I Know Places [Thomas The Maze Runner]

[02: The Walls]

"Hey, Alby!" A youthful voice called from the ground. Elle leaned slightly over the railing of the lookout point to see a boy with a child-like grin and round, rosy red cheeks waving up at them. The heartwarming sight made her smile, faltering only when she realised that such a young boy was in the Glade with them.

"Hey, Chuck," Alby replied happily, waving back at the younger boy. "Where you been, man?" Chuck giggled, and Alby returned his attention to the Greenies. "He'll be showing you where you'll be sleeping tonight. We're going to sort out something more private for you, Elle," Alby assured the girl. "Chuck was the Greenie until you two arrived, so I guess he's quite happy to lose the title. He's a great kid. Gets picked on by other shuck-faces sometimes because he's a Slopper. I think some friends will do him good," Alby decided.

"Thanks, Alby. What's a Slopper?" Elle asked, tilting her head to the side as she pondered the name. Whatever it was didn't seem like a job she was interested in.

"More on that later. C'mon, let's go," Alby avoided Elle's question in favour of climbing back down to the floor. Elle resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Alby was too secretive. Even though he thought it was for the best, it was starting to irritate her, which exacerbated her pounding headache. Chuck beamed at Elle and the other Greenie once they were back on the ground. "I'm leaving you shanks in great hands," Alby assured them. Without another word, he left to go find Newt and vacate a room with a lock in the Homestead for Elle to sleep in.

"The two of you are famous," was the first thing Chuck said. He had a giant grin as he kicked the grass below his boots.

"Famous?" Elle repeated, tilting her head to the side. "I didn't realise the Glade was a hotspot for exchanging gossip."

"There's never been two shanks in the Box before," Chuck elaborated as he led Elle and the other Greenie to the homestead. "And there's never, ever been a shuck girl in the Glade."

"Shank?" Elle grimaced at Chuck's odd vernacular. People had been throwing weird words around all day, and she struggled to keep up.

"Shuck?" the Greenie asked as an afterthought. Chuck shrugged, grumbling about how they'd get used to the Glader words.

"So there really aren't any other girls?" Elle repeated, incredulous at the idea of living with fifty boys. "And there never have been?"

"Yeah, you're the first one!" Chuck confirmed. "Pretty cool, huh? I've never met a girl before but I've only been here a month. Some of these shanks have been here for years. Anyway, you'll get the hang of things around here soon," he assured the pair, smirking at their perplexed faces. "Kinda nice not being the Greenie anymore. C'mon, I'll show you how to set up your hammock."

Elle and the Greenie followed Chuck to the homestead, which Alby already told them about. While the Greenie got a hammock and was told to choose a place to hang it up, Elle observed how crowded the space was. Even though most of the boys were working, a few lingered and openly stared at Elle. They weren't trying to be subtle about it, nudging each other and whispering. Some of them even pointed. Elle decided it was safe to stay close to Chuck and the Greenie.

"It's basically the same story for all of us," Chuck explained as he helped Thomas tighten her hammock. Elle was busy gathering pillows and blankets from the floor to help the kid as the Greenie daydreamed, staring into the opening of the Maze. "Wake up in the Box, Alby gives us the tour, then here we are! Don't worry, you're doing better than I did--"

Elle tuned out the rest of his sentence when she realised the Greenie was no longer obsessively transfixed on the Maze from a distance but approaching it. "I really doubt he's allowed to do that," she commented, looking at Chuck for his opinion. Elle and the younger boy raced after the Greenie.