"May!"

She and the new guy both turned their heads at the same time to see Alby jogging in their direction, knife in hand, and the new boy took a step back in fear. May didn't ask why. She understood perfectly well why the new kid was already afraid of Alby. From the looks of him, he didn't appear to be in any mood to deal with new arrivals. She'd been right when she assumed he'd be upset with her over the fact that she went to the elevator without him.

"It's okay, he isn't mad at you." Her low whisper carried between them, silent enough for Alby to remain clueless to her words and yet loud enough for Blondie to understand and calm him down. Only slightly, that is. "Alby-"

"Are you alright?" He asked quickly and grabbed her arms, checking for possible injuries even though May had absolutely no clue as to how she'd get hurt in the first place. It's not like they'd been sending up cobras in the elevators.

"Alby, relax, I'm fine. It's just another kid, not a bear."

The man's glance flicked over to the small boy standing slightly behind the young girl he'd taken under his wing since he'd arrived in the Glade. He was scrawny, May could've easily taken him if he was any real threat. At the moment, the man's heart was hard as stone, protective, rock-solid. A papa-bear making sure his cub stayed out of harm's way. But, from the fearful expression on the new guy's face, it appeared that he wouldn't be much of an issue. Alby plastered a grin on his face and clapped the boy on the back with his enormous paw-like hand.

"Welcome to the Glade."

* * * * * * * * * * *

While Alby was out giving the new kid a tour of the Glade, May was stuck with taking inventory and unloading the elevator by herself. It didn't bother her that much, she was thankful for the supplies. She just thought it would've been easier for Blondie to adjust if she were the one to show him around. Alby was so intimidating, she could tell from how white Blondie's face got the first time he saw him. Hopefully Alby wouldn't be too scary to the poor guy.

May pulled her marker she'd gotten from the last elevator and picked up the usual piece of paper that seemed to always appear on the floor next to the plastic barrels of water.

2 burlap sacks of sunflower seeds
1 sack of mystery seed (ask Alby)
2 bags of chicken-feed
4 loaves of bread
1 machete
1 knife
3 balls of twine
2 rolls of stretchy white fabric (ask Alby)
2 barrels of water

May checked over the list once, then twice, then three times. Only two barrels of water? Out of the nine barrels they already had, they were down to three of them being full and one nearly gone. And the people in charge only sent two up with this new guy? Five and a half barrels would not last them another four weeks. And what if this was the last elevator? What if there was no more supplies after this? They wouldn't survive.

May ripped the paper in half. The parchment was thicker than she thought and made a clear crease when she folded the piece with the inventory in half and slid it into her back pocket. Using the clean half of the torn paper, May stuck the marker's cap in her mouth and started writing.

Not enough water for 3- please send more next time.

After quickly scribbling the note out, she read over it a few times in her head. Upon further consideration, she believed it sounded a little too pushy and added two more words that improved her opinion of the note's words.

Thank you.

She quickly grabbed a stone from the ground outside the shaft and set it on the note in the farthest corner of the platform, using the rock as a paper-weight to make sure it wouldn't blow away or get lost on the way back down to wherever the elevator came from.

And then the unloading began.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The little stuff wasn't very trouble-some, like the bags of feed and the machete, but when all of the small, easy-to-carry objects were safely back at the base, that left two things- the barrels. Those bastards full of water that seemed to weigh a ton. May sighed in frustration, sweat already dripping down the back of her neck from the beating sun above. She'd have to wash her top after this since she hated wearing those men-sized baggy white shirts provided by the elevator controller-people-things. Her fingers wrapped around the edge of the barrel and knocked it onto its side.

"Need some help with that?"

May looked up and saw the new guy looking right back at her. He seemed a little calmer than he had before, a little more color splashed his cheeks and his hands weren't shaking. She was impressed, he'd adjusted to this even better than Alby had. May sent him a small, subtle smile. The kid couldn't have been more than thirteen years old, same as her.

"Sure, Blondie." She said with a sigh and stepped back so he could jump down into the elevator shaft next to her. A smirk flitted across his lips at the sound of her nickname for him, but, like before, it was replaced with a stoic look of seriousness. May cleared her throat as he plopped down and rubbed the back of her sweaty neck with her hand. "You grab that end and we'll both shove it up and over the edge. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah." That was all she got out of him.The two slid their arms beneath the barrel and, on the count of three, heaved the enormous thing up as high as they could. Blondie was way stronger than May gave him credit before. For a scrawny kid, he definitely had some iron in those bones of his. In seconds, they had the barrel up and onto the ground of the Glade.

"Woah..." May panted with a tired smile. Mr.Muscles was breathing heavily, too, so she didn't feel so bad about showing a little weakness around him. "You're stronger than I thought."

"Thanks." Once again, that was all that left his mouth. For being so chatty earlier when he had that machete, May was sort of shocked he wasn't as talkative as he'd been before. Maybe Alby said something to him that threw him off a bit.

"Where's Alby? Did you guys finish up the tour?" She questioned as they took a break before moving to the second barrel. Blondie nodded.

"Yeah. When he finished talking to me about the garden and the corn, he said he was going to go back to hunting and told me to help you with this." May smiled. A lot more words this time around. She couldn't help but enjoy hearing him talk. His accent amused her, it sounded so foreign and strange. Way different from the way she and Alby spoke. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." The girl quickly said and wiped the grin from her face. "Nothing at all."