If There Is A Light

Chapter 5

Alby had retrieved her for the tour of the Glade, just like he had promised her. She felt silly and disappointed. Disappointed because it was only Alby that showed up, and silly for being disappointed. Newt had not given her any indication that he would be joining them. Granted he had been around her for most of yesterday. She was being held like a prisoner for the most part, so he was probably just doing it to be nice.

"Right. Ready to get started? " Alby's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She did not mind being called away from the internal pity party, so she nodded her head and began to follow, indulging the boys with common courtesy (a small wave when a good morning was shouted), Alby led her to a rather tall, hand-built tower. He nodded for her to go up first, and she very reluctantly obeyed. One step at a time she hoisted her self up the ladder slowly. She happily pulled herself up. There was no doubting that the Gladers were a talented group. Every shelter was built by themselves and did not seem unsturdy, but it still felt a little unsettling to be climbing up so high on a ladder that a twelve year old very well could have built.

Once Alby had joined her they both looked out over their surroundings. She had hoped seeing everything would put her mind at ease and make her feel better... The opposite occurred. She could see all of their buildings among a vast green field with a few trees littering the open space. At the edge of a couple of the sides was a dense forest. She could see everyone hard at work: some gardening, tending to the buildings, and working with animals. The tee-nincey little thing that only made her feel worse was actually not that small. Concrete walls so big she could not even think of something to compare it to surrounded them trapping them in a large square. It was spacious, but they were still trapped. There were four openings (one on each side), but it did not give her much hope for escape since she could see nothing, but more cement inside.

"This is the Glade. It's not much, but it's home, and there are a few rules." Alby looked over to make sure she was paying attention. She nodded in understanding, "No slacking. Everyone does there part, we don't got time for free loaders. Never hurt another Glader. We all have to trust each other. And the number one rule: Never go outside of the Glade and into the maze, unless you're a runner. Got it?"

She nodded, but no she did not have it. How was she supposed to do her part? Why would she want to hurt anyone? What was a runner? Most importantly: why couldn't she go into the maze?

Alby noticed her gaze kept fluttering back to the concrete walls. "I'll have Newt tell you a little more when he gets back. We've been working on something and there's a lot to do. I'll get you started with Frypan he could use the help today. Tomorrow you can work out in the garden. You'll move around until you find your spot, don't worry a job will stick."

She was quite worried, but not about finding the right occupation.