1 | the one where she woke up in the box

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[PRE-THOMAS ARRIVAL]

Darkness. That was the first thing she saw when her eyes opened.

Her lungs felt like they were on fire as she coughed, water dripping down her chin and emptying from her throat. Her back was pressed against a cold metal grid and there was a loud noise blaring. Her head rolled to the side and a groan escaped her lips, unsure of what was going on around her.

Her eyes finally focused, making out a faint red light somewhere on her left. ''What the fuck . . .?''

Propping herself up with her arms, she tried to look around. The metal dug into her elbows painfully and she quickly sat up, hearing the rattles around her. Slowly, she got onto her feet, touching around the darkness in hopes of figuring out where she was.

''Hello?'' she called out, yet received no answer. ''Hello?''

Suddenly, the ground under her feet rattled and started moving up, causing her to fall down on her back painfully. Her eyes were wide and palms sweaty, even though it was cold around her. Breathing quickening, she quickly got back to her feet again and touched around, finding something made out of wood to hold on to.

''HELP ME!'' she yelled out as loud as she could. The ground continued rising up. ''HELP ME, PLEASE!''

The high speed of the floor was causing her to sway and need to hold on the wood piece for her life. Then it came to a sudden halt, sending her flying in the air for a moment before falling back on the ground, this time on her front. A loud groan escaped her lips as the wind was almost fully knocked out of her lungs.

An alarm blared again and sunlight started peering in her prison. Quickly, she crawled behind a crate and hugged her legs close to herself, her eyes squinted as the sun burned them.

Voices from above grabbed her attention and she looked up, only to see two metal grid doors. Was she in a box? Why was she in a box? As she looked around, there were multiple crates, one of which moving and letting out squeals - was there a beast inside? Was she going to have to fight something in order to entertain her captors?

The two doors above her were opened, but she still hid behind one of the wooden crates. ''Go get the Greenie, Gally!''

Someone jumped in, rattling the box with their weight. She pulled her legs even closer to herself, trying to make herself as small as possible so her captors won't see her.

''Where the shuck is the Greenie?'' a deep voice asked - the person who'd jumped in the box.

They were close, she concluded. Taking a peek from behind the crate, she noticed a boy standing in the middle of the box, hands on his hips and his weirdly-shaped eyebrows furrowed. She gulped and stood on one knee, her hands on the ground as if she was about to run.

Before the boy could search further, she jumped up from behind the crate and yelled, throwing a punch at the boy's cheek, sending him back a few steps. She panted as she stood in front of him, her fists raised in front of her face - she didn't think she was very strong considering she barely did the boy any damage, but it was better than nothing.

''DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!'' she yelled out, taking a few steps back, her butt hitting a crate which cut her way.

''A girl?''

''What? What do you mean a girl?''

''How is there a girl?''

Murmurs filled her ears and she looked up to see a bunch of boys surrounding her prison and looking down at her as if she was a caged animal, which scared her even more. A groan followed and her eyes fell back to the boy in front of her, who was holding his temple and looking at her with his eyes narrowed.

''WHO ARE YOU?'' She yelled out, her eyes widening as the boy started moving closer to her. ''DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!''

''Calm down, will you?'' The boy continued moving and her breath halted, her fists trembling. Then, swiftly, the boy picked her up and threw her in the air.

She screamed before her body hit the hard ground, causing her to groan in pain once again. How many times was she going to fall today? Quickly, she picked herself up, only to see the boys were now tightly surrounding her.

This is it. I'm gonna get raped. They're gonna kill me. Oh God, what have I done to deserve this? Her breath quickened, trying to look for a little space she could squeeze through and run away, but the boys were standing too tight together. There was only one of her and too many of them, she stood no chance. Mom, I love you.

For some reason, she couldn't remember how her mother looked. Maybe it was because she was scared. Maybe it was because she was about to die. Yeah, that was probably it.

''Hey, hey, give her space to breathe, will you?'' a voice spoke, their British accent thick. She looked behind, only to find a blond boy moving towards her. ''Y'all have jobs to get to, don't just stand around here! Go!''

''But, Newt, she's a girl, what-''

''I can bloody see that, Michael,'' the boy - Newt - said, his hands on his hips. ''Let her calm down now.''

The boys seemed to obey him and slowly started retreating back, opening up spaces for her to run through. She bit her lip, her eyes falling on an opening. Bingo.

''Don't even think-''

She didn't wait for Newt to finish as she took off, her legs taking as longer strides as she could, sprinting to her freedom.

''THE GREENIE IS ESCAPING!''

''SHE'S GONNA RUN IN THE MAZE!''

''SOMEONE STOP HER!''

''WE'VE GOT OURSELVES A RUNNER!''

