pre-the maze runner
chapter one

❛❛ welcome to the glade, greenie ❜❜

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A boy wakes up to complete darkness. The world around him was moving and making strange sounds. Sounds of screeching and scratching. As the world moved, so does he.

Thoroughly perplexed, unable to remember anything. He wasn't sure where he is, but all he knew is that the ground beneath his body was moving, moving fast and shaking. He forced himself up, hands on the ground, only the field felt like he was on a metallic fence, attempting to check his surrounding as the world moved fast upwards, crawling around until his head met walls, walls on his left, to right and ceiling. He finally realized that he was in a moving elevator descending.

What was even more strange is his unknown memories, his mind was memoryless, he was unable to remember anything, anyone or five minutes ago. He couldn't also remember what he was doing before he fell asleep, before this. There was not a single familiar face in his mind, not even his mother, his father, his sibling or friends. No one. But there was something he remembered . . .

Poe. My name is Poe. Poe.

It made it worse and even stranger. How can Poe remember his name but not anything else? It was like everything had been stripped from him as if his old life had been erased and given a new one.

This is his new life. This is the moment where Poe begins his new life.

"Help!" He had found his voice. He screamed. "Somebody! Help me!"

But the world was louder, it continued to screech and scream, overpowering Poe's continuous screams. Something else was crying, it was next to Poe, an animal noise. He could not see what everything around him looked like, but he could feel rags, boxes, cylindrical objects, multiple shapes of objects. His hands found a larger box where the animal noises are coming from.

Then, the world abruptly stopped, sending Poe back down onto the floor. It stopped, and everything was in silent like the world finally stopped screaming. Another noise erupted above, a rumbling sound and something was sliding. Light. There was light. The light that stabbed his eyes, he faced down, eyes closed. The light had warmth his skin; next, there were voices, actual being's voices.

He attempts to look up, but his eyes were still too sensitive to the light, and he had taken a moment to adjust it. There were voices and the sounds of snickering.

"Get him, Alby" a boy's voice was heard.

When Poe looked up again, he saw shadow human figures, all blurry, the daylight behind those shadowy human figures; there was a large square opening where the door had opened, those human figures standing and surrounding the box he was in, all of them looking down at him.

One of them jumped into the cage, making Poe startle that he scrambled backward until his back reached one of the boxes. As his eyes finally adjusted, his sight was mostly regular that he was able to see this person. This person was a tall boy, built, he looked older than as a kid, he could be in his eighteen and had dark skin. "Rise and shine, Greenie. Welcome to the Glade" he said. "You ain't got all day to stay all cooped up in here; don't make me drag you out myself."

Poe was confused. He merely stared at the boy before responding, "Wha—wh—where am I? What's going on?"

"Save questions for later," the boy said, "Right now, you need to get your skinny little butt out of the Box, and you should see go check outside. We ain't answering your questions until you settle."

"What—?" Poe was still confused.

"You're either deaf or dumb. What did I say?" The boy was getting peevish, "Just get yourself out of here."

Poe didn't seem to have any choice. Most of all, he wanted to get out of this box and get some fresh air. Breath some actual air after being dragged in a small box within the darkness for a long time. He finally moved, but reluctantly, he got on his feet and climbed out of the box. The people above didn't help him when he jumped up.

He found himself crawling over the edge of the box, a hard, cement floor against his hands as the people around him stepped away from him as they continuously chuckled at him.

"He looks like he's going to be Bagger, or a Slopper" one of them commented.

"I don't know. I could use an extra hand in the kitchen" another commented then laughed.

Poe stood up, glanced around and found unfamiliar faces staring at him, smirking and laughing at him. He didn't like the way they looked at him. Like they were mocking him, and he didn't like it. He pushed himself forward, shoving boys aside harshly that were in his way then found himself in the opening, away from the people. He noticed all these people were all boys when he gazed back at them, still mocking at him, they were all boys, roughly ages thirteen to eighteen.

Poe stepped back again then turned around, and he was walking away. He halted by the sight of his surroundings, of the place. He was in the middle of a large field. Four times the size. Trees in the distant, forests, cornfield, crooked buildings, ponds, more boys walking ahead. What was odder about this place was at the end of his every direction, at the ends, North, East, South and West stood the walls. Tall walls the size of twenty story building, made of concrete and had various spots of green and brown. One of those four walls had a gap, just one gap.

"Welcome to the Glade, Greenie," said a boy behind him, breaking his gaze from the sight of the place.

He turned to see a boy who looked around his age, black hair, tall, average built, squared jaw, brown eyes, pale skin, wearing a black half-sleeved short and olive cargo capris. "What is this place?" Poe asked.

The boy raised his brows, "I'm surprised you take this place quite lightly. Most of them new Greenbeans would panic, run and cry like babies as if they were just born" he folded his arms, "I think you might be my favourite Greenie ever. But yeah, this place, where we are within the walls, we call it the Glade, and we call ourselves Gladers, and we live out here."

"Gladers" Poe murmured, "Honestly, I don't even know how to react. I can't remember anything, what happened? Why can't I remember anything?"

"One question at a time, Greenbean" the boy replied, "but first, lemme introduce myself, my name's Nick, and I'm the leader in the Glade. You should remember your name."

Poe wrinkled his brows in confusion, "How— I mean... yeah ... it's . . . Poe. I know my name is Poe."

"Aye, it's the only thing they left behind for us," Nick said, "We don't know much about this place, but only a few things. We're all the same here, we all remember nothing but our names. No idea who sent us here, no idea who took our memories, we don't know why we're here and why they sent us out here to live . . . it's been nearly three years since I came here, three years of nothing, three years of no answers of why who, and how"

"Three years?" Poe was stunned. "You've been living out here for three years?"

"That's right, shank. We might still be stuck here for another three years, so you better get used to it."

Stuck. So they're trapped out here, but to Poe's curiosity, he shifted his gaze toward one of the walls that had a gap, he wondered what was out there. "But... what's out there?" He kept his gaze at that gap.

Nick didn't respond for a moment. "The Maze, Greenie. Trust me on this. You're safer in here than out there."

Again, Poe furrowed his brows as he turned to the boy, the words safe and Maze had him worried. "Safer? What are you talkin' about?"

"I'm saying if you go out there, chances are you're locked out of the Glade by evening, if you do, you won't survive the night. That's all you need to know for now. Right now, I'm telling you too much. I tell you a lot, the more questions you have, save them for later, you will know everything we know so far."

Poe wanted to ask the questions he needed to know, what's going on out here? What have they've been doing out here for the last three years? What's in the Maze? What was so dangerous about the Maze that will bring death to anyone who gets locked out of the Glade? Instead, he gave the nod.

Poe believes that if he were to panic now, it wouldn't help him, if he demands answers, he won't get any. He had thought of staying patient, despite how he wanted badly to know everything that they know. Poe had a thought that they won't bother telling him answers. He even wanted to panic, run away and be scared— he's already afraid. He has been scared since he woke up in the darkness thirty minutes ago.

"I like you, Greenie. You don't say much" Nick half smiled, "Come on, let's take a walk— I'm gonna show you around this place and things that you need to know and do."

Just thirty minutes ago, he woke up to a new life, like he had been born, whatever life he had before was gone now and this is his new one.

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