Cleo | Maze Runner (Newt)

Chapter 2 | Consciousness

The next thing I remember, light began flooding into the box, and the screeching had resided. I had to have reached my destination, wherever that was, at last.

But just how long had I been out for?

Minutes?

Hours?

There was no way of telling. 

I was curled up into a tight little ball, my back pressed against the corner of the box, my head between my knees. There were sounds of grinding metal just above my head - it sounded as if the box was groaning, finally giving in to my cries, deciding that it had tormented me enough for one day. After a few seconds, the grinding came to a close, and in its place came a torrent of shouts and gasps. I felt completely exposed. 

At last I felt the warmth of the hot sun on my back, though I couldn't bring myself to look up. Raising my face would mean greeting the voices above me, and I wasn't quite ready for that yet. I couldn't shake the feeling of vulnerability I felt towards the strangers looming above me - I had no idea how many of them there were or what they wanted from me.

Before I could even begin to register what was going on, a chorus of voices erupted from outside the box. I was only capable of processing fragments of what they were saying as they were shouting over each other, using alien words I didn't understand. 

"Wait, is that Greenie a-"

"No, it couldn't be-"

"A girl?! That the first time a gi-"

"Hey shuck-face, are you a girl?"

"Either that or this dude's got the fanciest shucking hair I've ever se-"

"Green Bean!!"

The uproar continued as people began to pick out various parts of my appearance, my gender and my hair seeming to be the reoccurring topic. I realised that I hadn't a clue what I looked like other than that I could feel my long hair cascading down my back. 

I noticed that all of them put emphasis on the word "girl" as if I were some kind of exotic, extremely rare creature they had never seen before. It suddenly dawned on me that all of the voices were quite low and gruff - presumably, all these people were male. Oh my God, maybe I really was the first girl they had ever seen before!! All of this only raised more questions that pounded in my head. 

I curled up tighter and pressed my hands over my ears to block out the noise. Maybe, if I made myself small enough, I could manage to disappear. 

Eventually, I felt rather than heard the shouts stop abruptly, and there was complete and utter silence. I slowly took my hands away from my ears and hugged my knees, forcing myself to look up. After my eyes had adjusted to the sunlight, I saw a tall boy standing at the front of a large crowd of other boys, all varying in different sizes and races. So I was right, they are all boys, I thought to myself. The tall boy's hair was a sandy shade of blonde, and his fringe was messy, barely keeping out of his eyes. 

"Will all of you just shut up for a bloody second?!" he shouted, all eyes on him. "Can't you see she's injured?"

For the first time ever, I took a look at myself. Now that I was no longer concealed in the darkness of the tunnel, I realised that the boy was right. My knuckles were bruised and bloodied from punching the walls of the box, and there were cuts and grazes along my shoulders. Now that the adrenaline was beginning to leave my system, I realised the full extent of the damage I had inflicted upon myself throughout my journey through the tunnel. My body ached all over. I tried to sit up straight, but as soon as I began to move I felt a sharp pain in my head I groaned in pain and cradled my head in my hands, squeezing my eyes shut.