𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘄 🆁🅴🅳 - ᴀ ᴍᴀᴢᴇ ʀᴜɴɴᴇʀ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄ

Chapter One

Though blanketed in darkness, her vision glowed red.

Her eyes opened but only a few blinking lights cut up the blackness of her surroundings. Her ears were marred by the whoosh of air past her face and the terrible grind and screech of metal on metal. She was moving. Up. And fast.

The girl shot up from where she'd lain asleep on the cold metal only moments before. She didn't know much, but she knew waking up with no memory of the last thing you'd done was bad news. Real bad news. She needed to get out of here. Where... was here?

She fumbled for her footing in the dark, stretching her hands out in front of her in search of a wall. The icy sting of the metal met the tips of her long fingers. The girl carefully made her way around the small room. Her boots brushed against box after box, but no exit in sight. Well, not sight obviously as she couldn't see.

The girl let out a frustrated sigh. It felt good, so she allowed it to grow into a scream of anger. She yelled into the void of darkness, daring it to show what lurked in its depths. When the darkness, being darkness, didn't listen to her taunts, she moved on.

Her hands worked their way to the first box, searching by touch for a weapon or something to get her out. Maybe something flammable so she could see or something heavy so she could beat it against the walls until the grated metal bars gave way to an escape.

When the first box held no useful treasures, she moved on to the next. Then the next. Was it all produce and... cloth strips? What was she to do with those? The girl didn't bother giving it a second thought and instead kept digging.

Finally, she found something. Her fingers traced the shape, running over the crescent moon of metal and it's wooden handle. Perfect. The girl clenched her fist around the hammer and could practically feel her skin paling at the knuckles. If there was one thing her body and brain agreed on entirely, it was surviving. And that she would do. No matter how crappy of a plan she had.

Beat a whole into the wall, catch the hammer on whatever was behind it, stop the elevator, and get out. Wherever out was. Maybe it would even spark when the wall and hammer scraped so she had a bit of light to see. She knew it wasn't a smart plan, but it was the best she had at the moment.

A plan she didn't get the chance to carry out.

With a painful screeching, the entire elevator room braked to a stop. The girl dropped the hammer to clamp her hands over her ears as the metal scraped against itself, flashing in a display of golden sparks like fireflies flickering in a marsh.

Only this was no marsh. And these were no fireflies.

The girl fell to the ground, unable to remain standing with the momentum tugging at her from around the waist. The movement stopped. The sparking stopped. The sound stopped. Darkness and a new sound took its place.

Muttering. Someone was coming to let her out. She frantically searched the floor for her discarded weapon, her chest tightening. The girl's fingers curled around the handle and she felt much more at ease with it's presence.

Light exploded into the elevator. She threw an arm over her face, hiding her eyes in the crook of her elbow.

"What's he look like this time?"

"Probably a pile of klunk!" A boy chuckles.

"That ain't no boy!"

"Dibs!"

The girl's eyes adjusted to the light at last, clearing her vision. Above her the ceiling had split into two panels, both of which were pulled back now to let the sun shine in. All around the opening, boys stood in progressively worse states of disarray. She glared up at them, taking in the ruffled hair and smudged faces.

Someone jumped down into the elevator with her.

"It's a girl!" The boy shouted back up, running his hand over his buzzed head. She didn't give him time to say anything else before she swung her fist at his face and smashed the hammer into his nose, though she thought it resembled a misformed potato more than a nose.

Blood exploded from the wound, red hot like the glow beneath her eyelids. The boys above erupted in chaos as the crack sounded loudly. Thunks sounded as more of the teenagers jumped down all around her. The girl swung wildly, wishing she'd gotten a weapon for her right hand as well.

Hands wrapped around her wrists. She was quickly outnumbered and the hammer was pried from her grasp, but not until after she'd gotten quite a few solid hits in.

"Let go of me!" She demanded. Her legs flailed around, looking for purchase as she was lifted by the arms. The girl swiveled her head around and bit down on one of the hands.

The owner of the hand yelped in pain. "She bites!"

"Are all girls like this?" Someone else muttered in a British accent tainted in disgust.

"I said," she reiterated, "Put me down! Don't touch me!"

The boys lifted the thrashing girl out of the box and onto the grass. Hands quickly readjusted their grip, pinning her to the ground no matter how hard she struggled against their restraints.

"Let me go! Where am I?" The girl screamed.

Two boys stepped foreward; one with milk chocolate skin like hers and the other with sandy blond hair. "Welcome to the Glade," the first chuckled.

The second raised his eyebrow. "Gave us a run for our money their, huh love?"

She ignored them both. "Let me go! What's wrong with you people?"

There were a few dozen boys throughout the girl's line of sight, all ranging from twelve to around twenty years old. There was no way she could fight them all off. Even if she could, where was she to go? This was all new to her and she couldn't even see around the circle they'd formed around her to find an escape route.

"We'll let you go if you promise not to run or attack," the Brit said.

"Which," the first boy added, "doesn't seem to likely so we'll be content keeping you where you are. I'm Alby and I'm in charge 'round here. Newt here is my second in command."

The girl seethed. "You can't hold me here forever!"

Newt shrugged. "She's right. Baggers, put her in the Pit until she's calmed a bit."

With his command, six or seven boys took hold of her and guided her towards a small hut with bars at the window. The girl took the opportunity to scan the area directly around it, mentally noting where the forested area was, the buildings, animals, gardens, and the absurdly large walls with undetermined purpose.

The boys shoved her into the hut, slamming and locking the door shut on her. Immediately, the girl lunged at it, hoping it wouldn't hold as well as it did. Instead, she settled for grasping the bars and shooting lasers at the boys through her eyes.

"What's your name, Shebean?" One of the boys asked.

Thea. "What's it to you?" She spat at him.

He took a step back and turned to his friend. "She'd be hot if it weren't for the attitude."

"Say that again. To my face," Thea demanded. Her voice lost it's fire and sunk into an ice bath.

Newt cleared his throat, loosening his collar. "Alright gentlemen, let's give the lady a moment to adjust. Back to work with y'all. Give her some space. And Jeff, Clint, go attend to Gally, would ya?"

All but the two leaders dispersed rather grudgingly, unwilling to miss the show.

"That's right!" Thea yelled. "Back off you- you-" She searched for a good insult.

Alby piped up. "Shanks or slintheads are good ones. Shuckface is one of my favorites too."

"SLINTHEADED, SHUCKFACED SHANKS!" She finished, easily adopting the new cusses.

"Well then..." Newt said apprehensively, widening his eyes suggestively to his companion. "We'll be back when you're ready to talk. Make yourself at home. You're gonna be here a while."