The four of us followed Clint back up the rickety stairs. Minho locked the hatch again and we followed after the three guys.

"So .. your doubleganger is awake...are you going to be okay?" Minho asked, sliding a hand over my shoulders. We weren't very touchy feely in public, but it happens every once in a while.

I shrugged. I really wasn't sure how I felt. She was my replacement pre-maze, when I was thrown away she stepped in. I know she was another victim of The Handler, but it still felt weird. It gave me an uncomfortable feeling, making me shiver. Shacking my head, trying to rid myself of those feelings.

Commotion on the other side of the Glade caught my attention. I saw a group of Gladers huddled around a tree.

"Is that...hey! That's my tree fort!" I cried.

Minho caught my eye, he raised his, "same place you found refuge in."

"I know." I pouted, crossing my arms. "First she's supposed to take my place, then she takes over my tree fort...next she's coming for the three friends I have and my man!"

"Okay first off, no one could ever take your place, Baby. You're one of a kind. And second, Winston is glued to you. There is no separating the two of you. And Chuck will always be your Baby Shank. And lastly. Shanket better stay in her lane and keep her hands off this masterpiece!" He gestured to himself. "I'm taken. And no refunds or exchanges." He pulled me closer and kissed my temple.

I hummed but then grumbled, "still..."

Minho chuckled and we continued across the Glade to see what the fuss was.

"Hey Baby Shank, what's going on?" I called as we slid into the crowd of Gladers.

Chuck turned and pointed up the tree, laughing hard. "Girls are awesome!"

I looked up and saw something being thrown over the edge towards the boys and a light breathy voice yelling.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Newt ducked, "Watch your head!"
Fry was standing under a piece of discarded board, he peeked out from under it and holard "We just want to talk!"

Another rock came flying in his direction.

"THROW ONE MORE THING-" Gally screamed at the girl, he stopped yelling when a rock hit him in the head. I couldn't help it, I doubled over laughing.

"Ok maybe she's not so bad." I gasped between laugher.

"At least she's throwing rocks... you threw knives." Winston pointed out, he had pushed through the crowd to come stand beside us.

"True. But you listened better. And maybe she doesn't have any." I shrugged looking up at the tree.

"Or she's not as mean." Thomas suggested.

"Probably." I agreed.

"Girls are shucken awesome!" Chuck giggled.

"That we are Baby Shank." I ruffled his curls just to annoy him.

Newt turned to look at us, "I don't think she likes us very much." Amusement in his eyes

"GO AWAY! I'M WARNING YOU!" the girl yelled again and threw a few more rocks at the Gladers on the ground.

I leaned over to Minho, "I'll be right back." And I slipped away from the crowd and into the shadows of the Deadheads. I knew I couldn't get to the tree fort from the ladder, she had pulled it up. Stepping lightly through the trees, even with my leg. It was feeling a whole lot better, that healing numbing cream really worked.

Finding the tree I pulled myself up onto the lowest branch, standing up on the branch, using the trunk for balance I quickly scaled the tree. Light and nimble as a cat, I made my way through the trees to the fort.

I crouched down on a thick branch that was above the platform. I stayed quiet and still watching her for a moment. Her hair was shiny and glistened in the sun. She was tall and thin, athletic but with perfect curves. She had a good throw, and I saw only one knife, easy enough. She turned her head in the direction of someone yelling at the bottom. Her bright electric blue eyes flashed in wild fear and panic. That's a look that can't be replicated or faked. I'd seen the same look of terror on every Noobie's face straight from the cage.

I sighed quietly. Standing up I leapt from the branch and landed lightly in my crouch, on the platform, behind the girl. My still healing leg straight out to the side, my good leg tucked under me, taking my weight. A hand down for balance the other hovered over my garter belt full of my knives.

The girl shrieked and spun around. The machete appeared in her head, gripping it tightly. She automatically took a defensive stance as I stood up.

"Welcome to the Glade." I said dryly.

"Where am I? What is this place? Why can't I remember anything? And who are you?" Fear written on her face and laced in her voice.

