The boy was holding a knife in his hands, the edge of the blade glimmering in the light of the moon between the trees. A single tear escaped a hazel eye and rolled down the length of his cheek, finally dropping from his face to his hands holding the knife. Ashamed, he wiped his eye with the edge of his sleeve and returned the knife to its place. His eyes bored a hole through the patch of dirt he was kneeling in front of.

"Soon," he said. A whisper. A single word.

A promise.

---

Elizabeth could hardly contain her excitement. Today was the the beginning of a new month, which meant she would witness the arrival of a new Glader. It also meant that she and Gally would no longer be Greenies. Rather than scrutinizing her breakfast and trying to guess what it was like usual, she gobbled the food down. The Runners weren't going out today, so Newt and Minho were in the seats next to her. Minho raised an eyebrow at her chow down, but made no further comments. Newt, on the other hand, frowned down at his food.

"It can't be that good, can it?" he asked.

"Don't be such a shank," Nick said. "It's food, so eat it."

Newt shrugged and started eating. The five runners--Nick included even though some days he took on the duties of a Track-hoe instead--were used to being up so early in the morning, but Elizabeth was normally more of an afternoon person. Sometimes there were others who got a head start on the day, but today didn't seem to be one of those days.

"Out of my way," someone said. Newt sucked in a breath. He'd spoken too soon--here was Gally. The broody boy plopped his tray of food across from him and started eating with that same disgusted look on his face. Did his expression ever change?

"Morning, Gally." Surprisingly, Elizabeth started exchanging a few pleasantries with the Builder, asking him how his night was and what his plans were for the day. Not surprisingly, Gally failed to respond to any of her questions. He didn't even awcknowledge the fact that she was talking to him.

"Ugh, it looks like rain," P.F. spoke up. Newt's ears pricked. It never rained in the Glade. Ever.

"You're imagining things, P.F." Dalton said, and shoved P.F. good-naturedly. Elizabeth looked over at them and smiled. It was like she wasn't even bothered by Gally's rude behavior. Newt went back to eating.

"The clouds seem a bit darker than usual, though," P.F. continued. He gestured towards the sky and everyone but Gally looked up. The clouds did seem a little more grey than normal, but it wasn't anything to get concerned about.

Dalton's eyes narrowed: "It's probably just because the Box is coming up today."

"You think maybe it's related?" P.F. asked.

"That has nothing to do with it," Minho said, ever the voice of reason. "It's probably nothing, so don't worry about it."

"Who said I was worried?" P.F. resumed stuffing his face.

---

It was almost time for the Box to arrive. It always came right on schedule, before lunch, and like clockwork, the boys started gravitating closer and closer to the Box's hatch. Zart lay down his hoe and wiped his hands on his pants.

"Yo! Ric! Elizabeth! Time to meet the new Greenbean!" he said, calling to the other two Track-hoes. Elizabeth was crawling around the ground like some sort of caterpillar, and Ric was leaning casually against a rake, watching her with a lovesick expression. Zart snorted. Alby had made sure they all understood what would happen if they tried making a move on the girl without her permission. After Elizabeth had left the meeting that day, Alby assembled them all together later that evening and told them that if they "tried anything fishy" he'd send them to the slammer for three days. For some reason the guys listened to Alby, even more than they listened to Nick, though none would care to admit that to their leader's face.

"Hey! Did you klunks hear me?" Zart asked, feeling himself getting impatient.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" When Elizabeth stood up she nearly tripped in the dirt, but Rick caught her arm, and she smiled up at him.

"Thanks," she said, and patted him on the shoulder. Ric actually blushed, and Zart rolled his eyes. Admittedly, he was a bit jealous. Elizabeth was pretty friendly with everybody--she had a good sense of humour and was genuinely nice. She was also very pretty, in a rustic sort of way, with that wild blonde hair and soft body. Zart wasn't about to complain about the way she dressed herself in the loose clothing they all wore, but he knew he wasn't the only one secretly curious to see her in something more...form-fitting. Underneath that skinny-looking frame was some sort of curvy wonderland.

Zart snorted again. That was just like them. Their captives. They probably sent her here on purpose, just to torture them with something they couldn't have. They probably picked a random girl with a perfect hour-glass figure and just sent her down as some sort of sick joke. Maybe they were watching them all right now and were laughing about how funny it was to have a girl like that in the middle of a bunch of dudes. Hell, maybe--

"Are you okay, Zart?" Elizabeth was beside him her eyebrows creased in worry. Zart gulped and forced himself to turn away from her.

"Let's just get to the Box," he mumbled, his face heating up.

"I'll meet you guys there, I'm just gonna go get something from my hut," Ric said.

"Okay," Elizabeth said. She ran to catch up with Zart, who was already halfway to the clearing where all the others were gathering.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked again. "You seem more serious than usual."

Zart huffed. Was there no end to her goodness?

"I'm just thinking about you and the fact that you're perfect." Shuck. Did he say that out loud?

The look on Elizabeth's face told him she felt awkward, but she made a good effort to conceal the fact with a laugh.

"You think I'm perfect?" she asked, shaking her head. "That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever said."

"Oh? And what makes you the expert on the things I say? I've said loads more things more ridiculous."

"No, you haven't. You've said stupid things, sure, but this one beats all." Elizabeth nudged him a bit while they walked, and Zart shoved his hands in his pockets, trying his best to ignore the heat from her body. She was standing way too close. Wasn't she feeling uncomfortable?

