Nothing. I remember nothing. Not my name, not my birthday, I can't even remember my favorite color; my life before this moment has been erased.

I wake up and my legs hurt, they've fallen asleep while I was halfway bent over a wooden crate. My mouth tastes like metal, it's blood. I see only blurs as t my eyelids slide shut again, but the painstakingly loud noise fills my ears and I feel my stomach drop. Am I moving? I shift my legs to test my theory, well I'm not moving? Is this a roller coaster? I slowly reopen my eyes to see that I was moving, moving upwards. Before I could evaluate my situation, I stopped moving, and the loud blaring sound subsided. Thank god.

The noise was replaced by a blinding light above me, I groaned and closed my eyes again. What the hell? I could hear voices, but what they were saying was too complex. I swallowed the blood in my mouth, and blinked my eyes to adjust to the light. The voices became clearer and I could hear:

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! It's a girl!"

"That can't be right!"

"It is, just look!"

I looked up to the voices, slowly dragging my hand up to hide my eyes. What I saw was boys, a lot of them. They were all staring at me like I was a gorilla at the zoo.

"Hello?," I croaked, my voice hoarse and dry.

"Open it up, Ben."

"Yeah, what are you afraid of, Ben?"

"Nothing. I'm opening it," a thud shakes my surrounds as a boy jumps towards me. I notice now that I'm sitting in a cage, surrounded by metal on all sides with no escape.

Immediately, I become more alert. " Who are you? Why did you put me here?" Where am I?

The tall blond boy opens the top of the cage and reaches towards me," Come on out."

I push myself from his grasp," Answer me!"

"Look, you don't have to be scared. We won't hurt you."

"Then why did you bring me here!?," I ask aggressively.

"We didn't bring you here. You were sent to us...," the boys says, his arms still outreached to help me. He had soft green eyes that seemed sincere, so I faltered, figuring if they wanted to hurt me, they would have just stormed in and swooped me out of the cage. I reached out and took his hand, he helped me stand but my legs buckled. Stupid legs, wake up!

The boy caught me before I fell over, What do you mean, I was sent to you?," I asked him before gently pulling away and gaining my balance. I feel the blood build in my mouth again and swallow it down.

"Here, let's get you out. We'll explain the rest," he hoisted me up effortlessly.

The light from before seemed dim in comparison to all the colors around me, the green of the grass and the gray sky clashing with all the faces that were now circled around me.

"I think I might be sick," I said leaning over into the grass.

The crowd gasped and I saw them all step back, afraid of my vomit. I closed my eyes again as my stomach threatened to expel it's contents, where the hell am I? I took a deep breath before sitting up again, looking back at all those just staring at me.

"Where the hell am I?," I ask them, my lip threatening to start quivering.

"Welcome to the Glade," one of the faces steps forward.

"Sweet, we got some more rope! Now we finally tie together the tower posts without having to replace it every month!"

I turned back to the cage where I once was to see yet another boy poke his head out with a stupid grin plastered on his face. Rope? Who cares about rope?

I shake my head in disbelief," Why am I here?"

Everyone just look at one another, unsure of the answer.

"Look, there's a note here!," I turn back to the boy in the cage. He hands it to the man who greeted me, calling this place 'the glade'.

"What does it say, Alby?" the boys pressure him into reading it out loud.

"It says: Here is a new challenge," Alby reads before passing the paper along.

"New challenge? Does it mean the girl?," the boy with sincere green eyes asks.

"Most likely," Alby states. "Uhm...," he turns back to me. "Do you remember your name?"

I grip the side of my head, it's now throbbing. Name? what's my name? My name is... My name is... Holy crap! What's my name?! I shake my head solemnly.

"It may take a few days," he says, extending his hand to me. A gesture of good faith? Can I trust these people? Who are they? More importantly, who am I? Why am I here? What is a glade? I take his offer and stand up, making sure to steady my feet this time. "My name is Alby, it's nice to meet you, Greenie."

"Greenie?"

"It's what we call the newcomers who can't remember their names yet. For now, you're Greenie."

I give a slight nod, "What do you mean newcomers?"

"I mean you. You the newcomer," he cracks a smile smile. "I bet you have a million questions. I've got most of the answers."

I look Alby up and down, he's an average sized man with dark skin and stern face. "How do I know if I can trust your answers? How do I know you aren't lying to me?"

"You'll learn real fast. You're legs okay?," he asked looking to my feet.

"Yeah."

"Good, then come with me." Alby turns and begins walking away through the grass. I quickly glance at the others who keep staring at me, so I awkwardly pass them and catch up to Alby.

"Okay... uhm... first question: Where am I?," I fall into pace beside him.

"I already told you, this is the Glade."

"Well, what is the Glade?"

"This is the Glade," he pauses in his step to gesture to the field around us. I see trees scattered scattered in the far corner and I see a gray wall. Looking all around, I notice it surrounds us, it's so tall that I also sprained my neck looking to the top. There are people almost everywhere, they all look busy, wrapped up in tasks or talking with others. "The Glade is home. It's where we all live, eat, sleep, and survive. We have three rules here: Rule one, never hurt another Glader. Glader is the term we use to call each other. Rule two, everyone does a share of the work. We all help each other to keep the community going. Rule three, which shouldn't be a problem, never leave the glade."

"Leave? We can leave?," I searched the stone walls for a door.

"No, you can't. Past the glade is forbidden, it's too dangerous."

"Well, no offense, but you can't keep me here as prisoner for whatever sick game you're playing," I stop walking and cross my arms.

"It's not a game," Alby faces me. "All of us are placed here against our will. You are not my prisoner, you are a new member of the Glade. It's normal to ash out, believe me, I get it."

"What is this! Some sick, twisted way to-... I don't know! What did you do to me! Why can't I remember who I am!?"

"Take a deep breath, Greenie. Look, it's alright, you're safe here. We won't hurt you," Alby's voice is gentle and I feel calmed by his words. "I didn't do this to you and I don't know who did, it is something that has been done to all of us. We don't know why or how, but we learned to survive. You're new and I get it, it's hard not to have someone to blame. The good news is that you'll remember you're name in a few days."

"How do you know this?"

"It's happened to all of us. Everyone you see has been through exactly what you are going through."

"I'm sorry, his just doesn't seem real," my breath is shaky and I can feel panic coursing through my veins. I can feel everyone watching me, like I'm not real or like they are going crazy.

"I understand. It's a lot to take in, but we are all here for you. As for now," Alby cleared his throat. "I should be honest with you..."

I felt fear clutch my heart," What?"

"You... You're the first...erm... girl we have had... ever," Alby rubs his head awkwardly.

"What!?"