, happy. We went through struggles and we lost people. It isn't easy, but we get through it. Over time, we establish rules, rules that impact the way of how we live. It establishes order and I expect you to listen to them and follow them."
"Of course." You said and he nodded.
"Rule one - do your part, no slacking. You do your job same as everyone else.
Rule two - never harm another Glader; nothing here works without trust.
Rule three - never go into the Maze. Ever." Alby said and you let those rules process through your head. "You follow them, and you and I will get along just fine."
"Alright." Was all you said.
"I like you (y/n). Now, let's get you to trying out some jobs shall we."

You found out that Minho was in the Maze because he was a Runner. But not just any Runner, he was the Keeper. That just meant he was in charge of all the Runners and whatnot. From what you were told, that was a dangerous job but they never explained why.
You also found out that Gally was a Builder, hence why you saw him fixing the roof earlier that day. He was, like Minho, the Keeper of the Builders. You found that Chuck was a Slopper which was basically someone who cleans and helps all the other jobs if needed.
You were trying your first job. Track-hoe. That was basically a gardener. Newt was excited when he saw Alby lead you over to the gardens.
"Ready (y/n)?" Newt asked you and you nodded eagerly. You have been yearning to be useful. You were finally given the chance to do what Alby had told you.
You were going to do your part.

It didn't take more than an hour to find that this job just wasn't for you. Sitting, planting, and holding still wasn't exactly your thing. You kept fidgeting and touching things you weren't supposed to touch. You needed to move, you had the energy to run laps around the Glade, yet you were stuck with this.
Newt seemed to enjoy the silence and tranquility. He was totally fine with sitting in the sun and planting all day. You were not. You wanted so badly to help but when you were given the chance, all you did was mess around cause you were too hyper to sit still and finish your given task.
You were given one job, water the plants, yet you have only watered three because you kept procrastinating. Every other minute you'd poke your head around the sticks planted in the ground to see what Newt was doing.
"Uh, (y/n), what the bloody hell are you doing?" Newt asked as you shot your head back to the plant you were supposed to be watering.
"What? Did you say something?" You asked innocently but you heard Newt laugh on the other side.
"I've caught you peeking over thirteen times already (y/n)." Newt said and you could hear Zart, the Keeper of the Track-hoes, laughing as well.
"Alright Newt, I am going to be brutally honest so no offence, but your job sucks. I need to move Newt. C'mon, there has to be something I can do that doesn't involve me sitting in one spot." You begged and he laughed, looking to Zart who just shrugged, motioning to the empty basket on the ground. Newt picked it up and threw the basket at you and you caught it. You looked at the woven basket and then looked up to Newt.
"Why don't you go get some fertiliser love?"
"What was that last word?"
"Just go!" He laughed.
"You won't regret it! I'll fetch fertiliser better than it's ever been fetched before!" You said as you began running off.
"Other way love."
"Right!" You said enthusiastically as you ran into the Deadheads.

You like the Deadheads, it was peaceful and it was the first place you went when you arrived in the box. You ran through the desolate forest with the basket, trying to figure out where the fertiliser was. Why would they have fertiliser in the middle of the Deadheads? You liked being able to move, stretch your legs. There was one thing you knew for sure—
You were not meant to be a Track-hoe.

You realised that you must have taken the wrong path cause you stumbled upon a graveyard. There were many bones but only one grave. The graveyard took you back to what Alby said about losing people and about going through dark times.
You walked over to the single grave and knelt down to its height. It looked old, built with an old stump and sticks poking out. It almost looked more threatening than consoling.
You rubbed your hands over the name engraved in the wood. George. You hadn't heard of any George before but he must have been special enough to have his own grave.
"Huh, I'm sure you have a story." You whispered to yourself when a snapping branch made you jolt up. You looked up but no one was there.
You felt on edge. Another snapping twig made you jump again. You turned to look behind and almost screamed as a pale blonde boy stood there, staring, panting heavily with a syringe in his hand. You quickly recognised him as one of the Runners that Minho was hanging out with at the Bonfire. Speaking of him, shouldn't this guy be with Minho? You decided to break the ice.
"Hey, your Ben right?"