THE KNIFE MOLDED TO HER HAND like it was made to be there. She gripped the handle tightly before swinging it back with perfect technique and releasing it so that it went flying right into the middle of the handmade target thirty yards away. 

Alexis, whom most in the Glade called Alex, was the head weapons instructor of the Glade. She was also the only girl. 

She was the eighth person to come up in the Box, and she had come up to a group of six boys. The other one had been killed in the Maze by a monstrous creature that they had named Grievers. Since Alex arrived, not another girl had ever come up, so she was left by herself with a group of boys that just kept growing.

Technically, she was pretty much the only weapons instructor there, but she had a couple people that she could call on for help if she needed it, which was very rarely. So, most of the time, it was just her teaching someone how to throw knives or shoot a bow and arrow. She got her job about two years ago when she created it. She originally started as Keeper of the Med-jacks, but once she trained more people for that, she got bored of it. That was when she discovered her love of weapons.

She still helped out Jeff and Clint, the other Med-jacks, when they needed it or when she had no work that day, but most of the time, she was training people. Ever since she created her job, Alby, the leader of the Glade, had forced all Runners and Keepers to do at least two hours of training with Alex a week. 

Alex picked up another dagger, and she was about to hurl it at the target when a loud alarm sounded throughout the Glade.

Time for a new Greenie.

The raven-haired girl dropped her hand that was holding the knife and gathered all of the weapons that she had been using and put them in the shed before locking it up. After that, she made her way to the center of the field with the others to welcome the new addition to their little group.

"What'd you think he'll be like?" Minho, the Keeper of the Runners, asked as she approached the group standing around, waiting for the Box to come up.

Alex shrugged, jogging the rest of the way to him. "I just hope he's not too much of an asshole."

"Well, if he's not, I can always train him in the art of assholery," Minho assured her with a playful smirk. She replied with a sarcastic smile before turning to the center of the circle of boys when they heard the Box reach the top.

Gally and Winston pulled the doors open once it stopped moving, and Newt was the first to climb down into the grate. It clattered as he landed, and all of the Gladers peaked over the edge in hopes of catching a glimpse of the new addition to their group.

"Hey, it's okay." They heard Newt's soft voice echo throughout the Box. 

Turning to each other with small groans, people impatiently asked, "Newt what's going on down there?" They all knew, however. This happened every time someone younger than the majority of them got sent up, which is a kind of nice way of saying 'little wimpy kid,' as the less kind of the group put it.

After about 10 minutes of coaxing, Newt finally got the little boy out, but the poor kid was shaking so bad that they had to put him in the Pit just to calm him down. Since she wasn't in a rush to get back to her job, Alex stayed to unpack the Box like she usually did. Two Builders climbed into the metal cage to pass boxes to the people above. While they were waiting, she felt someone approach her from behind. "Hey, Gally." 

"What's up, Lexi?" the tall boy greeted. They stood side-by-side next to where the Greenie had just come up, waiting for the boxes to be thrown up onto the grass. She smiled slightly at the nickname.

Once the boys in the Box threw the first couple of crates up, the two began stacking them and sorting them into piles so that they knew where to put them. After a moment, Alex looked over and saw that Newt and Alby were pulling the Greenie out of the Pit. There were brown spots on the back of his pants, and she stared after the, with pity in her eyes.

Looking to Gally, who was still next to her, she pointed out, "He can't be more than thirteen."

"Yeah, he'll probably be stuck with the Sloppers, the poor shank," the Keeper of the Builders said with fake sympathy. Then, he smirked mischievously. "I can't wait for him to come to the Builders."

"Don't be mean," Alex told him, shooting him a glare, but who was she kidding? It was Gally.

Gally looked offended for a moment, playfully clutching his heart. "Me? Mean? I can't believe you would say that, Lex. That hurt."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The girl smiled, turning back to the crates. Changing the subject, she asked, "How's the new Slicer hut coming? Any progress?"

"We're actually almost done with the shucking thing," he answered.

Alex nodded in response, looking up at the sweaty boy with raised eyebrows. "You seem relieved."

"Yeah, 'cause none of these amateurs will do any work, and it's a pain in the ass," Gally told her with a small chuckle, "Literally. My ass hurts like hell from lifting everything."

"I could've gone the rest of my life without knowing that," she laughed out, scrunching her face up with a grin. They continued for bit in comfortable silence, and once they finished sorting everything, they began the carrying process, which was Alex's least favorite part.

