She awoke, and she realized she couldn't breathe. Something stung in her chest and she caught, spilling water out of her mouth. It slowly occurred to her she was moving up. Because darkness surrounded her she couldn't see a damn thing.

Fear overtook her, when she heard an awful, unfamiliar sound. She trembled and crawled through the cage to its wall. She put her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands. Her sobs drowned out the atrocious sound.

'Stop! Please stop.' Desperate thoughts ran through her head. She had no idea where she was or… 'Who am I?!' The thought terrified her even more. Why couldn't she remember anything including her own name?

She didn't realized the cage had stopped moving until the ceiling flew opened, letting the light in. Before she even thought of looking up she heard voices.

"What the shank?" 'Shank?'
"Is it real?"
"It's a girl!?"
"Dibs!" Could be heard in the background. She looked up to see a bunch of guys standing above her.

"Slim it!" She heard a voice quite different from the others.

"Is she hot, Newt?" Someone yelled.

"I told you to bloody slim it." A quite tall guys with blond hair, whose name was Newt she supposed, jumped inside the cage and walked up to her slowly. "Hey," His voice was smooth. "Are you alright, love?" He didn't know why he called her that. He just had some words of his that no one else used and everyone thought it came with his accent.

But she didn't reply, instead she focused on her breathing as she observed people above her. Newt noticed that quickly and turned around to scold the Gladers. "Show is over." He said firmly. When no one moved another guy stepped out. His skin was dark as chocolate and he had his arms crossed.

"You shucking heard!" She jumped, slightly terrified, not expecting such outburst. It seemed to work, because they all started walking away, yet not without complaining. Soon he was the only one left, not counting… Newt was it?

"Can you handle it, Newt?" Yup, definitely Newt.

"Well, I can bloody try." She could almost feel the grin on his face.

When the other guy was gone Newt turned to her once again. He was merely few feet away, when he noticed her staring at the sword he had placed on his back. He carefully raised his hand. He gripped the weapon realising it and putted it slowly on the floor.

She seemed to calm after the sword was no longer in his hand. "It's okay, love. I ain't gonna hurt ya." A warm smile crept onto his face. "Can I…?" He slowly moved towards her once again. When she nodded he kneeled down in front of her. "I'm Newt."

"So I heard." She said before she could rethink it. Her voice trembled as words left her mouth, yet Newt did not seem to mind as a soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"So I guess you ain't that scared, huh?" She ignored his question.

"Where am I?" Which was quickly followed by "Who am I?" The second question came out as a whisper not meant for him to hear, but he did. "Why can't I remember… anything, anything at all?" He knew exactly how she felt. After all he'd been in her shoes.

"I know you have lots of questions, and I promise that in time I'll answer all of them, but for now I think it would be better if we exited that bloody hellhole, don't you agree, love?"

"Is it my name?" He was taken aback for a second there, before he realized she was asking about love.

"No, or at least I don't think so." She didn't say anything after that. In fact she only nodded, while her eyes stayed glued to the floor. "C'mon, love, let me help you up." He stood up offering a hand. She looked at it uncertain. "Don't worry, I don't bloody bite." She actually managed a smile. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up a second later. They got out of the box soon after that.

"Welcome in the Glade, love." She looked around mesmerized.

"Glade?"

"That's what we call this place." She nodded. "Sorry for earlier, those bloody shanks have just never seen a girl."

"Shanks? And wait-" She looked lost. "What do you mean by 'they never seen a-' Am I the only girl in here?"

"Shank is just a part of our slang. You'll get used to it." Newt reassured her. "And as for the second part… That's about right. You're the first girl we got since they put us here."

"And how long ago was that?"

"Almost year and a half ago." She stopped breathing for a while.

"Just don't panic, okay? I'm gonna explain to you everything." She nodded twice, waiting for him to actually start talking, but he started walking away. She noticed he was slightly limping. Yet, instead of taking her mind of a real problem she followed Newt quickly.

"Hold up! What are you doin'?" She asked in disbelief.

"I'm taking you up." She followed a hand he raised and noticed a wooden scout tower. With that he began moving again, but when she stayed in place he turned around. "You bloody want those answers?" He said with a grin. Still in shock she caught up with him and as he motioned she climbed up.

She sighed as she took in the sight of the Glade. Meadow had few wooden buildings, she guessed they did them themselves, and one not too big house.

"It's homestead." Newt explained when he caught her staring. He started explaining how every month a greenie would come up.

"Please stick to love." She told him at the mention of the usual nickname.

He grinned before went on. He explained how everyone who came up remembered only their name. She frowned disappointed that she couldn't remember hers yet.

"Don't worry, it usually takes a day or two." He tried to comfort her.

He explained that everyone had to do their part. He pointed at the garden, and at the kitchen and so on. She shivered at the mention of slicers.

"That's one nasty job." She exhaled. When he explained the basics she started asking questions. "What are those walls?" She pointed out with her chin.

"Behind them is a maze." She looked at him suddenly eager to listen. "These walls close every day for the night and open in the morning. No one, except runners, is allowed to enter it."

"Who are those runners?"

"Few chosen slintheads. They run it every day, looking for a way out."

"So, you've been here for year and a half and they haven't found it yet?" Disappointment was clear in her voice. Newt surprised her when he bit inside of his cheek to hold back the chuckle. A weird thought ran through her head because damn he looked cute.

"It's easier said than done. The maze changes every day, love." She looked away from him to stare at the walls some more trying to gather her thoughts.

Bunch of teens with no memories what's so ever locked up in the Glade surrounded by a maze, which closes for the night and changes, and every month they send in a new person. 'FANTASTIC!'

"And…" She started hesitantly. "Who was that ymm…" Newt started at her, waiting for her to finish the sentence. "That… black guy?" She smiled awkwardly not knowing exactly how to tranform her thought into a question.

"That's Alby." He chortled and his laugher floated through the air like a melody. His reaction made her feel better as she believed she didn't make an idiot out of herself. And there was something about him that made her calm. His voice was deep yet tender and he seemed calm and patient with her no matter how many times she repeated the same question. "He's our leader. He's not exactly a gentle type, that's why I handle the greenies. They all freak out at first and Alby's patient evaporates quickly-"

"So you do the dirty work?" She interrupted.

"It's still better than being a slicer." He smiled. "But Alby's a great guy once you get to know him. Besides he has enough reasons to behave the way he does. There's over thirty of us, and he feels responsible of our safety. He makes sure everything is in order and that everyone follows the rules…" And so he told her the three rules of the Glade.

"Let's get down, I'll introduce ya to the rest of them." Newt said after he finished describing the Glade and its rules. They had been up there for a little too long than he thought they would be, which he did not mind at all, but he had to get down to Alby that impatient shank was probably preparing a gathering just now.

Besides all Gladers were curious of the new she-bean, Newt decided to ignore the fact they were all bloody staring instead of doing their jobs. Who could blame them, though?

"Alright." Though he didn't hear any apprehension in her voice this time he saw it in her trembling hands. He didn't know what took over him but he put his palm over hers.

"Hey, don't worry, they're all bloody klunks anyway."

So what do you think of this new story of mine?

R&R

Love ya all

Runners :***