"It hasn't even been a week yet!" May hollered over the sound of the elevator coming up the shaft as she sprinted through the meadow in the box's direction. Blondie was trailing behind her, but just barely. He was way faster than she'd originally assumed, way faster. In mere seconds, he was sprinting beside her, his Blondie-hair flying out of his face and exposing his forehead. Legs kicking, hearts pumping, adrenaline rushing. The two were there in less than a minute, both breathing and panting heavily.

"Were you- racing me?" Newt asked with a smirk as he tried to regain his breath, head looking up at her as he bent over with his hands on his thighs. May smirked right back, her chest heaving with each deep inhale and exhale and her hands on the base of her back.

"Maybe- a little." The two chuckled breathlessly. They would've opened it up right then, but with some new rules set by Alby the day before, May and Newt were forced to keep it closed until they all were present. It was silent enough. Maybe there wasn't anyone new this time. Maybe it was just supplies. Did the people get her note about more water?

Within a minute, Alby was standing beside them and handed the two their machetes. His ax was strapped to his belt, but he wouldn't need it. It was his job to throw open the doors. Addressing any possible threat inside fell to the two teenagers. Neither one questioned it, they felt sort of honored in a weird way that Alby thought they were ready to defend themselves and each other. The look was given, that one signal that asked if everyone was ready and the two in reply that said hell yeah, we are.

And with an enormous heave, the doors were opened and revealed the belly of the beast.

May and Newt were both prepared to start hacking at whatever was inside, their blades both up in the air and ready to strike at the first sign of danger. You could never be too careful, especially when something strange like this happens where the elevator comes up more than once a month. Literally anything could have been inside. It could've been one of those monsters that always screamed in the Maze at night, and they had nothing but machetes to fight it off with. Thankfully, all their worrying had been for nothing.

Instead of monsters in the dark, it had been more supplies.

Oh, and three more boys.

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

"What are we going to do?" Alby asked in a low whisper.

With the arrival of the three new guys, all of which seemed to be in their early-to-mid teen years, they knew that food wasn't going to last as long as they'd hoped. Now instead of three months from the corn harvest, they would be lucky if they ended up getting one full month. And the chickens only gave two eggs each morning, that wouldn't even be close to sustainable for five teenagers and one grown man. Not even close.

Thankfully, the three had been unconscious when they arrived. The boys were just laying in a row next to each other, the first one with nice, luscious black hair that May resisted to touch, thin lips, and small eyes, the second one with dark skin and black, short locks, and the third one with skin pale enough to put a polar bear to shame, freckles, and brownish-blondish hair. Quite a variety, except for the fact that they were all males by the looks of them. Newt was watching them as they slept back at base while May and Alby unloaded the little supplies that came up with the trio.

It wasn't much and it probably wouldn't be very helpful, but still, May took inventory like she usually did with the little pieces of paper that came up with everything else.

1 loaf of bread
1 pair of scissors
1 barrel of water
1 burlap sack of sunflower seeds
2 blankets

"May, what the absolute hell are we going to do about this?" Alby asked again as he ran a hand over his head. The worry in his eyes practically seeped throughout his entire body, taking over and harboring panic. "We can't feed all these boys, we don't have enough water to last all of us."

"Well," May sighed. Looked like she'd have to be the one with all the answers, as usual. "To save water, we'll have to cut one of the empty barrels in half and pray that it rains again soon... We should probably cut open two just to be safe. And we can't use it to water the garden anymore, we'll have to figure out some way to purify the pond, start using that instead. And once those shanks-"

" 'Shanks'?"

"What else do you want me to call them? Morons? Clunkers? Winkle-pickers? Laddies? Possibly pork-sticks-"

"I get it, 'shanks' it is. Just keep going with what you were saying."

"What I was saying was that as soon as those boys wake up, teach them how to hunt. Maybe we should start figuring out what's edible from the woods, too. I'm sure at least half of those plants in the forest won't kill us if we eat them." May continued as she gathered up the scissors and sack of sunflower seeds in her arms. Alby picked up the two blankets and the loaf of bread. She could tell that the gears in his head were turning and the worry in his expressions had lessened. He was considering everything she said.

"You've got some good ideas, May. I'll start teaching them how to hunt as soon as they come to. While I'm doing that, you and Newt can start cutting the barrels in half. Once all of that is done, we can start thinking of ways to purify the pond."

"Good thinking, chief."

He set the supplies down on the ground after crawling up and out of the elevator, then extended his hands down to the younger girl. She handed the sunflower seeds and scissors to him, which he tossed onto the grass, then helped her up and out of the hole in the earth. Their eyes fell back to the blue barrel they'd left behind and they exchanged glances.

"We'll come back for it later" was all Alby said as he picked up what he could, then started walking back to their temporary home. May followed closely behind, supplies in hand. They almost made it. Before the elevator came up the fourth time, before the unwanted new people. They almost did it. The three almost had everything under control. With the steady amount of water coming and the harvest, they were set. Alby, May, and Blondie. Just the three of them.

And now they were six.

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