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Whispers and murmurs broke out among the boys around her. Elisabeth tried not to panic and kept a calm expression on her face.
"Shut up!" A tall dark skinned boy snapped. And everyone fell silent at once. The boy had an air of authority on him.
"Where am I?" Elisabeth asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She cleared her throat and asked again. "Where am I?
"Nowhere good." The boy answered. He seemed to be about eighteen. " We call this place the Glade. Call ourselves the Gladers. We live, work, eat and sleep here. It's a long story Shank. I'll take ya on the tour tomorrow. Till then don't break anything. Name's Alby." He held out his hand. She hesitantly shook it.
"Why am I here?" She demanded to know. "Is this some sort of farm?"
"Slim it, Greenie," Alby said. "You'll get all your answers on the Tour tomorrow."
What did he just call me? Elisabeth thought. She was slightly offended because she thought the word Greenie was some sort of insult.
A blond boy stepped forward. He was quite tall and looked, to be about seventeen.
"Greenie, name's Newt." He held out his hand, which she shook.
She glanced at the boys surrounding her, they were still staring at her. Elisabeth wished they would look at something other than her because it was making her feel very consious.
"Back to work, Shanks!" Alby said, as though he had read Elisabeth's mind. "Keepers, to the Homestead."
Alby and a few other boys left towards an odd wooden building. Elisabeth backed away from the boys still surrounding her.
What the hell is going on?
"Hey we're not gonna hurt you," A boy with caramel hair and eyes said, holding up his hands.
"I'm Edward." He told her.
Suddently a loud boom exploded throught the air, making Elisabeth flinch. Then came a horrible crunching sound. She felt the stone floor of the Glade vibrate under her feet. The openings on the walls were closing.
"How-?"
"It's the Maze walls closing for the night." Edward said casually.
"Maze?"
"We live in the middle of a Maze." Edward said. He noticed the bewildered look on her face. "The Maze is the only way out of here. But we haven't found a way out yet. We're still searching."
"Well, how long have you-"
"Two years." Edward said. "We've been trying to find a way out for two years."
Elisabeth felt overwhelmed. The boys have been searching for two years. And yet they never found an exit. She heard the squealing of metal.
"What was that?" She asked Edward. She hoped he won't get annoyed for all the questions she was asking.
"It's the Box going down." Edward squinted, maybe anticipating Elisabeth's next question."Once we tried to send a Shank back in the Box, thing wouldn't move till we took him out."
"Have you ever tried going down the Box hole after it leaves?"
Edward nodded. "Yeah, we did. Made a rope with ivy. That didn't go well. The kid who volunteered to do it had gone about ten feet when something swooshed through the air and sliced him clean in half."
Elisabeth froze. Her stomach turned over. She suddently felt sick.
Who ever heard of someone being cut in half?
"Are you serious?"
"I don't lie Greenie," He said.
A boy was cut in half...
Elisabeth was trembling. The blood pounded in her ears. Her heart thudded in her chest, eyes filled with tears, her vision disfigured, as if she were looking through a fish-eye lens. She sank down on the dry stone floor placing her hands in the ground in front of her.
"Hey, hey," Edward whispered, crouching down beside her. "What's wrong?"
"I-" She tried to speak.
"You need to breathe." Edward whispered in a soothing voice. "Try, focusing on something and take small slow breaths, okay?"
Elisabeth tried focusing on her surroundings. The soft whistling of the wind and the low chattering of the tree leaves in the forest as they swayed. A few feet away a tiny creature scuffled away offering as a distraction. A wave of calm washed over Elisabeth as she tried taking slow breaths.
"Are-are you alright?"
Elisabeth looked up and saw a young boy, about fourteen. He had fluffy, dark brown hair and dark twinkling eyes.
"I'm fine." She said and hesitantly stood up.
"Let's go to Frypan's" Edward suggested, standing up. "You must be hungry and it will help with the panic attack, by regulating your blood sugar."
Edward opened his mouth to introduce the younger boy to her but before he could the boy placed his hand out right away.
"I'm James!" He said brightly, with a genuine, friendly smile.
"Elisabeth," She shook his hand. The corners of her lips curled up into a slight smile. There was a friendly aura to James.
Elisabeth turned to face Edward. "Sorry, for freaking out I—"
"What are you on about?" Edward said. "It's normal to panic. And I really shouldn't have dumped everything on you just like that."
"You're taking everything so well," James nodded.
"And if it makes you feel any better, I woke up in the Box," James paused for a dramatic effect. "Then I fainted." He said shamelessly.
Elisabeth laughed but quickly stopped. "I shouldn't have laughed." She shook her head.