Trying to ignore them as best as she could, she focused on her goal and that was the tunnel leading her away from her captors. She was almost there when suddenly a body slammed into her side, sending her flying on the dirty ground in front of the opening.

Her lungs burned as her breath was knocked out of her once again. She coughed and tried to get up. Freedom was within her reach, but was quickly cut off as a pair of dirty boots stopped in front of her face, blocking her view of the exit. The person kneeled down, one hand propped on his knee as he looked down at her.

''That was a nice sprint, Greenie,'' the boy complimented, sticking his hand out to help her get up. ''But I can't let you go out there. Not yet, at least.''

She gave him a skeptical look before she let him pull her up. She acted quick, bringing her knee up and hitting him between the legs, causing him to groan and fall on the ground, his hands falling to his sore spot. As she tried to run towards the opening again, the boy caught her leg, causing her to trip and fall on her front. Really, how many times was she going to fall today?

Her chin almost hit the stone ground that was supposed to be her escape. The boy, despite his pain, had a tight grip on her leg and wouldn't let her go.

''Will you calm down, please?'' He spoke with his teeth gritted. He let one last groan before he managed to stand up, slightly limping as he started pulling the girl back to the grass by her leg.

''LET ME GO!'' She yelled as she tried to pull her leg away, but to no avail. ''STOP PULLING ME, I'M NOT A SACK OF POTATOES!''

''You'll run away again!'' the boy yelled.

''FINE, I WON'T!''

The boy stopped pulling her, but still held onto her leg. ''Promise you won't run away?'' He gave her a skeptical look.

''Promise.''

''And that you won't knee me in the balls again?''

''Fine.''

A moment passed and the boy finally decided to let her leg go, it falling on the ground with a thud. He kneeled down next to her again, sticking his hand out. ''Let's try this again.''

She took a better look at him now - he had a small smile - or was it a smirk? - on his face and his hair seemed nicely done. He looked nice enough, maybe he wasn't going to kill her.

Don't let his looks deceive you, she told herself and rejected his hand, getting up on her own. As she and the boy stood face to face, Newt ran over to them, a slight limp in his step.

''Thanks for catching her, Minho,'' Newt said, patting the boy on the shoulder.

''Yeah, no problem. Didn't think I'd be chasing Greenies on my day off, though.'' the boy chuckled at his own joke. He turned back to Newt. ''Gotta run now, see you later!''

The boy, 'Minho', jogged away, leaving her alone with the blond. ''Now that we're sure you won't run away, let me explain what's happening. First off, name's Newt.''

''I'm . . .'' she stopped, her eyes unfocusing and as she struggled to answer. ''I'm . . . I don't know? I can't remember my name?''

''Don't worry, it's happened to all of us,'' Newt reassured. ''It'll come back to you in a day or two.''

''What is this place?''

''I'll explain everything, come on.''

After Newt explained everything he knew and answered any questions he could, he told her he had to talk about something with Alby - whoever Alby was - and left her alone, in the middle of, what he called, the Glade.

She looked around, unsure of where to go. She could see some people staring and pointing at her, and she felt shivers run down her spine. The fact that she was stuck there with so many boys didn't sit right with her at all. She knew Newt was trustworthy, so there was at least one person she could bear stand around.

Her eyes fell on a bunch of guys staring at her, one of whom was the guy she'd punched in the box - Newt had told her his name was Gally and she was sure they wouldn't be on good terms anytime soon, so she made a mental note to stay away from him.

''You look like a kicked puppy.''

Turning around, she was met with the boy from earlier - Minho, Newt had called him.

''I feel like a kicked puppy,'' she said, putting her hand over her side. ''I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get a bruise from how hard you pushed me on the ground.''

''Hey, I basically saved your life, you should be grateful,'' the boy said. ''I'm Minho, by the way.''

''I've heard. Don't know my name yet, but I'll keep you updated.''

''Good to hear.'' Minho nodded. ''Lunch is about to start soon and since it's my day off, you're welcome to sit with me.''

''Am I supposed to be flattered?'' she asked, quirking an eyebrow at the boy.

Minho shrugged in return. ''I'm not forcing you. You're welcome to sit with Gally if you'd like. He'd really appreciate it after you shucked up his nose even more.''

As Minho started walking away, she quickly ran after him. ''Wait! Don't leave me alone!''

Coming to a stop, Minho looked at her in amusement. He could sympathize with her in a way, it must be weird to be stuck somewhere with around thirty boys and be the only girl. ''Alright, then, Greenie. I guess I'll be taking you under my wing, for now.''

She gave him an annoyed look, but deep down, she appreciated it. Now she might have a second person to trust in this shithole.

''Fine. At least you don't look as disgusting as the rest of the guys.''

''Now that's flattering.''

A loud bell sounded through the Glade and Minho grinned. ''Let's go grab a bite, I'm starving.''


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