They carried all of the small boxes first to get them out of the way before moving on to the bigger ones. Gally grabbed the bottom of a crate that appeared to be so extremely heavy that he was struggling to lift it, and Gally never struggled to lift anything. With a grunt, he could barely pick up, but quickly dropped it.

Smirking from next to him, Alex watched him struggle with a smirk, "You need some help there?"

"No," he answered through gritted teeth, trying to lift the crate again. He got further this time that he did the last, though. "I got it."

"Here," the girl offered with a smile. When the crate left the ground again, she rushed to grab the other side before it crushed his fingers. It was a little difficult, but together, the were able to carry it to the Homestead. 

Once they set it down, Gally looked up at her. With a nod her way, he breathed out, "Thanks."

"No problem," Alex answered with wide eyes. It was very unlike him to thank anyone. She watched him walk out of the building to get more boxes before following behind him.

《 ✢ 》

ALEX SAT DOWN AT THE KEEPERS' table next to Winston and Newt with her tray full of Frypan's new experimental dish. It didn't smell horrible, but when she looked in the pot as he was scooping it, she swore that she had seen it move. So, she was a little scared as she pushed it around her plate.

Minho sat down in front of her, and she stared at him, asking with her eyes if there was anything new that day. She did this every day when they sat down for dinner, but the answer was always the same. The Asian boy shook his head, and Alex shot him a grateful smile.

They had been trying to find a way out of that Maze for three years, and they had explored every inch of the shucking thing. The Keepers were starting to lose hope, but they hadn't told the rest of the Gladers so that chaos didn't ensue.

Newt and Alby were now immersed in a quiet discussion about what she could assume was the Maze, so she turned to the available boy on her right. "So, how was your day in the life of a Slicer?"

"It was alright," Winston answered, picking off a piece of his roll and dipping it in the mystery slop with a confused and slightly disgusted look. He stuck it in his mouth anyway, making a weird face before forcing himself to swallow it. "I only cut myself twice today."

"Oh, is that a new record?" the girl asked with raised eyebrows, remembering her days as a Med-jack when he would come to her at least five times a day to bandage him and the other Slicers up when they had cut themselves in their job.

"I believe so," he answered with a smile, holding up his hand that had two white bandages on the pinky and middle finger. The area around the cuts were filled with scars from previous slip-ups with the knife. "What about you? How was your day?"

Alex shrugged, swallowing a bite of food before replying, "Slow. I was kind of excited for the new Greenie to come because I could have a new student, but something tells me he won't be spending much time over at the Weapons Range."

"That's so sad," Winston pointed out as the two looked over at the small boy who was sitting alone at one of the tables in the corner. Alby had been showing him around all day, and the poor kid was so nervous.

"Poor kid," she nodded with a frown as the child picked glumly at his roll. "Imagine being his age in a room full of older boys. He must be scared to death."

The boy next to her sighed before turning back to his tray of half-eaten food. "Maybe the bonfire will help him fit in — make him feel like part of the family." 

"I hope so. The poor shank deserves a good night before beginning his life as a Slopper," Alex said with pity in her voice. It was the easiest and most boring job and the one that he was definitely going to be stuck with.

"Hey, you never know. He could have a hidden talent for patching people up or killing livestock," Winston told her, but his voice wasn't very convincing. "I'm just scared that Gally's gonna give him trouble when he goes to try out building."

She groaned and rolled her eyes at the thought, knowing that the Keeper of the Builders would be absolutely cruel to the poor boy, but tried to stay on the bright side of things. "Maybe he won't be too mean. I mean, he can't be totally heartless, can he?"

"I think he can and is, actually," Winston responded, causing the girl next to him to snicker slightly as they glanced over to the boy that they were talking about who was sat at the other end of the table, conversing with Clint.

"Speaking of Gally, he told me that the Builders were almost done with the new hut," Alex said, smoothly changing the topic to something less sad. She raised her eyebrows at him in wondering, "Are you excited?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically in response, swallowing another bite of slop. "I am very excited, actually. We've cut so many holes in this old one. I'm honestly surprised it's still standing." 

Once she was finished 'eating' her food, her and Winston grabbed their trays and took it over to discard it on the table with the other ones. Though it was sometimes pretty gross, the food that Frypan, their cook, made was sometimes delicious. This was not one of those times, unfortunately. 

"Fry, the food was disgusting, as always," she told the cook, turning to him with a joking smile. When he flipped her off, she laughed as she left the hall.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

first chapter! this one was really introductory — just telling you about alex and the glade. if you couldn't tell, this story starts about a month before thomas comes up. i hope y'all like it so far, and i love you!

- Lena