"I said...it's the Glade. It's the place we all live. You can't remember anything because whoever the shuck sent us here stole our memories, it's normal. And as far as who I am.... I can be an alli or an enimy." I answered honestly.

"Hey!" Minho's voice cut through the crowd of chattering loud Gladers, "Jessie?"

I stepped forward, the girls eyes narrowed, but I just pushed the machete blade away and stepped to the railing.

"Yes?" I asked leaning on the rail.

"I thought so." He smirked, I grinned back.

"Two of them up there together?! This is NOT good!" Gally ragged. He turned to Newt, "mark my words! Those two and Thomas are going to shuck everything up."

"Damn right we will." I called back.

"Leave me out of this, please!" Thomas shook his head and held his hands up.

"Nope. Thomas, you and I are gonna cause all kinds of fuckery together." I gave the Gladers a twisted smile.

"What about other bloody girl? Jess you didn't kill her did you?" Newt called up, stepping out from under the board. .

"Newt!" I gasped, "is that something I would do?"

Without hesitation, there was a resounding yes from Newt, Winston, Chuck, Minho, Gally, Frypan, Thomas and Jason. I scoffed, flipping them off and rolled my eyes.

"That hurts guys. You're right, it is something I would do, but still hurts." 

I turned my head to see the girl. I indicated with my head to come over. She hesitantly stepped up beside me. There was an intake of breath and a collective gasp from the guys. Side by side we looked like twins. We were both average height and athletic, with long black hair that tumble in natural loose waved, pale skin, rosy pink lips and blue eyes; except hers were bright and my were a grey blue.

"See? She's just fine. No one was killed. Or stabbed or maimed or hurt in any way, thank you." I rolled my eyes. "Now if you excuse me I need to have a chat with my new bestie, but not you Winnie, no one can replace you." I drew a heart with my fingers in the air and mouthed an I love you. He rolled his eyes and flipped me off, which made me smile back.

I stood up straight and stepped back, leaning on the tree trunk the fort. The girl pushed away and sunk to the ground, rubbing her forehead like she was trying to think of something. I sighed. I never liked Noobies or Greenies, but I felt like I needed to be the first one to talk to her; one I needed to see her, get a feel of her for myself. And two she was the only other girl surrounded by boys. I mean I did it and survived...but figured girls should stick together.

I sighed, "It's all normal, none of us could remember anything, we have all been there. You will get your name back soon...It's the only thing they let us keep-"

-"Teresa. " The girl interrupted. "My name. It's Teresa."

"Oh well, there you go. Better than most of the idiots down there, it took them a few days to remember their names. Or Gally slammed their heads hard enough to shack it loose." I shrugged, "Well Teresa, I'm Jessie, but you seem to know that already." I raised an eyebrow at her. 

Teresa nodded slowly, "The guys down there said I had yelled your name and a boy's name, Thomas. Who are you guys?"

"No idea how you know Thomas, our Intelligent village idiot. But you and I have an interesting history." 

Teresa stood up and folded her arms tight across her chest, and raised her own eyebrows, and her eyes went wide and then narrowed in suspicion. "Oh? And that is?" 

"Well...first off, is there anything else you remember?"

Teresa furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think. Even confused, scared and thinking Teresa was pretty.

"I remember water...and screaming, bright lights...I remember your face. And other faces staring down at me. I've had some dreams...but more real." She paused, and rubbed her forehead. When she continued she sounded scared, her voice dropped and it shook slightly, I could see her eyes dilate. I waited quietly, watching her body reaction to trying to recall her dreams. "I remember... a voice. It...it was deep but with a weird gentle creepy purr. I remember his hands, sometimes they were gentle when they-" her voice caught.

"When he touched you." I finished quietly. "And he would hit you when he was angry." 

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide, and brimming with tears. She sunk back down to the ground. I sat down as well, leaning back against the trunk, sticking my one leg out in front of me, I racked my hands through my hair. 

"IS SHE COMING DOWN YET?" Gally yelled up at them.

"FUCK OFF GALLY!" I yelled back, making Teresa jump. 

I heard a few guys laugh. 