They reached the Box and Zart went to stand next to Minho, hoping Elizabeth would find somebody else in the crowd to loiter around, but she stuck with him, and struck up a conversation with Minho. Zart watched them and felt disgust rise in his chest. She just flirted with everyone, didn't she? Unbelievable. Couldn't Minho see they were just trying to get a rise out of them with her?

A sound wrenched him from his thoughts, and Zart watched along with the others, the air falling silent in anticipation as it always did before they met the new Greenbean. Hopefully it wasn't another girl.

Nick opened the doors and everybody stared down into the Box. And there was the Greenbean, staring right back up at them.

---

Too bright! He shielded his eyes from the sun, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Hey there, Greenbean," a voice said. He jumped and forced his eyes to open. He needed to know what his kidnapper looked like, and why he had drugged him and pulled this crazy stunt.

Do I owe him money? He wondered.

Staring down at him was a group of boys around his age. What the--? He blinked, confused. Why would a bunch of dudes in dirty clothes kidnap him?

"Wait a second..." he said, "is this some sort of gang initiation?"

One of the boys--a skinny Asian kid--laughed.

"Do you remember your name at least?"

"Sure, it's Chris," Chris said, still confused. "But what is going on? I mean, you could have just asked if I wanted to join your club. No need to use drugs. I can't remember anything that happened!"

"Nice to meet you, Greenie, I'm Nick," said another boy. He offered his hand and Chris decided to take it. He found himself in a valley of grass, surrounded on all sides by a large wall.

"Are you hard of hearing? My name is Chris." Chris took a step back from the group now that he was out of the Box. They didn't make a move towards him, but they were all staring at him like he was some sort of freak. A twinge of annoyance flickered in his chest.

"Alby and Nick will help explain everything," a scrawny boy stuck his hand out. "Would you rather be introduced to us all now, or later?"

Chris said nothing, but he did not take the boy's hand.

"I'm Newt," the boy said, taking back his hand and shrugging like it was no big deal. He started around the circle listing off names and...wait a second...was that a girl? She was standing next to the Asian kid, Grino or whatever his name was, looking just as curious as the rest of them. Her hair barely reached her shoulders and she was wearing the same grimy clothes as the rest of them, so that's probably why he hadn't noticed that she was female.

"Excuse me, but I don't think I caught your name," he said, looking at her. To his pleasant surprise, she met his eyes and smiled back at him. The rest of the boys, on the other hand, all seemed to take a protective step closer to her.

"I'm Elizabeth. I know you must be really confused right now, but like Newt said, he and Alby and Nick will clear things up. Well as clear as they can get, anyway..."

She had a nice voice. Chris liked her voice.

"What kind of club is this?" He asked. One girl amidst of sea of guys? It seemed fishy. Extremely fishy. If these people were that desperate to have a good time, wouldn't they have kidnapped more girls to even out the odds? Or maybe she was a volunteer? Somebody's unfortunate sister?

"Oh, we're not a club," Elizabeth said, laughing. Oh, she was laughing. How cute.

Newt cleared his throat: "Do you remember anything about your life?"

Chris didn't take his eyes off Elizabeth. "I don't remember anything," he said.

"You're taking this pretty well." Nick glared at the newbie and tried to figure him out. "Are you hiding something?"

"How could I be hiding anything? Like you said, I remember nothing. Except my name, I guess."

"It happened to all of us," P.F. said. He, too, watched Chris with unbridled suspicion.

Elizabeth suddenly started under Chris's gaze. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and averted her gaze. Chris was mildly amused, but he finally tore his gaze away from her and focused on Newt instead.

"By all means," he said, "tell me everything I need to know."

----

Elizabeth hadn't known what to think about the new boy at first, but by the time they had all dispersed from the Box, she felt incredibly uncomfortable. They way he had looked at her with eyes so dark they could have been black was unnerving, to say in the least. She was glad when Newt and Alby had taken him to Nick's hut to talk. She shuddered and pushed the negative thoughts away. They had the monthly gathering at the meeting hut tonight, and would go over the rules then. Everything would be fine.

"Hey." The voice made her jump. Gally was standing a few feet away, frowning at her.

"O-oh, hey Gally," she said, fighting to keep her breathing steady. She plastered a smile on her face and Gally's frown deepened.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I was just going to head to lunch early. Maybe Dave could use some help with the meal."

"Well hurry up, then. Don't just stand there looking stupid."

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at the comment, but Gally had already turned his back to her. She stuck her tongue out at him and walked to lunch. Most of the others were already there, all standing around waiting for food and talking about the Greenie.

"Man, that Greenie was something else."

"He's jacked!"

"Yeah, there's either a few screws loose, or he's waiting until he's alone to throw a tantrum."

"Did you see the way that shank was staring at Elizabeth?"

"UGH, man I'm starving!"

Their chatter died down when Elizabeth walked up to them, but she pretended not to notice, and took a seat at the table. After a few seconds, the talk started up again more loudly than ever, and Minho came to sit next to her. He opened his mouth to say something when the sound of screaming distracted filled the clearing. Will was running towards them, shaking his arms and shouting something.

"HELP!"

"What's that shank going off about?" Hank said, but he was already jogging over to the Will. Elizabeth got up from the table, her heart pounding in her ears.

"Somebody....somebody...forest..." Will panted. Dalton slapped him on the back.

"OUT WITH IT, MAN!"

Will looked up at them with wide eyes. "It's Ric...I think....he was attacked by a Griever."