Six Feet Under.

chapter one

CHAPTER ONE: THE GREENIE GETS HIS ASS KICKED

Layla's lungs burned as she made her way back to the Glade, finding nothing new in the Maze this time. After a year of running it, you'd think she'd find something. That wasn't exactly the case. Sure, they began to explore the outer sections around the time she became a Runner, but after that, things went more slowly.

So, as usual, she kept her eyes looking straight ahead as she followed Minho down their usual route, Ben jogging behind her. Layla couldn't remember her past, just like everyone else in the Maze, but she had an inkling that she did a lot of running before she was sent up into the Glade. Running came natural to her, so she was quickly deemed 'Runner material' by Minho.

She did get quite a few protests from it, or shocked looks. No one outright said anything to her face, but Layla knew it was because she was a girl. She was the only girl in the Glade, in fact, which caused a problem or two. Her friends had always been nice to her, however, and never doubted her. So, despite their worries, Newt, Fry and Ben had no complaints for her to start running the Maze everyday.

Due to her being a Runner, she unfortunately didn't spend much time with Fry or Newt anymore. Minho, Ben and her were a tight-knit group, and could trust each other with anything, but she missed the others, too.

Finally, the Glade came into view, and Layla felt relief. She loved running in the Maze-she felt more herself when she was running, like a piece of her that was missing returned every time she stepped out into the intricate weaving of the Maze walls-but she felt safe in the Glade. It was her home through and through.

Today was also the day a new Greenie would be coming up in the box, and to Layla's surprise, she could make out the shape of a new Greenie standing next to Chuck, somewhat close to the Maze entrance.

His brows were pulled close together, and he wore a dirtied blue button up shirt, with brown pants to match. His hair was damp with sweat and he watched with curiosity as Minho, Ben and Layla exited the Maze.

Ben smiled at Chuck as he ran past, "hey, Chuck." He greeted, "new Greenie, huh? How's it feel to be promoted?"

Chuck smiled widely, "feels great, Ben." He said, sending him a thumbs up.

Layla smiled to herself, having a soft spot for the young boy. He was always kind to everyone, and tried giving everyone a chance. It made sense for him to be hanging out with the newest Greenie-he was a people person. He got along well with everyone.

Layla and the boys continued jogging until they had made it to the Map Room. She took out a paper and pencil and began to write down what she memorized, being a little slower than the other boys. She didn't know why it was, but sometimes she had a hard time memorizing specific turns. She always had Minho look over what she had done before she put her paper with the others, which were kept in small cases specified for each day. There were eight cases overall, signifying the eight sections of the Maze.

After Minho had looked over her paper, and made a small correction on her map, he put it in the proper case. Layla was aware that it was pointless by now-as Minho had shown her the entirety of the Maze built out of small sticks, which Minho had used himself while using out maps as a reference-and she knew fully well that there was nothing else to map in the Maze, but as a way to not cause panic, the Runners continued to do their job every day.

Besides, Layla wasn't much good at anything else in the Glade. She had tried taking care of the plants in the gardens, but the small section she worked on had quickly died, leaving Newt stumped. She tried being a Slicer as well, but the animals had always been scared of her, so she could never do much there. She also wasn't very fond of killing the animals, despite it being necessary, so she was immediately not very comfortable with it.