"Take your time, Love." Newt called back. 

"Thanks Newt!" I yelled, with a roll of my eyes. 

I looked back at Teresa. She was still looking at me with a mix of fear, suspicion and maybe a little bit of hope. 

"You know what I'm talking about?" She asked quietly. 

I nodded. "Anything else you remember?" 

"I remember...a chair in a weird glowing red room and pain. Lots of pain. And...and words, Red. Night Walker. Four. Dashner. Two hundred fifty. Lost. Run. Wicked. Comply. and then he would ask-"

"-Assassin? and you would answer with: I'm ready to comply." I finished. 

"Shit." Teresa muttered. 

"Agreed." I nodded. "I was trained, but they didn't like my...apparent behavior issues and lack of respect for authority. They decided to send me here three years ago, and brought you in as my-"

"-Replacement." Teresa whispered, her eyes wide in realization. She sat for a moment processing everything. "Well that's a little..."

"Fucked up?" I volunteered. 

"Yeah." Her body deflated for a second before she sat straight up again with a frown of confusion, "How come I'm here then?" 

"Well...the day you came I was supposed to die. But I'm rather difficult to kill. I'm kinda stubborn that way." I gave her a twisted smile. Teresa's lip twitched into a small smile.

"So I was actually supposed to replace you." 

"Yep." I popped the p at the end. 

"Well...I don't really wanna kill you. So how about allies?" 

"Deal. It'll be nice to have someone with a shucken brain around here. Seriously, we're surrounded by stupid." 

"I've noticed." Teresa gave me a small smirk, "Also, that was cleaver, climbing the trees beside." 

"Well, when I first got here, this was the first place I came. Jumped out the med window and came here. Barricaded myself here, I also slept here for the first like month." 

"I would do the same thing. Where do you sleep now?"

"With Minho." 

"What? Wait...who?" 

"Let me show you." 

I stood up and held a hand out for her, I pulled her up and we stepped back up to the railing, I leaned down on it. The gentle wind blowing our hair slightly. It felt nice, the wind dancing across my face and through my hair. Teresa came to stand beside me.   

"Okay, so this is the Glade, and everyone of us here has been where you are now; Noobies or these idiots call them Greenies, you're all full of questions. None of us could remember anything, we all woke up here, just like you." 

"How long have you been here?" Teresa asked. 

"That...is complicated. How's the brain feeling? Think it can handle some more crazy information to drop on you?" 

"Lay it on me." 

"I've been here in the Glade for almost four months. But before that. I was in a different maze. Exactly like this one, but full of girls. I was there for two and a half years. One night I was stuck out there," I pointed to the big wall doors, "and I woke up here. No idea how it happened, and I have tried going back, but I'm stuck here. So grand total of three years." 

Teresa blinked a few times, her eyes glazed over as she tried to process this information. 

"Sorry, that was a lot of information." I apologized.

"No...it's okay, that seems...familiar. " She frowned. "Why would that be familiar?" 

I shrugged. But I pointed to Gally, "That huge guy with the ridiculous looking eyebrows, has this big conspiracy theory about it all. " 

Teresa followed my pointing. She tried to hide her snicker. But then she frowned when she registered what I said. 

"Wait...what conspiracy?" 

"Well that you and Thomas, the guy who you called for when you first got here, the Greenie before you, are actually spies from the people who sent us here. And you here to just fuck things up or something." 

"Well." Teresa said, blinking a few times. "I promise I don't remember anything." 

I shrugged, "I like to fuck things up, so don't feel bad." I grinned mischievously at her. She chuckled quietly. 

"I can see it. Okay...so...what about everything else around here?" 

"Okay. Well-" 

I explained the different places around the Glade, the kitchen, homestead, bloodhouse.

"-dammit I've been here too long, I'm using their stupid names. From my first maze, we had normal names. These idiots call the Barn the Bloodhouse. And the Farmers...they call them Track hoes." 

Teresa stared at me blankly. "Track hoes." She repeated blandly. 

"Yes. Not farmers. Not gardeners. Track hoes. They came up with Track Hoe." 

