The First Glader

Greenie

I've been in here for a while. There is maybe an hour before the doors close. It seems to be some sort of maze, which makes me think this is the way out. The question is, how do I solve it?

I walked towards another dead end when I figured I should start walking back. When I concluded it was a maze, I decided to rip the vines off the walls to leave a trail. I picked up a rock off the ground and wrote "Day 1" on the wall, so I knew how far I had gotten for tomorrow.

I made my way back to the doors, and when I realized the vine trail stopped, I knew I was close, considering I didn't start ripping the vines off the wall until ten minutes into the maze.

There was a problem, though. I don't know what way I came, and I only have five minutes left until the walls start closing. I started running towards what I thought was the exit. I turned the corner and thankfully saw the Glade. I ran faster as the doors made a booming sound signifying that they were starting to close.

It's a long corridor from here to the Glade, and it takes thirty seconds for the doors to close. I took a deep breath and started running as fast as I could towards the deep green grass.

I fell as the doors closed behind me, nearly taking my life. I rolled on my back and started laughing. "Wow, what a rush." I laughed. The sun just started going down, but there was enough to still beam on my face. I stayed there, taking in the sunlight.

I have never been happier, than I can remember, at least. I rolled over and stood up. After the adrenaline faded, I realized I had some work to do. I fed the livestock and watered the garden. Then I went to my room and went to sleep.

I walked out of my room and the Maze doors were already open, I walked over to the wall beside the forest and used a rock I sharpened to make the thirty-day mark on the wall. I walked to the other side of the Glade to fix the "E" at the end of my name. On day four, I wrote my name on a wall. I figured it was appropriate. I was claiming my land. The 'E' on the end of my name was a little less noticeable than the rest, but now it matched.

I heard a rumbling this morning, almost the same rumbling I hear every night coming from the maze, so I didn't pay much attention to it, but when a loud alarm-like noise started from the lift I was brought up in, I covered my ears. It went away but I started running towards it. I knelt and waited. I waited about thirty minutes or so. It took forever to get to the top of the shaft, but I could hear someone yelling for help when it did.

I quickly opened the metal top that covered the top of the long-empty hole the box comes up in. I looked down at a boy. He had dark skin and buzzed hair. His face was a little green like he would be sick. His eyes adjusted to the light, and he looked at me like I was gold. "Are you okay?" I asked gently. The boy nodded, and I smiled. "How about I get you out of there, and you help me take all of this out of the box?"

"S-sounds like a plan." The boy smiled. I gave the boy my hand and helped him out of the box.

"My name is Millie. I'm the first person to arrive in the Glade." I said as he stepped out of the box.

"The Glade?"

"The place you're standing in right now." The boy looked around, and his smile grew.

"It's beautiful. At least we weren't left here with no buildings."

"Well, you weren't. I spent a month making those two rooms, the garden, and the fence."

"And where are your helpers?" He asked, looking around. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I didn't have any."

"Hm, no one helped you?"

"Nope."