I sat staring at the walls, Fred sat beside me, not saying much.

"What the actual hell!" I whispered again.

"It's a lot to take in...I know. Day one..." he said gloomily.

"What..just happened? What's out there?" I pointed at the wall. Finally turning head to look at the red haired kid beside me.

He picked up a blade of grass and twirled it between his fingers. He tossed it away and laid his arms across his knees. He turned his head to look at me.

"Well, like we said before, it's a maze and-"

He stopped mid sentence. His eyes went wide, then clamped his mouth shut, and looked away, like he was scared. I twisted the other way to see what happened. Alby was walking towards us. He stopped behind us. His hands on his hips.

"Girly. Come with me." His voice was gruff and left no room for arguments. I sighed and got up. I followed him across the Glade.

"What do you want Alby?" I asked, walking beside him. I could easily keep up with his long strides. He stopped at the foot of a huge tree.

"Hope your not afraid of heights." He tipped his head up.

I followed his gaze. Above us was the most rickity slapped together tree house I had ever seen.

"Is it stable?" I asked, still stairing at it.

"Enough." Alby shrugged.

"That's not reasuring at all." I muttered.

"Well it's a good place to talk without extra listening ears. So you can either follow or stay on the ground. Choose is yours, Snips."

Alby climbed up the ladder with surprising agility for such a huge guy. I eyed the workmanship, it seemed a little sketch to me. But I guess it can hold Alby, it'll hold me. I sighed and followed. He was already standing at the top when my head popped out of the trap door, he held out a hand to help me, but I ignored it and pulled myself out. He rolled his eyes and stepped away, turning towards the railing. He placed his elbows on the top rail and leaned over. 

"Come here, Snips. Let me show you." He said, not bothering to look back. 

"Snips? That's the second time you called me that " I ask as I step cautiously to the railing. I was to nervous to lean on it, so I stayed upright, crossing my my arms tight across my chest. The wind was a little chilly up here. 

"Ya. Snips, 'cause your snippy attitude." Alby grinned. 

I just hummed. I kinda liked it. If Alby, the grouchy leader was giving me a nickname already then I guess that's a good thing. I hope. 

"So..what is this place?" I asked, maybe he would finally tell what the heck was going on. 

"Well, this here, as we explained is called the Glade." He stood and threw his arms wide. 

I flicked my eyes around, looking around. From up here it was a pretty view. I could see from one end of the wall to the other. Guys working hard in the garden and guys working hard in another corner, chopping wood, and building something beside the sideways building. It looked like hard work, but it looked organized and methodical, like an ant hill.  Alby watch me take in my new surroundings. He cleared his throat and continued. 

 "We eat here. We live  here. We grow our own food. We build our own shelter. Whatever we need, the Box provides. The rest is up to us." He pointed to the garden and some other places. 

"What are they?" I asked, nodding towards some of the buildings. 

Alby leaned back down, elbows on the railing. He pointed towards the sorry excuse of a building. 

"That's the homestead. Keepers sleep there, the old Medjack hut-"

"Medjack? What's that?" I interrupted.

"Uhh..takes care of the sick and injured." 

"Oh, weird name, but okay." 

"Yeah. Anyways, Keepers sleep there, there's a small gathering room where Keepers hold meetings, an open gathering room." 

He pointed to something that looked like a weird mix of camping cooking station and state of the art commercial kitchen. I frowned looking at it, it was the weirdest thing to see. Someone stoking the fire, stiring something in a big black pot over the fire, but then see someone with a messy apron over jeans and black shirt, pulling fresh bread out of a big fancy stainless steal oven.

"Frypan's Kitchen." 

I gave him a weird look. He chuckled. 

"Its another nickname. He's not a fan of his real name, Siggy. So we all call him Frypan." 

"Well with a name like that, I wouldn't like it either." I let a small chuckle out, but then drop my face right back into a frown. I still couldn't remember my name. 

Alby pointed to a building that was crawling with guys yelling and hammering, wood planks being lifted, guys scurrying up and down ladders. 

"New Medjack hut, guys are too heavy to carry up and down the homestead stairs." 

I nodded. Makes sense. He turned a little to point in the other corner where the big red barn was. 

"Bloodhouse." 

"The hell? Bloodhouse?" I blanched. Turning towards him, I could feel the blood leaving my face. "What kind of..shuck?...what kind of shuck name is Bloodhouse?" I whispered, horrified.

Alby gave me a weird smile. "Its the barn, told you we provide most of our own food. It's where the Slicers work, its nasty business. Bloody nasty business." 

I couldn't help it, and I snorted. "Bloody.." 

Alby looked at me from the corner of his eye, and let his mouth lift into a smirk. 

"That it is, Snips. Not many shanks want to be a Slicer." 

"Can't imagine why?" I rolled my eyes.

He chuckled dryly. But then his face fell, I saw his shoulders slump.

"Now, below us is the Deadheads. The forest..deadheads..where we burry those poor shanks who didn't make it." 

I felt the blood drain from my face again, and I suddenly felt dizzy. People die here? I haven't seen any adults here, so..the guys who have died and are buried are kids? Who sends kids to this god awful place? Why? What's the purpose? 

"Hey! Greenie? You okay?" Alby was snapping in my face. I didn't realize I had spaced out. 

"You don't look so good, do you need to sit down?" He frowned at me. 