She burst out laughing. It was light and airy, it was dainty. But her laugh made me smile. 

"See? A bunch of idiots around here!" 

It took her a minute to settle down. But once she did, she looked down and scanned the crowd of boys who were still standing around, waiting for us. She nodded at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Introductions." I called down, "This is Teresa. Touch her and I will make you suffer. And then she kills you." I glared at the guys, "Is that understood?" 

It was quiet.

"I asked, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" I yelled. 

 "Yes!"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Understood!"

Different versions of yes were called up. I smirked in satisfaction. 

"Okay. So the front rom, they call themselves Keepers-" I leaned into Teresa, "Leaders. They are leaders of the different group of workers." She nodded in understanding. 

"First off." I pointed, "Newt." He waved up at us with his gentle smile and big brown eyes. "He's like the Glade Mother-"

"I'm your bloody leader." He interrupted.

"Temporary Leader as our actual Admiral Alby, leader and chief is sick in bed." I corrected. leaning into Teresa to explain quickly. "He's second in command, stepping in as leader." She nodded.

"Next. Is Gally, as I explained to you, his stupid theory. He also likes to mansplain things." 

"How's the head?" Teresa called down. Gally narrowed his eyes. I snorted with laughter.

"He's the Keeper of the Builders." 

"Clever name." Teresa said. 

I snorted again. I then moved to the next guy. Who waved his BBQ tongs in the air.

"That's Frypan. It's a nickname- his real name is Siggy, no one calls him that though; you call him that name you'll get a frying pan to the head." 

"I see where the nickname comes from." Teresa nodded with a small smile down at Fry. 

"Next guy. Winston. Winnie. He's the Keeper of the Slicers-"

"Let me guess, he works in the Bloodhouse?" Teresa asked. 

"Sure do!" He grinned up at us, it was a little twisted. 

"Slicers have a bad rap for being a little twisted and creepy."

"Is it true?" Teresa asked. 

"Well considering me and Winnie work together often...yes. Very true." I gave her the same twisted grin as Winston. 

She chuckled and rolled her eyes. 

"Winnie is good people though. He's one of three I trust whole heartedly." I said quietly, and she nodded again. 

"Then we have Zart, Keeper of the Track Hoes." 

Teresa giggled, and it got me giggling, as the guys all rolled their eyes. It took us a minute to get ourselves together. 

"You're right it's the worst name!" She giggled, trying to compose herself. 

"Next dude. Our Village Intelligent Idiot. That is Thomas." 

"Seriously Jessie! You are the worst!" He pouted. 

"Tell me I'm wrong. You do the things before you think." 

"So do you!" 

"True. But you like me." 

"Yeah, remind me why?"

"We make a great team, Thomas!" I looked at Teresa, she had a frown on her face, her bright blue eyes glued to Thomas. She shook her head. 

"He seems familiar, but I got nothing!" She groaned, running a hand through her hair in frustration. 

"Don't worry about it too much. It is what it is. Designers, the fuckers who sent us here, mess with us. And we're all here now. Now," I pointed to Chuck. "That's Baby Shank." 

"My name is Chuck! NOT Baby Shank." He rolled his eyes. 

"It's Baby Shank." I said to Teresa. Who had smiled kindly down at him. Chuck went slightly pink, but waved back.

"Okay, last guy in the front row... He must be your Minho?"

"Sure is. That big hunk of Asian meat is my Minho." 

Minho smirked up at me, hooking his thumbs into his runners vest and winked. 

"He's also an aragonite snarky puffed up peacock sassy shuck face." 

"Sure am...but I also look fantastic."  

I rolled my eyes. 

"Are you two coming down?" Newt asked. 

I looked to Teresa who took a deep breath. She nodded. She glanced to the hatch door, and then back to the guys. She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow and gestured with her head at the ground. 

"You thinking what I think you're thinking?" I asked with a mischievous smirk. 

"I sure hope so." She matched my smile. 

Together we turned towards the railing and in unison we jumped over the railing. 

 •×•

× Sorry. A bit of a longer chapter again ×