" WHITE BLOOD " T. MAZE RUNNER¹

prologue.

[PROLOGUE]
arrival

~

The first thing she heard when she awoke was the sound of rusty gears grinding against one another. The screeching sound seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, echoing off what seemed like metallic walls. She was surrounded by darkness- such darkness that she could not see her own hand even if it was inches from her face.

The area she was in suddenly jerked, and then lurched into an upward motion- almost as if she were in some sort of lift. She clutched the walls around her in panic, the damp metal chilling her fingertips. Her heart thudded in her chest, her breathing becoming labored and heavy as she frantically looked around her, searching for anything that seemed familiar.

But nothing seemed familiar to the girl. Her mind whirled with thoughts of her life, although she could not make out a single one. They were blurred, and they disappeared almost as quickly as she remembered them.

The room she was in continued to ascend towards the Heavens, and she began to panic more and more with each passing second. She sat there for what seemed like hours, coughing every once in a while as she breathed in the cold and dusty air. Something shifted in the shadows across from her, and she heard the panicked squeal of a pig.

She didn't know how she knew what animal it belonged to; it just came to her, and she found that quite weird.

Don't worry, little pig, she thought to herself. I'm just as scared as you are.

She heard the voice of her conscious ring in her head, and she wondered if her actual voice sounded like that. She was too afraid to speak aloud, however, just in case her voice triggered something. She wrapped her arms around her body, shivering as a slight breeze blew across her bare arms as the lift continued to ascend. Closing her eyes, although it made no difference because of the darkness that engulfed her, she silently prayed for answers.

Then, almost as if her prayers had been answered, the lift came to a screeching halt. Red and orange sparks flew through the air as metal scraped against metal, and she could finally see her surroundings. She lay in a metal chain-linked box, that seemed to be six feet wide. Several wooden crates littered the small area around her; and sure enough, a large pink pig was locked in a cage on the other side of the box. Her heart pounding against her chest, she carefully slid into the corner of the box. There, she curled into a tight ball and closed her eyes, wishing that it were all some terrible dream.

It was silent now, the constant grinding and squeaking of gears finally diminishing. She could hear her own uneven and panicked breathing as she looked around her, along with the faint snorts of the pig. Everything was growing dim as the sparks faded away once more, and she grew scared as she was engulfed in darkness once more. She thought of exploring, perhaps searching through the many crates that were in the lift with her, but she was far too afraid to explore the unknown area in complete darkness.

She was so afraid. Afraid of her fate- afraid of what was going to happen to her. She couldn't remember a thing, no matter how hard she dug into the back of her mind. Nothing came to her- nothing that could even begin to indicate what she did to deserve to be put in this cage.

Am I going to die?

She shivered at the thought, her mind racing with the dozens of ways she could die in that very room. Perhaps she was just food- perhaps something was going to be let loose to feed on her as if she were nothing but a helpless animal. If nothing came for her, she would soon die of starvation or thirst.

None of those options were appealing to her.

Suddenly, a loud scraping sound caused her head to pound and her ears to ring; it was followed by a sudden flash of bright white light, which immediately blinded her. She buried her face into her knees, attempting to block out the blinding light and cower away from whatever terrible beast that awaited her outside of the cage.

But nothing came- at least, not for a few good moments. It was completely silent, but then, almost as if someone had turned on a switch, a series of hushed whispers met her ears.

"There's a Greenie, isn't there?"

"Move it, I want to get a good look at the Klunkhead."

"It smells like feet down there!"

"Kind of like Gally's breath."

"Shut it, all of you!"

The girl jumped at the sound of the booming, threatening voice. She curled closer to the chain-linked wall, hoping that the large crate that was in front of her concealed her from the people above.

The box shook as someone leaped into it, and she squeezed her eyes shut and hoped that whoever it was wasn't able to see her. She could hear the faint grunts of a boy, followed by the sounds of footsteps tapping against the metal flooring beneath her. She didn't move from her concealed hiding spot, her heart pounding against her chest as if it were a bass drum in the middle of a concert hall. Her hands shook from where they were clutched to her chest, and her breathing was heavy and uneven. She felt as though she were falling, and found it quite hard to breath.

Suddenly, the wooden crate that concealed her from the people above moved, revealing the face of a tan-skinned boy, jet black hair spiked above his head. His eyes widened at the sight of her, and his arms momentarily let go of the crate that he held in his arms. During that split second, it fell to the ground and landed right on his foot.

"Shuck-" groaned the boy as he held his foot in his hands, clenching his teeth in pain. An odd noise fell from her mouth as she choked back a sob, terrified and breathless as she stared at the intimidating boy in front of her. The moment she made the noise, the boy diverted his attention to her once more. He kneeled down in front of her, his lips pulled into a straight line. "Hey, quite cryin' like a-"

The boy didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Panicking, she reached out with her arm to grab the closest thing she could find. Gripping the wooden plant tightly in her hands, she swung it towards the boy; a resounding smack filled the small area of the cage as it came in contact with the side of his head, and the attention of all the other boys turned to her.

Upon realizing what she did, a tear fell from her eye, and she dropped the board. Hands shaking, she reached for the injured boy in attempt to help, though he smacked her away angrily.

Feeling as though she were about to pass out at any moment, she struggled to catch her breath. "I-I'm sorry," she murmured, her voice dying away as she felt herself collapsing to the floor.