I shook my head, trying to shake the horrible dread that settled in my stomach. I clamped my eyes shut, took three deep breaths, trying to regain control of myself. I couldn't let these guys see me panic, or cry. I was slowly starting to realize how awful this place really was, it wasn't just a prison with stone walls keeping us here, but it was a death trap. It was cetin death. Unknow people, Newt called them Creators, sent children here to die. What was the point? I released my last shaky breath and slowly straightened. 

"I'm fine. Just...a lot." I said quietly. 

He hummed in response. I was glad he didn't push it, or treat me like a flower who was going to break. I turned back to the Glade, looking down at the hustle and bustle.

"This is all we got. We've worked hard for it. If you respect this place...you and I, Snips, will get just fine." 

"Alby? What's out there?" I didn't need to elaborate for him to know what I was asking. He ignored my question.

"We only have three rules. First, do your part. No time for any freeloaders. Second, never harm Glader." 

"Ops." I said dryly. 

He smirked, but tried to cover it up with a throat clear. 

"We'll let today slide. It was...quite the afternoon. For everyone. Your the first girl. Nothing ever changed, it was regular routine, for a full year everything was the same. Now you show up, the first girl. It threw everyone off." 

"Oh goody, my diabolical plan is working than." I deadpaned.  

"None of this works unless we have trust." He said sharply. 

"You think I'm here for a purpose?" I folded my arms again and turned to him, glaring at him. 

He slowly stood up and faced me, I couldn't ready his expression. But his dark intelligent eyes bore into me, like he was trying to read my very soul. 

"You don't remember anything? Your name? A place? Where you came from? Anything?" 

I groaned and threw my hands into the air. 

"Try." he demanded. 

I growled in frustration, but I clamped my eyes closed and put my head in my hands, trying to think of something, anything. But it was blank and empty, like a foggy morning in a valley. I knew my memories where there, but locked away, somewhere behind the mist and fog. I tried to reach out my mental hand to grab onto the fog, but it slipped through my outstretched fingers. 

I growled in frustration again. I was about to open my eyes and give up when there was a sharp pain. Like an electric shock. A sharp female voice, but it sounded like a wheezy nasally voice was overlapped with it, they whispered in my head. 

My eyes shot open, staring at Alby. 

"I heard a voice, maybe two... they whispered...they said wicked is good." 

Alby took a step back, looking thunderstruck. 

"The shuck does that mean?" He whispered. 

"Hell if I know! I don't even know my own name!" I snapped. "And stop looking at me like I'm a freak!" 

Alby shook his head, still in complete shock. 

"That never worked before! How is that possible?" He whispered to himself. 

"How does anything in this hell hole work? Moving stone walls? That's not possible! Taking away someone's memories? That's not possible! A giant shuck maze out there!? None of this is possible!" I yell.

I finally can feel all the overwhelming emotions rising, and I don't know if I'll be able to hold it back anymore. This place was a living nightmare. I was already a freak, the only girl, and now apparently I can remember something. Fantastic. 

"Okay, ya about the walls and Maze. Our last rule here in the Glade. The most important... never go beyond those walls. Do you understand me, Greenie?" 

I just nod, I don't care anymore at this point. I just need to be alone, and I need to figure this out, or as much as I could. Alby turned to leave, but stopped, glancing over his shoulder. I was turned away from him, I could feel all my muscles tensing, I tightened my crossed arms more, my chest hurt from holding back my gasping and I ground my teeth together; desperately trying to keep it together.  

"It's day one Greenie. It's always the hardest. If you ain't scared... you ain't human, Snips. Remember that." He lowered himself down the ladder, before he disappeared he called back, "I'll give you a few min, and then I'll send Newt or Fred to fetch ya for the fire." 

The trap door swung shut and I was finally alone. I sank to the ground. Pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around my legs. I pressed my forehead to my knees, finally letting the gasping cries out. I allowed myself to cry, I knew there wasn't a real purpose other than to release all the pent up emotions. It wasn't that I was scared or sad, it was just so damn overwhelming. My body had gone through so many emotions in the last few hours, it was confused. I was confused. 

I'm not sure how long I sat like that, head pressed to my knees. But when I heard the ladder I lifted my head, I heard a voice I recognized. I let out a breath, placing my head down on my knees again. Strangely I didn't mind having Newt see me slightly vulnerable. He seemed to understand, and he seemed to be gentle and to genuinely care. 

"Hey, girly!" He poked his head out of the trap door. His bright voice slipped when he saw me huddled on the ground.

"Oh, Love." His voice was soft and gentle. I felt him shift to sit beside me. I was glad he didn't try to touch me or hug me. But he sat beside me. His presence was calming. 

"Day one is always the hardest. I can't bloody imagine being the only lass." 

"It sucks. It sucks...klunk." I whispered sadly. 

He chuckled, "You're picking up our Glader slang pretty fast, hey...Snips." 

I lifted my head turning it towards him. He had a smirk on his face, his eyes twinkled. 

"Alby." He said, I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for an explanation. "He called your Snips instead of Greenie or Greenbean or girl. And that's somethin'. He's insistent on using greenie for the first month. So to have a nickname is huge. He likes ya, Girly. You've made an impression on him already." 

I rolled my eyes, placing my chin on my knees. Newt sat beside me quiet for a little, I saw the sun fading, sinking behind the walls. Finally he stretched his legs and slowly got up. He held out a hand, offering me help out. Again I ignored it and got to my feet. He slid his hand into his pocket, and didn't show any hurt when I ignored his offer to help. 

"Come on, Snips" He smirked at the name, "Its almost bonfire time, and its all in your honor. Better get going."